Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: Kathleen Turner in 'Red Hot Patriot' at Berkeley Rep Biographical one-person shows aren't always the stuff of thrilling drama. But if you take a legendary actress and give her some witty material written by one of our country's great political columnists, it
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Tech Boom!', a New Web Series Having been a little disappointed with SanFranLand earlier this year, I approached a new satirical web series about SF's tech boom with a little trepidation. It's called Tech Boom! And I'll just say
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: <i>Testament</i> at A.C.T. Following lackluster reviews on Broadway, Irish author Colm Toibin was glad to let A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff and resident dramaturg Michael Paller take the various versions of his story of
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Pippin' at the Golden Gate Theater If you didn't once end up as a background player in a high school production of Pippin, you're probably in the minority. But the once popular often maligned 1972 musical by Stephen Schwartz
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'An Audience With Meow Meow' At Berkeley Rep Now in its world premiere at Berkeley Rep is a show that defies easy categories, but here it goes: It's part post-modern cabaret, part meta performance art, part satire of cabaret cliches, and
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: <i>Buyer & Cellar</i> at the Curran "I don't do Barbra," actor Michael Urie says in the opening moments of Buyer & Cellar, when he is speaking as himself, an actor who is about to play the role of a
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'SanFranLand,' A New Web Series First of all: San Fran? I guess I'm supposed to forgive creator Ryan Lynch for using my least favorite abbreviation of San Francisco in the title of her new web series, SanFranLand, which
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Once' at the Curran Theater The idea of the musical has changed dramatically in the last decade, between the brilliant re-stagings of Sweeney Todd and Company by director John Doyle, to the Latin-inflected, many-peopled production of In the
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: <i>The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures</i> at Berkeley Rep I could quip that even the title of playwright Tony Kushner's latest work needs editing. But in reviewing such a sprawling, gut-punching, morbid, hilarious, and ridiculously dense and reference-packed work of theater by
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'The Suit' At A.C.T. If the words "Apartheid-era Johannesburg" were not enough to sadden or turn off a lot of theater-goers, allow me to just get this out of the way: The Suit is possibly one of
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: The Knife at the Fox I try to reserve my concert reviews for when something truly notable happens, and that was definitely the case at last night's show by The Knife at the Fox Theater in Oakland. The
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Venus In Fur' at A.C.T. Venus In Fur is intense. It's a highly intelligent piece of playwriting that requires two intelligent and fearless actors, some faultless timing, and expert, nuanced direction. Thankfully, in one of its first West
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'The Accidental Death Of An Anarchist' At Berkeley Rep There is more to the art of clowning than just makeup and slapstick, and no one can teach that lesson better than actor and professional stage devourer Steven Epp and his director and
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'The Speakeasy' From The Boxcar Theatre As immersive, progressive performance experiences go, you aren't going to find much that isn't fun and cool about the Boxcar Theatre's latest, highly ambitious offsite project, The Speakeasy. It's a fully realized, choose-your-own
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Hir' At Magic Theatre Hir, the latest new work to premiere at San Francisco's Magic Theatre comes from New York playwright, artist, and drag performer Taylor Mac, and though he doesn't appear in it, it shows him
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Major Barbara' at A.C.T. "Funny" is the last adjective that you might expect would apply to a philosophical play from 1905 that centers on a major in the Salvation Army and her estranged, munitions manufacturer father. But
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Tristan & Yseult' At Berkeley Rep It's been a good year for Bay Area theater overall, with some stellar productions like SHN's Anything Goes, Black Watch from A.C.T. and the National Theater of Scotland, and No Man's
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Book Of Mormon,' The Second U.S. Touring Cast We checked out the newest production of the Tony Award-winning musical Book of Mormon last week, and much like the first touring cast who came through San Francisco last fall, these performers are
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: Cirque du Soleil's 'Amaluna' We weren't quite sure what to expect entering Cirque du Soleil's big top behind AT&T Park on Friday, having only ever seen the Canadian-born troupe on television two decades or so
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Peter and the Starcatcher' at the Curran Theater The new school of theater is all about old-school ingenuity, energy, and devising scenes without the crutches of fancy sets or special effects. Peter and the Starcatcher, the Tony Award-winning play based on
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: The Bridge School Benefit, Sunday, at Shoreline It was a cold, windy evening in Mountain View on Sunday, but it didn't sway a a few thousand music fans from sticking it out to see a reunion of Crosby, Stills, Nash
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: The West End Production of 'Merrily We Roll Along,' Via CinemaLive A unique opportunity to see a piece of the recent London theater scene arrived in San Francisco, and in cities across the country, this past week. Digital Theatre, an organization that's been partnering
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike' At Berkeley Rep Let's just say up front that I'm a whore for references. Toss a few movie lines into a conversation, namedrop some playwrights, or expound upon 80s television shows, and I'm putty in your
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: '1776' at A.C.T. Some musicals survive the test of time because of a few catchy, radio-friendly songs and a farcical book that still feels tight and buoyant decades later Anything Goes is a good example that
Arts & Entertainment SFist Reviews: 'No Man's Land' at Berkeley Rep It's not often enough that the Bay Area gets treated to bona fide stars and theater talents on our stages, and we hope that the pre-Broadway tryout of a new production of Harold