A theatre reviewer’s role

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By Ande Jacobson

There are many approaches to writing theatre (or any arts) reviews, and there is significant debate over the role a critic should assume. The varied opinions don’t seem to be unique to a particular sector of readers, be they performers, theatre owners and staff, or potential audience members from all walks of life.

Many readers look to reviews to provide them with some insight into a production, in part to determine whether or not to spend their hard-earned money to attend a performance. Within this group, some are specifically looking for ratings, while others are looking to understand what to expect to gauge whether they’d enjoy a particular show. Continue reading →

WVLO’s “Irene”, where 9th Avenue meets 5th Avenue

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wvlo-irene-1By Ande Jacobson

WVLO closes its Golden Anniversary season with Irene. Enjoy this fun-filled musical featuring a good old-fashioned love story between a working class girl and a high society boy. Here, the music industry collides with the fashion industry, or if you prefer, 9th Avenue meets 5th Avenue. The show first debuted on Broadway in 1919 and enjoyed two subsequent revivals in 1923 and 1973 – the latter revival being the basis for WVLO’s production. Continue reading →

Chaos is timeless

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pear-arcadia-1By Ande Jacobson

Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, is Pear Avenue Theatre’s final production in its Pear Avenue performance space, and this is one not to be missed. The play is claimed by many in the critical community to be Stoppard’s finest, with timeless themes and witty dialog that will keep audiences enthralled from start to finish. Continue reading →

No lions, no tigers, but bears, oh my!

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cltc-exit-bear-2By Ande Jacobson

City Lights Theater Company is again hosting a South Bay premier. This time it is playwright Lauren Gunderson’s revenge comedy, Exit, Pursued by a Bear. Gunderson took her title from a famous stage direction in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, and it sets the tone for the sometimes frenetic tempo this gripping play keeps. The story presents a satirical look at domestic abuse. Continue reading →

Here’s to you, Frankie Payne!

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birdsbannerBy Ande Jacobson

Pear Avenue Theatre’s May production is a fun one. Birds of a Feather, written by local playwright Paul Braverman, is the third and final chapter in the Frankie Payne trilogy. We follow Payne’s unpredictable path through Boston’s criminal underworld. She strikes sometimes uneasy (and often humorous) alliances with the shady characters there to right the wrongs that the police can’t always correct. This episode takes place in Boston from 31 October – 3 November 1965 and has a few surprises in store for audiences. Continue reading →

Solve “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at SCP

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drood-sceneBy Ande Jacobson

Sunnyvale Community Players concludes its 45th season with The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This musical, written entirely by Rupert Holmes, turns the unfinished Dickens story of the young Edwin Drood on its head. From the time they walk into the theatre, the audience members will be invited to join in the fun as the Music Hall Royale tells the tale as a play within a play. Dickens never finished his novel because he had the audacity to die prior to penning an ending. As such, the company members can only go so far with the story on their own. Every performance, the company will ask the audience to vote on a variety of important plot points such as determining the identity of a detective who shows up in Act 2. They’ll also be asked to identify the murderer, because let’s face it, a mystery just isn’t worth its salt without a murderer. Finally, there will be one other outcome on which to vote, but you’ll have to come see the show to find out what. Continue reading →

Georges captures the many colors of life

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Sunday in the Park Production 5_David AllenBy Ande Jacobson

Foothill Music Theatre just opened their production of a rarely done, but arguably the most ethereal show in the Sondheim canon, Sunday in the Park with George – a musical based on the Georges Seurat painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The painting is surreal, an example of Seurat’s Pointillism technique that was a vivid departure from the approach used by the impressionists of his time. Pointillism is essentially a mosaic of complementary colors that, when viewed at a distance, causes the brain to fuse the colors and register a complex color, such as seeing violet emerge when only blue and red are actually painted. Likewise, this first collaboration between composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and playwright and director James Lapine whisks the audience members into a surreal world of color and light worthy of Seurat. Continue reading →

It builds!

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www.siliconvalleydesigns.comBy Ande Jacobson

Build, by Michael Golamco, is enjoying its Northern California premiere at City Lights Theater Company. In his previous career, Golamco was a software developer, but now he’s a veteran writer for stage and screen. He is currently one of the staff writers for the television show Grimm, though unlike Grimm, there aren’t any monsters in Build. The play is rife with storytelling and technology, and the script presented City Lights with several significant challenges. Fortunately director Lisa Mallette and the rest of her creative staff were able to meet those challenges head-on. Continue reading →

Two of the best pianists in the ____

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2Pianos4Hands-10_KevinBerneBy Ande Jacobson

Remember The Great Dane? No, not the dog. Victor Borge, the Danish pianist who combined his piano prowess with a comedic delivery that both wowed audiences and had them rolling in the aisles with laughter. 2 Pianos 4 Hands, the current production at TheatreWorks, contains much of the same musical and comic genius that made Borge famous, particularly the opening as the two actor/pianists clad in concert tails take the stage in front of two grand pianos. What follows seems like two Borges for a while, but they are not. They are Darren Dunstan and Christopher Tocco portraying the co-authors of the play, Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt. Well, in this case, it’s fair to say that Dunstan and Tocco literally “play” Ted and Richard given how much music they make during their performances, and they are guaranteed to delight audiences throughout the run. Continue reading →

Enjoy 2 FREE holiday musical treats on 19 and 20 December

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A Musical Theater ChristmasBy Ande Jacobson

It’s December, and Christmas is fast approaching. What better way to get into the holiday spirit than with the gift of music – and the best part is that this gift is free! First, “A Musical Theater Christmas” will be presented at 7:30 PM on Friday, 19 December, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in downtown San Jose. Next, on Saturday, 20 December, it’s time for the 21st Annual San Jose Saxophone Christmas (sjsaxmas.com) with two performances only at 2PM at Christmas in the Park in San Jose and at 5PM at Vallco Shopping Mall in Cupertino. Continue reading →