Author: A Good Reed Review

Without music, there is no life

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By Ande Jacobson

Beethoven’s 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120 is thought by some scholars to be one of the composer’s crowning achievements.  It’s a work that takes a mediocre 32-bar waltz written by Anton Diabelli and expands it into a 55 minute work of 33 variations exploring every nuance of the theme, or at least as many as came to Beethoven’s mind.  There are several conflicting theories as to the genesis of Beethoven’s opus, and playwright Moisés Kaufman has drawn from many of them to weave an intricate and captivating tale in his play, 33 Variations, now enjoying its regional premiere at TheatreWorks. Continue reading →

“Time Stands Still” comes to TheatreWorks in a gripping Regional Premiere

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By Ande Jacobson

Imagine seeing life through the lens of a camera.  Now imagine spending your days capturing life in war torn regions of the third world, making time stand still in the photos you shoot, memorializing the events you witness, but not changing them no matter how disturbing they may be.

TheatreWorks’ production of Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still starts there – when we meet freelance journalist James Dodd (Mark Anderson Phillips) bringing his longtime lover Sarah Goodwin (Rebecca Dines) home to their Williamsburg, Brooklyn loft. Continue reading →

Inside “Chicago”

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By Ande Jacobson

This isn’t a review as that would be rather inappropriate given the author is part of the band.  This is instead a view from behind the wall of City Lights’ current production of “Chicago” – behind the wall because that’s where the clarinet player sits.  The experience is quite different “working” at City Lights than it is attending the opening gala intent on writing a review of the production. Continue reading →

Switching perspectives – A Good Reed Review takes a summer hiatus playing instead of writing

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By Ande Jacobson

While there’s no shortage of theatre to see in the SF Bay Area this summer, A Good Reed Review will be short on reviews until September as this writer is once again moving back into a musician’s role for a time playing a stretch of performances in Saratoga and San Jose. Continue reading →

TheatreWorks’ 60th world premiere knocks the wheels off the house

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By Ande Jacobson

Many a garage band musician dreams of making it big, and some even achieve a modicum of success getting as far as playing a number of local bookings.  Many of these musicians are typical rhythm section players – guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, as well as vocalists – but how many are virtuoso level, classically trained violinists?

TheatreWorks finishes its 42nd season with its 60th world premiere: GrooveLily’s Wheelhouse. Continue reading →

Will family ties survive the truth?

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By Ande Jacobson

Dragon Productions Theatre Company’s current play, Richard Dresser’s Wonderful World, tests family bonds, or at least stretches them a little in this dark comedy revolving around the strained relationship between two brothers.  The story shows what can happen when the social contract is violated, and truth is used as a weapon. Continue reading →

City Lights examines the “hysterical” 1880s

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By Ande Jacobson

While often the focus of many comic routines, the modern vibrator has its origins in medical science dating back to the 1880s, the dawn of the electric age.  At that time, vibrators were employed as a treatment for “hysteria”, a problem thought to originate in the uterus that was treated by manipulation. Continue reading →

The Pear shares nine new “Slices” to celebrate nine years of innovative theater

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By Ande Jacobson

As has become the tradition since The Pear’s second year, spring welcomes a collection of new one-Act plays from the Pear Avenue Theatre Playwrights Guild in its annual presentation of Pear Slices.  This year, instead of the usual eight, there are nine of them, each adding to the running themes surrounding that metaphysical fuzzy ground between faith and magic while showing us new beginnings in a variety of circumstances.  As usual, this year’s Slices installment has something for everyone. Continue reading →

Time for a little ragtime break with Tabard’s “The Tin Pan Alley Rag”

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By Ande Jacobson

Tabard Theatre Company’s “The Tin Pan Alley Rag” opens Friday, 30 March at Theatre on San Pedro Square in San Jose, this time taking us back to Tin Pan Alley and a chance meeting between the conservatory educated, Scott Joplin, and the boy wonder, Irving Berlin.  While there’s no evidence the two men ever crossed paths, the story examines what might have happened if they had met.  We learn of their dreams, their lives, and of course, their music. Continue reading →

Mystery, intrique, and corruption at its finest

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By Ande Jacobson

To many, William Shakespeare’s plays exemplify perfection in theatrical writing.  Others find them incomprehensible, though if those in the latter group could shed their preconceptions, they might in fact recognize aspects of Shakespeare’s oeuvre reflected in their own experience.  Take “Hamlet” for instance, surely one of the most famous in the Shakespeare cannon. Continue reading →