It's always a treat to see an actor having fun on stage. The fun factor can often ebb and flow during a long run of a play. But if it's a short run and the role is prime, the person charged with playing it tends to find it easier to let rip.Such was the case on Friday night, when I caught the amazing Bay Area performer, Geoff Hoyle, essaying the role of Alfred P. Doolittle in the Lamplighters production of My Fair Lady. It's been a long time since I've seen an actor enjoying himself so much on stage. His enthusiasm was infectious. And because … [Read more...]

Can someone please explain to me what's so great about August: Osage County? I'm baffled. … [Read more...]

Yesterday afternoon, I was amused to receive a press release in my inbox regarding a local actor, Michael Rice (pictured, left). Rice, who is best known to many people in the Bay Area theatre community for his now-defunct "Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast" which the San Francisco NPR station KQED ran for a while, is passionate about self-promotion. This time, however, he might have gone a little too far.Rice is promising a "Money Back Guarantee" refund out of his own pocket to anyone who feels that his performance was sub par. The refund will be … [Read more...]

Exciting news for the Bay Area theatre community: Z Space, one of the area's most innovative developers and presenters of new plays, is moving to the 286-seat Theatre Artaud, a venerable old performance building in the Mission/Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. The signing of the 10-year lease on the building represents the first time that Z Space has had its own space.Theatre Artaud hasn't been a permanent home for a company in quite a few years. Built as an American Can Company tooling factory in 1925, the shop provided jobs for San … [Read more...]

Sometimes an artist's relationship with his or her company or group can last a lifetime or decades. Sometimes it barely lasts a season. I've been curious lately about what it is about a long-term, largely positive collaborative situation that makes an artist decide to move on when there's no obvious reason at stake -- such as a lack of funds or a falling out with a collaborator -- driving the decision.I've been in many situations in my life as a musician where a longstanding collaboration with an orchestra, wind ensemble or choral group has … [Read more...]

For some reason over the past two days, people have been randomly shoving CDs in my hands. Two of the recordings I received by San Francisco artists are wonderful which is why I need to tell you all about them.The first is a self-titled album by Or, The Whale, a local folk rock band. A mixture of bittersweet ballads and careening torch-songs are melodic and catchy. The band uses a lot of banjo and mellow harmonies. Great stuff for a sunny afternoon drive through the countryside. Or, The Whale is about to embark on a west coast tour with stops … [Read more...]

I ended up having to retract my long-held-to aversion to Jack Nicholson last night following a screening of Easy Rider at San Francisco's Red Vic movie theatre. I have seen the film several times before. But it had been years since my last viewing. One of the best things about the film is Jack Nicholson's performance as a drunk and muddled momma's boy of a small-town lawyer. He brings such vitality and sweetness to the role. His death in the middle is the cruelest moment of the entire film.I think, perhaps, that there was something inspired … [Read more...]

When it comes to developing close ties with audiences, few bands in the history of rock music have garnered a fan base as strident as the Grateful Dead."The standard musician-audience relationship doesn't exist in a Grateful Dead show," says longtime Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally, who will be speaking at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music this weekend after a performance of Dead Symphony no. 6, Lee Johnson's composition based on 10 of the Dead's songs.Members of the band were very open to all sorts of musical styles and … [Read more...]

August usually presents a bit of a lull in the local performing arts scene as companies ramp up for their Fall seasons. But the ramp up this year is far from quiet. Here are a few upcoming theatre happenings that I'm excited about:1. Samuel Beckett's Happy Days at California Shakespeare Theater (Aug 15-Sep 6). Marsha Mason was scheduled to play Winnie in Jonathan Moscone's production. She suddenly dropped out halfway through rehearsals a couple of weeks ago citing "personal reasons." No matter. Patty Gallagher will doubtless do the role proud, … [Read more...]