Steve Murray - Page 2

What did our critic think of GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at Golden Gate Theatre?

What did our critic think of MRS. DOUBTFIRE at Orpheum Theatre?

What did our critic think of EVITA at SF Playhouse?

The Help Is on The Way: BROADWAY & BEYOND 30th Anniversary Concert & Gala on Sun., July 14, 2024,7:30 pm is truly a milestone to be celebrated. When Ken Henderson and Joe Seiler began the Richmond / Ermet Aid Foundation in 1995 and producing these concerts, they could not have imagined how many lives have been affected, touched and made better due to their ability to bring the community, performers and the many beneficiaries together to give back and raise money for a myriad of worthy causes.

What did our critic think of MOTHER ROAD at Berkeley Repertory Theatre?

The Cher Show blows through town faster than the multitude of Bob Mackie costume changes and we’re better off for it. Even die-hard Cher fanatics had a challenging time mustering excitement for this tired jukebox musical, settling for the flash and cheese of 60’s style comic vignettes rather than delving into perhaps some interesting insight into the resilient pop icon who bucked the male dominated entertainment scene.

There are few things more glorious than over 300 voices raised in perfect harmony. Since 1978 the SFGMC has been a voice for uplifting the LGBTQIA+ community through times of great sorrow and joy. Persevering in the ugly face of intolerance and persecution, the chorus inspired a worldwide choral movement. This summer, they will tour the Midwest where antigay legislation is being enacted. Tuesday’s concert, a high note in their 46th season titled a “Season of Love”, turned Davies Hall into a cathedral, a scared space of inclusion, reverence, and light.

Let the tributes begin, and there will be many. The enduring legacy of Stephen Sondheim’s music is ours forever and his works ensure he’s one of Broadway’s greatest composers. He is Theatreworks’ most produced composer and Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelly collaborates with Resident Musical Director William Liberatore to celebrate the joyous and complicated human relationships prevalent throughout Sondheim’s musicals and plays.

What a mess – the characters I mean. Sondheim’s original Tony-winning play examines both the merit and harsh realities of relationships as seen through the perspective of a detached, intimacy avoiding individual. They’re all delightfully dysfunctional, their relationships messy, beautifully mirroring reality.

Who doesn’t like a good coming of age story, better yet a LGBTQ coming out story to boot? Mix a catchy pop/rock score, a delightfully innocent 16-year-old schoolboy, and some fabulous drag, and you have the makings of a hit show tailor-made for San Francisco’s audiences. Based on a true story and the 2011 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, this fictional musical follows Jaime New as he battles homophobia and prejudice to self-actualize into a fierce drag queen.

A fresh off the boat Jewish immigrant from Bavaria stands in awe of the musical box that in New York City in 1884. All he can repeat is Baruch Hashem (Blessed be God) and is amused when an immigration officer changes his name so easily from Chaim to Henry. This man is Henry Lehman who, along with his two brothers will create a financial firm that figured prominently in American history prior to its spectacular collapse triggering the largest financial crisis in history.

Center Repertory Company closes its 2023-24 season with a stunning production of the Tony Award-winning Kander and Ebb masterpiece Cabaret. Artistic Producer Markus Potter helms the finely tuned production with a stellar ensemble, marvelous musical direction and a supporting technical crew that confirms Center Rep as a powerhouse Bay Area theatre troupe.

What did our critic think of TICK, TICK...BOOM! at New Conservatory Theatre Center? Read here!

What did our critic think of GALILEO at Berkeley Repertory Theatre?

Marin Theatre closes out their 2023/24 season with a newly revised production of Harvey Fierstein’s Tony Award-winning Torch Song. A smash hit in 1982, the original trilogy opened the floodgate of LGBT representations in theatre, film, and television with its universal themes of self-acceptance, family, and equality.

Tom Wingfield opens Tennessee William’s haunting memory play with this admonition: “Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you the illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.” What follows in this stunning production is a sometimes surreal, always emotionally devastating remembrance of a broken family teetering on the edges of disillusion and the hope of salvation.

What did our critic think of FUNNY GIRL at Orpheum Theatre?

What did our critic think of BITCH SLAP! at SF Oasis?

Stuart Ross’ 1989 jukebox homage to boy bands of the 1950’s is a pleasant whiff of nostalgia sure to remove you from the stress of today’s less naïve and chaotic present. Forever Plaid follows The Plaids, a youthful quartet with stardom in their eyes killed in a car accident in 1964. Like the baseball players in Field of Dreams, they return to perform one final concert and we’re here to bear witness.

There was a considerable buzz of excitement at the West Coast premiere of Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop. Could the musical live up to the hype generated by its eleven Tony nominations and wins for Best Musical and Best Book? That would be a hell yes! Right from the opening number “Intermission Song,” A Strange Loop bursts with a kinetic energy and excitement not felt since Hamilton blew my mind.