San Francisco Theater Reviews

Review: BEING ALIVE: A SONDHEIM CELEBRATION at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
by Steve Murray - June 10, 2024

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 Di...

Review: GHOST OF KING at Oakland Theater Project
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - June 09, 2024

Captivating from start to finish, GHOST OF KING brings the power of MLK’s words to life. Whether you are familiar with King’s speeches and sermons or not, the show provides all you need to understand the dilemma at hand. In a time where MLK is memorialized on street corners nationwide and with an an...

Review: COMPANY at Orpheum Theatre
by Steve Murray - June 09, 2024

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 mirrorin...

Review: DOUBT: A PARABLE at Altarena Playhouse
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - June 03, 2024

One thing is for sure, Altarena Playhouse has a hit on its hands with DOUBT. Thoughtful, engaging, and provocative, the show is a masterpiece of details. In a world where some things should be black and white, DOUBT plants the tiniest seed of uncertainty that grows to envelope the entire story. You’...

Review: EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE at Ray Of Light Theatre
by Steve Murray - June 03, 2024

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 th...

Review: THE LEHMAN TRILOGY at American Conservatory Theatre
by Steve Murray - May 30, 2024

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 hi...

Review: CABARET at Center Rep
by Steve Murray - May 29, 2024

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 conf...

Review: HEAD OVER HEELS at Berkeley Playhouse
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - May 29, 2024

HEAD OVER HEELS finds its beat and makes its way into your heart. Melding classic Go-Go tunes with ancient mythology, the show makes the old new and the new timeless. From feathers and corsets to sheep and snakes, HEAD OVER HEELS is more than a celebration of diversity, it is a celebration of life. ...

Review: TICK, TICK...BOOM! at New Conservatory Theatre Center
by Steve Murray - May 24, 2024

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

Review: GALILEO At Berkeley Repertory Theatre
by Steve Murray - May 16, 2024

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

Review: TORCH SONG at Marin Theatre
by Steve Murray - May 15, 2024

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, fam...

Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE at SF Playhouse
by Steve Murray - May 09, 2024

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 illusio...

Review: FUNNY GIRL at Orpheum Theatre
by Steve Murray - May 03, 2024

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

Review: FOREVER PLAID at 42nd Street Moon
by Steve Murray - April 26, 2024

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 baseba...

Review: A STRANGE LOOP at American Conservatory Theatre
by Steve Murray - April 25, 2024

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...

Review: TIGER STYLE! at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
by Jim Munson - April 16, 2024

What did our critic think of TIGER STYLE! at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley? BroadwayWorld reviews Mike Lew's riotous and biting comedy 'Tiger Style!' running through April 28th in Mountain View....

Review: DOS MUJERES at San Francisco Ballet
by Jim Munson - April 07, 2024

What did our critic think of DOS MUJERES at San Francisco Ballet? BroadwayWorld reviews this pairing of two very different ballets by Latina choreographers running through April 14th at the War Memorial Opera House....

Review: SWEATSHOP OVERLORD at A.C.T. Strand
by Steve Murray - April 05, 2024

It’s March 2020 and the country is shutdown by a new, mysterious virus called COVID-19. Broke, newly unemployed performance artist Kristina Wong is in full crisis mode. She’s got no audience, no kids, and no prospects, but she’s got a plan. ...

Review: NEXT@90 CURTAIN CALL at San Francisco Ballet
by Jim Munson - April 04, 2024

What did our critic think of NEXT@90 CURTAIN CALL at San Francisco Ballet? BroadwayWorld reviews this program of 3 marvelously varied dances being reprised from last year's festival of world premieres....

Review: THE PRIDE OF LIONS at Theatre Rhino
by Steve Murray - April 01, 2024

What did our critic think of THE PRIDE OF LIONS at Theatre Rhino? The trans community is saying “enough is enough.” They will not be the sacrificial lambs to hatred, bigotry, and discrimination. Roger Q. Mason’s The Pride of Lions is a story of taking action against oppression and standing up to ign...

Review: PAL JOEY at Altarena Playhouse
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - March 30, 2024

Pulled from a forgotten corner of Golden Age theater, PAL JOEY gets a new life at Altarena Playhouse. The glam and sparkle of nightclub life are on full display with daring dancers and swooning singers. With a dream ballet and dreamy costumes, the show evokes the best from the past while also exposi...

Review: San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Presents DRAG ME TO THE MOVIES! at Davies Symphony Hall
by Steve Murray - March 29, 2024

What did our critic think of SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS PRESENTS DRAG ME TO THE MOVIES! at Davies Symphony Hall?...

Review: VENETIAN EVENINGS - A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO THE FAIRMONT'S VENETIAN ROOM At Venetian Room
by Steve Murray - March 25, 2024

What did our critic think of VENETIAN EVENINGS - A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO THE FAIRMONT'S VENETIAN ROOM at Venetian Room?...

Review: THE GREAT LEAP at Center Repertory Company
by Steve Murray - March 21, 2024

What did our critic think of THE GREAT LEAP at Center Repertory Company? Center Rep tackles Playwright Lauren Yee’s basketball/cultural drama and with a well-crafted staging of her 2017 powerhouse The Great Leap. Renowned for deftly combining her San Francisco roots, Chinese culture and global polit...

Broadway Bares San Francisco To Return To 1015 Folsom
by Steve Murray - March 18, 2024

Broadway Bares SF is coming back to the city with the highly anticipated return to stage on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at 1015 Folsom. The theme for this year’s Broadway Bares/SF Strips show is FilmStrips. Featuring 60 San Francisco dancers, this year's production, promises an unforgettable evening of e...