KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Head Over Heels” a new musical in its pre-Broadway run, at the Curran through May 6, 2018.
Bay Area Theater
A podcast of theater reviews by Richard Wolinsky that air on KPFA’s Up Front, Arts-Waves and Talkies programs, plus additional unaired reviews by Richard Wolinsky and C.S. Soong. Also: interviews with Bay Area artistic directors, as well as performers, playwrights, directors and others in the local theatrical industry.
Michael Mayer, director of the musical “Head over Heels” at the Curran, is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky. Michael Mayer has been nominated for a Tony Award several times, and won Best Director for “Spring Awakening.” He talks about the new show, as well as his career, in this wide-ranging discussion.
Jessica Hagedorn, playwright of “The Gangster of Love,” based on her novel of the same name, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky. “The Gangster of Love” has its world premiere at the Magic in San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center, April 11 – May 6, 2018.
KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “The Effect” by Lucy Prebble, directed by Bill English, at San Francisco Playhouse through April 26, 2018. SF Playhouse website
KPFA’s theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Saturday Night,” the first musical by Stephen Sondheim, in its Bay Area premiere, at the Gateway (Eureka) Theatre in San Francisco through April 15, 2018.
Rachel York is in San Francisco as a member of the ensemble of the musical “Head Over Heels!” which has its pre-Broadway try-out at the Curran from April 10th through May 6th, with a Broadway previews scheduled for June 23rd. She has previously been seen on Broadway in “City of Angels, “Les Miserables,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and several other shows. Richard Wolinsky speaks breifly with Rachel York about her career, about the Me Too movement, and about her latest project.
KPFA associate theatre critic C.S. Soong reviews “Iron Shoes,” created by Janet Kutulas, Michelle Carter, and Erika Chong Shuch, at Shotgun Players’ Ashby Stage in Berkeley through May 6, 2018.
KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Heisenberg” by Simon Stephens, at ACT’s Geary Theatre through April 8, 2018. ACT website
Richard Fouts is the playwright and Suze Allen the director of “The Birthday Lottery,” at Z Space in San Francisco, March 29th through April 1st. The play concerns the first Vietnam draft lottery of students in 1969, and is set in a fraternity house as the numbers are being called. Those with low numbers will no longer have student deferments; those with high numbers will be free of the draft. The Nixon era lottery, created to even the playing field, took the anti-war movement to new heights. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky
KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “A Number” by Caryl Churchill, directed by Barbara Damashek, at Aurora’s Harry’s Upstage theatre in Berkeley through April 22, 2018.