Avid theatergoers have been yearning for the curtain to rise on "The Book of Mormon" in The City since it nabbed nine Tony Awards last year, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction and Best Choreography.
The hot-ticket Broadway show, which officially embarked on its first touring production and recently wrapped its 100th performance on the road, finally opens at The Curran on Tuesday.
What's the allure?
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Playwright Shaleeha G’ntamobi’s new work about an alcoholic black mother and her slick son struggling to get out of the projects is suddenly winning accolades and being embraced by a revered theater festival.
The twist? G’ntamobi isn’t real. She only exists in the mind of gay (and white) playwright Danny Larson, who wanted to give birth to a nom-de-plume that smacked of affirmative action.
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It’s been a stellar year for Bill Connolly. He landed a role in the two-part behemoth that is “The Hobbit,” directed by Peter Jackson, and also stars alongside Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Smith in the soon-to-be-released, heartfelt romp “Quartet.”
But first, the stand-up comedian, actor and musician returns to The City for the first time in four years in “Bill Connolly: The Man Live,” which opens at Marines’ Memorial Theatre next week.
When asked what audiences can expect to experience in the show, Connolly is candid: “I have absolutely no idea.”
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Pat Dwyer and Stephen Mosher decided to make a political statement about the fact that same-sex marriage remains one of the nation’s most debated issues — so they got married in every U.S. state that allowed two men to do so.
The result of their ambitious road trip can be seen in the heartwarming “Married and Counting.” Screening at the Roxie Theater on Sunday and Nov. 14 in the 11th annual San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, the film is part social commentary and an all-out love story.
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Back in 1998, Julie Taymor became the first woman to nab a Tony Award for best direction of a musical and best costumes for the “The Lion King.” The creative beast, based on the 1994 Disney film of the same name, went on to collect a number of other awards and become the highest-grossing musical of all time.
So where do you go from there? Back to San Francisco, apparently.
The hit production last played The City in 2004, and associate director John Stefaniuk says respecting Taymor’s fascinating vision is always in the forefront of everybody’s mind.
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Comedy queen Roseanne Barr recently weathered a Comedy Central roast — but could she survive a campy reboot by San Francisco drag queens?
Two words: Bring it.
The sitcom legend turned activist is the inspiration behind Velvet Rage Productions’ festive stage romp of “Roseanne,” which opens at Rebel next week.
Two favorite “Roseanne” episodes will be “re-imagined” in two shows most Wednesdays through Nov. 14.
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Celebrated playwright-screenwriter Sheila Callaghan is offering up what is sure to be a wild ride in “Port Out, Starboard Home.” Callaghan, currently a writer on Showtime’s “Shameless,” is the brain behind a new voyage-themed show from FoolsFury, dubbed “Port Out, Starboard Home” (POSH), which opens at Z Space tonight before sailing off to New York audiences.
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Ed Decker and Robert Leone, who married each other amid 2008’s feverish Proposition 8 battles, may not have realized the potential sea-changing power of their own union when they embarked on what became an all-encompassing five-year journey to co-write a play.Now they do.Their new work, “Rights of Passage,” making its world premiere at New Conservatory Theatre Center in The City, is an intriguing civil-rights kaleidoscope.
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When Mica Sigourney gave birth to his drag alter ego VivvyAnne ForeverMORE! four years ago, few would have guessed that the self-described creative “cyclone” and “bottomless, unkempt mother of a dysfunctional gang of drag babes” would take performing — and performance art — to such unconventional heights.The performer’s latest romp, “Work MORE! #5,” ought to be quite intriguing as it unfolds in a three-night run at CounterPulse beginning Friday.
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“War Horse,” the 2011 Tony Award-winning Best Play riding into the Curran Theatre on Thursday, showcases the genius of Handspring Puppet Company.Going strong for more than three decades, the South African-based enterprise that created the show’s equine protagonist is known for bringing seemingly inanimate objects to life with a surreal grace.
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Lindsay Lohan: Misunderstood celeb or just a hot mess?
It’s the question longtime local performer D’Arcy Drollinger poses in the West Coast premiere of the comedically savage “Project Lohan,” opening today in a new San Francisco performance space called The Costume Shop.
Certainly La Lohan’s headline-grabbing, emotional downward spirals over the last few years were the inspiration for this romp.
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The new “Ballroom With a Twist” combines the vigor of “Dancing With the Stars,” the spunk of “So You Think You Can Dance” and the musical renderings of “American Idol.” The show, which has garnered good reviews on tour, opens today in The City at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre for a 12-performance run. There’s plenty of dance involved, but the outing begs the question: What’s the twist? One word: Singing. Past “American Idol” participants on board are delivering vocals.
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Back in 1985, San Francisco defeated Miami in the Super Bowl, unemployment hovered just above 7 percent and TV’s “Dynasty” was a ratings winner. But it was a major drama unfolding onstage that generated the most buzz that year, as audiences came out en masse to applaud what was destined to become the second-longest-running musical in the world: “Les Misérables.”
The 25th anniversary touring show, which was first re-imagined in 2010, hits the Orpheum Theatre this week.
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American writer-painter Henry Miller, known for his distinctly original, powerful prose in “Tropic of Cancer” and “Tropic of Capricorn,” will be in the spotlight in The City next week in what promises to be a memorable benefit for Big Sur’s Henry Miller Memorial Library.Supporting the cause is celebrated composer Philip Glass, who will grace the Warfield stage on June 25, along with singer-songwriter-harpist Joanna Newsom and violinist Tim Fain. The ever-busy Glass admits to having a full schedule this summer, but he says committing to the benefit was a no-brainer.
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