SeptemberOther Desert Cities: A daughter's tell-all memoir threatens to rip apart the family get-together of a Hollywood star's politically divided clan in TheatreWorks' West Coast premiere of Jon Robin Baitz's recent Broadway hit. Brad Erickson's world premiere drama opens New Conservatory's season with the transborder tale of a San Diego architect's unusual efforts to bring his lover, Salvador, home from Mexico. Marin Theatre Company opens its season with the regional premiere of David Lindsay-Abaire's tough-tender class-divide drama about what happens when a desperate unemployed woman with a disabled daughter seeks help from a now-successful old flame. Mark Jackson directs English playwright Adam Peck's concentrated look at a night holed up in a barn with the iconic doomed renegade robber lovers of the Great Depression. Amy Herzog ("4000 Miles") sets truth against family loyalty when a woman learns dark secrets about her revered Marxist grandfather in Aurora Theatre's season-opening regional premiere. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. Tracy Ward directs the West Coast premiere of Monica Byrne's tough tale of four teens in 1914 in a New York girls' reformatory, creating their own religious rituals and plotting rebellion and revenge. Yvette Cason stars as Ella Fitzgerald to open Center Rep's 47th season in Jeffrey Hatcher's account of the jazz icon's life, with a plentiful helping of the songs she made famous. Kacee Clanton tears out a piece of her heart in the role of the San Francisco rock legend, written and directed by Randy Johnson who's simultaneously staging the show on Broadway with a different cast. Artistic Director Loretta Greco opens the Magic's season with the homecoming of Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-winning off-kilter homecoming drama in the theater where it was born. Director Frank Galati kicks off ACT's season with his Broadway-hit revival of Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone's Tony-winning musical about the making of the Declaration of Independence. Richard E.T. White returns to Berkeley Rep to direct its season opener, Christopher Durang's bittersweet-comic Chekhovian Broadway hit of regret and angst in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse. California Shakespeare Theater closes its season with Shakespeare's late fairy tale of fatal jealousy and magical rebirth in a reimagined staging by director Patricia McGregor and choreographer Paloma McGregor. Studium Teatralne from Poland makes its Bay Area debut with San Francisco International Arts Festival, performing its adaptation of Hannah Krall's novel about a Warsaw Ghetto woman's attempts to save her family from the Holocaust. Ray of Light Theatre ventures into bloody, creepy camp with the West Coast premiere of Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford and Lawrence Cohen's recently reworked revival of their legendary 1988 Broadway flop. Carl Lumbly, Gabriel Marin and Craig Marker star in the regional premiere of Rajiv Joseph's tale of greed and betrayal in war-torn, ghost-ridden Baghdad where a very angry deceased tiger confronts two Marines. Beautiful - The Carole King Musical: SHN opens its season with the world premiere of Carole King's first musical, the Broadway-bound tale of her life with a book by Douglas McGrath and a host of her hit songs. Lauren Gunderson ("Exit, Pursued by a Bear") takes on a certain Shakespeare classic to explore the dark edges of modern gender politics, with the help of some pharmaceuticals, in a Crowded Fire world premiere comedy. Youthful indiscretions threaten to derail a charismatic Chinese American congressional candidate, dubbed "the Republican Obama," in Kenneth Lin's political drama. Only in high school would cranky, chronically ill Caroline and basketball star Anthony be assigned to collaborate on analyzing Walt Whitman's opus about universal connectivity, "Leaves of Grass" - only there and in this world premiere by Lauren Gunderson. The first North American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage adaptation of the classic MGM musical arrives for a limited engagement, with added songs by Tim Rice and you-know-whom. Danny Scheie stars in Geoffrey Nauffts' drama of Adam and Luke, a couple in a committed relationship threatened by a tragic accident and a conflict between atheism and religion. Cutting Ball Theater delves into an absurdist romp through gender with the world premiere of Basil Kreimendahl's tale of upside-down characters exploring anatomy, transgenderism and how to get right side up. Pianist Mona Golabek performs and relates the story of her mother, a young Jewish musician fleeing the Holocaust and surviving the London Blitz, as adapted and directed by Hershey Felder. NovemberI Married an Angel: 42nd Street Moon revives Rodgers and Hart's tuneful, comic and popular 1938 musical about a wealthy banker who gets his wish to marry an angel only to discover she has an inconvenient habit of telling the truth. David Strathairn stars in Glen Berger's solo drama about an eccentric librarian traveling around the world and back in time because of a book overdue by 113 years. Cal Performances presents innovative puppeteer Basil Twist's exploration of a traditional Japanese theatrical form, using video projection, painted screens and puppetry with a shamisen score by Yumika Tanaka. The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess: SHN presents the national tour of director Diane Paulus' daring revival of the classic American musical, with George Gershwin's score somewhat pared down by Diedre L. Murray and a book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks. Tom Ross directs Samuel D. Hunter's Obie-winning comedy about a scandal-tainted fundamentalist preacher trying to reconnect with his estranged son before the Rapture hits. Cal Performances presents a sci-fi comic book brought to life as a vintage radio play with live actors, giant graphic novel artwork and Foley sound effects. Cirque du Soleil returns to the Bay Area with its latest production, a circus arts-festooned fantasy of a mysterious island governed by goddesses, directed by Diane Paulus. Margo Hall stars with the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra in the story of her music-filled childhood in Detroit and her bebop pioneer stepfather, Teddy Harris Jr. With her husband at war and tough issues to face, Sara Jane tries to find comfort in song, her piano and bourbon in the Magic Theatre's world premiere musical by playwright Victor Lodato and composer Polly Pen. Emma Rice ("The Wild Bride") returns with her latest Kneehigh adventure in inventive theatricality, exploring the ancient Cornish tale of forbidden loves, broken hearts and tender truths. The instantaneously sold-out smash hit touring musical of last season returns with its brilliantly off-color look at the funny side of missionaries. Joy Carlin directs the West Coast premiere of John Patrick Shanley's latest exploration of the politics of religion ("Doubt"), a face-off over the rent between a savvy Bronx politician and a doubt-plagued Pentecostal minister.
Reported by SFGate 1 day ago.
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