Aug
16
2019
589 posts categorized "THEATRE"
Special Playbills from opening night (Images by Matthew Rettenmund)
In Sea Wall/A Life, a pair of one-man monologues directed by Carrie Cracknell that opened Thursday, Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal take turns bringing to life two unlikely men for 2019 — men with hearts, men whose brand of masculinity is not intrusive or poisonous, but is instead open and reflective. They are good guys, they are good husbands, they are good sons, and they are imperfect, which makes them even better. Their humility invites the audience to mourn the holes in their souls, created by loss, and to celebrate the dense, sensitive parts unmarred by the voids.
Sea Wall (by Simon Stephens) finds Sturridge holding listeners rapt with a story of a young dad who is happy to have not “it all,” but more than he ever dreamed. It is staged in a simplistic way that nonetheless reminded me of a spare Dalí landscape, filled with clues and foreshadowing. His performance is slightly flat, if charming, but it suits the character, who might be reciting his life's greatest tragedy from within PTSD.
Aug
05
2019
ABOVE: Sheer perfection.
Aug
04
2019
Sharon Gless embraces her fans (literally) — and always shows up. (Image via head shot)
On Sunday, August 18, the Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco) will be the setting for Help Is on the Way 25, a concert and gala that celebrates Broadway while raising money for HIV/AIDS and hunger programs.
The evening will see 95-year-old Carole Cook receive a lifetime achievement award, and features appearances by the San Francisco cast of Hamilton, Kimberley Locke, Constantine Maroulis, Sam Harris, Bruce Vilanch and more, with a duet by Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly as one of the main attractions.
Cagney & Lacey's Contributions to LGBTQ TV Representation: HERE!
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Gless, whose legacy includes the iconic shows Cagney & Lacey and Queer as Folk, was kind enough to speak with me in advance of the show, presented by the Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation, and to break a little news on the likelihood of a Queer as Folk reboot ...
Patti LuPone, pre-Pose, striking a pose for Hal Prince's Evita. (Image via Broadway Theatre)
In 2008, Hal Prince — who as a producer and/or as a director has touched most of the best musicals of Broadway's past 60 years — said:
I'm totally mindful that nobody will ever have the life I've had in the theater. That's past. And that's damn sad.
Sadly, he was not bragging. Sadder still, he was right. RIP.
Jul
25
2019
ABOVE: When “Dad” is younger than you are.
Jul
24
2019
Jul
23
2019
