From the Bay to Broadway: Broadway shows that started in Berkeley
Joan Marcus/Courtesy
The Berkeley Repertory Theatre, located in the heart of Downtown Berkeley, has seen many productions make it to the Big Apple …
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‘Waitress’ at SHN Golden Gate Theatre satisfies sweet tooth
The act of baking a pie lends itself to pitfalls. The filling can’t be too watery; the crust can’t be overbaked; the result can’t be too sweet or too bitter. But in “Waitress,” now playing at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, the recipe is simple: sugar, butter, flour.
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‘Legend of Banbury Cross’ is quintessential fun family theater
At its best, family theater is exuberant and engaging for all family members from young to old. It avoids the saccharine or the too-obvious puns. While it is a tricky balance to maintain, this is what “Legend of Banbury Cross” brought to the Lesher Center for the Arts for a run from Oct. 11 to 13.
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Tragedies of Vietnam War crushed under miniature copter in ‘Miss Saigon’
Following, even perhaps overshadowing, the long thread of issues with “Miss Saigon” is its appraisals — the dazzling show tunes and choreography, sumptuous stage design and the undeniable technical feat of the production.
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‘1984’ lacks development needed for a gripping political drama
The play, which first premiered in the U.K. in 2013 before spreading to Broadway in 2017 and then BareStage this past weekend, progressed in much the same way, attempting to adapt the book as closely as possible for the stage.
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To all the dreams I’ve had before
Off the Beat
When I was in seventh grade, I watched ABC Family’s “Make It Or Break It” and became obsessed with gymnastics. I was convinced that I could be the next Nastia Liukin or Shawn Johnson — all I needed to do was have a few lessons and I would totally be
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Ray of Light’s ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ is an edgy rock ballad you don’t want to end
Breaking the fourth wall has never been done so seamlessly as it is in Ray of Light Theatre’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” The punk rock musical, which first gained a cult following when it opened off-Broadway in 1998, only recently gained mainstream attention in 2014 when it premiered on Broadway.
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‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’ director Desiree Akhavan talks original cut, John Hughes
What most strikes anyone watching “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is its abrupt moments of humor, given the film’s melancholy subject matter.
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Bay Area Musicals outlines the monstrosities of man in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’
Bringing such an epic tale to a small stage could easily have been an obstacle, but artistic director and choreographer Matthew McCoy uses it as an advantage to create an intimacy with the audience.
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There was little applause at the end of ‘Cabaret’ at The Refuge — but not for the reason you’d think
The greatest challenge of “Cabaret” is balancing the bold rendition with the faithful one. The Refuge’s production exists somewhere square in the middle of the spectrum.
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