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Walnut Creek Magazine

On Stage - September/October

Sep 14, 2016 03:13PM ● By Sally Hogarty

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

ON STAGE


By Sally Hogarty

 

Center Rep’s hilarious musical It Shoulda Been You is a culture clash for the ages as two families from wildly different backgrounds come together to celebrate a wedding. The event heats up when the bride’s ex-boyfriend arrives and brings the wedding to a halt throwing everyone into chaos. DETAILS: Through October 8, Lesher Center for the Arts, WC, lesherartscenter.org.

(R)Evolution is in the air at the Eugene O’Neill Festival in Danville headlined by Edward Albee’s Seascape and Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. Other festival highlights include tours of O’Neill’s historic Tao House and screenings of a documentary about the playwright who was a Nobel laureate. DETAILS: September 2-18 (Seascape), September 23 – October 2 (The Emperor Jones, villagetheatreshows.com.

Black, Muslim and outsider were the labels carried by Shakespeare’s famous character Moor as he climbed the military ranks, but surviving battles abroad doesn’t begin to compare to the tragedy he will suffer at home. Cal Shakes’ artistic director Eric Ting directs a gripping and provocative interpretation of Othello as he confronts society’s fears of “the other.” DETAILS: September 14 – October 9, Bruns Amphitheater, Orinda, calshakes.org.

 An intimate dialogue between powerhouse 19th-century French novelists George Sand and Gustave Flaubert paints a stirring portrait of these two famed intellectuals as they reveal their fears, desires and wit through letters to one another. Called “a jewel from beginning to end,” Dorothy Bryant’s Dear Master is a tour de force featuring Bay Area favorites Michael Ray Wisely and Kimberly King. DETAILS: Through October 2, Aurora Theatre, Berkeley, auroratheatre.org.

 A mysterious puzzle unfolds as playwright Christopher Chen weaves a tenuous line between truth and fiction in Caught.  In collaboration with the Xiong Gallery, Chen tells of a legendary Chinese dissident jailed over a work of art.  Throughout this intriguing tale, nothing is as it first appears. DETAILS: Through October 2, The Ashby Stage, Berkeley, shotgunplayers.org.

 An all too real production by Berkeley Rep of Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here follows the ascent of a demagogue who becomes president of the United States. Written in 1935, a liberal, middle-class newspaper editor gets caught up in the social upheaval as the new president’s authoritarian tyranny takes hold. DETAILS: September 23 – November 6, berkeleyrep.org.

An eclectic mix of Broadway tunes, pop music, and hot Latin sounds highlight An Intimate Evening with Lucie Arnaz. The award-winning star of stage and screen, and the child of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, honors the legacy of her parents in this special performance. DETAILS: September 16-17, Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, feinsteinsatthenikko.com.

The highly-anticipated national tour of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch comes to San Francisco bringing with it a plethora of heartbreaking and wickedly funny songs. This genre-bending sensation won four 2014 Tony Awards and played to record-breaking sell-out crowds on Broadway. DETAILS: October 2 – 30, SHN Golden Gate Theatre, San Francisco, shnsf.com.

 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera returns to the Bay Area in Cameron Mackintosh’s spectacular new production. This North American tour features exciting new special effects, Tony Award-winning costumes and a cast and orchestra of 52 who make the “Music of the Night” come alive. DETAILS: September 15 – October 2, The Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose, ticketmaster.com.

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