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Continue reading →: Review: Uneven ‘Imaginary Comforts’ advocates for the story
One of the few Jewish funerals I have attended, it was easy to be intoxicated by the power of the rabbi. From what I gathered, the rabbi’s job is twofold – to share whimsical and warm tales of the deceased and to bring forth a spiritual peace and calm to…
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Continue reading →: Review: ‘The Little Mermaid’ full of warmth and humanity at Broadway San Jose
Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” the latest production that is spending this week at Broadway San Jose, is not a show I would fit into my personal demographic. But as someone who remembers the return of the full length animated feature, cartoons that felt like Broadway musicals, I can certainly appreciate…
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Continue reading →: Review: Berkeley Rep’s ‘Ain’t Too Proud’ is loaded with ferocity and heart
My paternal grandfather was a legend in the Oakland flea market community. When I was a kid of nine, he and I would take off every Sunday morning to hunt down the latest bargains, and we’d usually finish off our jaunts at Talk of the Town on International Boulevard in…
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Continue reading →: African-American Shakes is having a late summer Midsummer Carnival
There are plenty of significant marriages that are being worked out in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” And for San Francisco’s African-American Shakespeare Company, the marriage of the show’s plot with its concept might be the funnest wedding of all. The zany story of fantastical fairies, unrequited love and…
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Continue reading →: Kingston navigates new territory in Opera San Jose’s ‘Cosi fan tutte’
When she was first presented with the opportunity, Amanda Kingston had her reservations about singing the role of Fiordiligi in the Opera San Jose production of opera buffa “Cosi fan tutte.” It wasn’t that she disliked the music. After all, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart premiered the opera in 1790, only a…
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Continue reading →: Review: TheatreWorks provides a dose of musical manga magic
It does not take a long time to realize how joyful it is to be an immigrant in the TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s wonderful world premiere musical “The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga,” running through August 6th in Palo Alto. Four young Japanese men enter the stage, dancing and prancing…
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Continue reading →: McDaniel taps into all types of creativity as Farquaad in Foothill’s ‘Shrek’
It is completely accurate to say that Joey McDaniel has a thirst for many things. A man of varied tastes, McDaniel spends much of his time at his place of employment, Electronic Arts in Redwood City. He also enjoys a good beer, and runs a blog with his wife Jen…
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Continue reading →: Review: The power of Berkeley Rep’s ‘An Octoroon’ is its duality of emotion
One of the most compelling moments in a play full of them takes place early between two playwrights in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s production of “An Octoroon.” One is the 19th century playwright Dion Boucicault, a man who wrote “The Octoroon, and a man who did Black people no favors in…
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Continue reading →: Review: SHN’s ‘Curious’ a wondrous journey through a young man’s mind
Justice. It’s all Christopher wants. He wants it more than anything. And he will stop at nothing until he gets it. Christopher is not a law enforcement officer. He is not a vigilante. And he is not Liam Neeson in Taken I, II, III or X. On the way home…
David John Chávez
Bay Area theater critic/reporter, Executive Chair – American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association, Two-time Pulitzer Prize for Drama jurist (’22-’23). Follow me on socials and say hi! #hellatheatre
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