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Continue reading →: Review: Hale’s charm not enough for confounding ‘Wakey, Wakey’ at A.C.T.There will certainly be a group of audience members who will attend American Conservatory Theater’s production of “Wakey, Wakey” and heap it with praise. The production is loaded with quirky charm, a dashing performance from its star that showcases a delectable range of emotion while throwing non sequiturs around like…
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Continue reading →: Review: The good and bad of theatre relationships in City Lights’ ‘Stage Kiss’Poor, poor Kevin. The hapless everyman functions plenty in Sarah Ruhl’s “Stage Kiss,” now running at City Lights Theater Company. He’s a dude who’s always there when you need him, ready to dive into an audition as a loyal scene partner and even holds an advanced degree in stage combat.…
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Continue reading →: Review: Golabek captivates in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s ‘Pianist of Willesden Lane’Everything Mona Golabek does on the stage is methodical. The ebony and ivory keys that encompass the grand Steinway sit silent, resting, while Golabek presents herself downstage to an eager audience at the onset of her solo show. Her presence is measured, a woman of calm and warmth, exuding a…
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Continue reading →: Golabek’s family history through music returns to the Bay Area in ‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’ at TheatreWorks Silicon ValleyMona Golabek received piano instructions from her mother, Lisa Jura, as a small child, but learning to play was only a fraction of the lessons she learned as she sat in front of the 88 keys. From a piano standpoint, those early lessons led to an incredible career as an…
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Continue reading →: Wrapping up the final year of the decade, and the Drama Guy’s Top 10 of ’19The final year of the decade was another strong one for Bay Area theatre. Some incredibly significant milestones took place in 2019, and the start of a new decade will hopefully be a continuation of a more rich and diverse American theatre. What is especially encouraging is that so many…
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Continue reading →: NYC Review Roundup: Scintillating ‘Slave Play,’ the cruel world of Hades and sexy ‘Oklahoma!’I was in New York in November for the annual American Theatre Critics Association conference, where I saw six shows in three days, a mix of Broadway and off-Broadway. The following are my capsule reviews from those shows. Oklahoma! Circle in the Square Theatre, 1633 Broadway at 50th Tony Awards…
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Continue reading →: Review: Poetic justice abounds in brilliant ‘Becky Nurse of Salem’ at Berkeley RepAnyone who has analyzed the amazing, powerful and critical piece of theatre known as Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” can articulate what it’s truly about. You have John Proctor, a man full of virtue who had a “slight” transgression with a teenage girl, an evil wench who has now fallen in…
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Continue reading →: Review: Broadway San Jose’s ‘Waitress’ is a little slice of heaven.There is something so incredibly appealing about a perfectly crafted slice of pie. For Jenna, it is her life’s work, a tradition borne of a mother stuck in an abusive relationship. While both Jenna and her mother have had their struggles in affairs of the heart, they were savants of…
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Continue reading →: Review: CMTSJ’s strong ‘Matilda’ flies through the imaginationYoung Matilda is a bit like Kevin McAllister from the hit 1990 holiday film “Home Alone.” She is the smartest person in the room, unflappable, loaded with presence and in control at all times in circumstances that would crush other mortals. She also possesses a fun sense of revenge; her…
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Continue reading →: Review: A longer summer is needed for Broadway San Francisco’s ‘Summer’It seems a bit odd to advocate for a play’s run time to be longer. Yet for as many things that Donna Summer’s musical does well, one of the show’s biggest faults is how it doesn’t delve deep into a very interesting life, a woman who cut her teeth in…
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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