As he did when he played Destry in Wirehead, Marin creates a character that’s a bit of a nebbish, the perennial loser whose efforts are charming in their sincerity. This role might be so effective because it goes to so many of us on our better days.

“It’s so real.” she kept repeating, an echo taken up by others, as if being real made the violence preferable to other alternatives.

Perhaps the greatest compliment one can give this production of the Tony Award-winning musical is that one forgets that it's “community theatre."

Theatre that stays with you invariably has at least one actor with such compassion and understanding of his character that he completely inhabits it.

This is the great Jim Carpenter's first time on the Magic stage, and those that follow Bay Area theater know he's a stalwart icon. For that alone, this production is not to be missed.

This is a strong cast, maybe one of the strongest I've seen on the TheatreWorks stage in the past few years.

One neat trick about this new work is the decision to treat the audience as recent inductees into the SDO (or is that a cult?). I'd imagine it might be a bit like joining Scientology.

No two-dimensional cutout, Grissom’s Edna, a one-man Greek chorus in drag, is the heart of the show.

Any emotional resonance is attributable to the truly remarkable ensemble, with strong, polished performances, plus superb dancing by Alexandria Diaz de Fato.

With the outstanding support of the Vogler Quartet and virtuoso musician and arranger Stefan Malzew, this is a must-see show. Bravo!