Aurora Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of lauded Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson’s THE FIRST GRADE. Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Tom Ross directs this new play from Johnson, whom The Chicago Reader declared “balances gallows humor with acute insight and compassion. He creates characters so real you...

"It might get loud," says The Edge with slight smirk. And boy does it, as he tears into a processor intensive, reverb heavy riff from U2's Get On Your Boots. Although music is featured prominently in the documentary It Might Get Loud, it's really about exploring the window into the creative...

I glanced at my watch; ten minutes until the first of eight performances of Riverdance at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts was to commence. It seems a little unreal that I made it to my seat after starting my day at 4 am EST at Ottawa International...

You've seen Cinderella before, but not like this laugh-out-loud, delightful family rendition by the African-American Shakespeare Company. The famous rag-to-riches story gets a soulful makeover, taking place in the bayous of Louisiana. The traditional elements are all here—the slipper, the nasty stepsisters, the prince, and the pursuit of love and...

"Oh God, no!" A performer from the inspiring Yes Sweet Can was approaching me in the front row at last Friday's show. That's all I could say, and think. It's one of the risks of sitting close to the stage, or in the case of the intimate Dance Mission Theater at Mission...

Bee-hive yourself for the holidays. Fictious girl-group The Coverlettes dust-off their bee-hives for one more go around of 60s tunes and favorite Christmas medleys at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. It's a brisk 70 minutes of light-hearted, lounge-like entertainment with a potpourri of numbers including "He's A Rebel," "You Keep...

Now I know what a French earthquake would look like at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley. Last night when the majestic red drapes start swaying back and forth, the entire rig threatens to collapse. We hold our collective breath. Meanwhile high above, acrobatic illusionist Aurélia Thierrée scurries across matching deep...

Christmas in the Bay Area officially began last night with the opening of a spectacular staging of A Christmas Carol at A.C.T. in San Francisco. This annual tradition should not be missed. Even the most Scrooge-like of humbugs will come away with a wondrous grin. Perhaps the towering Christmas tree in Union...

Set in 1864, A Civil War Christmas is filled with so many luminous scenes and touching moments you almost forget the yuletide history lesson also enclosed in this most welcome theater gift. This is classy theater, told with elegance; it embraces our differences, celebrates this country's storied past, and weaves...