by Charles Kruger L. Peter Callender is an actor of remarkable range. Equally at home in Shaw or Shakespeare, August Wilson or Annie Baker, he can convince in roles as disparate as the Victorian Colonel Pickering in Shaw’s “Pygmalion” or a proud native African at the time of the colonizing of Zimbabwe during the late […]
by Charles Kruger “The Marriage of Figaro” is as perfect an example of comic opera as can be imagined. From its first performance in Vienna on the 1st of May, 1786, it has been recognized as a work of unparalleled genius. And why not? It’s Mozart at his very best, based on a marvelously farcical […]
by Charles Kruger This Sunday, Bay Area Cabaret will open its 16th season with a one-night-only appearance by tap dancer extraordinaire and Tony nominee Maurice Hines. Still tapping in his 8th decade, Hines (and his family) are the stuff of show business legend. He began performing professionally as a tap dancer at the age of […]
by Charles Kruger No doubt about it: “Dance Nation” is an extraordinary play and people will talk about it. In ten years of reviewing theatre in the Bay Area, seeing as many as 60 to 80 shows each year, I have never seen a production that has elicited such strong visceral reactions as “Dance Nation.” […]
by Charles Kruger Marlene is a successful young executive, moving up in the world, past her male competition, and as happy as a clam. She is charming, smart, charismatic, decent, and considerate. Or is she, really, quite as she seems? Churchill’s play is feminist in tone, but it is unusual in its exploration not only […]
by Charles Kruger Playwright Megan Cohen and co-developer/director Ariel Craft have reconsidered a naturalistic classic (Strindberg’s “Miss Julie”) with spectacular results. Strindberg’s “Miss Julie,” is recognized as a masterpiece, and often considered, along with Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler,” to be one of the most important plays of the late 19th century, a time when writers were […]
by Charles Kruger Tenor Pene Pati has been compared by many critics to Luciano Pavarotti. Does he deserve it? Yes. Very definitely yes. And another point: Pati is a very large man. Can he be convincing as Romeo? Again, as Pati possesses an emotional range and passion as impressive as his physique, the answer is […]
