Martyna Majok’s Profane, Poetic Play Explores Loss & Redemption by K. Marguerite Caronna Emilie Whelan skillfully conducts a quartet of talented actors in a play of consummate humanity in Oakland Theater Project’s production of Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Cost of Living.” Each character has their own distinct melody of longing. Good hearted but…
Finn & Lapine’s Revolutionary Musical Still Charms by Lynne Stevens The Jewish American tradition is rich with humor, melodrama, and heart. “Falsettos,” the enduring musical by William Finn and James Lapine bursts with energy and tells the truth about a 1980s New York Jewish family at the cusp of changing times. This peppy non-stop…
Finn & Lapine Still Singing High & Proud by Jesse Antin In 42nd Street Moon’s outstanding new production of “Falsettos,” the characters’ futures becomes our past, offering a retrospective that’s both satisfying and heartbreaking. Set in 1979, the sung-through musical braids themes that still simmer: sexual identity, the chosen family, feminism, Judaism, and global…
Gary Graves Slams Gilded Age Excesses by Robert M. Gardner As Boss McGreedy, Michael Ray Wisely takes Berkeley by storm in Gary Graves’ modern morality play. Playing a Gilded Age Boss, Wisely masterfully depicts Trumpian politics and style. He’s boisterous, arrogant, and cruel—sporting flamboyant hair and ostentatious fashions. Boss McGreedy reminds us of the…