Lily Janiak
@lilyjaniak.bsky.social
📤 1164
📥 288
📝 448
San Francisco Chronicle theater critic, wheelwoman, How can there be any sin in sincere?
CANNOT WAIT!!!! @berkeleyrep
about 6 hours ago
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Over the moon to share that Harry Davis' "Push/Pull," produced by Central Works Theater, has won the Will Glickman Award for the best play to premiere in the Bay Area in 2025. Not bad for a playwright's first professionally produced script!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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27-year-old wins the Bay Area’s highest playwriting honor
“I feel really encouraged that this is the right path for me,” Orinda resident Harry Davis told the Chronicle of his win for “Push/Pull” at Central Works.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/push-pull-glickman-award-21939073.php
about 11 hours ago
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The Chronicle's little man is leaping — not just because of joy, but also because he's just that frightened! On "Paranormal Activity" at American Conservatory Theater:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Can horror save Bay Area theater? ACT’s ‘Paranormal Activity’ makes the case
The stage adaptation of “Paranormal Activity” at San Francisco’s ACT delivers visceral scares with immersive sound and design in a crowd-charged thriller.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/paranormal-activity-act-review-21348414.php
about 14 hours ago
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What an auspicious lineup!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why ATG San Francisco’s 2026-27 season is its most promising in years
Just revealed titles for 2027 — all Tony Award winners taking place at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco — start with “Buena Vista Social Club.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/atg-sf-2026-27-21367830.php
1 day ago
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Dave Eggers' "The Eyes & The Impossible," set in Golden Gate Park, is so completely charming, and now the inventive minds of Word for Word are bringing it to the stage as part of a new program for kids and families:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Dave Eggers’ Golden Gate Park kids’ book comes to life on the San Francisco stage
Word for Word inaugurates a new family theater program with “The Eyes & the Impossible,” about a dog who lives in San Francisco’s crown jewel.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/dave-eggers-sf-theater-21338527.php
1 day ago
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There is a rare chance to see "Madame Butterfly" and "M. Butterfly" back to back right now, and if you also take it, I'd love to know what you think! On San Francisco Playhouse and Pocket Opera's latests:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: ‘M. Butterfly’ and ‘Madame Butterfly’ confront opera’s most uncomfortable fantasy
A critic weighs San Francisco Playhouse’s “M. Butterfly” against Pocket Opera’s “Madame Butterfly,” probing racism, desire and why Puccini still seduces.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/sf-playhouse-m-butterfly-21348413.php
5 days ago
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SF Playhouse!!
6 days ago
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It was such a treat to watch Jimmy Smits, Wanda De Jesús and the whole cast in rehearsal at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and I tried to play it cool during the interview. I am so excited for "All My Sons"!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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How Jimmy Smits and Wanda De Jesús are upping the stakes of an Arthur Miller classic
“In a 24-hour period, you see the disintegration of a family,” De Jesús told the Chronicle during a rehearsal break at Berkeley Rep.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/jimmy-smits-berkeley-rep-21309452.php
10 days ago
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Sometimes you get to see your heros live! Annie Rauwerda, of
@depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social
fame, is just as delightful in person as she is on social media.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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There’s a whole show about Wikipedia, and it’s delightful — and hopeful
“Depths of Wikipedia Live,” which has tour stops in the U.S. and Canada, comes at an inflection point in the 25-year-old site’s history.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/comedy/article/depths-of-wikipedia-live-21338564.php
12 days ago
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On Lamplighters Music Theatre's spring cancellation — and how it's taking steps to avoid such moves in the future.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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San Francisco’s Lamplighters Music Theatre cancels spring production, citing rising costs and AB5
Citing audience declines and AB5 costs, Lamplighters Music Theatre canceled its spring “Patience” dates in San Francisco and Mountain View but says it remains open.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/classical/article/sf-lamplighters-cancels-patience-21350789.php
12 days ago
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Let me be clear: I love love stories, and I have been known to read trashy romance novels to unwind. But not this one.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Please stop making musicals like ‘The Notebook’
Bekah Brunstetter and Ingrid Michaelson’s musical adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ blockbuster tearjerker could turn a hopeless romantic into a hater.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/notebook-review-sf-21336695.php
12 days ago
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My sleeves are machine-washable, thank goodness.
13 days ago
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RIP, James Van Der Beek, and thanks for making high school look so aspirational.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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What ‘Dawson’s Creek’ taught millennials — and why James Van Der Beek’s death hits so hard
On “Dawson’s Creek,” James Van Der Beek — who died Wednesday at 48 — and his crew were aspirational.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/james-van-der-beek-21347851.php
13 days ago
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What a team! Can't wait to see this at Berkeley Repertory Theatre next year!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Sara Bareilles, Sarah Ruhl and Michael Arden to team up at Berkeley Rep in 2027
“The Interestings” injects a jolt of life into a Bay Area theater scene still characterized by cost-cutting and safe bets amid the pandemic’s long tail.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/interestings-berkeley-rep-21347318.php
13 days ago
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Before each performance of "Dear San Francisco" at Club Fugazi, audience members are asked to write valentines to the city. The show has now collected 60,000 such postcards. I read (some of) them.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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What 60,000 postcards say about loving — and surviving — San Francisco
Over and over, audience members to “Dear San Francisco” at Club Fugazi write postcards on the same theme: “The city saw me, and so I found myself.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/love-letters-dear-sf-21310142.php
15 days ago
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On Yosimar Reyes, who's Santa Clara County's first undocumented poet laureate — and the playwright of a world premiere with Teatro Visión. Has anyone ever loved his abuela as much as he does?!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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He’s a poet laureate. He’s undocumented. Now he has a world-premiere play
Teatro Vision’s “No Llegamos Aquí Solos (We Did Not Arrive Here Alone),” about an East San Jose apartment complex, is a powerful rejoinder to ICE raids.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/teatro-vision-yosimar-reyes-21299710.php
16 days ago
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Gwen C. Katz
17 days ago
Macbeth: SHIT
add a skeleton here at some point
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My fave reactions to the Dunkin' ad:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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The Dunkin’ Super Bowl ad was terrible. Here are the internet’s best reactions to it
If you’ve ever wondered what “Good Will Hunting” would look like as a sitcom, you must be the one person who directed that TV spot.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/super-bowl-dunkin-ad-21341915.php
17 days ago
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About to speak at my grad school alma mater! Afraid it’s holding up better than I am.
20 days ago
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Marissa Skudlarek
20 days ago
Oh my god: not only did the pandemic kill my "Cyrano" production at Cutting Ball & then the theater itself, now its website has been taken over by AI gibberish and if you google "Cyrano Cutting Ball" you get THIS:
cuttingball.com/play/cyrano-...
add a skeleton here at some point
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This is just a weird one — and then a sad one. I guess it was inevitable that things like this would start happening? But my unimaginative little noggin just hadn't pictured it.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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An AI sports betting site took over a closed S.F. theater’s website. The results are bizarre
The hallucinations on cuttingball.com are trippy at first, then sad in their vacuousness and repetitiveness and what they might portend about local theater.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/cutting-ball-sports-betting-21336034.php
20 days ago
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Kim Kelly
22 days ago
journalists are workers who deserve to be paid fairly for our labor and I think that far too few consumers of media recognize or even care about this fact
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This one really came together in act two!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: A shaky start gives way to beauty in Marin Theatre’s ‘Cherry Orchard’
Carey Perloff’s production of the Anton Chekhov classic finally gels after intermission, and it’s glorious.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/marin-theatre-cherry-orchard-review-21325084.php
21 days ago
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Now updated with comment from Nathan Wolfe.
add a skeleton here at some point
22 days ago
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“As a storyteller primarily of heroines, I am nauseated to have even the most remote and incidental association with this awful predator,” Gunderson wrote.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Acclaimed S.F. playwright Lauren Gunderson denies any connection to Jeffrey Epstein after name appears in files
The name of Nathan Wolfe, ex-husband to the star playwright and former San Francisco resident, comes up 589 times in the latest batch of Epstein files.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/lauren-gunderson-epstein-files-21333329.php
22 days ago
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Ah, season announcement season — when the calendar hums with possibility! And TheatreWorks Silicon Valley always starts us off. Here's its 2026-27 lineup!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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TheatreWorks Silicon Valley reveals new season as it expands into new venues
The 56-year-old Bay Area company’s next season features works by Hershey Felder and Geetha Reddy, alongside vampires and cowboys, Carole King and more.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/theatreworks-silicon-valley-season-21329620.php
23 days ago
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Here's another big shakeup in SF arts leadership!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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San Francisco’s top arts official is retiring as city considers major agency merger
Ralph Remington announced he will retire this year, just days after Mayor Daniel Lurie posted a job description for an executive director of arts and culture.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/ralph-remington-retires-sfac-21329852.php
23 days ago
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When I saw that Catherine O'Hara died, I couldn't believe how many scenes of hers I instantly remembered verbatim. Thank you for being a surrogate mom to me, Tony Bravo and a whole generation of millennials:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why Catherine O’Hara’s death feels like losing a parent
The Emmy Award-winning star, who died Friday, Jan. 30, at 71, played refreshingly imperfect mothers in “Schitt’s Creek,” “Beetlejuice” and “Home Alone,” shaping her millennial fans.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/catherine-ohara-death-millennials-21324811.php
26 days ago
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This new solo show is so promising! What vocal range! What insight! What self-deprecating humor! I already want a spinoff on the cellmate character. On Berkeley Repertory Theatre's latest:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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What if Shakespeare were Black? Berkeley Rep solo show drops glorious insights
Directed by former Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Tony Taccone, Jacob Ming-Trent finds the synchronicity between different kinds of beats — hip-hop rhythms and iambic pentameter.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/how-shakespeare-saved-berkeley-review-21277740.php
27 days ago
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The parents I talked to were thrilled. The teachers were amazing. More of this, please! On Parents' Play Date, the free theater workshops Palo Alto Players are hosting for kids while their parents see a matinee:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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This Bay Area theater’s brilliant gimmick? Free childcare
Palo Alto Players is offering onsite free childcare with theater games while parents see a matinee.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/palo-alto-players-free-childcare-21277736.php
28 days ago
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Yay Berkeley Rep !
28 days ago
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Fingers crossed that this works out! On TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s (hopefully) next venue:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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TheatreWorks partners with Palo Alto on new potential venue
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is partnering with the city of Palo Alto on a new venue — and it’s at a familiar location.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/theatreworks-cubberley-palo-alto-21319936.php
28 days ago
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The merger of San Francisco's three municipal arts agencies took a big step forward this morning with the posting of a job description for our first executive director of arts and culture, which will oversee GFTA, the SFAC and the SF Film Commission:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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This new $268K job will oversee all of San Francisco’s major arts agencies
San Francisco is hiring a new executive director of arts and culture to lead its merged arts agencies, a powerful role reporting directly to Mayor Daniel Lurie.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/sf-arts-culture-job-21318857.php
29 days ago
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New name, evolving game.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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BroadwaySF has a new name. Here’s what it means
The rebrand to ATG San Francisco reflects a desire to focus less on Broadway and more on tribute concerts, stand-up comedy and other one-off events.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/broadwaysf-atg-san-francisco-21318412.php
29 days ago
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The list grows.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Philip Glass withdraws from Kennedy Center, leaving S.F. Ballet increasingly isolated
Glass’ Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” had been set to premiere in June to honor the center’s 50th anniversary.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/classical/article/philip-glass-kennedy-center-21317951.php
30 days ago
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My fellow classics fans, this is one to go see. Seriously, at intermission I was like, wait, there's a rest-of-the-world outside this play?!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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This ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ doesn’t ask for your attention — it takes it
ACT’s “Streetcar Named Desire” uses radical minimalism and immersive staging to make Tennessee Williams’ tragedy feel newly dangerous.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/act-streetcar-review-21267112.php
about 1 month ago
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Seated ONSTAGE at American Conservatory Theater!!!
about 1 month ago
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This is such a sad state of affairs, and my pollyannaish self hopes that everyone's love of CounterPulse will eventually see it through. On layoffs, dire finances and a revolving door of leadership at a beloved Tenderloin company:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Can a radical arts space survive a labor fight? Inside CounterPulse’s uncertain future
A beloved San Francisco experimental arts space faces financial strain, leadership collapse and labor conflict, raising questions about survival for small arts groups in the Bay Area.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/counterpulse-sf-uncertain-future-21293426.php
about 1 month ago
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This is not a drill!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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‘Oh, Mary!’ is coming to San Francisco. Here’s what we know
Cole Escola’s uproarious, Tony Award-winning show envisions Mary Todd Lincoln as a ravenous, scheming, bullying alcoholic.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/oh-mary-san-francisco-21307036.php
about 1 month ago
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A North Bay trip with
@briancoyne.bsky.social
: Day 1: Santa Rosa ➡️ Geyserville via Fitch Mountain, Cloverdale and the Geysers, 75 miles Day 2: Geyserville ➡️ Winters via Jimtown, Calistoga, St. Helena and Lake Berryessa, 78 miles Day 3: Winters ➡️ Vallejo via Pleasants Valley and Cantelow, 49 miles
about 1 month ago
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I'd really love to see what new satirical musical the "South Park" creators might come up with in 2026. For now, on "The Book of Mormon":
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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‘Book of Mormon’ still slaps — but at whose expense?
It’s unfortunate to sit in the Orpheum Theatre and feel the musical’s comic attack blunted by its commandeering of Ugandan villagers as pawns.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/book-of-mormon-2026-review-21267103.php
about 1 month ago
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I don't usually write about dance, but with San Francisco Ballet's gala, I had thoughts!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why S.F. Ballet’s gala was anticipatory obedience
OPINION: Patriotism should challenge power, not flatter it. San Francisco Ballet’s “Stars and Stripes” shows what happens when it doesn’t.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/dance/article/sf-ballet-anticipatory-obedience-21297494.php
about 1 month ago
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"On Day One, Matthew asks our group a very simple question: What is something you’d like the group to know about you that might not be visible to them?"
www.americantheatre.org/2026/01/05/f...
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Facial Recognition, With a Difference: How ‘Wonder’ Sees the Invisible
The author of a new musical based on a book about facial difference writes about how the show took its unique shape and gathered its like-minded team.
https://www.americantheatre.org/2026/01/05/facial-recognition-with-a-difference-how-wonder-sees-the-invisible/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
about 1 month ago
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“Director Susi Damilano shows how attending theater can be as grounding and clarifying as going for a walk in the forest and taking a deep breath.” So glad I very belatedly caught “Into the Woods” at San Francisco Playhouse!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why S.F. Playhouse’s ‘Into the Woods’ is so much more than escapism
Susi Damilano’s production shows how attending theater can be as grounding and clarifying as going for a walk in the forest and taking a deep breath.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/sf-playhouse-into-the-woods-21270473.php
about 2 months ago
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When Tony, Joy and I first started reporting this timeline of SF Oasis' history, back in October, we thought counting down to NYE would be a way to say goodbye. But sometimes your wildest dreams come true, and you get to reframe a sad story into a happy one.
www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
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From tears to triumph: A timeline of S.F. drag club Oasis
Oasis’ whole history — partner changes, death, the financial losses from the pandemic closures and slow San Francisco nightlife recovery — has been whiplash-inducing.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2025/timeline-oasis/
about 2 months ago
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Earlier this year, S.F. actor Radhika Rao told me she was getting theater work from an usual source: an AI company. That made me wonder: How else could theater artists (and other artists!) work inside an industry that often seems hostile to ours?
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Can theater artists work inside the AI industry?
Cross-pollination between theater and AI is not yet widespread. But a few early partnerships point to what might be.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/theater-artists-ai-industry-21223645.php
2 months ago
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Us, too, inflatable man. Us, too.
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2 months ago
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My mind is BLOWN. The Curran has a new owner, and it's... the San Francisco Giants?!?!? As a theater critic, I never thought I'd be texting with the owner of an MLB team, but there you go!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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San Francisco Giants buys the Curran Theatre
Speaking to the Chronicle by phone, Giants President and CEO Larry Baer said, “We’re in the live entertainment business.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/sf-giants-curran-theatre-21250725.php
2 months ago
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The former leader of Berkeley's Aurora Theatre is now running — wait for it! — a movie theater! The transition comes as both art forms, for all their differences, share a struggle: getting butts in seats.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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This former stage director’s next act? Running a movie theater
Josh Costello, the former artistic director of the now-defunct Aurora Theatre Company, admitted he was initially skeptical about running the Lark Theater in Marin County.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/josh-costello-lark-theater-21243811.php
2 months ago
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Honored to amplify the story of Brian Copeland's relationship with Rob Reiner and his family. A great way to judge someone's character is how they treat someone with less clout when no one else is watching.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Want to know what Rob Reiner was really like? Ask this Bay Area actor
San Leandro comedian, radio host and novelist Brian Copeland has known Rob Reiner for more than two decades. “If you want to know what he was like, think of the nicest person you ever met.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/brian-copeland-rob-reiner-21246591.php
2 months ago
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