Lily Janiak
@lilyjaniak.bsky.social
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San Francisco Chronicle theater critic, wheelwoman, How can there be any sin in sincere?
Two nights in a row at SF Opera !!!
3 days ago
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The touring cast of "Stereophonic" wasn't going to perform in the Bay Area without visiting the Sausalito studio where their show is set â and where Fleetwood Mac recorded "Rumours." On Monday, 2025 met 1976 in a totally surreal, beautifully fluid way.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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The âStereophonicâ cast visited Fleetwood Macâs studio. Hereâs what it was like
The touring cast of David Adjmiâs Tony Award-winning play took a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to 2200 Studios, formerly known as the Record Plant, where Fleetwood Mac recorded âRumours.â
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/stereophonic-record-plant-sausalito-21158218.php
4 days ago
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It's not every opening night that gets interrupted by a fire alarm. On Actors' Reading Collective's "Mary Jane":
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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âMary Janeâ review: A real fire alarm echoes the playâs constant sense of crisis
As Republicans block Affordable Care Act subsidies, Amy Herzogâs âMary Janeâ spotlights the human cost of Americaâs broken health care system.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/mary-jane-fire-alarm-review-21146629.php
8 days ago
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This one didnât work for me, but I hope it finds its audience.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: TheatreWorksâ âA Driving Beatâ breaks down on the roadside
TheatreWorksâ mother-son road trip play feels like a life skills skit at a school assembly.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/theatreworks-driving-beat-review-21138422.php
10 days ago
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Belatedly catching some TheatreWorks!
11 days ago
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I love plays about great big horrible family secrets. On "The Hills of California" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: In âThe Hills of California,â four sisters harmonize â and scream â beautifully
Jez Butterworthâs play at Berkeley Repertory Theatre time-travels from an adolescent quartet of would-be Andrews Sisters to their jaundiced older selves.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/hills-of-california-review-berkeley-21138410.php
11 days ago
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Claire Willett
13 days ago
in my heart I know that Lin-Manuel Miranda wants to play Zohran Mamdani on SNL so bad it physically hurts him
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As a former wannabe Andrews Sister myself, I am jazzed for Berkeley Repâs latest!
12 days ago
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Very grateful to have experienced this work of theater by these artists. On Marin Theatre's "Sally & Tom," which shows how art can set free:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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âSally & Tomâ at Marin Theatre frees Sally Hemings of Thomas Jefferson
Suzan-Lori Parksâ backstage drama follows the making of a play-within-a-play about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/sally-tom-marin-theatre-review-21138400.php
13 days ago
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Big night at Marin Theatre! My feature on the show at the link in bio.
13 days ago
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We donât often get to see Broadway tours like this one. On âStereophonicâ:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Wonder what it was like when Fleetwood Mac recorded âRumoursâ? âStereophonicâ captures that chaos brilliantly
David Adjmiâs play, in an American Conservatory Theater and BroadwaySF presentation, is as intricate as a Bosch painting and musically satisfying as a Bach invention.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/broadwaysf-stereophonic-curran-review-21073947.php
18 days ago
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Finally!
18 days ago
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Eight years ago, the play "Thomas and Sally," about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, upended the Bay Area theater community. Now the same theater is mounting a very different play about those same two characters. Can it help us heal?
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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A Sally Hemings play nearly broke this Bay Area theater. Now itâs mounting another one
Marin Theatre Executive Artistic Director Lance Gardner is adamant that Suzan-Lori Parksâ âSally & Tomâ is not a response to Thomas Bradshawâs much-maligned âThomas and Sally.â
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/sally-and-tom-marin-theatre-21114940.php
19 days ago
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No offense to my brother, but this play made me wish I had a sister. Yes, Sosan and Nadia are ruthless with each other, but still. On Golden Thread Productions and Z Space's latest:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: âPilgrimageâ portrays Muslim women with the complexity they deserve
Golden Thread Productions and Z Space are billing the script as the first world premiere co-written by an Afghan American woman in the United States.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/pilgrimage-sf-muslim-review-21073934.php
21 days ago
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In the round at Z Space for Golden Thread !
21 days ago
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I needed to see this show. Maybe you do, too.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why âSuffsâ looks just like Trump protests at the East Bay Coast Guard base
Shaina Taubâs Tony Award-winning musical âSuffsâ parallels modern protests, linking the suffrage struggle to Trump-era activism in the Bay Area and beyond.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/suffs-broadwaysf-review-protests-21073924.php
25 days ago
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How do you look as good as Fleetwood Mac when you have only a few weeks to rehearse? On the touring cast of "Stereophonic," in BroadwaySF and ACT performances beginning next week!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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These âStereophonicâ actors had one concert to get as good as Fleetwood Mac
When David Adjmiâs Tony Award-winning play tours to the Curran, its cast members are supposed to play together like a band that could record a rock masterpiece.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/stereophonic-fleetwood-mac-concert-21089630.php
25 days ago
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In January Berkeley Rep unveiled artwork for "The The Thing About Jellyfish" with an AI credit. Since then I've talked to artists and designers who love it as a tool, who use it as a spur, who loathe it as a threat. Also: How do they even use it?
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Bay Area theaters are struggling. Will AI help, or hurt?
As AI encroaches on more and more stages, artists are confronting its ethical and artistic dilemmas in the Bay Area.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/ai-art-theater-artist-20421903.php
27 days ago
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Bob Calhoun
28 days ago
So much better than Sweet James!
add a skeleton here at some point
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Legend.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Anh Phoong goes from billboards to NBA uniforms
After dropping a rap music video over the summar, the tort lawyer of âSomething wrong? Call Anh Phoongâ fame is now advertising on Sacramento Kingsâ uniforms.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/anh-phoong-kings-jerseys-21112113.php
28 days ago
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The journalist Ida B. Wells is a character in "Suffs," and she has descendants â one of whom lives in the Bay Area. I got to talk to two of her heirs about what it was like to grow up with her legacy and crusading for justice in their own ways, on their own terms.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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âI was hereâ: Ida B. Wellsâ family still feels her fight against erasure â and âSuffsâ shows why
Family legacy is complicated for the descendants of Ida B. Wells, in a way that only underlines the message of Shaina Taubâs musical âSuff,â touring to BroadwaySFâs Orpheum Theatre.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/ida-b-wells-broadwaysf-suffs-21104513.php
28 days ago
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For any Bay Area theater fans reading âLin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist,â Daniel Pollack-Pelzner has planted a jaw-dropping Easter egg. My marginalia? OFF THE CHARTS.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Before âHamilton,â Lin-Manuel Miranda had a college crush on this Bay Area theater director
Lin-Manuel Mirandaâs college days with S.F. director M. Graham Smith is only one morsel in a new biography packed with revelations and insights that should make musical theater nerds squeal.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/lin-manuel-miranda-biography-21094813.php
about 1 month ago
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It's pretty badass to still be writing plays at 87. On Ishmael Reed, the vile Disney movie "Song of the South" and Reed's new play âThe Amanuensis,â now in a staged reading:
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Disney buried its racist âSong of the South.â Now an Oakland playwright is digging it back up
In âThe Amanuensis,â the prolific satirist Ishmael Reed takes on dreck from the Disney vault and its equally racist back story.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/disney-ishmael-reed-amanuensis-21101123.php
about 1 month ago
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I knew there would be contemporary parallels, but I don't think I anticipated quite so many. Theatre Lunatico's show is required viewing for every AI proponent or apologist. The rest of us can just savor those scrumptious Gothic thrills this Halloween.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why âFrankensteinâ gets AI better than Silicon Valley ever will
Theatre Lunaticoâs adaptation of Mary Shelleyâs novel seems tailor made for our artificial intelligence era.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/theatre-lunatico-frankenstein-review-21073913.php
about 1 month ago
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Tell the aspiring arts journalists in your life: the Chronicle is hiring a Datebook intern for next summer! Application deadline: Nov. 3.
eevd.fa.us6.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
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Datebook Intern, Summer 2026
The San Francisco Chronicle is seeking to create a pipeline for the next generation of arts journalists. The position will be based with Datebook, our guide to arts, entertainment and culture in the B...
https://eevd.fa.us6.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_15/job/2025262?keyword=datebook&mode=location
about 1 month ago
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I love shows that clean me out and hang me out to dry. On Word for Word:
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Word for Wordâs latest will leave you an emotional wreck â in the best way
âHard Times: Appalachian Stories by Ron Rashâ exposes in real time how soft men harden.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/word-for-word-hard-times-21073901.php
about 1 month ago
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I am READY for some Word for Word at Z Space!
about 1 month ago
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Most potent rendition of "I'm Going Home" from "Rocky Horror" I will ever see in my life. On SF Oasis and Ray of Light Theatre's latest as Oasis' long goodbye begins.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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A âRocky Horrorâ so good you might cry: Oasisâ send-off begins
Ray of Light Theatre and Oasis Artsâ production of âThe Rocky Horror Showâ helps usher the queer nightclub out the way it came in.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/rocky-horror-oasis-sf-closure-21073894.php
about 1 month ago
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I'm that weird person who rewatched "Gilmore Girls" in anticipation of its 25th anniversary this week, curious about its secret sauce and why it still means so much to so many. Herein are a theory or two. What are yours, fellow fans?
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why âGilmore Girlsâ still works, 25 years later
âGilmore Girlsâ fans still swoon over Luke and Lorelaiâs unresolved romance, but that unspoken passion hid a deeper love story at the heart of the show.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/gilmore-girls-lorelai-luke-21088653.php
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Peter Hartlaub
about 1 month ago
"This exists in San Francisco?" That will be your mantra on the city's new perimeter trail â a path filled with good dogs, great sandwiches, art everywhere, and a reassuring number of public restrooms. I covered it all by bike. Here are the highlights: đŽââïž đ â€ïž
www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
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An epic walk around San Francisco: Highlights of the 38-mile Roundabout Trail
Where to stop on San Francisco's new perimeter trail, including Heron Head Park, Cayuga Playground and more under-the-radar city treasures.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2025/roundabout-sf-perimeter-trail-hike/
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reposted by
Lily Janiak
Emily Nussbaum
about 1 month ago
Terrific, complex piece by
@jasonzinoman.bsky.social
about the Riyadh Comedy Festival:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/a...
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Why Arguments About Free Speech Donât Apply to the Riyadh Comedy Festival
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/arts/television/riyadh-comedy-festival-free-speech.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
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In case it's not obvious, my time working at NCTC made me revere Ed Decker, and now that he's retiring, he's picked a wonderful successor. 45 years in, the company's in great hands.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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For the first time in 45 years, this queer theater in S.F. has a new leader
Ed Decker is retiring from LGBTQ company New Conservatory Theatre Center, and his heir apparent has long been standing by his side.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/ed-decker-retiring-nctc-21074172.php
about 1 month ago
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Happening TONIGHT: Worried about the state of Bay Area theater? Wondering where the bright spots are, and if they're replicable? Join panelists Ted Russell, Susi Damilano and Jonathan Spector and me at Manny's for a discussion about our sector's future:
www.sfchronicle.com/events/artic...
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Chronicle Live: Where does Bay Area theater go from here?
Bay Area theater is struggling. Join Chronicle Theater Critic Lily Janiak and local experts for an evening about the state of theater and what the future could look like.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/events/article/bay-area-theater-future-21037010.php
about 1 month ago
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When a Bay Area theater does their season announcement, that means I get to have my annual chat with its artistic director, and who's more fun to talk to than Patrick Dooley, that salty sea captain at the helm of Shotgun Players?
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Shotgunâs next season brings a long-awaited return of this Bay Area auteur
Bay Area artists Mark Jackson and Erika Chong Shuch are among the writers and directors in the Berkeley theaterâs 2026 lineup.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/shotgun-players-2026-season-21081553.php
about 1 month ago
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Over the past few months, I've gotten to know 20-year-old BART busker
@markpdyson.bsky.social
after he posted on Reddit that tips from passengers saved him from homelessness.
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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âThe luckiest unlucky guyâ: 20-year-old escapes homelessness by busking at BART
A piano player has found an audience among transit riders at BART stations throughout the Bay Area.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/bart-station-piano-mark-dyson-21026831.php
about 1 month ago
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Kamala Harris is coming to the Masonic on Sunday to discuss her campaign memoir "107 Days," and here's what it felt like to read it. My review of a book that mixes cringey résumé-brandishing with legit insight:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Kamala Harrisâ memoir shows why the left keeps losing
OPINION: â107 Daysâ helps mourn Kamala Harrisâ loss and what the countryâs suffered since then, and it reminds us that our political present doesnât have to last forever, Lily Janiak...
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/107-days-kamala-harris-review-21079267.php
about 2 months ago
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I don't use words like "dazzling" lightly. But as I was in the audience for
@sfplayhouse.org
's latest, I genuinely thought, "I am dazzled." On "Noises Off":
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Dazzling âNoises Offâ at S.F. Playhouse shows that farce is our reality right now
Somehow, director Bill English sets the top of Michael Fraynâs comedy spinning and only accelerates it.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/sf-playhouse-noises-off-review-21073877.php
about 2 months ago
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Pondering what keeps us coming back to Louisa May Alcott and how stage chemistry works. On âLouisa May Alcottâs Little Womenâ at TheatreWorks:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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âLittle Womenâ paints a world as cheery as a Christmas card. Does it have to be a fantasy?
Louisa May Alcottâs novel, now in a TheatreWorks Silicon Valley world-premiere adaptation, endures in part because we want to believe the Marchâs homestead isnât a bubble.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/theatreworks-silicon-valley-little-women-20809019.php
about 2 months ago
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Getting to TheatreWorks for âLouisa May Alcottâs Little Womenâ via Tunitas Creek Road. I like to think Jo March would approve.
about 2 months ago
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Since âLes Misâ keeps making headlines, it felt like a good time to revisit the show and ask: Why does it hold special appeal to Trump? My theories herein; what are yours?
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Why Trump loves âLes MisĂ©rablesâ â and what that says about 2025
Trumpâs made the 45-year-old musical juggernaut a repeat news item. Hereâs what it might be like to see the show through his eyes.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/les-miserables-trump-2025-20809013.php
about 2 months ago
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I have long been wondering what it would be like if I took an acting class again after [redacted] years, and this story taught me that I am NOT READY! But I *am* ready for "Hexed" by Terror Vault!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Scare smarter, not harder: Pro tips from Terror Vaultâs haunted house acting workshop
In advance of âHexedâ at the Mint, Terror Vaultâs Peaches Christ and David Flower led a free scare acting workshop in San Francisco for would-be actors â and one theater critic.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/hexed-terror-vault-mint-20811251.php
about 2 months ago
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Today's must-read: Tony Bravo's story on Heklina's closet:
www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
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Inside Heklina's closet: S.F. drag icon's costumes, wigs and makeup tell her full story
Heklina shaped drag culture. After her death, her community is making sure it lasts.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2025/heklina-drag-closet/
about 2 months ago
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Little-known musical. Weâll see if it catches on!
about 2 months ago
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Ins Choi is such a star! đ€© On "Kim's Convenience" at American Conservatory Theater:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: Ins Choiâs quiet star power lights up ACTâs 'Kimâs Convenience'
In his 2011 play, which later became a TV series that Netflix picked up, Ins Choiâs unusual breed of star power lights up the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/kims-convenience-act-review-20808994.php
about 2 months ago
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A beautiful sunset for an ACT opening night!
about 2 months ago
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Always love seeing a Christopher Chen play â even when it still needs work. On Shotgun's latest:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: Christopher Chenâs âThe Motionâ is more thought experiment than play
The San Francisco native has made a career out of a kind of dramatic sleight-of-hand, but his latest, at Shotgun Players, feels like a first draft.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/shotgun-the-motion-review-20805895.php
about 2 months ago
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I got to tag along with the great Tasi Alabastro as he shot photos for an American Conservatory Theater exhibit highlighting some of San Franciscoâs immigrant small business owners. What a fabulous community engagement idea for âKimâs Convenienceâ:
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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S.F.âs immigrant small business owners share the limelight with âKimâs Convenienceâ
American Conservatory Theaterâs photo exhibit highlights the parallels between Ins Choiâs play about a Korean-Canadian impresario and the immigrant entrepreneurs of our own city.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/kims-convenience-photo-exhibit-21043709.php
2 months ago
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I would like to live inside Ray Oppenheimerâs lighting design for Crowded Fire's latest, please! On "Limp Wrist on the Lever":
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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Review: In âLimp Wrist on the Lever,â tonal whiplash blurs Crowded Fireâs bold vision
Crowded Fireâs gutsy and imaginative world premiere production about gay teens at a conversion camp crosses âLord of the Fliesâ with âAnimal Farmâ and âBut Iâm a Cheerleader.â
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/crowded-fire-limp-wrist-review-20808958.php
2 months ago
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I love living in a region where I can see the debauched indulgence of Vau de Vire Society on Friday, then the crystalline moral debate of "Dead Man Walking" on Sunday. On Jake Heggie & Terrence McNally's opera â your girl's first
@sfopera.bsky.social
review!
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
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https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/dead-man-walking-sf-opera-20805893.php
2 months ago
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First
@sfopera.bsky.social
review! Wish me luck!
2 months ago
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