Theater in San Francisco

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 4:47pm

I'll be in San Fran next week and I was curious about their theater offerings.  I did some research, but nothing really came up.  Am I missing something, or is San Fran not really a theater town (outside of the occasional out-of-town transfer)? Maybe something outside of San Fran I should look into?

I would also be interested in recommendations for concerts (ideally indie rock or classical) while in San Fran.  I haven't been there in years and the city has suddenly become very foreign to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

 

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 4:57pm

"Heathers" has a regional premiere by Ray of Light Theatre at the Victoria Theater, across the street from the 16th St. BART Station. Very good production with some knockout performances.

I think the Book of Mormon tour will still be playing at the Orpheum.

Don't know anything about "Trouble Cometh" but the SF Playhouse does great stuff and I've not been disappointed by shows I've seen there.

ACT's excellent production of "A Little Night Music" just closed, but "Love and Information" debuts their exciting second stage on Market St.

Checked Berkeley Rep (dark right now), but Aurora Theater Company (next door - both around the corner from downtown Berkeley BART stop) has a play called "Detroit."

Don't know music.

Updated On: 6/8/15 at 04:57 PM

[Fantod]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 5:00pm

Clearly you didn't look very hard. A Little Night Music has been extended through June 21. Go see that. Trouble Cometh is at the San Francisco Playhouse, which is pretty good. One Man, Two Guvnors is playing at the Berkeley Rep and it's pretty good, though never as deliriously funny as you expect farce to be.

Updated On: 6/14/15 at 05:00 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 5:04pm

A Little Night Music is also on Goldstar. I saw it this past weekend in a fantastic mezz seat for $40 and it was totally worth it. I wouldn't call it an amazing production, but it was very good, and I'm glad I went.

BoM is playing through June 27.

I'm not a fan of Heathers, but Ray of Light is an excellent company.

I'd advise you to check out: http://www.theatrebayarea.org/ 

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 5:05pm

Thanks for the corrections. I went straight to the ticket calendar page at Berkeley Rep and it was blank. Thought it was that they were dark, not that they were sold out! 

..and I just plain forgot what day it is re ALNM!

In any event, lots of stuff to see.

Updated On: 6/8/15 at 05:05 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 5:15pm

Go to

www.theatrebayarea.org

for local regional productions

well reviewed production of grey gardens 

In sf now

addams family playing in sj now

www.theatrebythebay.org

my fair lady playing now

 

www.shnsf.com

tours of

annie

Book of mormon

Plus other shows mentioned

A little night music(great reviews)

Heathers great reviews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 4:49am

Not sure when you'll be getting here, I know you said next week, but I don't know if you'll be here by the end of the weekend or not, but Jeremy Jordan is playing a new Cabaret show at Feinstein's at the Niko Hotel from this Thursday - Sunday. After that, Faith Prince will be there next Friday and Saturday. 

Updated On: 6/9/15 at 04:49 AM

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 9:34am

Wow!  Thank you all for the information...I will definitely be catching the A.C.T production of "A Little Night Music"!  I'll be in Napa for Jeremy's performance, so sadly that's not an option.  

Anything else spring to mind, feel free to post or IM me!  

 

Thanks again!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 10:04am

There's a TKTS-like booth in Union Square, but I've never used it: http://tixbayarea.org/ 

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 11:43am

Thanks, Lizzie.  Also thank you for the Goldstar recommendation...just saved 60 bucks for premium seats!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 2:36pm

I saw the production of One Man, Two Guvnors at Berkeley Rep. If you saw the Broadway production, I'd say you can stay away from this one. The Broadway production was flawless and could never be matched by a regional production, so it naturally left me a bit disappointed. But everyone I know who has seen it at Berkeley Rep has loved it. So if you didn't see it on Broadway, I'd definitely so go for it. 

 

It's actually very easy to get from SF to Berkeley Rep on BART ("Bay Area Rapid Transit"). 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 2:45pm

You also might want to check to see if you'll be in town for one of the Mountain Play performances. The mountain play is a fun tradition where they perform a large-scale musical outdoors during the daytime on Mount Tamalpais. This year it's Peter Pan. The productions themselves are not the pinnacle of quality, but it's always a very fun theatrical experience. Bring a picnic basket and lots of water and sunscreen. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/9/15 at 3:49pm

There's also California Shakespeare Festival which is in the Hills and outdoors in Orinda - just across the Bay

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 2:18am

A Little Night Music in San Francisco

 

Exquisite production

Stellar Tony winning and nominated cast (Karen Ziemba, Dana Ivey, Emily Skinner)

and other great bway veterans-Patrick Cassidy, Laurie Veldheer, Marissa McGowan, 

ACT at their best-broadway level production values in every way....wow!

 

Im going back to see this again before it closes on june 20

 

If you live in the bay area do not miss this production!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 2:28am

"A Little Night Music in San Francisco
 
Exquisite production
Stellar Tony winning and nominated cast (Karen Ziemba, Dana Ivey, Emily Skinner)
and other great bway veterans-Patrick Cassidy, Laurie Veldheer, Marissa McGowan, 
ACT at their best-broadway level production values in every way....wow!
 
Im going back to see this again before it closes on june 20
 
If you live in the bay area do not miss this production!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 I've been wondering if I should see this, I might have to try and find a cheap ticket.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 2:31am

You can get very cheap tickets on Goldstar!

http://www.goldstar.com/events/san-francisco-ca/a-little-night-music-tickets-1

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 3:16am

"You can get very cheap tickets on Goldstar!
https://www.goldstar.com/events/san-francisco-ca/a-little-night-music-tickets-1"

 I literally just remembered that site after I posted my comment! I snagged a $33 Mezz seat for the closing night performance.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 11:04am

hey SF local board members!

 

Still buzzing from incredible A Little Night Music performance last night

just got my ticket for Heathers tonight(closes sunday)

have tickets for book of mormon tomorrow night

and going to sacramento sunday to see My Fair lady in the round(closes sunday)

 

Its a bay area musical long weekend sprint......

 

 

[de_lovely]

Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:41pm

Hi guys,

I'm moving to SF soon from the NY area, and I want to know what theater I should make sure to see.

- Should I subscribe to the Berkeley Rep? With their 50% student discount, seems like a good deal if the shows are usually good.

- I'm less interested in SHN's tours, as I saw all those shows on broadway and am only interested in seeing 1 or 2 again on tour. Do they often have student tickets or do rush for these touring productions?

- What about SF Playhouse and ACT? Worth subscribing to? And do they have student or more affordable tickets?
- And finally, is there anything like TDF for San Francisco? 

[Fantod]

Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:44pm

Definitely the San Francisco Playhouse. Not by how good their actors are, but because of the great plays they chose to produce.

I wrote an article in a local newspaper about how great they are.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:47pm

- I'm less interested in SHN's tours, as I saw all those shows on broadway and am only interested in seeing 1 or 2 again on tour. Do they often have student tickets or do rush for these touring productions? 

Most shows have a rush of some kind, but SHN tends to announce such things at the last minute. And occasionally they have ridiculous deals like when the Les Miz tour came to the Orpheum and they had "no-view" seats. They were not free. I don't remember how much they were, though.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 6/12/15 at 9:52pm

@de_lovely: These are probably your best options

A.C.T. is a LORT A, regional theater that does mixed to good work depending on the season. They certainly have the biggest budget of theaters in the area. Next season is looking promising, though.

Aurora Theater is right next door to Berkeley Rep. The quality of the productions is mixed, but definitely worth keeping on eye on every once in a while.

Berkeley Rep is definitely one of the best in the area. I would definitely encourage you to subscribe.

CalShakes is an outdoor amphitheater in Orinda. It's easily accessible by BART, then by shuttle. The productions are always usually solid, 

Magic Theatre does really good work. They are located at Fort Mason Center. Most of their plays are world premieres, west coast premieres, American Premieres -- new plays.

Marin Theatre Company is roughly 20-minutes north of San Francisco. They are a LORT D, regional theater that also does good work, too.

TheatreWorks is a LORT B, regional theater in Palo Alto/Mountain View. The also specialize is contemporary classics, new works, and musicals. The quality is inconsistent, but mostly good.

There's also Z Space which is in the mission district of San Francisco. They do not have regular season programming, but they definitely program interesting productions. San Francisco Playhouse is very inconsistent with quality. As of late, the productions have been on the weak end of the spectrum. Hope that helps!

 

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/13/15 at 12:42pm

"Most shows have a rush of some kind"

I haven't found that to be true at all. In my experience, rushes at SHN are very hit-or-miss, heavily dependent on the show's sales, the timing in the run, and the producers of the shows themselves. I can think of more SHN shows that didn't have a rush than those that did. 

 

And yes, the 50% student discount at Berkeley Rep is LOVELY. In 2013 I got a $30 front row-center ticket to see McKellen and Stewart in No Man's Land there. It can definitely be worth subscribing if you are interested in the shows, especially since you can do subscription packages, where you pick 3 or 4 of the shows. 

Updated On: 6/13/15 at 12:42 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/13/15 at 1:46pm

book of mormon first national tour is crushing it in SF

this cast could transfer en mass to broadway and go toe to toe with Gavin Creel (who ive seen and hes great) and the rest of the cast.

much better tour cast from top to bottom than what came through a year ago

 

 

if youre a bom fan in live in the bay area, catch this tour while its in SF or san jose....

 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/13/15 at 2:08pm

I saw this same tour in Philly last summer and they've improved a lot on the whole. I do wish they'd come to Broadway. I still think the second national tour (which was in SF last year and who I saw there and in Chicago this past spring) has a special energy that none of the other companies have.

JBroadway, maybe I was thinking of when SHN realizes halfway through a run that they can sell limited-view seats for cheaper? So not necessarily rush, I suppose. Bad phrasing.