American Theatre Critics Association | ATCA-SF17

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18, 2017

#ATCASF17 • #SUMMEROFLOVE50

Office of the Mayor

City &Office Countyof ofthe San Mayor Francisco City & County of San Francisco

Office of the Mayor

Edwin M. Lee Edwin M. Lee

Edwin M. Lee

City & County of San Francisco

GREETINGS FROM MAYOR OF SAN GREETINGS FROMTHE THE MAYOR SANFRANCISCO FRANCISCO GREETINGS FROM THEOF MAYOR On behalf of the City and County of San Francisco, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the 46th th OnOn behalf ofof the Cityand andCounty County of San Francisco, it is atopleasure tomembers welcome you to the 46 behalf the City San Francisco, I am pleased the Annual San Francisco Lesbian GayofBisexual Transgender (LGBT)welcome Pride Parade andofCelebration.

I Annual San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade and Celebration. I American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) to our City for your annual conference.

FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO amGREETINGS proud to be the Mayor of a city that has aMAYOR strong historyOF of being at the forefront of extending am proud to be the Mayor of a city that has a strong history of being at the forefront of extending civil San rights to all citizens.

Francisco is a place takes pride its diverse communities and Francisco is known San as one of the cultural leadersthat of the nation withina diverse and talented civil rights to all citizens.County San Francisco is a place that pride infrom its diverse communities th On behalf of artist the of San it and istakes a Economic pleasure welcome you to the our 46and resident community, world class museums, performance venues,to our grand symphony values equality forCity all. and This year’s theme ofFrancisco, “Forand Racial Justice” greatly reflects values equality for all.

This year’s theme of “For Racial and Economic Justice” greatly reflects our and opera houses to the many performing arts spaces, comedy clubs, cabarets and music halls.

Annual Sanhope Francisco Lesbianefforts Gay Bisexual Pride universe Parade and Celebration. continued and tireless towards Transgender the long arc (LGBT) of the moral bending towardsI continued hope and tireless the long arc of the moral bending towards am proud to be the Mayor of a efforts city thattowards has avalue strong history of as being at theuniverse forefront of extending justice.

The citizens of San Francisco understand the of live theatre a hallmark of a community’s justice. civil rights all citizens.and San Francisco a place of that takes pride in its diverse culturaltodevelopment support a broadisspectrum work, from classics to the latest communities pop culture. and values equality for all.

This year’s theme oftheatre “For Racial andthe Economic Justice” greatly reflects our We have faced a number of challenges toward achieving equality in California, and weTheater will continue We are home to two Tony Award-winning companies American Conservatory We havehope facedand a number ofefforts challenges toward achieving equality in California, and we willtowards continue continued tireless towards thebecome long of the moral universe bending to fight absolutely everyone is treated equally.

San Francisco has been a leader in the struggle anduntil the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and have aarc regular launching pad for globally to fight untilmusicals absolutely everyone is Mamma treated Mia! equally. San Francisco has been a leader in the struggle successfulequality likeover Wicked justice. for marriage for tenand years, ever since then Mayor Gavin Newsom started one of the for marriage equality for over ten years, ever since then Mayor Gavin Newsom started one of the most The important rights issues of our generation to ensure equality all.

City of civil San Francisco population through the for performing most important civil rights embraces issues of our ourdiverse generation to ensure equality for all. arts. I am pleased We have faced a number of challenges achieving equality in California, and weAmerican, will continue to acknowledge the many companies toward representing the specific experiences of our African toTofight untilPacific absolutely everyone is treated equally.

San Francisco has been a leader invisitors the struggle the many members of the LGBT community, their families, friends, colleagues and from Asian Islander, Latino, and other communities of color, as well as those focused on the To the many members of the LGBT community, their families, friends, colleagues and visitors from around the world, I wish you ayears, greatcommunity, Pridesince 2016.

MayMayor youdisabilities, enjoy wonderful, exciting, for marriage equality for over ten ever then Gavinthis Newsom started one ofand the particular perspectives of theall LGBTQ+ people with women and youth. around the world, I wish you all a great Pride 2016. May you enjoy this wonderful, exciting, and joyous celebration acceptance inclusion today in your hearts most important civilofrights issues and of our generation to and ensure equality forforever! all. joyous celebration of acceptance andSummer inclusion todaycelebration. and in your hearts Thank you for visiting us during our of Love I hope youforever! are able to sample a wide variety of the sights, sound and tastes and most importantly the arts that San Francisco has to

With warmest regards,of the LGBT community, their families, friends, colleagues and visitors from To theoffer. many members With warmest regards, around the world, I wish you all a great Pride 2016. May you enjoy this wonderful, exciting, and warmest regards, joyousWith celebration of acceptance and inclusion today and in your hearts forever!

Edwin M. Leeregards, With warmest Edwin M. Lee Mayor Mayor Edwin M. Lee

EdwinMayor M. Lee Mayor

1 DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE, ROOM 200 1SD R.FC ARLTON B. OODLETT P LACE, ROOM 200 AN RANCISCO , CG ALIFORNIA 94102-4681 RANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94102-4681 SANTFELEPHONE : (415) 554-6141 TELEPHONE: (415) 554-6141

1 DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE, ROOM 200 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94102-4681 TELEPHONE: (415) 554-6141

CHAIRMAN'S WELCOME The American Theatre Critics Association welcomes you back to San Francisco. It’s a time for celebration, camaraderie, enlightenment, education, brain storming and, of course, the opportunity to binge on theater.

We cannot ignore that since we met here thirteen years ago, our profession has and continues to navigate a profound sea change – striving to adapt to and even exploit technological and structural changes while maintaining the ethical and quality standards that ATCA has championed for 43 years. But the pleasure and promise of these gatherings is, as a singer-songwriter wrote, “You realize you’re not going crazy all alone.”

Our commitment this weekend and in the coming year is to focus on helping you and your colleagues cope with challenges we are all too intimately aware of to bother enumerating. ATCA, in fact, has been and will continue aggressively morphing into an organization that provides concrete support.

These conferences are one element. They involve a tremendous amount of work stretching back more than a year. Please thank Susan Cohn, Brad Hathaway and especially Robert Sokol who headed the committee while stepping in as our new operations manager. Also please go out of your way to thank the theaters and other supporters who have enriched this week.

You can do that substantially by writing about what you saw in theaters and on the streets.

This is a small part of what ATCA does. In the past year or so, the Executive Committee, its committee chairs and committee members have been reforming the organization to be more reflective and more responsive to the current challenges. We’ll review these efforts later this week, but among them: • Our membership has actually increased, but we plan a major membership recruitment campaign this fall that will widen our appeal to a broader spectrum of arts journalists.

• To improve communication, we’ve significantly increased postings on our website and especially Twitter about the organization, the changes in the profession and reposting reviews our members have written.

• We support scholarships to the National Critics’ Institute at the O’Neill to help develop the next generation of critics.

• With the Foundation, we ran a small, regional professional development seminar in Seattle this year, and, encouraged by that, are planning smaller shorter regional conferences to reduce the expense of travelling.

• Our election of members to the Executive Committee is now conducted online so that the entire membership has a voice, not just those who can afford to come to conferences.

• We’ve worked on issues through meetings seeking common cause about shrinking coverage with The Dramatists Guild, and speaking directly with the editors at The New York Times about recent cutbacks in theater coverage.

• We win increasing national recognition for our Steinberg/ATCA, Osborn, Primus, regional Tony and Theater Hall of Fame awards.

But these are crucial times that require your voice, your advice, your active involvement. You can help take control over your professional future and that of your colleagues as we ramp up efforts even further. This week, contact any executive committee member with your input, such as suggesting what we can do that would really help you, and what projects would you be willing to help bring to fruition.

Together, we can strive to bring about Faulkner’s sentiment that we will not merely endure, we will prevail. Your presence here is a reaffirmation that we are not going to dry up and float away, neither the profession nor ATCA.

Bill Hirschman

chairman, executive committee

2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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NOTABLE NOTES GOT QUESTIONS?

BRAD HATHAWAY 415.299.3382 SUSAN COHN 650.245.7734 ROBERT SOKOL 415.377.9323 ATCA OFFICE 415.964.8040 ATCA-SF17 is providing meals on Thursday evening, Friday lunch, Friday evening, Saturday lunch and Sunday lunch.

All breakfasts and other meals are at your own expense.

GETTING AROUND SAN FRANCISCO Several of the theatres participating in the conference are within an easy walk from the Hilton. Most of the others are a short cab or car-share ride away.

For those attending performances in Berkeley, both theatres are a short walk from a BART station (see below). Attendees will be provided with round-trip BART tickets for Friday’s trip to Cal Shakes, and a very limited number of seats in a van will be available that day only for attendees with mobility issues that would make taking the BART train difficult. Bus transportation will be provided on Sunday for the meetings and performances in Redwood City and Palo Alto. All other transportation to events is at your own expense. Dial 511 or visit 511.org for comprehensive Bay Area transit information.

San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency operates MUNI, an extensive urban transit system consisting of buses, light rail trains, our famous cable cars and beautifully restored historic streetcars. The nearest MUNI Metro (light rail) station is Powell Street Station, less than three blocks from the Hilton. Escalators serve the main station entrance, but the only elevator from the street level is located at the corner of Market and Ellis Streets. Several major bus lines pass by one side of the Hilton or another. Tickets are mandatory and may be purchased from vending machines at Powell Street Station on the concourse level (first level below Market Street). You may pay bus drivers directly using exact change. You can use the three-day pass you receive from CityPASS in your welcome bag. Details, and a smartphone app, are available at sfmta.com.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is our regional commuter rail system. The nearest station is Powell Street Station at Powell 2

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and Market, just a few blocks from the Hilton. Escalators serve the main station entrance, but the only elevator from the street level is located at the corner of Market and Ellis Streets. We will travel as a group via BART on Friday to Cal Shakes in Orinda, and tickets will be provided. BART is the least expensive means of getting to Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Downtown Berkeley Station) and Shotgun Players (Ashby Station).

Returning to San Francisco after an evening performance may require changing trains at a transfer station. bart.gov Taxicabs and Car Sharing Services: Taxis are generally always available at the O’Farrell Street main entrance to the Hilton, and all cabs run on meters. San Francisco is home to both Uber and Lyft, among other car sharing services. Both run on smartphone applications and they are generally just minutes away from the Hilton and many of the theatres nearby.

It takes a few minutes to set up the apps, so do so when you have wifi access in the hotel, prior to leaving the property. uber.com lyft.com A few words about safety. San Francisco is one of the most densely populated cities in the country, consisting of scores of unique neighborhoods. The Hilton sits at the intersection of the Theatre District, Union Square and the Tenderloin, and the street scene changes block by block. As in any urban setting it is important to be aware of your surroundings. Walk in groups, don’t wear flashy jewelry and don’t carry unnecessary items or excess cash. Keep your mobile phone and other electronics out of sight when on the street. In the event of an emergency dial 911.

As you walk around, look up!

Above the nondescript storefronts are some of the loveliest Beaux Arts buildings in the City!

AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

WELCOME TO ATCA-SF17 As I write this message, it is hard to believe that we are about to embark on an event that was a glimmer of an idea two years ago in New Orleans - on of my favorite cities other than my own. It's been a long, (and sometimes) strange trip from there to here.

So, welcome to San Francisco!

Welcome back for many of you, and welcome to the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. We're you here then? In case you forgot your tie-dye, there are some hip, happening accessories in your conference bag to help you get in the groove.

Before another word gets ink, let me bow, applaud, and pass the pipe to two extraordinary members of this conference commune: Susan Cohn and Brad Hathaway. They have been steadfast and stalwart collaborators throughout the process, offering support, wisdom, and some far out ideas. There were also ready to save me for any potentially bad trips of conference programming. Thank you so very much!

I came to San Francisco almost forty years ago by way of Manhattan. Back then I was a terrible theatre snob. If a show did not have "BROADWAY" stamped on it somewhere it couldn't possibly be any good - or so I narrowly and naively thought. Luckily, I got schooled, quickly and in the best possible way - by experience.

The Bay Area is a treasure trove of the arts, with hundreds of theaters, cabarets, comedy clubs and other fabulous and sometimes unexpected performing arts spaces. Theatre happens everywhere! We, your host committee, are particularly delighted to bring you two nights of sampler menus to put the focus on some our stellar small and mid-sized companies, and several world premieres from our deep pool of playwright talent.

I am so proud of this theatre community and I am touched by the generosity - both literal and of spirit - demonstrated by so many of its members. I came, I asked, and invariably people said yes, and then asked, "More?"

There will be a litany of gratitude expressed elsewhere in this program, but I have to call out a few exceptionally kind and gracious folks here and now: Susi Damilano, Bill English and the fantastic team at San Francisco Playhouse, Susie Falk and all the great folks at California Shakespeare Theater, and Robert Kelley, Phil Santora and company at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Without their support and that of a few select others - I'm looking at you Carla Befera, Kevin Kopjak, Sara Waugh - none of the next three days would be happening. I am honored by their trust and I cherish their friendship.

Last, I would quickly (and sadly) be single in a hurry if I did not humbly thank the bald, bearded man you will see scurrying about making a myriad of details fall into place. Ron Willis is my husband, my business partner, my better self, and the best doggie-daddy Toby could want. Everything I accomplish is thanks to him. Please help me acknowledge that.

So let's go with the flow and have an amazing ATCA-SF17!

Peace, love, freedom, happiness!

Robert Sokol

chair, host committee - atca-sf17 2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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584 Castro Street - #119 San Francisco, CA 94114 415.964.8040 americantheatrecritics.org

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Bill Hirschman, chair Brad Hathaway, vice chair Susan Cohn Charles Giuliano Lou Harry Kerry Reid Wendy Rosenfield Eddie Rubin Martha Steketee Barbara Bannon, secretary Teddie Hathaway, treasurer Robert Sokol,

operations manager

FOUNDATION ATCA

Jay Handelman, president Wendy Rosenfield vice-president Kerry Reid, treasurer Chris Rawson, secretary

Barbara Bannon Susan Cohn Ellen Foreman Charles Giuliano Lou Harry Brad Hathaway Bill Hirschman Glenn Loney Lynn Rosen Eddie Rubin Martha Steketee

americantheatre criticsassociation @theatre_critics

PRE-CONFERENCE EVENTS TUESDAY • JUNE 13 VENUE:

The Hamilton Ballroom, 631 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco From the main entrance of the Hilton, turn left on O'Farrell Street and walk three blocks, crossing Taylor, Jones, and Leavenworth Streets. [ Duration: 0:05 ]

6:30 p.m.

Early Bird Reception Welcome party open to all registered ATCA-SF17 attendees.

8:00 p.m.

An informal screening of the critic-killing acclaimed cinema classic THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973) starring Vincent Price and Diana Rigg.

WEDNESDAY • JUNE 14

ATCA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES VENUE:

1:00 p.m.

VENUE:

5:30 p.m.

VENUE:

7:30 p.m.

Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley ATCA Executive Committee Meeting Hathaway Residence, Sausalito ATCA Executive Committee Reception Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA M CBRIDE

by Matthew Lopez, directed by Kent Gash

THURSDAY • JUNE 15 VENUE:

The Hamilton Ballroom, 631 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco From the main entrance of the Hilton, turn left on O'Farrell Street and walk three blocks, crossing Taylor, Jones, sand Leavenworth Streets. [ Duration: 0:05 ]

10:00 a.m.

Foundation ATCA Board Meeting

1:00 p.m.

ATCA Executive Committee Meeting

NIGHTCAP, ANYONE? With a panoramic view of San Francisco, there’s no better place to congregate after a long day of theatre than the Cityscape Bar and Lounge on the 45th Floor at the Hilton. Enjoy a signature cocktail from one of the tallest buildings in the city while overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and more. The views are not to be missed! See you there?

CONFERENCE AGENDA THURSDAY • JUNE 15 VENUE:

PIANOFIGHT, 144 Taylor Street Street, San Francisco From the main entrance of the Hilton, turn left on O'Farrell Street and walk a half block, turning left on Taylor Street. Continue for 2.5 blocks. [ Duration: 0:03 ]

5:00 p.m.

ATCA-SF17 OPENING RECEPTION The reception is open to all registered ATCA-SF17 attendees. PianoFight houses two theaters, a cabaret, bar and restaurant. It has emerged as a sort of Joe Allen's for the local indie theatre scene. Located in the downtown San Francisco theatre district, our reception includes a buffet of hearty fare from the PianoFight kitchen and complimentary soft drinks. No-host bar service is available.

Big City | Small Stages A chance to enjoy some of the best of independent theatre companies producing yearround in the myriad of small to medium performance venues in San Francisco. Most performances are within walking distance. Some will require taxi, bus or subway transit.

Participants may want coordinate group transit in advance. Please see Participating Productions pages for addresses and additional details.

7:00 p.m.

YOU MEAN TO DO ME HARM* • Sandbox | San Francisco Playhouse

7:00 p.m.

SHORTLIVED VI: ROUND 1* • PianoFight

7:30 p.m.

HOW TO BE A WHITE MAN* • FaultLine Theater @ PianoFight

8:00 p.m.

GRANDEUR* • Magic Theatre

8:00 p.m.

KANO AND ABE* • PlayGround

8:00 p.m.

KURT VONNEGUT'S MOTHER NIGHT* • Custom Made Theatre Co.

8:00 p.m.

SEX AND THE CITY LIVE! • Oasis

8:00 p.m.

SORDID LIVES • New Conservatory Theatre Center

8:00 p.m.

WARPLAY* • New Conservatory Theatre Center * indicates world premiere

2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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CONFERENCE AGENDA FRIDAY • JUNE 16 VENUE:

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THE MARKER, 501 Geary Street, San Francisco From the main entrance of the Hilton, turn left on O'Farrell Street and walk a half block to Taylor Street. Turn right on Taylor Street and walk one block to Geary Street.

The Marker is on the southwest corner of the intersection. [ Duration: 0:02 ]

10:00 a.m.

ATCA Member Meeting

12:00 p.m.

Theatre + Travel: Expanding Your Audience An introduction to travel writing as an addition to your creative portfolio:

PUTTING IT TOGETHER: HOW TO COMBINE TRAVEL AND THEATRE WRITING Lynn Rosen, highonadventure.com • Bellingham, WA

WHAT'S THE LOCAL ANGLE? UNCOVER THE GREAT TRAVEL STORY Anne Siegel, The Wisconsin Gazette • Milwaukee, WI

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD: THE CAMERA EATS FIRST Lindsay Christians, Capital Times * Madison, WI

THE PERSONAL TOUCH: HOW TO WORK WITH HOST DESTINATIONS Sandy Katz, Mature Life Features Syndicate • Charleston, SC

OVERSEAS YOU GO: THE ATCA CONNECTION TO MAXIMIZE TRAVEL WRITING Brad Hathaway, Freelance • Sausalito, CA

GETTING STARTED: CREATING YOUR FORMAT AND TRAVEL WRITER GROUPS Susan Cohn, San Mateo Daily Journal • San Mateo, CA

1:00 p.m.

Lunch A buffet lunch will be served at the hotel.

2:00 p.m.

Theatre Design: The Crafts and Their Practitioners Designers of sets, costumes, lights and other creative arts share insights into their work for you to incorporate into your writing. [ See Page 10 ]

4:00 p.m.

Begin departures via Powell Street BART Station to Orinda From the main entrance of the Hilton, turn right on O'Farrell Street, cross Mason Street, walk by the Nikko Hotel and turn right on Cyril Magnin Street. Walk two blocks down Cyrill Magnin to Eddy Street. The stairs down into the Powell Street BART station will be visible to your left. [ Duration: 0:06 ]

VENUE:

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CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER, Bruhns Amphitheater, Orinda You will receive a detailed instruction sheet with your BART ticket. A shuttle will provide transit between Orinda BART station and the amphitheater. [ Train: 0:40 ]

6:00 p.m.

Re-Viewing Shakespeare: The Second 400 Years Artistic directors of Bard-centric companies discuss keeping a centuries-old canon fresh and what ATCA members might consider when reviewing new interpretations of the canon. [ See Page 12 ]

7:00 p.m.

Dinner al fresco in the Upper Grove

8:00 p.m.

AS YOU LIKE IT

by William Shakespeare, directed by Desdemona Chiang

Shuttles will return you to Orinda BART for the San Francisco return. [ Train: 0:40 ]

AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

CONFERENCE AGENDA SATURDAY • JUNE 17 VENUE:

SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE, 450 Post Street, San Francisco From the main entrance of the Hilton, turn right on O'Farrell Street, walk a half block to Mason Street, turn left on Mason, walk uphill two blocks and cross Post Street.

Turn right on Post and walk a half block to the Kensington Park Hotel / San Francisco Playhouse. Take the lobby elevator or stairs up to the theater. [ Duration: 0:05 ]

10:00 a.m.

Perspectives in Criticism: The Career Continuum Robert Hurwitt and Lily Janiak (San Francisco Chronicle) - Speakers Karen D'Souza (San Jose Mercury News) - Moderator

11:00 a.m.

The Empathy Gym Bill English, Artistic Director, San Francisco Playhouse

11:15 a.m.

The Play's the Thing: The Critic and New Work Bay Area playwrights discuss the impact of theatre criticism on their development process. [ See Page 13 ]

12:45 p.m.

Backstage Lunch Lunch is sponsored in party by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

3:00 p.m.

THE ROOMMATE

by Jen Silverman, directed by Becca Wolff

5:00 p.m.

Foodie Free-for-All, or [ the menu of menus ] Dinner on your own in one of the greatest food cities in the world. Please either choose a restaurant near your pre-selected performance or allow enough time to comfortably make your way to the theater.

8:00 p.m.

Bay Area | Many Stages An expanded version of Big City | Small Stages, the list of performances also includes two options in Berkeley, easily accessible by BART. Most San Francisco performances are within walking distance of the Hilton. Some will require taxi, bus or subway transit.

Please see Participating Productions pages for addresses and additional details. All performances begin at 8:00 p.m.

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN • American Conservatory Theater

BROWNSVILLE SONG • Shotgun Players (Berkeley)

GRANDEUR* • Magic Theatre

KURT VONNEGUT'S MOTHER NIGHT* • Custom Made Theatre Co.

MONSOON WEDDING* • Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley)

SEX AND THE CITY LIVE! • Oasis

SORDID LIVES • New Conservatory Theatre Center

WARPLAY* • New Conservatory Theatre Center

THE WINTER'S TALE • African-American Shakespeare Company

YOU MEAN TO DO ME HARM* • Sandbox | San Francisco Playhouse * indicates world premiere

2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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CONFERENCE AGENDA SUNDAY • JUNE 18 DEPART: 9:00 a.m.

HILTON HOTEL, 333 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco Bus to TheatreWorks departs from the Taylor Street side entrance of the Hilton located next to the bell desk and front desk. Please be prompt.

VENUE:

THEATREWORKS, 350 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City

10:00 a.m.

ATCA Member Meeting

11:45 a.m.

Facility Tour

12:15 p.m.

Lunch + Sneak Peek: THE FOUR IMMIGRANTS (July World Premiere Musical)

1:15 p.m.

VENUE: 2:00 p.m.

VENUE:

Depart for Sunday Matinées LUCIE STERN COMMUNITY CENTER, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto THE GRADUATE • Palo Alto Players

by Terry Johnson, directed by Jeanie K. Smith FOX THEATRE, 2215 Broadway, Redwood City

2:30 p.m.

SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE • Broadway By the Bay

by Leiber & Stoller, directed by

5:15 p.m.

Bus begins pick-ups for to San Francisco

ARE YOU READY TO TWEET? USE #ATCASF17 All ATCA members registered for the conference are encouraged to participate in our Twitter contest. Just tweet your comments, photos, news, information, experiences and/or observations about the conference and its programming, San Francisco and its theatre scene, or anything else related to the conference before, during and immediately after - using #ATCASF17 as an identifier.

As a "friendly competition" incentive, the host committee will pay the 2017-2018 ATCA member dues renewal fee (a $100 value) for the participating member who achieves the most re-tweets of their posts as measured by the Twitter website.

Tweet logging began June 8 and the measurement window will continue until noon in San Francisco, on June 21, at which time winner will be announced by - you guessed it - a tweet from @theatre_critics, the official ATCA Twitter handle.

Tweets can be about anything related to your participation in the conference and photos are highly encouraged! The conference host committee, members of the ATCA executive committee and campaign manager Jonathan Mandell may participate but are not eligible for the paid-dues prize. All questions will be decided by the host committee and campaign manager. Ready? Set. Tweeeeet!

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AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

PREVIOUS SPEAKERS

HURWITT

JANIAK

PERSPECTIVES IN CRITICISM: THE CAREER CONTINUUM ROBERT HURWITT retired from the San Francisco Chronicle in

2016 after covering Bay Area theater for almost forty years. Born in New York City in 1941, he began attending Broadway and OffBroadway shows while in high school. He began acting in high school and continued to do so at New York University, from which he graduated with a BA in English, cum laude, in 1964. An active member of the Congress of Racial Equality for several years, he spent that summer as a civil rights worker in Louisiana. After working in the anti-war movement, he joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe as an actor. He began writing for the Berkeley Barb in 1967 and became its theater critic in 1978, moving to the East Bay Express the following year, where he served as theater critic and arts editor until 1992. He wrote for a wide variety of publications, including California Magazine (where he had a monthly column), San Francisco Magazine, Image, the Los Angeles Times and American Theatre, and edited the paperback new plays anthology series West Coast Plays, Volumes 15-22. In 1987, he became the backup theater critic for the San Francisco Examiner and became its lead theater critic in 1992, receiving the George Jean Nathan Award for Theater Criticism for 1995. In 2000, he joined the San Francisco Chronicle. Rob and his wife Pam O'Connell live in Mill Valley and have three children and three grandchildren.

LILY JANIAK joined the San Francisco Chronicle as theater critic in May of 2016. Previously, her writing appeared in Theatre Bay Area, American Theatre, SF Weekly, the Village Voice and HowlRound.

She holds a BA in theater studies from Yale and an MA in drama from San Francisco State.

KAREN D'SOUZA (Moderator) is the theater critic for the Mercury

News and the Bay Area News Group papers. She is a three-time Pulitzer juror, a former USC/Getty Arts Journalism Fellow and a longtime member of the Glickman Drama Jury and the American Theatre Critics Association. She has a Master's Degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley. She is a Twitter addict (@karendsouza4), a fangirl, and a mommy, and her writings have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle and American Theatre Magazine.

2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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1992: Clive Barnes, William Henry 1993: Michael Feingold 1994: Ernie Schier 1995: Jeremy Gerard 1996: Margo Jefferson 1997: Sylvie Drake 1998: Dan Sullivan 1999: Frank Rich, Henry Hewes 2000: Richard Christiansen 2001: Robert Brustein, Robert Hurwitt 2002: Linda Winer, Albert Williams 2003: Eric Bentley, Nancy Melich 2004: Misha Berson 2005: Julius Novick, Norman Lear 2006: John Simon, Leonard Conolly, Ian Herbert, Robert Cushman 2008: Trey Graham, Peter Marks, Bob Mondello 2009: Michael Riedel, Ken Waissman 2010: Christine Dolen, Jeffrey Jenkins,Chris Jones, Chris Rawson, Michael Phillips 2011: Adam Rapp, Richard Nelson, Tim Sanford, Jim O’Quinn 2012: Terry Teachout 2013: Jason Zinoman 2014: Lauren Gunderson, Arthur Kopit, David Henry Hwang, Doug Wright, Tina Howe 2015: Hedy Weiss 2016: Diep Tran

BALL

BERMAN

CARUTHERS

KANA

THEATRE DESIGN: THE CRAFTS AND THEIR PRACTITIONERS NINA BALL (Scenic Design) is

an award-winning scenic and costume designer whose designs have been seen at American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Shotgun Players, San Francisco Playhouse, Aurora T h e a t r e C o m p a n y, C e n t e r Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Z Space, Marin Shakespeare Company, Napa Valley Conservatory, Word for Word, TheatreFIRST, Berkeley Playhouse, the Jewish Theatre, Musical Theatre Works, Town Hall Theatre, Solano College, Willows Theatre Company, St. Mary's College and San Francisco State University. She is also a proud company member at Shotgun Players. ninaball.com

ABRA BERMAN (Costume

Design) enjoys a twenty-five-year career in costume design and has collaborated with Ragged Wing Ensemble, San Francisco Playhouse, West Bay Opera, Marin Shakespeare Company, Company C Contemporary Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Berkeley Playhouse, Berkeley Opera, Brava! For Women in the Arts, Pocket Opera, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, the De Young Museum, the Museum of Performance and Design, Ballet de Cali, Cinnabar Theater, and Sonoma County 10

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Repertory Theatre. Abra is part of the theatre department faculty at San Francisco City College and earned an MFA in theatre costume design at the University of California, Los Angeles.

CLIFF CARUTHERS (Sound

Design) has created soundscapes and music for over 200 productions, including Bug, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Reborning, and Period of Adjustment for San Francisco Playhouse. His recent work includes American Night, The Tempest, and The Seagull (California Shakespeare Theater), Elektra, The Homecoming, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Race (American Conservatory Theater), Crime and Punishment a n d T R A G E DY: a t r a g e d y (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Gross Indecency and The Diary of Anne Frank (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Troilus and Cressida (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Ubu Roi, Pelleas and Melisande, and A Dreamplay (The Cutting Ball Theater), The Happy Ones (Magic Theatre), The Loudest Man on Earth , The Clean House, and Outside Mullingar (TheatreWorks), We Are Proud to Present..., Death of a Salesman, and Venus in Fur (San Jose Stage Company), Julius Caesar (The Acting Company), Happy Days (Guthrie Theater), and Circle Mirror Transformation and 9 Circles (Marin Theatre

AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

Company). Cliff is also cocurator and technical director of the San Francisco Tape Music Festival and has performed his electronic music compositions internationally. His music for the iOS application Earth: A Primer was featured at the Game Developers Conference Experimental Gameplay Workshop in 2015.

SEAN KANA (Music Direction)

is an award-winning music director in the Bay Area. He is the resident music director of Broadway By the Bay and is also teaching voice in the master of fine arts program at American Conservatory Theatre. His most recent credits include Smokey Joe’s Cafe , The Producers , Oklahoma!, Miss Saigon, West Side Story (TBA Award finalist), Les Miserables (TBA Award finalist), Dogfight (TBA Award finalist), Dreamgirls (TBA Award finalist) and In the Heights (TBA Award recipient).

He holds a Bachelor’s of Music degree from San Francisco State University, has toured and recorded internationally and has performed in Disney’s World of Color Winter Dreams.

Sean’s upcoming projects include Next to Normal and Singin’ in the Rain.

YO R K K E N N E DY ( L i g h t i n g Design) has designed for

KENNEDY

RICHARDS

stages across the country and internationally including Arena Stage, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Hartford Stage, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Repertory, American Conservatory Theatre, Polish National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, The Alley Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Yale Repertory, Brooklyn Academy of Music, a n d t h e D e n v e r C e n t e r. H e has designed over forty-five productions for the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and spent six seasons as resident lighting d e s i g n e r f o r t h e c o m p a n y ’s Shakespeare Festival. In the dance world he has collaborated with Malashock Dance, Brian Webb and Tracey Rhodes. As an architectural lighting designer, he has designed numerous themed environments, theme park, residential, retail, restaurant and museum projects. Recent projects include La Boheme for Portland Opera, A Midsummer N i g h t ’s D r e a m f o r H a r t f o r d Stage, Motiongate in Dubai, and the Ocean Flower park in China.

He is a graduate of the CalArts and the Yale School of Drama.

K I M B E R LY

RICHARDS

(Choreography) launched her versatile career forty years ago and has been an actress, a e r i a l i s t , c h o r e o g r a p h e r, comedienne, dancer, director, and illusionist. Her choreography credits include numerous productions in Las Vegas and most recently, at San Francisco Playhouse, She Loves Me. She w o n E xc e l l e n c e i n T h e a t r e Awards from the San Francisco

SCOTT

Bay Area Theater Critics Circle for choreography for My Fair Lady (2012) and Company (2015).

She has received additional S F B AT C C n o m i n a t i o n s a n d was a TBA Award finalist for Promises, Promises (2013) and Into the Woods (2014). She was co-choreographer for Aberaham Lincoln's Big, Gay Dance Party, awarded Best New Play in the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival. Kim is currently choreographing La Cage aux Folles and A Christmas Story for San Francisco Playhouse.

Since 2001, Kim has toured the continent starring as “Sister” in all seven installments of the onewoman comedy series Late Nite Catechism.

JACQUELYN SCOTT (Properties

Design) works as production designer and properties master for theatre and film companies throughout the Bay Area.

Previous credits include Stage Kiss, Company, Tree, Into the Woods, Jerusalem, Abigail’s Party, and A Behanding in Spokane (San Francisco Playhouse), John (American Conservatory Theater), Fool for Love, A Lie of the Mind, Buried Child, The Happy Ones, Annapurna, The Lily's Revenge, The Brothers Size, Goldfish, and Octopus (Magic Theatre), Assassins and God's Plot (Shotgun Players), Hundred Days and The Companion Piece (Z Space), and American Hwangap (The Play Company, New York). She has also served as art director for Park Pictures,

WACHALOVSKY

Paper Dog Video, and Heist.

WOLFGANG LANCELOT WACHALOVSKY ( Projections

Design) is, in addition to work with Mugwumpin, a freelance director-collaborator and lighting designer. He has worked on a broad range of scripted works, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Bremen Freedom and Sartre’s No Exit, as well as adapting and directing Wolfgang Borchert’s Draussen vor der Tür and Christopher Marlowe’s Faustus. Wolfgang has developed and directed the world premieres of Killer Queen (Burning Monk Collective), a hand in Desire (EmSpace Dance) and Owners of Nothing (Transient Theatre).

For the past year and a half, he has been developing, in collaboration with a director in London and in New York, a completely online performance event. Wolfgang’s lighting design is focused on site-specific c r e a t i o n s l i ke M u g w u m p i n’s Future Motive Power at the San Francisco Old Mint and Killer Queen in a warehouse in West Hollywood in Los Angeles. Raised by a Freudian and a Marxist, he likes to get his hands dirty and think about how performance can build a better world. wolfgangwachalovsky.com

2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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11

BROWN

CALLENDAR

CURRIER

ENNALS

TING

RE-VIEWING SHAKESPEARE: THE SECOND 400 YEARS WILLIAM J. BROWN III is the artistic director and founder of the Arabian Shakespeare Festival. ASF’s mission is: To create a cultural bridge, through theatre, between the Middle East and the West. To use stories of Shakespeare and the Arab world to illustrate our common humanity. As a performer he has performed all over the Bay Area, as well as in Toronto, Edinburgh and Al Ain. As a director he is currently working the world premiere of What You Will at the Pear Theatre in Mountain View and will be returning to the stage as the title role in Hamlet this November at ASF. arabianshakes.org

L. PETER CALLENDER is a native of Trinidad, West Indies, and has worked professionally as an actor for over thirty years, more recently as a director and writer. He received his formal training in the theatre at the Juilliard School in New York City, Webber/Douglas Academy in London, plus mask technique with Julie Taymor, and the Suzuki Technique with the Tadashi Suzuki Company in Toga-mura, Japan. He has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in regional theaters across the US, and has performed internationally in Japan, England, and France. In addition to serving as artistic director of the African-American Shakespeare Company, Peter is in his twenty-first year as an associate artist at the California Shakespeare Theater. african-americanshakes.org

LESLEY SCHISGALL CURRIER is the founding managing director of Marin Shakespeare Company, and founder of the company’s Shakespeare for Social Justice program, which gives inmates in California state prisons the opportunity to study and perform Shakespeare. A graduate of Princeton University, she is a director, writer, actor, and producer. marinshakespeare.org

REBECCA ENNALS has been on the staff of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival since 2002 and artistic director since 2012. She has extensive directing, acting, and teaching experience, and holds an MFA in performance from the University of California, Davis. She has taught and written curriculum at elementary through college levels. As an actor and director, she has worked locally with Marin Theatre Company, PlayGround, Napa Valley Shakespeare Festival, Pear Theatre, Napa Valley Repertory Theatre, Peninsula Youth Theatre, Los Altos Youth Theatre and Shakespeare at Stinson. Rebecca has directed eight productions for the Festival's Shakespeare on Tour in-school program, six productions for the Civic Arts Stage Company program in Pleasanton, and three productions for Free Shakespeare in the Park. She also regularly writes the Festival’s Green Shows and conceived and executed the 2012 pop-up Shakespeare project "30 Days of Free Shakespeare in the Parklet." sfshakes.org

ERIC TING is an Obie Award-winning director and was appointed artistic director of California Shakespeare Theater

in November of 2015. Deeply committed throughout his career to the development of new and diverse voices for the theater, Eric has directed plays (many of them world premieres) by Sam Hunter, Aditi Kapil, Kimber Lee, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Laura Jacqmin, Kenneth Lin, Kristoffer Diaz, Anna Deavere Smith and others. He has also been recognized for his co-adaptation of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and his controversial interpretation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set during the Vietnam War. His work has been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, Soho Rep, the Public Theater, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, Williamstown Theatre Festival, A.R.T., Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Hartford Stage, BAM Next Wave, Cincinnati Playhouse and the Alliance Theatre; as well as internationally in Singapore, France, Canada, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bali. He recently relocated to the Bay Area with his wife, director and producer Meiyin Wang, and their baby daughter, Frankie. calshakes.org

DR. PHILIPPA KELLY (Moderator) is the resident dramaturg for the California Shakespeare Theater, a professor,

and author. Her 2010 book, The King and I, a meditation on Australian culture through the lens of King Lear, garnered international praise in its very personal examination of themes of abandonment, loss, and humor) and she co-authored (with Laura Hope) Adventures in Feminist Dramaturgy: The Road Less Traveled. calshakes.org 12

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AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

BOUSEL

CHEN

GUNDERSON

LOEB

SULLIVAN

THE PLAY'S THE THING: CRITICISM & NEW WORK STUART BOUSEL is the executive producer of the San Francisco Olympians Festival - one of the largest new

works festivals in the country, the former artistic director of San Francisco Theater Pub, a resident artist at the EXIT Theatre, and the director of new work development at the Custom Made Theatre Co. Primarily a director, he has had his plays produced from Melbourne to Dublin, and from New York to Tucson. His play Everybody Here Says Hello! received the TBA Award for Outstanding World Premiere, and his plays Rat Girl and Pastorella were finalists. He was produced three times by the Bay One Acts festival, has had two short films produced, three plays published, and recently wrote his first opera libretto. stuartbousel.com

CHRISTOPHER CHEN is an international award-winning playwright whose full-length works have been produced

and developed across the United States and abroad, at companies such as the American Conservatory Theater, Arcola Theatre (London), Asian American Theater Company, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Beijing Fringe, Berkeley Rep/Ground Floor, Central Works, Crowded Fire, Cutting Ball Theater, Edinburgh Fringe, Fluid Motion, hotINK Festival, Impact Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Just Theatre, Lark Play Development Center, Magic Theatre, Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco Playhouse, Silk Road Rising, Sundance Theatre Lab, Theatre Mu, U.C. Berkeley/Zellerbach Playhouse, and the Vineyard. christopherchen.org

LAUREN M. GUNDERSON is the most produced living playwright in America of 2016, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award, the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, and other honors. Her work has been commissioned, produced and developed at South Cost Rep (Emilie, Silent Sky), the Kennedy Center (The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful And Her Dog!), the O’Neill, the Denver Center, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, Synchronicity, Olney Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, and Crowded Fire. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You, Exit, Pursued By A Bear, The Taming, and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists (Silent Sky, Bauer, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley), and Samuel French (Emilie). laurengunderson.com

AARON LOEB is a Bay Area playwright whose work has been performed around the country. His full-length plays include The Trials of Sam Houston (premiering at Dallas Theater Center in 2018), Ideation (premiered Off-Broadway in 2016), The Proud, Alcestis (Doesn't Live Here Anymore), Brown, First Person Shooter, Blastosphere (with Geetha Reddy), and Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2010. Aaron has received the Will Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area (Ideation), two San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critic Circle Awards, and an Outstanding Play from the New York International Fringe Festival. He is the resident playwright at San Francisco Playhouse and a member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc.

MICHAEL GENE SULLIVAN is an actor, writer, and director whose plays have been produced in United States,

Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. He is resident playwright the Tony and OBIE Award-winning (and despite its name never, ever silent) San Francisco Mime Troupe, a resident playwright for the Playwrights Foundation, and a 2017 resident at the Djerassi Arts Center. His award-winning stage adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 opened at Los Angeles' Actors' Gang Theatre under the direction Tim Robbins. 1984 has since been produced nationally and internationally, is published in two languages, and will open in Kiev, Ukraine, in its fourth language in 2017.

Michael and his wife, Velina Brown, were also recently profiled in American Theatre magazine.

AMY MUELLER (Moderator) is an award-winning director and producer of original theater for over thirty years, and

is a leader in the national new play development sector. Since becoming artistic director of Playwrights Foundation in 2001, she has transformed the scope of the organization into a national center for playwrights, focused on developing new work for the American stage through the discovery and support of contemporary playwrights, and has played a key role in accelerating the artistic and career growth of a diverse range of exceptional emerging playwrights, many of whom are now the most prominent in the field. playwrightsfoundation.org 2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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13

PARTICIPATING PRODUCTIONS

AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER

AS YOU LIKE IT California Shakespeare Theater Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Desdemona Chiang Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda, CA 94563 calshakes.org Press Contact: Susie Falk | press@calshakes.org Transit: BART commuter train tickets and shuttle provided.

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN American Conservatory Theater Written and directed by Randy Johnson A.C.T.’s Geary Theater, 405 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94118 act-sf.org Press Contact: Kevin Kopjak | kevink@charleszukow.com Transit: 3 minute walk (slight uphill grade)

SHOTGUN PLAYERS

PALO ALTO PLAYERS

MAGIC THEATRE

BROWNSVILLE SONG (B-SIDE FOR TRAY) Shotgun Players Written by Kimber Lee, Directed by Margo Hall Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703 shotgunplayers.org Press Contact: Samantha Leaden | boxoffice@shotgunplayers.org Transit: BART train from Powell Street Station - Richmond Line - exit at Downtown Berkeley Station, then 3 minute walk. For return take Warm Springs/South Fremont Line to MacArthur Station, then transfer to Millbrae Line train.

THE GRADUATE Palo Alto Players Adapted by Terry Johnson, Directed by Jeanie K. Smith Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 93401 paplayers.org Press Contact: Elizabeth Santana | esantana@paplayers.org Transit: ATCA bus transportation provided.

GRANDEUR * Magic Theatre Written by Han Ong, Directed by Loretta Greco Magic Theatre at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture 2 Marina Boulevard, Building D, San Francisco, CA 94123 Press Contact: Jonathan White | jonathanwhitepr@gmail.com magictheatre.org Transit: cab/car-share (allow at least 30 minutes) HOW TO BE A WHITE MAN * FaultLine Theater Written by Luna Malbroux + Jennifer Lewis, Directed by Nikki Meñez Piano Fight, 144 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 faultlinetheater.com Press Contact: Cole Ferraiuolo | coleferraiuolo@faultlinetheater.com Transit: 3 minute walk

FAULTLINE THEATER

14

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AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

KANO AND ABE * PlayGround Written by Ignacio Zulueta, Directed by Colin Johnson Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 playground-sf.org Press Contact: Jim Kleinmann | jim@playground-sf.org Transit: cab/car-share recommended (allow at least 20-30 minutes) KURT VONNEGUT’S MOTHER NIGHT * The Custom Made Theatre Co. Adapted and Directed by Brian Katz Custom Made Theatre, 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 custommade.org Press Contact: Gary Carr | carrpool@pacbell.net Transit: 8 minute walk (some uphill) MONSOON WEDDING * Berkeley Repertory Theatre Book by Sabrina Dhawan, Music by Vishal Bhardwaj, Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, Directed by Mira Nair Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 berkeleyrep.org Press Contact: Tim Etheridge | tetheridge@berkeleyrep.org Transit: BART train from Powell Street Station - Richmond Line - exit at Ashby Station, then 3 minute walk. For return take Warm Springs/ South Fremont Line to MacArthur Station, then transfer to Millbrae train.

PLAYGROUND

CUSTOM MADE THEATRE CO.

THE ROOMMATE San Francisco Playhouse Written by Jen Silverman, Directed by Becc Wolff San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA sfplayhouse.org Press Contact: Anne Abrams goanne@comcast.net Transit: 5 minute walk, two blocks are uphill.

SEX AND THE CITY LIVE OASIS Adapted and Directed by D’Arcy Drollinger OASIS, 298 Eleventh Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 sfoasis.com Press Contact: D’Arcy Drollinger | darcy@sfoasis.com Transit: Cab/car-share recommended (allow at least 15-20 minutes).

SHORTLIVED VI: ROUND 1 * PianoFight New short plays written and directed by various artists.

PianoFight, 144 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 pianofight.com Press Contact: Rob Ready | rob@pianofight.com Transit: 3 minute walk

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE

OASIS

SMOKEY JOE'S CAFÉ Broadway By the Bay Words and Music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Directed by Brandon Jackson, Music Directed by Sean Kana Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063 broadwaybythebay.org Press Contact: Alicia Jeffrey | alicia@broadwaybythebay.org Transit: ATCA bus transportation provided.

2017.06 • AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG

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15

PIANOFIGHT

SORDID LIVES New Conservatory Theatre Center Written by Del Shores, Directed by Dennis Lickteig New Conservatory Theatre Center 25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102 nctcsf.org Press Contact: Ben Randle Transit: cab/car-share or MUNI Metro lines J, K, L, M, N, T outbound - exit Van Ness Station BROADWAY BY THE BAY

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER

WARPLAY * New Conservatory Theatre Center Written by JC Lee, Directed by Ben Randle New Conservatory Theatre Center 25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102 nctcsf.org Press Contact: Ben Randle | ben@nctcsf.org Transit: cab/car-share or MUNI Metro lines J, K, L, M, N, T outbound - exit Van Ness Station THE WINTER'S TALE African-American Shakespeare Company Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by L. Peter Callender Taube Atrium Theater 401 Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94102 african-americanshakes.org Press Contact: Liam Passmore | liam@shaveandahaircut.biz Transit: cab/car-share (allow at least 15 minutes) or MUNI Bus Line 5-Ocean Beach from Market and Mason Streets (about four block walk) to McAllister Street and Van Ness Avenue, then 1 minute walk.

YOU MEAN TO DO ME HARM * Sandbox Series San Francisco Playhouse Written by Christopher Chen, Directed by Bill English The Rueff at ACT’s Strand Theater 1127 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 sfplayhouse.org Press Contact: Anne Abrams goanne@comcast.net Transit: 11 minute walk; cab/car-share or MUNI F-Line recommended

AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE

16

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AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

BY

JEN SILVERMAN

NOW THROUGH

sfplayhouse.org MAY 24 - JUNE 18 | CALSHAKES.ORG

WRITTEN BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DIRECTED BY DESDEMONA CHIANG

THANK YOU! Laurie Armstrong Michael Badolato Greg Backstrom Brett Baker Nina Ball Carla Befera Abra Berman Molly Blaisdell Stuart Bousel Doug Brook William J. Brown III Jaron Caldwell Cluff Caruthers Christopher Chen Lindsay Christians Victor Cordell Lesley Shisgall Currier Karen D'Souza Alexa De La Tour Van Dean Dustin Durham Steve Ellison Rebecca Ennals Dan Fortune Jessica Goldman Garret Groenveld Lauren Gunderson Amy Hand Jeanette Harrison Brad Hathaway Teddie Hathaway Courtney Heimbuck Irma Hernandez Bill Hirschman Greg Holland Rob Hurwitt Deirdre Hussey Lily Janiak Min Kahng Sean Kana Sandy Katz York Kennedy Laty Koenig Kevin Kopjak Beth Krakower La Mediteranée Marilyn Langbehn The Hon. Edwin M. Lee Aaron Loeb Evelyn Lucente Jonathan Mandell Michael Maung Matthew McCoy Tom McKillop Charles McNulty 18

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Rick Miramontez Sarah Morse Amy Mueller Christopher Nelson Sarah Nowicki Nick Olivero Chela Oropeza Amanda Perry Scott Peterson Christopher Rawson Frank Rich Kimberly Richards George F. Ridgely, Jr. Paige Rogers Francisco Rosas Lynn Rosen Robbie Rozelle Gus Schulenburg Jacquelyn Scott Howard Shapiro Dani Sheehan-Meyer Anne Siegel Jo Schuman Silver Alan Smason Tobias Sokol-Willis Marcy Straw Marcia Striffeler Michael Gene Sullivan Randy Taradash Jon Tracy Diep Tran Anna Troiano John Tucker Steve Vaught Wolfgang Wachalovsky Deborah Wakefield Kit Wilder Ron Willis The Wine House Nick Wilson Lauren Yee Charles Zukow AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY L. Peter Callendar Liam Passmore Sherri Young AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER Don-Scott Cooper Amy Hand

AMERICANTHEATRECRITICS.ORG • 2017.06

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE Tim Etheridge Polly Winograd Ikonen Peter Yonka

Bill English Donny Gilliland Noelle Harrison Natalia Hermosilla Clothilde O'Hare Tiuu Eva Rebane

BROADWAY

BY THE BAY Alicia Jeffrey

SHOTGUN PLAYERS Patrick Dooley Amy Langer Samantha Leaden Liz Lisle

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER Susie Falk Philippa Kelly Eric Ting THE CUSTOM MADE THEATRE CO. Leah Abrams Brian Katz FAULTLINE THEATER Cole Ferraiuolo MAGIC THEATRE Ciera Cass Loretta Greco Jonathan White MARIN THEATRE COMPANY Jasson Minadakis Sara Waugh NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER Ed Decker Kate Jones Butler Ben Randle OASIS D'Arcy Drollinger PALO ALTO PLAYERS Elizabeth Santana PIANOFIGHT Rob Ready PLAYGROUND Jim Kleinmann SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE Anne Abrams Charlotte Brockman Susi Damilano

THEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY Min Kahng Robert Kelley Leslie Martinson Phil Santora HILTON HOTEL UNION SQUARE Gibran Faust George Ferris Emily Kaiser Jo Licata Frank Manchen Kathleen Shaw Tammy Tran Ben Walters SFBATCC Jamie Ciabattoni Harry Duke Barry Willis WELCOME BAG CONTRIBUTORS Boudin Boxcar Theatre Broadway Records CityPASS Cliché Noe Gift + Home Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Macy's Pier 39 San Francisco Travel Steve Silver Productions -Beach Blanket Bablyon Theatre Communications Group (TCG) VIA MEDIA Shop & Dine in the 49 visitmarin.org

Greetings

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TO THE

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WE WISH YOU A HAPPY CONFERENCE IN SAN FRANCISCO AND HOPE OUR MUSIC BRINGS YOU PLEASURE. FOR MORE OF THE BEST OF BROADWAY CAST RECORDINGS AND VOCAL ALBUMS, VISIT US AT BROADWAYRECORDS.COM AND USE THE CODE

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19

Bondage

Kate Chopin’s

The

Awakening

by Star Finch

Adapted by Oren Stevens

ENTANGLEMENT

A Play About a Play About the Quantum Mechanics of Love

Directed by Ariel Craft VINCENT YOUMANS MUSIC

IRVING CAESAR OTTO HARBACH LYRICS

OTTO HARBACH BOOK

CINDY GOLDFIELD DIRECTOR

Princess Grace Award Semi-Finalist

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by Louis Directed

Directed by Elizabeth Carter Dramaturgy by Duca Knezevic

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BROADWAY BY THE BAY BROADWAY

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SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS DR. TIMOTHY SEELIG, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

PARADISE FOUND HERBST THEATRE THURSDAY, MARCH 30 - 8PM FRIDAY, MARCH 31 - 8PM SATURDAY, APRIL 1 - 2:30 + 8PM

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