San Francisco Spotlight: January 2009

Now that January is upon us, hopefully most of you have resolved to kick off the new year by spending more time at the theater. You can start things off with the return San Francisco engagement of the musical blockbuster Wicked, which will play the Orpheum Theatre beginning January 27. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, the show features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, a book by Winnie Holzman, direction by Joe Mantello, and a cast that includes Teal Wicks (Elphaba), Kendra Kassebaum (Glinda), David Garrison (The Wizard), and Carol Kane (Madame Morrible).

American Conservatory Theater’s Rich and Famous (January 8-February 8), written by John Guare and directed by John Rando, is the story of the industrious playwright Bing Ringling who yearns for super-stardom. The cast includes Tony-nominated Brooks Ashmanskas, Reno 911‘s Mary Birdsong, Hairspray‘s Stephen DeRosa and ACT core company member Gregory Wallace. Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), to run January 30-March 15, with Les Waters directing this tale of six lonely people seeking relief from a local doctor who find that despite his expertise with a strange new technology, all they really need is intimacy.

Audiences only get six chances to catch Marga Gomez’s new work-in-progress Long Island Iced Latina (January 8-17) over at The Marsh theater. In her one-woman “brown” comedy, the Drama Desk nominee and GLAAD Award Winning solo performer mixes theatrical physicality and stand-up comedy candor, with personal memoir. New and old couples alike can appreciate Michael Frayn’s play Here, which runs at the Exit Theatre January 16-February 7. From the same author that gave the world Noises Off, this comedy is about a couple new to cohabitation and the challenges it presents.

Over at the Cutting Ball Theater, a woman named Mae is fighting to overcome her Midwestern life by staying away from the men that threaten to keep her there. Mud (January 9-February 8) is written by Marin Irene Fornes and directed by Paige Rogers. If you’ve always wanted a theater house that features Splatter Zone seating, look no further than the Willows Theatre Company’s production of Evil Dead: The Musical at the Campbell Theatre in Martinez, January 9-February 7, based on Sam Raimi’s 1980’s cult classic films.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of its U.K. premiere, the Ross Valley Players present David Mamet’s much-loved Glengarry Glen Ross (January 16-February 22) about four small-time real estate salesman doing anything they can to sell useless plots of land. Given the economic events of 2008, the poignancy of this play is stronger than ever. Marin Theatre Company presents Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa! (January 15-February 8), an inspirational play about two teenagers — one black, one white — set against the backdrop of apartheid-torn South Africa. Even the strong-willed know what it’s like to toss out their better judgment and follow the crowd. It’s that moment in time that Theresa Rebeck’s The Scene (6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, January 16-February 8) zeroes in on.

One of the most notorious trials of the century is at the center of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s world-famous musical Chicago (American Musical Theatre of San Jose, January 14-18). Roxie Hart is the desperate showgirl whose hunger for fame winds up with her murdering her lover. Soon she’s the star of her own real-life drama as she dukes it out behind bars with fellow murderess and stage star Velma Kelly for the biggest and loudest headlines in all of Chicago.