San Francisco Spotlight: June 2011

From boxing ring to ballet class, Billy Elliot (June 27-September 17) dances his way into the Orpheum Theatre for an extended stay in the award-winning show — 10 Tonys! — featuring music by Elton John, and book and lyrics by Lee Hall. Tony-winner Faith Prince leads the touring cast that includes Giuseppe Bausilio, Michael Dameski, Kylend Hetherington, Lex Ishimoto and Daniel Russell in rotation as Billy.

In addition to the world premiere musical Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City on its Mainstage, A.C.T. has got five performances of Stephen Sondheim’s Company (June 9-12) from Studio A.C.T. at the Hastings Studio and A.C.T. Young Conservatory presents the world premiere of Homefront (June 10-25), a musical about a family fleeing Germany and WWII at Zeum.

Things get a little buggy as Aurora Theatre Company goes through a Metamorphosis (June 10-July 17) in Berkeley, with the Kafka classic adapted by David Farr and Gísli Örn Gardarsson and directed by Mark Jackson. It’s about bloody time — literally in some cases — that California Shakespeare Theater takes on its first-ever Titus Andronicus (June 1-26) with the exceptional James Carpenter in the lead and Joel Sass directing.

TheatreWorks in Mountain View has a funny new musical by a pair of terrifically talented writers about a pair of terrifically talented writers writing a funny new musical that just lacks a [title of show] (June 1-26). Here you go again with a Greek island setting and plenty of ABBA music as the worldwide stage and screen hit Mamma Mia! (June 7-12) invites you to the wedding at Broadway San Jose. San Jose Rep plays with Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Complete World of Sports (abridged) (June 14-19).

Visiting solo stars include Sandra Bernhard (June 24-25) at the Marines Memorial Theatre, and Eileen Fulton (June 5), Sharon McNight (June 6-7), Pia Zadora (June 8-12), Eva Marie Saint and Jeffrey Hayden in Love Letters (June 11-12), and Nancy Dussault (June 27-28), all at the Rrazz Room.

Carrie Paff and Andrew Hurteau zoom in on Edward Albee’s Tiny Alice (June 2-26) at Marin Theatre Company with Jasson Minadakis directing the play’s first Bay Area production in 40 years. SF Playhouse presents Amy Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still (June 21-July 30) as the final show of their 2010-2011 season. It’s all gone with the wind in Moonlight & Magnolias (June 3-July 3) about the making of a classic 1939 movie at Altarena Playhouse in Alameda.

At the EXIT on Taylor, Theatre du Coin presents the farcical Boeing Boeing (June 3-5) in the original French script by Marc Camoletti; No Nude Men Productions offers The Edenites (June 2-25) a new play by Stuart Brousel about San Francisco; The Black-Jew Dialogues (June 4) by Ron Jones and Larry Jay Tish are overheard; and Sujit Saraf’s 8 GHANTE, Life condensed into 8 hours (June 25-26) is presented in Hindi with English supertitles.

You’ll Wish We Were Here (June 9-25) when hapless slacker Michael Phillis finds a beautiful genie has stripped him of his dignity along with his clothes in his latest original play at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Fighting Mac (June 2-19) promises thrills, spills, and food for thought in a new play written and directed by John Fisher for Theatre Rhinoceros at Thick House. Pig Iron Theatre, Philadelphia’s dance-clown-theatre ensemble, conjures up a parade of unsettling and comic recollections in Chekov Lizardbrain (June 9-12) at Z Space.

A couple brief engagements are worth noting: D’Lo is a queer/stud/transgendered person who finds himself D’FunQT (June 4) and the Kitchen Series serves up tasty morsels and a reading of The Importance of Being Earnest (June 13) at Brava.

Contra Costa Civic Theatre strips down for Gypsy (June 17-July 17) in El Cerrito. Masquers put on The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) (June 3-July 9) in Point Richmond. Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre prepares the way of Godspell (June 3-26) in Pleasanton. Cabrillo Stage goes The Full Monty (June 24-July 17) in Aptos. Gilbert and Sullivan meet Bollywood in The Sorcerer (June 18-26) at Montgomery Theatre in San Jose. There’s no dummies in the cast of Avenue Q (June 1-July 3) at The Stage in San Jose. The Los Gatos hills are alive with The Sound of Music (June 25-July 23) at West Valley Light Opera.

Hapgood Theatre feels some Imaginary Love (June 2-19) by Kait Kerrigan in Antioch. Town Hall Theatre has much ado about Twelfth Night (June 2-25) in Lafayette. 6th Street Playhouse unravels The Mystery of Irma Vep (June 3-26) in Santa Rosa. Felix and Oscar move to Half Moon Bay for The Odd Couple (June 3-25) at Coastal Rep. Charles Condomine’s first wife is a Blithe Spirit (June 11-26) in Noel Coward’s comedy at Palo Alto Players.