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"content": "\u003cp>There is a specific and toxic level of melancholia that comes with modern life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly, having the world at one’s literal fingertips makes for infinite possibilities. No longer do archaic fossils of culture dominate society — think about the last time you needed to buy a concert or sports ticket in person, or when you last sat in a bookstore reading a novel or magazine with pages that required physical turning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, phones, tablets or a trusty laptop provide every creature comfort known to humanity, and tech’s capabilities expand with each new update. But at what cost? Are we, in our yearning for more knowledge with blaring rapidity, simply feeding the beast? Frailty, thy name is algorithm!\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1278px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1278\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In playwright Kate Attwell’s world premiere of \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em>, commissioned and presented by American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, modern society’s horrors take the form of the dastardly-yet-dashing “M” (B.D. Wong), an automated puppet master who readily loads his subjects with thoughts and ideas that veer from inspired to toxic. “M” is random as all get out – knocking on stranger’s doors to simply hang out, seducing a young man and offering pleasures of the flesh, and subtly convincing an older couple that their time on this Earth has surpassed its useful life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director Pam MacKinnon’s meticulous attention to detail provides effective, steady subtlety inside Attwell’s staccato-ish dialogue. Occasionally, the script has a propensity to drone into one-note, ineffective territory, especially within stretches of the first act. This is not a fault of the cast, which is universally terrific. Both Sam (Gabriel Brown) and Timmy (Michael Phillis) are handsome, married millennials whose polyamorous dealings veer outside of simple physicality. Those invited inside their velvet, lustful ropes didn’t plan for the baggage of loneliness that both carry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952876\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952876\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Gabriel Brown (Sam), Rosie Hallett (Lucy), and Michael Phillis (Timmy) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, a sense of unease persists between medical professional Lucy (Rosie Hallett) and husband Max (Jomar Tagatac). While Lucy easily gives every ounce of herself to big tech, her cell phone notifications going off incessantly, Max is much more concerned with old school natural dangers like earthquakes and flooding. Together, the mix of infertility, home economics and large loans turn the couple into carbon and oxygen balls of mass agita.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The distinct nature of each act is intentional. Whereas the first act establishes five characters, all with their own issues, the second introduces two new characters entirely, revealing the ways in which the aforementioned folks connect. As the older parentals, Didi (Julia McNeal) and her husband Joe (Harold Surratt) don’t carry the same relationship to tech as their younger counterparts, but are nonetheless affected mightily by its constant presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Didi and Joe refuse to succumb to the new vanguard without a fight, thanks to Joe’s gargantuan cement truck that creates a physical barrier to the tech devices they’re actively shunning. (That smart thermometer is no match for concrete.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952878\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952878\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While no one would advocate the play’s denouement, there is something poetic about Didi and Joe’s choices. Technology will always move forward, yet at a time when the human mind is challenged more than ever by the artificial world, human expendability is on the table in unforeseen ways. To those who make art their life’s work, putting random words into a machine and having poetry and music returned with soaring fidelity is horrifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13951752']Each performer takes turns as the representation of societal strife. Tagatac, an ACT favorite, brings forth a skittish freneticism that parallels our divisive times. Hallett, whose listening skills are uncanny, engages sharply with Tagatac and advocates for her character’s neurosis with resonance. Brown and Phillis carry the responsibility of establishing the narrative’s style, handling many of the play’s funniest moments due to their honesty. And McNeal, along with Surratt and his dopey, everyman quality, delivers critical information with searing truth, magically making her case about the world’s artificiality and what it means to her generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a primary strength, \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em> advocates that the absurd really isn’t that absurd at all. Back in the day, we just knew how to breathe. Now, there’s an app for that. Even while Attwell’s dialogue is often sly, characters don’t speak with wonderment and discovery, and instead with mechanical precision. Each of the first act’s scene changes are soulless jaunts, moving from one reality to the next, within Tanya Orellana’s broad, barren scenic design. A completely different world appears in the second act — brought upon by the charming Wong as he gleefully pops and prances all over the place, sporting many fun costume changes borne of Lydia Tanji’s design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) and Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, what messages are we sending to certain generations? Your dollar bill is worthless, and so is that change in your pocket, because it’s all about cash-free zones and cryptocurrency now. How about some soulless poetry or music from Chat GPT? Is this where society is headed? Are we just birds programmed to eat, drink, even play piano on command? How does one even do that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me guess – there’s an app for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Big Data’ runs through Sunday, March 10, at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/big-data/\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There is a specific and toxic level of melancholia that comes with modern life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly, having the world at one’s literal fingertips makes for infinite possibilities. No longer do archaic fossils of culture dominate society — think about the last time you needed to buy a concert or sports ticket in person, or when you last sat in a bookstore reading a novel or magazine with pages that required physical turning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, phones, tablets or a trusty laptop provide every creature comfort known to humanity, and tech’s capabilities expand with each new update. But at what cost? Are we, in our yearning for more knowledge with blaring rapidity, simply feeding the beast? Frailty, thy name is algorithm!\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1278px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1278\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In playwright Kate Attwell’s world premiere of \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em>, commissioned and presented by American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, modern society’s horrors take the form of the dastardly-yet-dashing “M” (B.D. Wong), an automated puppet master who readily loads his subjects with thoughts and ideas that veer from inspired to toxic. “M” is random as all get out – knocking on stranger’s doors to simply hang out, seducing a young man and offering pleasures of the flesh, and subtly convincing an older couple that their time on this Earth has surpassed its useful life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director Pam MacKinnon’s meticulous attention to detail provides effective, steady subtlety inside Attwell’s staccato-ish dialogue. Occasionally, the script has a propensity to drone into one-note, ineffective territory, especially within stretches of the first act. This is not a fault of the cast, which is universally terrific. Both Sam (Gabriel Brown) and Timmy (Michael Phillis) are handsome, married millennials whose polyamorous dealings veer outside of simple physicality. Those invited inside their velvet, lustful ropes didn’t plan for the baggage of loneliness that both carry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952876\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952876\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Gabriel Brown (Sam), Rosie Hallett (Lucy), and Michael Phillis (Timmy) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, a sense of unease persists between medical professional Lucy (Rosie Hallett) and husband Max (Jomar Tagatac). While Lucy easily gives every ounce of herself to big tech, her cell phone notifications going off incessantly, Max is much more concerned with old school natural dangers like earthquakes and flooding. Together, the mix of infertility, home economics and large loans turn the couple into carbon and oxygen balls of mass agita.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The distinct nature of each act is intentional. Whereas the first act establishes five characters, all with their own issues, the second introduces two new characters entirely, revealing the ways in which the aforementioned folks connect. As the older parentals, Didi (Julia McNeal) and her husband Joe (Harold Surratt) don’t carry the same relationship to tech as their younger counterparts, but are nonetheless affected mightily by its constant presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Didi and Joe refuse to succumb to the new vanguard without a fight, thanks to Joe’s gargantuan cement truck that creates a physical barrier to the tech devices they’re actively shunning. (That smart thermometer is no match for concrete.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952878\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952878\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While no one would advocate the play’s denouement, there is something poetic about Didi and Joe’s choices. Technology will always move forward, yet at a time when the human mind is challenged more than ever by the artificial world, human expendability is on the table in unforeseen ways. To those who make art their life’s work, putting random words into a machine and having poetry and music returned with soaring fidelity is horrifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Each performer takes turns as the representation of societal strife. Tagatac, an ACT favorite, brings forth a skittish freneticism that parallels our divisive times. Hallett, whose listening skills are uncanny, engages sharply with Tagatac and advocates for her character’s neurosis with resonance. Brown and Phillis carry the responsibility of establishing the narrative’s style, handling many of the play’s funniest moments due to their honesty. And McNeal, along with Surratt and his dopey, everyman quality, delivers critical information with searing truth, magically making her case about the world’s artificiality and what it means to her generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a primary strength, \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em> advocates that the absurd really isn’t that absurd at all. Back in the day, we just knew how to breathe. Now, there’s an app for that. Even while Attwell’s dialogue is often sly, characters don’t speak with wonderment and discovery, and instead with mechanical precision. Each of the first act’s scene changes are soulless jaunts, moving from one reality to the next, within Tanya Orellana’s broad, barren scenic design. A completely different world appears in the second act — brought upon by the charming Wong as he gleefully pops and prances all over the place, sporting many fun costume changes borne of Lydia Tanji’s design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) and Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, what messages are we sending to certain generations? Your dollar bill is worthless, and so is that change in your pocket, because it’s all about cash-free zones and cryptocurrency now. How about some soulless poetry or music from Chat GPT? Is this where society is headed? Are we just birds programmed to eat, drink, even play piano on command? How does one even do that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me guess – there’s an app for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Big Data’ runs through Sunday, March 10, at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/big-data/\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Peter Pan’ Is Flying to San Jose After Some Much-Needed Changes",
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"content": "\u003cp>A new, inclusive stage production of \u003ca href=\"https://peterpanontour.com/tour-dates/\">\u003cem>Peter Pan\u003c/em> is heading to San Jose\u003c/a> this June, telling the classic tale of a boy who refuses to grow up — but without references that, ironically, have aged poorly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gone are elements harmful to Native people, in are a few new songs and the setting of Victorian England has been scrapped in favor of modern America with a multicultural cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13951752']“Part of the why I wanted to do this is that it will be kids’ first experience in the theater, and I want them not only to fall in love with \u003cem>Peter Pan\u003c/em>, but to fall in love with the theater and to come back,” says director Lonny Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show is based on the 1954 musical version — originally starring Broadway legend Mary Martin — with a score by Morris Charlap, additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and additional music by Jule Styne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Playwright Larissa FastHorse, who made history on Broadway in 2023 with her satirical comedy \u003cem>The Thanksgiving Play\u003c/em>, was tapped to rework the story. She says she found the character of Peter Pan complex, the pirates funny, the music enchanting but the depictions of Indigenous people and women appalling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the previous version, there were references to “redskins” throughout, a dance number with cringy gibberish for lyrics called “Ugg-A-Wugg” and Tiger Lily was described as fending off randy braves “with a hatchet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952567\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.26.18-AM-e1708450537476.png\" alt=\"A stage set featuring pirates with their swords raised at a young person in a green gender neutral outfit.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1269\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cast of ‘Peter Pan.’ \u003ccite>(Matthew Murphy/ Bond Theatrical via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My goal for doing it was to make it not cause harm,” FastHorse says. “Because the music is so beautiful. The story is complicated and beautiful. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it does all those things and has so much magic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tour kicks off in Maryland this week and travels to North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, D.C., South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California, Missouri, Texas and Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ugg-A-Wugg” has been cut, replaced by the melody from a tune from the little-known 1961 Comden-Green-Styne musical \u003cem>Subways Are for Sleeping\u003c/em>, married with new lyrics from Amanda Green, Adolph Green’s Tony Award-nominated daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price also found in the original creators’ papers a “haunting, beautiful” song called “I Went Home,” which tells of a time when Peter returned home and found his window barred and another kid sleeping in his bed. Martin had asked for it to be cut before the premiere, fearing it was too sad. Price put it back in, arguing audiences are more mature these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13951888']“I think kids can be a little upset now,” he says. “I don’t think it’s upsetting. I think it’s moving. I think it’s just a very moving piece. I don’t think anyone’s heard that song since 1954.” There’s also a reprise of “I Won’t Grow Up” for the second act curtain raiser called “We Hate Those Kinds,” sung by the pirates with lyrics by Green.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FastHorse widened the concept of Native in the musical’s Neverland to encompass several members of under-pressure Indigenous cultures from all over the globe — Africa, Japan and Eastern Europe, among them — who have retreated to Neverland to preserve their culture until they can find a way back. Price hails it as an “elegant solution,” adding FastHorse “ was just the perfect writer for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FastHorse is the first ever Indigenous artist to revise the story, and she has done more than correct the perceptions of Native culture. She’s also deepened the women characters: Tiger Lily and Wendy both sing now, they both dance, they both fight and they speak to each other without Peter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FastHorse and Price’s version takes place in a modern day, middle class United States not Victorian England. The cast includes children of various races and ethnicities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want every child in this nation to look out their window of the national tour, to look out the window and believe Peter can fly by their window,” says FastHorse. “Our cast looks like America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1954px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952569\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM.png\" alt=\"A stage set with three children wearing pajamas on stage and one child flying over their heads.\" width=\"1954\" height=\"1258\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM.png 1954w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-800x515.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-1020x657.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-1536x989.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-1920x1236.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1954px) 100vw, 1954px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan, Micah Turner Lee as John, Reed Epley as Michael and Hawa Kamara as Wendy. \u003ccite>( Matthew Murphy/ Bond Theatrical via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Price stresses that despite the changes, the fabric of the show has been maintained, especially the beautiful language lifted from James M. Barrie’s classic tale, like the notion that the birth of fairies comes from a child’s first laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_15140']\u003cem>Peter Pan\u003c/em> is a hardy vehicle in any case, with five major Broadway revivals, countless tours, NBC’s 2015 \u003cem>Peter Pan Live\u003c/em> with Allison Williams, the animated series \u003cem>Jake and the Never Land Pirates\u003c/em>, the Broadway shows \u003cem>Peter Pan Goes Wrong\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Peter and the Starcatcher\u003c/em> and 2023’s live-action \u003cem>Peter Pan & Wendy\u003c/em>, which added girls to the Lost Boys and featured a Black actor as Tinker Bell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price says the appeal of Barrie’s work is intergenerational, grounded in notions of freedom, motherhood, innocence and a very human ambivalence about growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids are afraid of growing up. Some of them want to grow up really fast. I think all adults have this conflicted relationship with growing up. So I think it’s a meditation on that and mortality as well,” says Price. “If you look at all of the themes of it, they’re very primal to us all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Peter Pan’ will be at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts from June 25 through June 30, 2024. \u003ca href=\"https://peterpanontour.com/tour-dates/\">All tour dates here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Part of the why I wanted to do this is that it will be kids’ first experience in the theater, and I want them not only to fall in love with \u003cem>Peter Pan\u003c/em>, but to fall in love with the theater and to come back,” says director Lonny Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show is based on the 1954 musical version — originally starring Broadway legend Mary Martin — with a score by Morris Charlap, additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and additional music by Jule Styne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Playwright Larissa FastHorse, who made history on Broadway in 2023 with her satirical comedy \u003cem>The Thanksgiving Play\u003c/em>, was tapped to rework the story. She says she found the character of Peter Pan complex, the pirates funny, the music enchanting but the depictions of Indigenous people and women appalling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the previous version, there were references to “redskins” throughout, a dance number with cringy gibberish for lyrics called “Ugg-A-Wugg” and Tiger Lily was described as fending off randy braves “with a hatchet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952567\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.26.18-AM-e1708450537476.png\" alt=\"A stage set featuring pirates with their swords raised at a young person in a green gender neutral outfit.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1269\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cast of ‘Peter Pan.’ \u003ccite>(Matthew Murphy/ Bond Theatrical via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My goal for doing it was to make it not cause harm,” FastHorse says. “Because the music is so beautiful. The story is complicated and beautiful. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it does all those things and has so much magic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tour kicks off in Maryland this week and travels to North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, D.C., South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California, Missouri, Texas and Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ugg-A-Wugg” has been cut, replaced by the melody from a tune from the little-known 1961 Comden-Green-Styne musical \u003cem>Subways Are for Sleeping\u003c/em>, married with new lyrics from Amanda Green, Adolph Green’s Tony Award-nominated daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price also found in the original creators’ papers a “haunting, beautiful” song called “I Went Home,” which tells of a time when Peter returned home and found his window barred and another kid sleeping in his bed. Martin had asked for it to be cut before the premiere, fearing it was too sad. Price put it back in, arguing audiences are more mature these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think kids can be a little upset now,” he says. “I don’t think it’s upsetting. I think it’s moving. I think it’s just a very moving piece. I don’t think anyone’s heard that song since 1954.” There’s also a reprise of “I Won’t Grow Up” for the second act curtain raiser called “We Hate Those Kinds,” sung by the pirates with lyrics by Green.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FastHorse widened the concept of Native in the musical’s Neverland to encompass several members of under-pressure Indigenous cultures from all over the globe — Africa, Japan and Eastern Europe, among them — who have retreated to Neverland to preserve their culture until they can find a way back. Price hails it as an “elegant solution,” adding FastHorse “ was just the perfect writer for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FastHorse is the first ever Indigenous artist to revise the story, and she has done more than correct the perceptions of Native culture. She’s also deepened the women characters: Tiger Lily and Wendy both sing now, they both dance, they both fight and they speak to each other without Peter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FastHorse and Price’s version takes place in a modern day, middle class United States not Victorian England. The cast includes children of various races and ethnicities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want every child in this nation to look out their window of the national tour, to look out the window and believe Peter can fly by their window,” says FastHorse. “Our cast looks like America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1954px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952569\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM.png\" alt=\"A stage set with three children wearing pajamas on stage and one child flying over their heads.\" width=\"1954\" height=\"1258\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM.png 1954w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-800x515.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-1020x657.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-1536x989.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-20-at-9.27.31-AM-1920x1236.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1954px) 100vw, 1954px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan, Micah Turner Lee as John, Reed Epley as Michael and Hawa Kamara as Wendy. \u003ccite>( Matthew Murphy/ Bond Theatrical via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Price stresses that despite the changes, the fabric of the show has been maintained, especially the beautiful language lifted from James M. Barrie’s classic tale, like the notion that the birth of fairies comes from a child’s first laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>Peter Pan\u003c/em> is a hardy vehicle in any case, with five major Broadway revivals, countless tours, NBC’s 2015 \u003cem>Peter Pan Live\u003c/em> with Allison Williams, the animated series \u003cem>Jake and the Never Land Pirates\u003c/em>, the Broadway shows \u003cem>Peter Pan Goes Wrong\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Peter and the Starcatcher\u003c/em> and 2023’s live-action \u003cem>Peter Pan & Wendy\u003c/em>, which added girls to the Lost Boys and featured a Black actor as Tinker Bell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price says the appeal of Barrie’s work is intergenerational, grounded in notions of freedom, motherhood, innocence and a very human ambivalence about growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids are afraid of growing up. Some of them want to grow up really fast. I think all adults have this conflicted relationship with growing up. So I think it’s a meditation on that and mortality as well,” says Price. “If you look at all of the themes of it, they’re very primal to us all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Peter Pan’ will be at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts from June 25 through June 30, 2024. \u003ca href=\"https://peterpanontour.com/tour-dates/\">All tour dates here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For over a decade, the oldest known image of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/\">San Francisco Opera\u003c/a> was a panoramic group photograph taken on Oct. 6, 1923 with a cryptic “Picture #2” inscribed on its lower left-hand corner. Pictured inside the Civic (now Bill Graham) Auditorium, founder and conductor Gaetano Merola, star tenor Beniamino Gigli, chorus members and orchestra musicians pose in costume and tuxes, ready for the night’s performance of \u003cem>Andrea Chénier\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951908\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1817px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1817\" height=\"2229\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2.jpg 1817w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-800x981.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-1020x1251.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-768x942.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-1252x1536.jpg 1252w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-1669x2048.jpg 1669w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1817px) 100vw, 1817px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singer Chung-Wai Soong performs with a number of Bay Area choirs and companies, including the SF Opera’s extra chorus. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of San Francisco Opera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But we now have what the opera believes to be a \u003ci>new\u003c/i> oldest photograph, showing members of the fledgling company earlier on the same day, in their pre-performance street clothes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Credit for its discovery goes to Chung-Wai Soong, a professional opera singer who is also a member of SF Opera’s extra chorus. Soong purchased the print on a bit of a whim at the Antiquarian Book Fair “at least 10, 15, maybe even 20 years ago,” he says. “I’m not a collector, but it’s always fun to have these sort of talismanic articles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 6-by-24-inch print Soong purchased was already mounted to cardboard, slightly warped and bent — and it remained in that state for years, sitting on top of a mirror in his home. It was always in the back of his mind, he says, that he should show it to the folks at the opera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barbara Rominski, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/about/san-francisco-opera-archives/\">opera archives\u003c/a> since 2016, remembers the day Soong brought the photograph to her attention. “He just sort of whipped it out of his canvas grocery bag,” she says, laughing, “and he said, ‘Have you ever seen this?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rominski initially thought it was the same image the opera proudly displays on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building — that Oct. 6, 1923 photograph from the \u003cem>Andrea Chénier\u003c/em> performance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO.jpg\" alt=\"Large sepia-toned group photo of men, women and children on risers inside high-ceilinged space\" width=\"2000\" height=\"488\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951907\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-800x195.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-1020x249.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-160x39.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-768x187.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-1536x375.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-1920x468.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An October 1923 photograph of the San Francisco Opera company in the Civic Auditorium, discovered by opera singer Chung-Wai Soong and recently donated to the archives. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Opera Archives)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company.jpg\" alt=\"Large black-and-white group photo of people in costumes and tuxes on risers inside high-ceilinged space\" width=\"2000\" height=\"518\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951909\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-800x207.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-1020x264.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-160x41.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-768x199.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-1536x398.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-1920x497.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The opera’s ‘Picture #2’ photograph was long thought to be the earliest image of the company’s inaugural season in 1923. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Opera Archives)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Then I took a closer look at it and went ‘Oh — swear words — in fact, no Chung-Wai, I have \u003ci>never\u003c/i> seen this photograph \u003ci>ever\u003c/i>,’” she remembers. “It was a total surprise to everybody in the room.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The print was in ill repair. With Soong’s permission, Rominski sent it off to Berkeley art conservator Heida Shoemaker. It returned, restored and no longer attached to cardboard, just a few weeks ago; Soong has officially donated the photograph to the SF Opera archives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The singer says he’s of two minds about his unexpected discovery. “[I’m] gleefully thrilled it’s finally going to a proper home, and it’s been properly taken care of,” he says. “But also slightly horrified that it’s spent all these years sitting on top of my mirror. I mean, it could have fallen down and my cat could have chewed it. Anything could have happened!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Rominski, Soong’s relationship with the photograph, its place in his home, is a testament to its special power. “You sort of think, wow, that was a 100-year-old photograph that you were fairly nonchalantly carrying it around, but it also just shows the beauty of a photograph, right? It’s just this wonderful object that we feel very close to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001.jpg\" alt=\"Large crowd in auditorium facing stage\" width=\"2000\" height=\"903\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951915\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-800x361.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-1020x461.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-160x72.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-768x347.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-1536x694.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-1920x867.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of a packed Civic Auditorium during an SF Opera performance in 1926. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Opera Archives)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The image comes from SF Opera’s first season, when the company performed in the vast expanse of what is now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Tickets were $1; box seats were $5. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Civic Auditorium was not an ideal venue for opera: it seated around 5,000 people, but it had no backstage, fly galleries or dressing rooms. The company moved to its current home in the War Memorial Opera House in 1932. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Soong, who is currently in rehearsals for Pocket Opera’s production of \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://pocketopera.org/2024-season/la-cenerentola/\">La Cenerentola\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, the group photograph captures the true community endeavor of starting an opera company from scratch. “I look at all these faces, these sort of progenitors to what I do, and some of these are well-known singers,” he says, “but some of these people … some of their grandkids probably still live in North Beach, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gaetano Merola trained up his early chorus (seen in dirndl costumes in the group photograph) from local amateur singers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an archivist, Rominski gets excited about possibilities this photograph represents. “You never know what’s going to come out of the woodwork,” she says. “Now there are two photographs that we know of. Is there a third or fourth and a fifth?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this photograph managed to remain relatively unknown for over 100 years, other objects significant to the opera’s early days are out there. Rominski is certain of it: “I am going to be delighted and surprised and super happy, because there’s going to be more stuff that’s coming out of the woodwork.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For over a decade, the oldest known image of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/\">San Francisco Opera\u003c/a> was a panoramic group photograph taken on Oct. 6, 1923 with a cryptic “Picture #2” inscribed on its lower left-hand corner. Pictured inside the Civic (now Bill Graham) Auditorium, founder and conductor Gaetano Merola, star tenor Beniamino Gigli, chorus members and orchestra musicians pose in costume and tuxes, ready for the night’s performance of \u003cem>Andrea Chénier\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951908\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1817px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1817\" height=\"2229\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2.jpg 1817w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-800x981.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-1020x1251.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-768x942.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-1252x1536.jpg 1252w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SOONG-Chung-Wai-2022_credit_Vero-Kherian2-1669x2048.jpg 1669w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1817px) 100vw, 1817px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singer Chung-Wai Soong performs with a number of Bay Area choirs and companies, including the SF Opera’s extra chorus. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of San Francisco Opera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But we now have what the opera believes to be a \u003ci>new\u003c/i> oldest photograph, showing members of the fledgling company earlier on the same day, in their pre-performance street clothes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Credit for its discovery goes to Chung-Wai Soong, a professional opera singer who is also a member of SF Opera’s extra chorus. Soong purchased the print on a bit of a whim at the Antiquarian Book Fair “at least 10, 15, maybe even 20 years ago,” he says. “I’m not a collector, but it’s always fun to have these sort of talismanic articles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 6-by-24-inch print Soong purchased was already mounted to cardboard, slightly warped and bent — and it remained in that state for years, sitting on top of a mirror in his home. It was always in the back of his mind, he says, that he should show it to the folks at the opera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barbara Rominski, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/about/san-francisco-opera-archives/\">opera archives\u003c/a> since 2016, remembers the day Soong brought the photograph to her attention. “He just sort of whipped it out of his canvas grocery bag,” she says, laughing, “and he said, ‘Have you ever seen this?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rominski initially thought it was the same image the opera proudly displays on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building — that Oct. 6, 1923 photograph from the \u003cem>Andrea Chénier\u003c/em> performance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO.jpg\" alt=\"Large sepia-toned group photo of men, women and children on risers inside high-ceilinged space\" width=\"2000\" height=\"488\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951907\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-800x195.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-1020x249.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-160x39.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-768x187.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-1536x375.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_San_Francisco_OperaCompany_nformal-NEW-PHOTO-1920x468.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An October 1923 photograph of the San Francisco Opera company in the Civic Auditorium, discovered by opera singer Chung-Wai Soong and recently donated to the archives. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Opera Archives)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company.jpg\" alt=\"Large black-and-white group photo of people in costumes and tuxes on risers inside high-ceilinged space\" width=\"2000\" height=\"518\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951909\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-800x207.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-1020x264.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-160x41.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-768x199.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-1536x398.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1923_SanFranciscoOpera_AndreaChenier_cast_and_company-1920x497.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The opera’s ‘Picture #2’ photograph was long thought to be the earliest image of the company’s inaugural season in 1923. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Opera Archives)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Then I took a closer look at it and went ‘Oh — swear words — in fact, no Chung-Wai, I have \u003ci>never\u003c/i> seen this photograph \u003ci>ever\u003c/i>,’” she remembers. “It was a total surprise to everybody in the room.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The print was in ill repair. With Soong’s permission, Rominski sent it off to Berkeley art conservator Heida Shoemaker. It returned, restored and no longer attached to cardboard, just a few weeks ago; Soong has officially donated the photograph to the SF Opera archives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The singer says he’s of two minds about his unexpected discovery. “[I’m] gleefully thrilled it’s finally going to a proper home, and it’s been properly taken care of,” he says. “But also slightly horrified that it’s spent all these years sitting on top of my mirror. I mean, it could have fallen down and my cat could have chewed it. Anything could have happened!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Rominski, Soong’s relationship with the photograph, its place in his home, is a testament to its special power. “You sort of think, wow, that was a 100-year-old photograph that you were fairly nonchalantly carrying it around, but it also just shows the beauty of a photograph, right? It’s just this wonderful object that we feel very close to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001.jpg\" alt=\"Large crowd in auditorium facing stage\" width=\"2000\" height=\"903\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951915\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-800x361.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-1020x461.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-160x72.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-768x347.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-1536x694.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1926_MOPD-SFO143001-1920x867.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of a packed Civic Auditorium during an SF Opera performance in 1926. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Opera Archives)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The image comes from SF Opera’s first season, when the company performed in the vast expanse of what is now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Tickets were $1; box seats were $5. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Civic Auditorium was not an ideal venue for opera: it seated around 5,000 people, but it had no backstage, fly galleries or dressing rooms. The company moved to its current home in the War Memorial Opera House in 1932. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Soong, who is currently in rehearsals for Pocket Opera’s production of \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://pocketopera.org/2024-season/la-cenerentola/\">La Cenerentola\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, the group photograph captures the true community endeavor of starting an opera company from scratch. “I look at all these faces, these sort of progenitors to what I do, and some of these are well-known singers,” he says, “but some of these people … some of their grandkids probably still live in North Beach, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gaetano Merola trained up his early chorus (seen in dirndl costumes in the group photograph) from local amateur singers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an archivist, Rominski gets excited about possibilities this photograph represents. “You never know what’s going to come out of the woodwork,” she says. “Now there are two photographs that we know of. Is there a third or fourth and a fifth?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this photograph managed to remain relatively unknown for over 100 years, other objects significant to the opera’s early days are out there. Rominski is certain of it: “I am going to be delighted and surprised and super happy, because there’s going to be more stuff that’s coming out of the woodwork.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Manahatta' to Make Bay Area Premiere",
"headTitle": "‘Manahatta’ to Make Bay Area Premiere | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s been 10 years since Mary Kathryn Nagle’s history-hopping, dual-timeline play \u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em> was first workshopped at the Public Theatre in NYC. Set in Manhattan in both 1626 and 2008, the play revisits the historic displacement of the Lenape peoples at the hands of the Dutch, and draws a direct throughline to the displacement and foreclosures caused by predatory lending practices during the Great Recession of 2007-2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opening Feb. 9 at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley, the play has undergone a journey almost as expansive as that of Nagle’s characters, from East Coast to West Coast and back again, undergoing several major rewrites and an evolving mission in a rapidly changing theatrical landscape. \u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em> exemplifies the deeply iterative work of playwriting and theatre-making; a state of constant renewal, responding to the world in real time in order to stay relevant and fresh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em>’s iterations are particularly familiar to director Shannon R. Davis, as she Assistant Directed its 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival premiere with Laurie Woolery (who also directed its recent Public Theatre production), working closely with the text and subtext and “mapping out the script on a daily basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Director Shannon R. Davis discusses playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle in her presentation at Aurora Theatre’s first rehearsal of ‘Manahatta.’ \u003ccite>(Alandra Hileman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I got to be in the room where we were changing scenes and switching things around, and really got to know the innards of this piece,” she describes. For the Berkeley production, they’re using a never-before staged revision from 2020 of which, Davis says, “felt best suited to what we’re working with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this production, Davis is not only in the director’s chair — she’s the one who brought it to Aurora’s artistic director Josh Costello in the first place. The two had “wanted to work together for a long time,” and thematically, Costello saw the piece as fitting in with this current season. Davis concurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“(There’s) capitalism. And Big Brother … the themes of \u003cem>1984\u003c/em> … And there’s also historical — I’m thinking of \u003cem>Born with Teeth\u003c/em> — illuminating certain periods of time to bring us back to the present. These mirrored issues, or these issues that we’ve been going through time and time again, and don’t seem to ever clear up. It’s a different version of the same old story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first read-through at Aurora Thatre of ‘Manhatta’ with actors Linda Amayo-Hassan, Oogie Push, Ixtlán and Livia Gomes Dimarchi. \u003ccite>(Alandra Hileman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Davis, who is of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Sámi descent, working with a powerhouse majority-Native cast has been a joyful and generative process. It speaks to the relative rarity of Native work on Bay Area stages to note that several actors are making their Aurora Theatre debut with \u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em>, though many have worked on other projects together before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Indigenous and Native theatre is a pretty small community,” Davis points out. “We run in small circles. We get a lot of the same emails. We see each other around. But also, Aurora hired the \u003ca href=\"https://www.castingcollective.org/\">Casting Collective\u003c/a> … and I did have a chat with them upfront about cultural specificity and identity politics around Native casting. … With that in mind, I just called in everyone I knew of that I knew would be right in the Bay Area. And the Casting Collective (worked) with another colleague that I met up at OSF who identifies as Indigenous, so they already had a pretty robust list as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of these performers, Ixtlán (seen recently at Aurora Theatre in \u003cem>Cyrano\u003c/em>), not only worked with Davis on the OSF production playing the same doubled role of Se-ket-tu-may-qua / Luke, but on many projects since — “My art partner,” as Davis fondly calls him. Originally born and raised in San Jose and Sutter County, Ixtlán auditioned for the 2018 OSF production after several years in New York, where, in addition to acting, they “got involved in the Native community” and an ongoing journey of self-discovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951865\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951865\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Actor Livia Gomes Demarchi at Aurora Theatre’s first rehearsal of ‘Manahatta.’ \u003ccite>(Alandra Hileman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now in the Bay Area, Ixtlán works variously as an actor, movement artist, puppeteer and guest educator, collaborating often with Davis, whom he describes warmly as a “champion of the light.” Their creative symbiosis incorporates their cultural identities along with a multi-faceted exploration of artistic disciplines from Noh Theatre, film, modern dance, and even hip-hop (co-creating a stirring pandemic-era video with Bay Area Cypher titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eddhwA6WfM\">Indigenous Excellence\u003c/a>”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There has been a mutual discovering who we are,” Ixtlán reflects of this artistic relationship. “In this way of claiming your history, and who you are, and realizing that the world we live in doesn’t support certain groups of people as much as other groups of people. And when you kind of awaken out of that, and realize ‘Oh, I’ve been a part of the machine which I’m raging against, but now what can I do differently to create a new community?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential project that Davis had put forward while a member of CalShakes’ inaugural “Artist Circle” was an entire season of Native programming, although today she says the likelihood of that taking place at CalShakes is slim, given their \u003ca href=\"https://calshakes.org/2023_update_calshakes/\">financial and operational struggles\u003c/a>. Still, she contends, a smaller week-long festival of Native performance would be eminently achievable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to build some sort of a week-long program, like if we started off with \u003ca href=\"https://jackiecomedy.com/good-medicine.html\">Jackie’s (Keliiaa) night of comedy\u003c/a>, then the next night … it could be a powwow ground, and then the next day we have a new play reading by Native Writers Theater up in Marin … and then the next night it’s an elder drum circle … Just a week-long explosion of Native stuff in the Summer time. That would be exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951870\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Shakespeare Festival’s Native affinity group. (L–R) Top: Rainbow Dickerson, Shannon R. Davis, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Tanis Parenteau, Sheila Tousey, Shyla Lefner, Christopher Salazar. Front: Ixtlán. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shannon R. Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s taken 10 years for Nagle’s script to premiere in the Bay Area, and perhaps an entire 400 years for the Bay Area to begin grappling with its specific tale of the Lenape people’s displacement and its modern-day repercussions. But despite the heavy subject matter, Aurora Theatre’s production is helping to activate and center a community of local Native theatre artists and allies in a generative process that Davis happily describes as “fun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This cast is amazing,” she shares. “They are just having a blast in the room, so my number one mission was accomplished.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Manahatta’ previews begin Friday, Feb. 9, at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ca href=\"https://auroratheatre.org/Manahatta\">Details and tickets here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "With a majority-Native cast, the play connects 17th-century Native displacement with modern capitalism.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s been 10 years since Mary Kathryn Nagle’s history-hopping, dual-timeline play \u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em> was first workshopped at the Public Theatre in NYC. Set in Manhattan in both 1626 and 2008, the play revisits the historic displacement of the Lenape peoples at the hands of the Dutch, and draws a direct throughline to the displacement and foreclosures caused by predatory lending practices during the Great Recession of 2007-2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opening Feb. 9 at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley, the play has undergone a journey almost as expansive as that of Nagle’s characters, from East Coast to West Coast and back again, undergoing several major rewrites and an evolving mission in a rapidly changing theatrical landscape. \u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em> exemplifies the deeply iterative work of playwriting and theatre-making; a state of constant renewal, responding to the world in real time in order to stay relevant and fresh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em>’s iterations are particularly familiar to director Shannon R. Davis, as she Assistant Directed its 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival premiere with Laurie Woolery (who also directed its recent Public Theatre production), working closely with the text and subtext and “mapping out the script on a daily basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_007-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Director Shannon R. Davis discusses playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle in her presentation at Aurora Theatre’s first rehearsal of ‘Manahatta.’ \u003ccite>(Alandra Hileman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I got to be in the room where we were changing scenes and switching things around, and really got to know the innards of this piece,” she describes. For the Berkeley production, they’re using a never-before staged revision from 2020 of which, Davis says, “felt best suited to what we’re working with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this production, Davis is not only in the director’s chair — she’s the one who brought it to Aurora’s artistic director Josh Costello in the first place. The two had “wanted to work together for a long time,” and thematically, Costello saw the piece as fitting in with this current season. Davis concurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“(There’s) capitalism. And Big Brother … the themes of \u003cem>1984\u003c/em> … And there’s also historical — I’m thinking of \u003cem>Born with Teeth\u003c/em> — illuminating certain periods of time to bring us back to the present. These mirrored issues, or these issues that we’ve been going through time and time again, and don’t seem to ever clear up. It’s a different version of the same old story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_040-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first read-through at Aurora Thatre of ‘Manhatta’ with actors Linda Amayo-Hassan, Oogie Push, Ixtlán and Livia Gomes Dimarchi. \u003ccite>(Alandra Hileman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Davis, who is of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Sámi descent, working with a powerhouse majority-Native cast has been a joyful and generative process. It speaks to the relative rarity of Native work on Bay Area stages to note that several actors are making their Aurora Theatre debut with \u003cem>Manahatta\u003c/em>, though many have worked on other projects together before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Indigenous and Native theatre is a pretty small community,” Davis points out. “We run in small circles. We get a lot of the same emails. We see each other around. But also, Aurora hired the \u003ca href=\"https://www.castingcollective.org/\">Casting Collective\u003c/a> … and I did have a chat with them upfront about cultural specificity and identity politics around Native casting. … With that in mind, I just called in everyone I knew of that I knew would be right in the Bay Area. And the Casting Collective (worked) with another colleague that I met up at OSF who identifies as Indigenous, so they already had a pretty robust list as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of these performers, Ixtlán (seen recently at Aurora Theatre in \u003cem>Cyrano\u003c/em>), not only worked with Davis on the OSF production playing the same doubled role of Se-ket-tu-may-qua / Luke, but on many projects since — “My art partner,” as Davis fondly calls him. Originally born and raised in San Jose and Sutter County, Ixtlán auditioned for the 2018 OSF production after several years in New York, where, in addition to acting, they “got involved in the Native community” and an ongoing journey of self-discovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951865\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951865\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Aurora_MANA1stRead_AJH_036-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Actor Livia Gomes Demarchi at Aurora Theatre’s first rehearsal of ‘Manahatta.’ \u003ccite>(Alandra Hileman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now in the Bay Area, Ixtlán works variously as an actor, movement artist, puppeteer and guest educator, collaborating often with Davis, whom he describes warmly as a “champion of the light.” Their creative symbiosis incorporates their cultural identities along with a multi-faceted exploration of artistic disciplines from Noh Theatre, film, modern dance, and even hip-hop (co-creating a stirring pandemic-era video with Bay Area Cypher titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eddhwA6WfM\">Indigenous Excellence\u003c/a>”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There has been a mutual discovering who we are,” Ixtlán reflects of this artistic relationship. “In this way of claiming your history, and who you are, and realizing that the world we live in doesn’t support certain groups of people as much as other groups of people. And when you kind of awaken out of that, and realize ‘Oh, I’ve been a part of the machine which I’m raging against, but now what can I do differently to create a new community?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential project that Davis had put forward while a member of CalShakes’ inaugural “Artist Circle” was an entire season of Native programming, although today she says the likelihood of that taking place at CalShakes is slim, given their \u003ca href=\"https://calshakes.org/2023_update_calshakes/\">financial and operational struggles\u003c/a>. Still, she contends, a smaller week-long festival of Native performance would be eminently achievable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to build some sort of a week-long program, like if we started off with \u003ca href=\"https://jackiecomedy.com/good-medicine.html\">Jackie’s (Keliiaa) night of comedy\u003c/a>, then the next night … it could be a powwow ground, and then the next day we have a new play reading by Native Writers Theater up in Marin … and then the next night it’s an elder drum circle … Just a week-long explosion of Native stuff in the Summer time. That would be exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951870\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/osf_native_affinity_group-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Shakespeare Festival’s Native affinity group. (L–R) Top: Rainbow Dickerson, Shannon R. Davis, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Tanis Parenteau, Sheila Tousey, Shyla Lefner, Christopher Salazar. Front: Ixtlán. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shannon R. Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s taken 10 years for Nagle’s script to premiere in the Bay Area, and perhaps an entire 400 years for the Bay Area to begin grappling with its specific tale of the Lenape people’s displacement and its modern-day repercussions. But despite the heavy subject matter, Aurora Theatre’s production is helping to activate and center a community of local Native theatre artists and allies in a generative process that Davis happily describes as “fun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This cast is amazing,” she shares. “They are just having a blast in the room, so my number one mission was accomplished.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Manahatta’ previews begin Friday, Feb. 9, at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ca href=\"https://auroratheatre.org/Manahatta\">Details and tickets here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Chita Rivera, Broadway’s ‘First Great Triple Threat,’ Dies at 91",
"headTitle": "Chita Rivera, Broadway’s ‘First Great Triple Threat,’ Dies at 91 | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951265\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2046px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951265\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling woman sits for a photographic portrait.\" width=\"2046\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-scaled.jpg 2046w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-800x1001.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1020x1276.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-768x961.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1228x1536.jpg 1228w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1637x2048.jpg 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1920x2402.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2046px) 100vw, 2046px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera in May 1977. \u003ccite>(Evening Standard/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chita Rivera, who appeared in more than 20 Broadway musicals over six decades has died, according to her daughter, Lisa Mordente. The three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway legend created indelible roles — Anita in \u003cem>West Side Story\u003c/em>, Rose in \u003cem>Bye Bye Birdie\u003c/em>, Velma Kelly in \u003cem>Chicago\u003c/em>, and Aurora in \u003cem>Kiss of the Spiderwoman\u003c/em>. She was 91.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera “was everything Broadway was meant to be,” says Laurence Maslon, co-producer of the 2004 PBS series, \u003cem>Broadway: The American Musical\u003c/em>. “She was spontaneous and compelling and talented as hell for decades and decades on Broadway. Once you saw her, you never forgot her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_fi5ZmqyU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think Chita Rivera was a Broadway baby from childhood — but she wasn’t. Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., she \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/IPZBX8SiySA?si=ELIWcuAvLBe7puIV&t=448\">told an audience\u003c/a> at a Screen Actors Guild Foundation interview that she was a tomboy and drove her mother crazy: “She said, ‘I’m putting you in ballet class so that we can rein in some of that energy.’ So I am very grateful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera took to ballet so completely that she got a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York. But when she went with a friend to an audition for the tour of the Broadway show \u003cem>Call Me Madam\u003c/em>, Rivera got the job. Goodbye ballet, hello Broadway. In 1957, she landed her breakout role, Anita in \u003cem>West Side Story, \u003c/em>with a score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hearing ‘America’ was just mind-boggling, with that rhythm,” Rivera \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14744266\">told NPR \u003c/a>in 2007 for the musical’s 50th anniversary. “I just couldn’t wait to do it. It was such a challenge. And, being Latin, you know, it was a welcoming sound.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1294px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951270\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1294\" height=\"1262\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM.png 1294w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-800x780.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-1020x995.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-160x156.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-768x749.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1294px) 100vw, 1294px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera, center, works with choreographer Jerome Robbins, second from left, and her fellow ‘West Side Story’ cast members in a rehearsal on July 22, 1957. \u003ccite>(AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>West Side Story\u003c/em> allowed Rivera to reveal not only her athletic dancing chops, but her acting and singing chops. She recalls Leonard Bernstein teaching her the score himself: “I remember sitting next to Lenny and his starting with ‘A Boy Like That,’ teaching it to me and me saying, ‘I’ll never do this, I can’t hit those notes, I don’t know how to hit those notes.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she did hit them, and being able to sing, act and dance made her a valuable Broadway commodity, said Maslon. “She was the first great triple threat. Broadway directors like Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse saw the need to have performers who could do all three things and do them really well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, from 1960 to 2013, she headlined some big hits — as well as some major flops. In 1986, Rivera was in a serious taxi accident. Her left leg was shattered, and the doctors said she’d never dance again, but she did — just differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951271\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1298px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951271\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM.png\" alt=\"A young woman and an older woman stand on stage, arms outstretched towards one another.\" width=\"1298\" height=\"860\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM.png 1298w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-800x530.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-1020x676.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-768x509.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1298px) 100vw, 1298px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera, right, and Michelle Veintimilla perform at the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 7, 2015 in New York City. \u003ccite>(Theo Wargo/ Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We all have to be realistic,” she \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5048067\">told NPR\u003c/a> in 2005. “I don’t do flying splits anymore. I don’t do back flips and all the stuff that I used to do. You want to know something? I don’t want to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But her stardom never diminished. And the accolades flowed: she won several Tony Awards, including one for lifetime achievement, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=871162\">Kennedy Center honor\u003c/a>, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Rivera didn’t do much television or film — she was completely devoted to the stage, says Maslon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why they’re called Broadway legends,” he says. “Hopefully you get to see them live because you’ll never get to see them in another form in quite the same way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951272\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1290px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951272\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1290\" height=\"852\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM.png 1290w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-800x528.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-1020x674.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-768x507.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former president Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House on Aug. 12, 2009. \u003ccite>(Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Chita+Rivera%2C+Broadway%27s+%27First+Great+Triple+Threat%2C%27+dies+at+91&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951265\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2046px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951265\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling woman sits for a photographic portrait.\" width=\"2046\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-scaled.jpg 2046w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-800x1001.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1020x1276.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-768x961.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1228x1536.jpg 1228w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1637x2048.jpg 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/gettyimages-3318072_enl-3b553c8e9e94b4f8a48c717d3b03be854617faea-1920x2402.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2046px) 100vw, 2046px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera in May 1977. \u003ccite>(Evening Standard/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chita Rivera, who appeared in more than 20 Broadway musicals over six decades has died, according to her daughter, Lisa Mordente. The three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway legend created indelible roles — Anita in \u003cem>West Side Story\u003c/em>, Rose in \u003cem>Bye Bye Birdie\u003c/em>, Velma Kelly in \u003cem>Chicago\u003c/em>, and Aurora in \u003cem>Kiss of the Spiderwoman\u003c/em>. She was 91.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera “was everything Broadway was meant to be,” says Laurence Maslon, co-producer of the 2004 PBS series, \u003cem>Broadway: The American Musical\u003c/em>. “She was spontaneous and compelling and talented as hell for decades and decades on Broadway. Once you saw her, you never forgot her.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/g9_fi5ZmqyU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/g9_fi5ZmqyU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>You might think Chita Rivera was a Broadway baby from childhood — but she wasn’t. Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., she \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/IPZBX8SiySA?si=ELIWcuAvLBe7puIV&t=448\">told an audience\u003c/a> at a Screen Actors Guild Foundation interview that she was a tomboy and drove her mother crazy: “She said, ‘I’m putting you in ballet class so that we can rein in some of that energy.’ So I am very grateful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera took to ballet so completely that she got a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York. But when she went with a friend to an audition for the tour of the Broadway show \u003cem>Call Me Madam\u003c/em>, Rivera got the job. Goodbye ballet, hello Broadway. In 1957, she landed her breakout role, Anita in \u003cem>West Side Story, \u003c/em>with a score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hearing ‘America’ was just mind-boggling, with that rhythm,” Rivera \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14744266\">told NPR \u003c/a>in 2007 for the musical’s 50th anniversary. “I just couldn’t wait to do it. It was such a challenge. And, being Latin, you know, it was a welcoming sound.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1294px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951270\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1294\" height=\"1262\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM.png 1294w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-800x780.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-1020x995.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-160x156.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.24.19-PM-768x749.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1294px) 100vw, 1294px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera, center, works with choreographer Jerome Robbins, second from left, and her fellow ‘West Side Story’ cast members in a rehearsal on July 22, 1957. \u003ccite>(AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>West Side Story\u003c/em> allowed Rivera to reveal not only her athletic dancing chops, but her acting and singing chops. She recalls Leonard Bernstein teaching her the score himself: “I remember sitting next to Lenny and his starting with ‘A Boy Like That,’ teaching it to me and me saying, ‘I’ll never do this, I can’t hit those notes, I don’t know how to hit those notes.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she did hit them, and being able to sing, act and dance made her a valuable Broadway commodity, said Maslon. “She was the first great triple threat. Broadway directors like Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse saw the need to have performers who could do all three things and do them really well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, from 1960 to 2013, she headlined some big hits — as well as some major flops. In 1986, Rivera was in a serious taxi accident. Her left leg was shattered, and the doctors said she’d never dance again, but she did — just differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951271\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1298px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951271\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM.png\" alt=\"A young woman and an older woman stand on stage, arms outstretched towards one another.\" width=\"1298\" height=\"860\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM.png 1298w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-800x530.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-1020x676.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.25.58-PM-768x509.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1298px) 100vw, 1298px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera, right, and Michelle Veintimilla perform at the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 7, 2015 in New York City. \u003ccite>(Theo Wargo/ Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We all have to be realistic,” she \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5048067\">told NPR\u003c/a> in 2005. “I don’t do flying splits anymore. I don’t do back flips and all the stuff that I used to do. You want to know something? I don’t want to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But her stardom never diminished. And the accolades flowed: she won several Tony Awards, including one for lifetime achievement, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=871162\">Kennedy Center honor\u003c/a>, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Rivera didn’t do much television or film — she was completely devoted to the stage, says Maslon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why they’re called Broadway legends,” he says. “Hopefully you get to see them live because you’ll never get to see them in another form in quite the same way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951272\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1290px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951272\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1290\" height=\"852\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM.png 1290w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-800x528.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-1020x674.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2024-01-30-at-2.28.09-PM-768x507.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chita Rivera receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former president Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House on Aug. 12, 2009. \u003ccite>(Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Chita+Rivera%2C+Broadway%27s+%27First+Great+Triple+Threat%2C%27+dies+at+91&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Nichelle Lewis’ Incredible Journey From TikTok to Starring in ‘The Wiz’",
"headTitle": "Nichelle Lewis’ Incredible Journey From TikTok to Starring in ‘The Wiz’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Half a century after its debut, \u003ca href=\"https://www.broadwaysf.com/events/the-wiz/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtt2tBhBDEiwALZuhAGP_ikCOgYxwZIALx-MzPudCFUBvI7FvZoCkrjsGAiV1YYgpFctHexoCmCwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds\">\u003cem>The Wiz\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/uNKmKOjGUbw?si=WB_S6tdig98GnFPp\">easing on down the road\u003c/a> again. The touring Broadway musical is currently in San Francisco, its second-to-last stop before parking in New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it opened in 1975, \u003cem>The Wiz\u003c/em> shook up musical theater \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> to the tune of seven Tony Award nominations \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> with its uniquely Afro-diasporic approach to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book \u003cem>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u003c/em>. Under Geoffrey Holder’s direction and costume design, the original\u003cem> Wiz\u003c/em>’s blend of homegrown American fantasy, Caribbean-inspired costumes and ’70s soul music revolutionized Broadway. It boasted an all-Black cast, with R&B legend Stephanie Mills in the role of Dorothy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951157\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951157\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975.jpg\" alt=\"Hinton Battle in costume as the scarecrow, Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Ted Ross as the lion and Tiger Haynes as the tin man in the original Broadway show of The Wiz in 1975.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hinton Battle, Stephanie Mills, Ted Ross and Tiger Haynes in ‘The Wiz’ in 1975. \u003ccite>(Martha Swope/ New York Public Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The latest staging of \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>Wiz\u003c/em>, directed by Schele Williams, continues at Golden Gate Theatre through Feb. 11, and features Deborah Cox as Glinda and Wayne Brady in its titular role. And among these veteran performers, newcomer Nichelle Lewis shines as Dorothy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 24-year-old Virginia native began singing at the age of 10, and was invited to audition for the starring role after producers saw a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@iamnichellelewis/video/7198700056214506795\">TikTok of her performing the show’s 11 o’clock number\u003c/a>, with a caption that detailed some of the loss she’s endured in her life. In mere months, Lewis went from making ends meet at Crate & Barrel to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uR2XRVFoP8\">appearing on television\u003c/a> and earning a Helen Hayes Award nomination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lewis spoke to KQED about her roots in the church, the pressure of stepping into the silver slippers and turning rejection into opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Corey Antonio Rose: I hear that you grew up in the church. What did you love to listen to as a child? And when did you realize that singing was going to be a part of your life in a major way?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nichelle Lewis:\u003c/strong> When I was a kid, I really loved listening to soul music, those things that really pull at your heartstrings. And I think probably it did come from growing up in the church. A lot of the gospel music was music where you heard these amazing, huge voices telling a story. But it always started off soft and beautiful, and then it would get big and you could feel all their emotions. It really made me feel like I really want to be able to do something like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started to do it when I was asked to sing for my father. I remember afterwards people were crying, and I was like, “Oh, I can do this. I can make people feel the way I felt listening to so many other amazing singers.” So I decided at that moment, maybe this could be something I will do for the rest of my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951159\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951159\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from 'The Wiz' where Glinda sings to Dorothy.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy and Deborah Cox as Glinda in ‘The Wiz.’ \u003ccite>(Jeremy Daniel )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In 2022, \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em> producers invited you to audition for the show, and you received a golden ticket after impressing the judges with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” Unfortunately, your \u003cem>Idol\u003c/em> journey ended at the Hollywood stage. How did you make sense of or cope with that experience?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I felt really defeated in that moment when they told me no, especially because I have to try and keep it together because I don’t want to be sobbing through my montage. I remember going home and trying to cope with it all. It really did take me a good minute to realize that was a wonderful experience, but right now what we’re going to focus on is just putting yourself out there because you know that this dream is meant for you. And that’s what I did for a good year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In February of last year, you posted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@iamnichellelewis/video/7198700056214506795\">TikTok of yourself singing “Home.”\u003c/a> You’re singing that song over a testimony — [in the caption,] you detailed losing seven different loved ones in your life, including your father, your aunt and your grandmother. And you said that singing kept you alive and keeps you alive. What was going on that made you want to share that message and pick that song?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know that there’s so many pages on Instagram and TikTok that only show the surface. They make you feel like people don’t really go through things. I hear a lot of people say stuff like that in the comments like, “Oh, she probably has such a perfect life.” [aside postid='arts_13951141']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t want people to think that my life is happy-go-lucky all the time. I always said that I wanted to be as honest and raw as I could be. So for me, sharing “Home” and sharing my story was me trying to be honest with the small audience that I had, and show them that I am growing, I’m learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You’ve been touring the country as Dorothy. What are you learning about the people of this country as you are going from stop to stop?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People just want to relate to someone. They want to connect, and they want to have someone that’s going to fight for them and show that honesty. I talk to these amazing people that I get to meet all over the country, [and I’m] always met with people saying, “Wow, I needed that and … I’m so glad I got to see that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It just makes me realize how much people want to connect with people who are in a position to advocate and inspire others. Especially in this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951160\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1536px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951160\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from 'The Wiz' where Dorothy and her aunt sit on the porch and her aunt looks at her with a reassuring gaze.\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1025\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dorothy (Nichelle Lewis) and Aunt Em (Melody Betts) perform ‘The Feeling We Once Had’ in ‘The Wiz.’ \u003ccite>(Jeremy Daniel )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How are Bay Area audiences reacting to \u003cem>The Wiz\u003c/em>?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think that they’re taking it really well. They’re laughing at a lot of the things that we talk about, especially the housing crisis that we’re experiencing all over the country. And I think that they have been happy to see a show that they can connect with and a show that is current.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They laugh really hard at that joke — mostly because most people are having such a struggle just getting a cheap or decent-priced place to live. Everything is so expensive, and it almost feels like your country is trying to push you out. So having someone talk about it, especially in a show, makes you feel like [you’re] not alone in that, you know? [aside postid='arts_13951091']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How has doing this role on this tour at this time, knowing that you’re headed for Broadway, changed your own definition of home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has made me realize that I’ve kind of been going on the same journey as Dorothy, trying to understand that even though my world has changed, it is still just as beautiful and just as meaningful as it was before. I think for a long time I couldn’t really grasp that my world was different. Thinking about all those people who have passed. I do pay tribute to them a lot at the end of the show, but I also think about my mom and how amazing she is. I talk to her every day. To know that I get to bring her with me on this journey, and I get to bring her with me to Broadway? That, for me, is home. It feels like where I’m supposed to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Wiz’ continues at Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco through Feb. 11. \u003ca href=\"https://www.broadwaysf.com/events/the-wiz/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtt2tBhBDEiwALZuhAGP_ikCOgYxwZIALx-MzPudCFUBvI7FvZoCkrjsGAiV1YYgpFctHexoCmCwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds\">Tickets and details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Half a century after its debut, \u003ca href=\"https://www.broadwaysf.com/events/the-wiz/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtt2tBhBDEiwALZuhAGP_ikCOgYxwZIALx-MzPudCFUBvI7FvZoCkrjsGAiV1YYgpFctHexoCmCwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds\">\u003cem>The Wiz\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/uNKmKOjGUbw?si=WB_S6tdig98GnFPp\">easing on down the road\u003c/a> again. The touring Broadway musical is currently in San Francisco, its second-to-last stop before parking in New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it opened in 1975, \u003cem>The Wiz\u003c/em> shook up musical theater \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> to the tune of seven Tony Award nominations \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> with its uniquely Afro-diasporic approach to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book \u003cem>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u003c/em>. Under Geoffrey Holder’s direction and costume design, the original\u003cem> Wiz\u003c/em>’s blend of homegrown American fantasy, Caribbean-inspired costumes and ’70s soul music revolutionized Broadway. It boasted an all-Black cast, with R&B legend Stephanie Mills in the role of Dorothy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951157\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951157\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975.jpg\" alt=\"Hinton Battle in costume as the scarecrow, Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Ted Ross as the lion and Tiger Haynes as the tin man in the original Broadway show of The Wiz in 1975.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/the-wiz-1975-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hinton Battle, Stephanie Mills, Ted Ross and Tiger Haynes in ‘The Wiz’ in 1975. \u003ccite>(Martha Swope/ New York Public Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The latest staging of \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>Wiz\u003c/em>, directed by Schele Williams, continues at Golden Gate Theatre through Feb. 11, and features Deborah Cox as Glinda and Wayne Brady in its titular role. And among these veteran performers, newcomer Nichelle Lewis shines as Dorothy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 24-year-old Virginia native began singing at the age of 10, and was invited to audition for the starring role after producers saw a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@iamnichellelewis/video/7198700056214506795\">TikTok of her performing the show’s 11 o’clock number\u003c/a>, with a caption that detailed some of the loss she’s endured in her life. In mere months, Lewis went from making ends meet at Crate & Barrel to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uR2XRVFoP8\">appearing on television\u003c/a> and earning a Helen Hayes Award nomination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lewis spoke to KQED about her roots in the church, the pressure of stepping into the silver slippers and turning rejection into opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Corey Antonio Rose: I hear that you grew up in the church. What did you love to listen to as a child? And when did you realize that singing was going to be a part of your life in a major way?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nichelle Lewis:\u003c/strong> When I was a kid, I really loved listening to soul music, those things that really pull at your heartstrings. And I think probably it did come from growing up in the church. A lot of the gospel music was music where you heard these amazing, huge voices telling a story. But it always started off soft and beautiful, and then it would get big and you could feel all their emotions. It really made me feel like I really want to be able to do something like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started to do it when I was asked to sing for my father. I remember afterwards people were crying, and I was like, “Oh, I can do this. I can make people feel the way I felt listening to so many other amazing singers.” So I decided at that moment, maybe this could be something I will do for the rest of my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951159\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951159\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from 'The Wiz' where Glinda sings to Dorothy.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1024x1536-1-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy and Deborah Cox as Glinda in ‘The Wiz.’ \u003ccite>(Jeremy Daniel )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In 2022, \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em> producers invited you to audition for the show, and you received a golden ticket after impressing the judges with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” Unfortunately, your \u003cem>Idol\u003c/em> journey ended at the Hollywood stage. How did you make sense of or cope with that experience?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I felt really defeated in that moment when they told me no, especially because I have to try and keep it together because I don’t want to be sobbing through my montage. I remember going home and trying to cope with it all. It really did take me a good minute to realize that was a wonderful experience, but right now what we’re going to focus on is just putting yourself out there because you know that this dream is meant for you. And that’s what I did for a good year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In February of last year, you posted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@iamnichellelewis/video/7198700056214506795\">TikTok of yourself singing “Home.”\u003c/a> You’re singing that song over a testimony — [in the caption,] you detailed losing seven different loved ones in your life, including your father, your aunt and your grandmother. And you said that singing kept you alive and keeps you alive. What was going on that made you want to share that message and pick that song?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know that there’s so many pages on Instagram and TikTok that only show the surface. They make you feel like people don’t really go through things. I hear a lot of people say stuff like that in the comments like, “Oh, she probably has such a perfect life.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t want people to think that my life is happy-go-lucky all the time. I always said that I wanted to be as honest and raw as I could be. So for me, sharing “Home” and sharing my story was me trying to be honest with the small audience that I had, and show them that I am growing, I’m learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You’ve been touring the country as Dorothy. What are you learning about the people of this country as you are going from stop to stop?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People just want to relate to someone. They want to connect, and they want to have someone that’s going to fight for them and show that honesty. I talk to these amazing people that I get to meet all over the country, [and I’m] always met with people saying, “Wow, I needed that and … I’m so glad I got to see that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It just makes me realize how much people want to connect with people who are in a position to advocate and inspire others. Especially in this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951160\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1536px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951160\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from 'The Wiz' where Dorothy and her aunt sit on the porch and her aunt looks at her with a reassuring gaze.\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1025\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Melody-Betts-as-Aunt-Em-in-The-Feeling-We-Once-Had.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1536x1025-1-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dorothy (Nichelle Lewis) and Aunt Em (Melody Betts) perform ‘The Feeling We Once Had’ in ‘The Wiz.’ \u003ccite>(Jeremy Daniel )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How are Bay Area audiences reacting to \u003cem>The Wiz\u003c/em>?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think that they’re taking it really well. They’re laughing at a lot of the things that we talk about, especially the housing crisis that we’re experiencing all over the country. And I think that they have been happy to see a show that they can connect with and a show that is current.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They laugh really hard at that joke — mostly because most people are having such a struggle just getting a cheap or decent-priced place to live. Everything is so expensive, and it almost feels like your country is trying to push you out. So having someone talk about it, especially in a show, makes you feel like [you’re] not alone in that, you know? \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How has doing this role on this tour at this time, knowing that you’re headed for Broadway, changed your own definition of home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has made me realize that I’ve kind of been going on the same journey as Dorothy, trying to understand that even though my world has changed, it is still just as beautiful and just as meaningful as it was before. I think for a long time I couldn’t really grasp that my world was different. Thinking about all those people who have passed. I do pay tribute to them a lot at the end of the show, but I also think about my mom and how amazing she is. I talk to her every day. To know that I get to bring her with me on this journey, and I get to bring her with me to Broadway? That, for me, is home. It feels like where I’m supposed to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Wiz’ continues at Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco through Feb. 11. \u003ca href=\"https://www.broadwaysf.com/events/the-wiz/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtt2tBhBDEiwALZuhAGP_ikCOgYxwZIALx-MzPudCFUBvI7FvZoCkrjsGAiV1YYgpFctHexoCmCwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds\">Tickets and details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Kooza’ Is a Classic, Thrilling Cirque du Soleil Show, Now in San Francisco",
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"content": "\u003cp>First of all: \u003cem>the core strength\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My goodness. It’s consistently jaw-dropping what Cirque du Soleil acrobats can do with their bodies and balance and flexibility. Just had to get that out of the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/usa/san-francisco/kooza/buy-tickets?sc_campname=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqsitBhDlARIsAGMR1RgRDRdHkHZ1sPGGQeKxsj0YBnxEFuxY1Ka3orRdi8bU13ApORBAbXEaAo_0EALw_wcB\">now playing\u003c/a> in San Francisco through March 17 before heading to San Jose in April, is a classic Cirque du Soleil show in all the good ways: dazzling tricks and feats of strength, accompanied by a live band performing world music mashups, and interwoven with some old-fashioned clowning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> was the first Cirque du Soleil show I ever attended. It was 2009, and I used my grad student discount (speaking of discounts, if you’re not picky about seat selection, you can almost always find \u003ca href=\"https://www.travelzoo.com/entertainment/san-francisco-northern-california/Save-25-Starting-this-week-Cirque-du-Soleil-in-Bay-Area-3071704/\">discounted tickets\u003c/a> on Travelzoo for select Cirque du Soleil dates). I remember the excitement, even before the show started, of being in a big-top tent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950966\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950966\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"Three clowns in colorful clothes make funny faces.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-800x534.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-1020x681.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Clowns of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza.’ \u003ccite>(Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cirque du Soleil and I go way back, to before that first live show. I first saw their acts on TV, when they aired as HBO specials in the late ’80s and early ’90s, before they became the massive, world-touring extravaganza of today. Today, they give me all the nostalgic feels; my sister and I collect show experiences like my nephew collects Pokémon cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I was happy to revisit \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> 15 years later, and brought my 8-year old nephew along for his first Cirque experience. His favorite segment — mine too — was “The Wheel of Death,” which opened the second half of the show under red lighting, accompanied by ominous music. It was just the right amount of eerie-creepy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950965\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950965\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"A costumed man leaps in the air above a cylinder contraption.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-800x534.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-1020x681.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Performers Jimmy Ibarra Zapata and Angelo Lyezkysky Rodriguez of Colombia in ‘The Wheel of Death’ act of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza’. \u003ccite>(Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The clowns of \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> are another standout, a Three Stooges-style trio that kept my nephew laughing. There’s a moment where they pull an audience member on stage, and next thing you know, you’re cheerleading a miming improv session. (Thankfully, the person selected on the night I went was a great sport, with a good sense of humor.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you’re wondering if Cirque is truly a place where any and all creativity can run free, just look at \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i>’s costumes, designed by Marie Chantale Vaillancourt. A costume that’s part devil, jester and merman all at once? Why not? How about Día de los Muertos-meets-Beetlejuice-meets carnaval? Sure! It’s wacky, it’s the circus, it’s the vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950968\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950968\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"Performers in skeleton costumes with feather headdresses stand on stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-800x534.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-1020x681.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from the ‘Skeleton Dance’ act of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza’. \u003ccite>(Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not exactly notable in \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> are \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/7v5jSXpqcRMSTbospRZX8q\">the soundtrack\u003c/a> and the story, which centers on a sweet, naive clown looking for his place in the world. I’ve seen better, more cohesive storylines (the dreamy \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/corteo\">\u003ci>Corteo\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, which ran last year at Oakland Arena, comes to mind). But do you go to a Cirque du Soleil show for the plot? Of course not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So where does \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> rank among the handful of Cirque productions I’ve seen? It’s in the middle of the pack, but still worth a visit. Cirque du Soleil remains a solid brand that consistently produces moments where you think to yourself, “Oh, I know they’re not about to do\u003cem> that\u003c/em>…” Yet, indeed, they proceed to do \u003cem>that\u003c/em>. And it’s stunning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Kooza’ plays now through March 17 under the big top next to Oracle Park in San Francisco, and in San Jose from April 18–May 26. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirquedusoleil.com//kooza?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqsitBhDlARIsAGMR1RjzhemjVv_xzevc6GNpdLkbn-EdKl8-K7U6--Dka68mWNxR8h3L8PwaAvylEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>First of all: \u003cem>the core strength\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My goodness. It’s consistently jaw-dropping what Cirque du Soleil acrobats can do with their bodies and balance and flexibility. Just had to get that out of the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/usa/san-francisco/kooza/buy-tickets?sc_campname=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqsitBhDlARIsAGMR1RgRDRdHkHZ1sPGGQeKxsj0YBnxEFuxY1Ka3orRdi8bU13ApORBAbXEaAo_0EALw_wcB\">now playing\u003c/a> in San Francisco through March 17 before heading to San Jose in April, is a classic Cirque du Soleil show in all the good ways: dazzling tricks and feats of strength, accompanied by a live band performing world music mashups, and interwoven with some old-fashioned clowning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> was the first Cirque du Soleil show I ever attended. It was 2009, and I used my grad student discount (speaking of discounts, if you’re not picky about seat selection, you can almost always find \u003ca href=\"https://www.travelzoo.com/entertainment/san-francisco-northern-california/Save-25-Starting-this-week-Cirque-du-Soleil-in-Bay-Area-3071704/\">discounted tickets\u003c/a> on Travelzoo for select Cirque du Soleil dates). I remember the excitement, even before the show started, of being in a big-top tent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950966\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950966\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"Three clowns in colorful clothes make funny faces.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-800x534.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-1020x681.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_0398-1.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Clowns of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza.’ \u003ccite>(Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cirque du Soleil and I go way back, to before that first live show. I first saw their acts on TV, when they aired as HBO specials in the late ’80s and early ’90s, before they became the massive, world-touring extravaganza of today. Today, they give me all the nostalgic feels; my sister and I collect show experiences like my nephew collects Pokémon cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I was happy to revisit \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> 15 years later, and brought my 8-year old nephew along for his first Cirque experience. His favorite segment — mine too — was “The Wheel of Death,” which opened the second half of the show under red lighting, accompanied by ominous music. It was just the right amount of eerie-creepy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950965\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950965\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"A costumed man leaps in the air above a cylinder contraption.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-800x534.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-1020x681.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/12_Wheel-of-Death_3107.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Performers Jimmy Ibarra Zapata and Angelo Lyezkysky Rodriguez of Colombia in ‘The Wheel of Death’ act of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza’. \u003ccite>(Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The clowns of \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> are another standout, a Three Stooges-style trio that kept my nephew laughing. There’s a moment where they pull an audience member on stage, and next thing you know, you’re cheerleading a miming improv session. (Thankfully, the person selected on the night I went was a great sport, with a good sense of humor.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you’re wondering if Cirque is truly a place where any and all creativity can run free, just look at \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i>’s costumes, designed by Marie Chantale Vaillancourt. A costume that’s part devil, jester and merman all at once? Why not? How about Día de los Muertos-meets-Beetlejuice-meets carnaval? Sure! It’s wacky, it’s the circus, it’s the vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950968\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13950968\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"Performers in skeleton costumes with feather headdresses stand on stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-800x534.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-1020x681.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/11_Crooner_2822.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from the ‘Skeleton Dance’ act of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza’. \u003ccite>(Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not exactly notable in \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> are \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/7v5jSXpqcRMSTbospRZX8q\">the soundtrack\u003c/a> and the story, which centers on a sweet, naive clown looking for his place in the world. I’ve seen better, more cohesive storylines (the dreamy \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/corteo\">\u003ci>Corteo\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, which ran last year at Oakland Arena, comes to mind). But do you go to a Cirque du Soleil show for the plot? Of course not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So where does \u003ci>Kooza\u003c/i> rank among the handful of Cirque productions I’ve seen? It’s in the middle of the pack, but still worth a visit. Cirque du Soleil remains a solid brand that consistently produces moments where you think to yourself, “Oh, I know they’re not about to do\u003cem> that\u003c/em>…” Yet, indeed, they proceed to do \u003cem>that\u003c/em>. And it’s stunning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Kooza’ plays now through March 17 under the big top next to Oracle Park in San Francisco, and in San Jose from April 18–May 26. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cirquedusoleil.com//kooza?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqsitBhDlARIsAGMR1RjzhemjVv_xzevc6GNpdLkbn-EdKl8-K7U6--Dka68mWNxR8h3L8PwaAvylEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In Santa Rosa, Sixth Street Playhouse Swings for the ‘Fences’ — and Scores",
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"content": "\u003cp>Set in the 1950s, August Wilson’s play \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> portrays a nation in transition. Jackie Robinson had crossed the color line in baseball, and integration began to take place in schools and workplaces. Set in Pittsburgh, \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> — running through Feb. 4 at the Sixth Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa — tells a bit of every American city’s own history, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1951 in Santa Rosa, for example, the African American community finally found a center at the newly founded Community Baptist Church. At the end of the decade, children from the largely Black neighborhood of South Park were bussed to Montgomery High School, on the whiter, more affluent east side of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This local history was on my mind as I watched a sold-out, mid-run performance of \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> — a highlight of \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/august-wilson-the-ground-on-which-i-stand-scenes-and-synposes-of-august-wilsons-10-play-cycle/3701/\">Wilson’s Century Cycle\u003c/a> that was revived not just for a 2010 Broadway run but a 2016 film, both with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the lead roles. The story of a former Negro League baseball star now relegated to garbage pickup, and the subsequent resentment that he takes out on his family, is a Pulitzer-winning landmark of American theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1050\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13950945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-800x820.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-1020x1046.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-160x164.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-768x788.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Mark Anthony as Cory, Val Sinckler as Rose and Keene Hudson as Troy Maxson in Sixth Street Playhouse’s production of August Wilson’s ‘Fences.’ \u003ccite>(Eric Chazankin)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Sixth Street’s intimate black box Monroe Stage, the cast of this \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> flies along as smooth as a low-and-inside slider. As motormouth Troy Maxson, Keene Hudson seems to have studied Denzel Washington’s performance, and captures both the bravado and bitterness so crucial to the script. As son Cory, Mark Anthony could hardly be better cast, first hopeful and then physically filled with rage when his father denies his dreams. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two actors are especially effective. Jim Frankie Banks wholly inhabits the role of Gabriel, the simpleminded brother of Troy who lives with a mental disability from a WWII head wound. And Val Sinckler, as Rose, expertly plays the supportive wife and mother — the glue holding together her fractious family — and delivers just the right note of pathos toward the play’s end. When she cries to Troy that “I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom,” one feels every month and year of that long wait. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13933205']Jourdán Olivier-Verdé’s direction is taut, save for a pivotal scene in which Rose learns of Troy’s betrayal, which suffers from poor pacing. As Lyons, De’ Sean Moore is the nightclub-dwelling, money-borrowing musician son with a laconic cool, played perhaps a touch too laconically. But the rest kept me on the edge of my seat, buoyed by period-correct costume design by Aja Gianola-Norris; simple, effective set design from Aissa Simbulan; and interstitial blues songs curated by sound designer Ben Roots. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a rarity to see an all-Black cast led by a Black director in Santa Rosa, a city where only 2% of the population is Black. And it’s refreshing to see Sixth Street deviate from their jukebox musicals, which typically pay the bills, with a searing production like this. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"http://6thstreetplayhouse.com/shows/2023-24/fences/\">Fences\u003c/a>’ runs through Sunday, Feb. 4, at Sixth Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Set in the 1950s, August Wilson’s play \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> portrays a nation in transition. Jackie Robinson had crossed the color line in baseball, and integration began to take place in schools and workplaces. Set in Pittsburgh, \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> — running through Feb. 4 at the Sixth Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa — tells a bit of every American city’s own history, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1951 in Santa Rosa, for example, the African American community finally found a center at the newly founded Community Baptist Church. At the end of the decade, children from the largely Black neighborhood of South Park were bussed to Montgomery High School, on the whiter, more affluent east side of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This local history was on my mind as I watched a sold-out, mid-run performance of \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> — a highlight of \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/august-wilson-the-ground-on-which-i-stand-scenes-and-synposes-of-august-wilsons-10-play-cycle/3701/\">Wilson’s Century Cycle\u003c/a> that was revived not just for a 2010 Broadway run but a 2016 film, both with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the lead roles. The story of a former Negro League baseball star now relegated to garbage pickup, and the subsequent resentment that he takes out on his family, is a Pulitzer-winning landmark of American theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13950945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1050\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13950945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-800x820.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-1020x1046.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-160x164.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/Fences.6th.2-768x788.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Mark Anthony as Cory, Val Sinckler as Rose and Keene Hudson as Troy Maxson in Sixth Street Playhouse’s production of August Wilson’s ‘Fences.’ \u003ccite>(Eric Chazankin)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Sixth Street’s intimate black box Monroe Stage, the cast of this \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em> flies along as smooth as a low-and-inside slider. As motormouth Troy Maxson, Keene Hudson seems to have studied Denzel Washington’s performance, and captures both the bravado and bitterness so crucial to the script. As son Cory, Mark Anthony could hardly be better cast, first hopeful and then physically filled with rage when his father denies his dreams. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two actors are especially effective. Jim Frankie Banks wholly inhabits the role of Gabriel, the simpleminded brother of Troy who lives with a mental disability from a WWII head wound. And Val Sinckler, as Rose, expertly plays the supportive wife and mother — the glue holding together her fractious family — and delivers just the right note of pathos toward the play’s end. When she cries to Troy that “I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom,” one feels every month and year of that long wait. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Jourdán Olivier-Verdé’s direction is taut, save for a pivotal scene in which Rose learns of Troy’s betrayal, which suffers from poor pacing. As Lyons, De’ Sean Moore is the nightclub-dwelling, money-borrowing musician son with a laconic cool, played perhaps a touch too laconically. But the rest kept me on the edge of my seat, buoyed by period-correct costume design by Aja Gianola-Norris; simple, effective set design from Aissa Simbulan; and interstitial blues songs curated by sound designer Ben Roots. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a rarity to see an all-Black cast led by a Black director in Santa Rosa, a city where only 2% of the population is Black. And it’s refreshing to see Sixth Street deviate from their jukebox musicals, which typically pay the bills, with a searing production like this. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"http://6thstreetplayhouse.com/shows/2023-24/fences/\">Fences\u003c/a>’ runs through Sunday, Feb. 4, at Sixth Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "artists-against-genocide-counterpulse",
"title": "‘Artists Against Genocide’ Aims to Educate, Heal and Mobilize in SF",
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"content": "\u003cp>Black feminist writer Toni Cade Bambara once declared that the role of the artist is to “make the revolution irresistible.” That mantra has guided the organizers of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C0zUMCeR4XE/?img_index=1\">Artists Against Genocide\u003c/a>, a 14-hour event that invites the public to learn, grieve and organize around the human rights crises in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza\">Gaza\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/world/africa/democratic-republic-of-congo-elections.html\">Democratic Republic of Congo\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/9/sudans-army-is-retaliating-against-activists-amid-the-war-for-their-role-in-bringing-down-their-former-boss-and-president-omar-al-bashir-in-april-2019\">Sudan\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/en/information-center-washington/haiti%E2%80%99s-harrowing-humanitarian-crisis-remains-top-united-nations%E2%80%99\">Haiti\u003c/a> on Jan. 14 at San Francisco art space \u003ca href=\"https://counterpulse.org/\">CounterPulse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re making it something that is exciting and also communal,” says Chibueze Crouch, who put together the event with fellow theater, dance and performing artists Styles Alexander, Clarissa Dyas, Kim Ip and Ainsley Tharp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940290\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1074px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940290\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers.png\" alt=\"A Zoom screenshot of five smiling artists and organizers. \" width=\"1074\" height=\"1606\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers.png 1074w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-800x1196.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-1020x1525.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-160x239.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-768x1148.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-1027x1536.png 1027w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1074px) 100vw, 1074px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clockwise from top left: Styles Alexander, Ainsley Tharp, Kim Ip, Chibueze Crouch and Clarissa Dyas. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chibueze Crouch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The all-day event offers panels and teach-ins, with speakers that include \u003ca href=\"https://www.palestineinamerica.com/blog/A%20Palestinian%20you%20should%20know:%20Sharif%20Zakout\">Sharif Zakout\u003c/a> of \u003ca href=\"https://www.araborganizing.org/\">Arab Resource and Organizing Center\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/cat-brooks\">Cat Brooks\u003c/a> of \u003ca href=\"https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/\">Anti Police-Terror Project\u003c/a>, with support from local record label \u003ca href=\"https://7000coils.com/\">7000COILS\u003c/a>. Dancer, choreographer and Yoruba priest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11953660/the-kitchen-sisters-present-house-full-of-black-women\">Amara Tabor-Smith\u003c/a> will lead a movement workshop aimed at helping attendees process and release emotions. And a protest poster-making station and phone booths for calling legislators will offer space for participants to channel their sorrow, rage and solidarity into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re also having a potluck,” says Alexander. “That’s so crucial in these moments — just breaking bread together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander, who is a member of the queer performance collective Rupture, one of the first arts groups in the Bay Area to put out a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz2sl4NLwh3/?img_index=1\">formal statement of solidarity with Gaza\u003c/a>, began dreaming up Artists Against Genocide in October. They and their co-organizers anticipated that, by January, there could be some fatigue among the public after months of protesting and calling Congress to demand a ceasefire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the day before Martin Luther King Day, so it all feels very potent for rejuvenation of a moment that — we don’t know how long until it’s over,” Alexander says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow organizer Ip hopes the event will help creatives realize their power for mobilizing change. “We do have an amazing toolkit, as artists and producers and creators, where we are able to see on a big-picture scale and think critically about society,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='news_11972100']But the organizers are careful to underscore that although they’re drawing from the Bay Area’s rich legacy of performance protest, one doesn’t need to be a professional artist to attend or participate. “There is an artist in everyone,” Alexander says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/counterpulse/\">Artists Against Genocide\u003c/a> is free to attend and begins at 12 p.m. on Jan. 14 at CounterPulse in San Francisco. Panels start at 3 p.m., and performances begin at 5 p.m. and go until 2 a.m. ASL interpretation will be available, and the teach-in will be recorded and shared after the event.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Black feminist writer Toni Cade Bambara once declared that the role of the artist is to “make the revolution irresistible.” That mantra has guided the organizers of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C0zUMCeR4XE/?img_index=1\">Artists Against Genocide\u003c/a>, a 14-hour event that invites the public to learn, grieve and organize around the human rights crises in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza\">Gaza\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/world/africa/democratic-republic-of-congo-elections.html\">Democratic Republic of Congo\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/9/sudans-army-is-retaliating-against-activists-amid-the-war-for-their-role-in-bringing-down-their-former-boss-and-president-omar-al-bashir-in-april-2019\">Sudan\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/en/information-center-washington/haiti%E2%80%99s-harrowing-humanitarian-crisis-remains-top-united-nations%E2%80%99\">Haiti\u003c/a> on Jan. 14 at San Francisco art space \u003ca href=\"https://counterpulse.org/\">CounterPulse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re making it something that is exciting and also communal,” says Chibueze Crouch, who put together the event with fellow theater, dance and performing artists Styles Alexander, Clarissa Dyas, Kim Ip and Ainsley Tharp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940290\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1074px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940290\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers.png\" alt=\"A Zoom screenshot of five smiling artists and organizers. \" width=\"1074\" height=\"1606\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers.png 1074w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-800x1196.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-1020x1525.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-160x239.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-768x1148.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/artists-against-genocide-organizers-1027x1536.png 1027w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1074px) 100vw, 1074px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clockwise from top left: Styles Alexander, Ainsley Tharp, Kim Ip, Chibueze Crouch and Clarissa Dyas. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chibueze Crouch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The all-day event offers panels and teach-ins, with speakers that include \u003ca href=\"https://www.palestineinamerica.com/blog/A%20Palestinian%20you%20should%20know:%20Sharif%20Zakout\">Sharif Zakout\u003c/a> of \u003ca href=\"https://www.araborganizing.org/\">Arab Resource and Organizing Center\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/cat-brooks\">Cat Brooks\u003c/a> of \u003ca href=\"https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/\">Anti Police-Terror Project\u003c/a>, with support from local record label \u003ca href=\"https://7000coils.com/\">7000COILS\u003c/a>. Dancer, choreographer and Yoruba priest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11953660/the-kitchen-sisters-present-house-full-of-black-women\">Amara Tabor-Smith\u003c/a> will lead a movement workshop aimed at helping attendees process and release emotions. And a protest poster-making station and phone booths for calling legislators will offer space for participants to channel their sorrow, rage and solidarity into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re also having a potluck,” says Alexander. “That’s so crucial in these moments — just breaking bread together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander, who is a member of the queer performance collective Rupture, one of the first arts groups in the Bay Area to put out a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz2sl4NLwh3/?img_index=1\">formal statement of solidarity with Gaza\u003c/a>, began dreaming up Artists Against Genocide in October. They and their co-organizers anticipated that, by January, there could be some fatigue among the public after months of protesting and calling Congress to demand a ceasefire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the day before Martin Luther King Day, so it all feels very potent for rejuvenation of a moment that — we don’t know how long until it’s over,” Alexander says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow organizer Ip hopes the event will help creatives realize their power for mobilizing change. “We do have an amazing toolkit, as artists and producers and creators, where we are able to see on a big-picture scale and think critically about society,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the organizers are careful to underscore that although they’re drawing from the Bay Area’s rich legacy of performance protest, one doesn’t need to be a professional artist to attend or participate. “There is an artist in everyone,” Alexander says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/counterpulse/\">Artists Against Genocide\u003c/a> is free to attend and begins at 12 p.m. on Jan. 14 at CounterPulse in San Francisco. Panels start at 3 p.m., and performances begin at 5 p.m. and go until 2 a.m. ASL interpretation will be available, and the teach-in will be recorded and shared after the event.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938979\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1758px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1758\" height=\"1321\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938979\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447.jpg 1758w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-1536x1154.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1758px) 100vw, 1758px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sofia Ahmad and Neamah Hussein in ‘Closure’ at Golden Thread’s 2023 ReOrient Festival. \u003ccite>(David Allen Studios)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area theater in 2023 often went in woeful directions. Audiences still haven’t returned to bustling pre-pandemic levels, and too many theaters closed, unable to balance their high levels of artistry with financial solvency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, there are encouraging signs for live storytelling as the calendar marches toward 2024. Some critical Bay Area festivals returned, carrying national repercussions, and many bold theatermakers chose this year to reveal transcendent passion projects — with no shortage of local world premieres. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, Bay Area theater critics and regular KQED Arts contributors Nicole Gluckstern and David John Chávez reflect on the region’s significant theater news, events and premieres of 2023. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938999\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938999\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rotimi Agbabiaka, AeJay Marquis Mitchell, Aidaa Peerzada and Donald Lacy, Jr. in ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ at Magic Theatre. \u003ccite>(Jay Yamada)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Not Sorry to Bother You\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ was a breakthrough hit\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To say that Marc Anthony Thompson’s debut play \u003cem>The Ni¿¿er Lovers\u003c/em> at Magic Theatre pulled no punches would be to massively understate its gleeful fearlessness. Its focus, the story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped from slavery in 1848 by dressing Ellen up as a white man traveling North, with William posing as her servant. But rather than taking a somber bio-pic approach to their heroic flight the play went for satirical gusto, casting its daring protagonists as unrepentant kinksters (impeccably performed by Aidaa Peerzada and Rotimi Agbabiaka), and presenting their story in a series of vignettes punctuated by music, monologues, comic sketches, and sharply-honed, go-for-the-jugular irreverence that felt decades in the perfecting.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938972\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Once’ at Tabard Theatre. \u003ccite>(Edmond Kwong Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tabard Sings ‘Once’ More\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Goodbye to a popular South Bay company\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Tabard Theater production of \u003cem>Once\u003c/em> in March was a warm delight, but will mostly be remembered as the last production of the venerable 22-year-old downtown San José company. Tabard’s longtime home, formerly known as the Theatre on San Pedro Square, is one of the most quaint, charming spaces in the entire South Bay, with flickering candles atop cabaret tables and a plentiful bar with a rustic feel. The area is also a happening spot, with lots of trendy restaurants and plentiful parking surrounding the second story theater. Adding to the melancholia more recently, the company lost their lease on the building, leaving both the company (which moved away from theater productions and focused on live events) and the space itself up in the air. Despite all that, the company remains resolute and optimistic to find new places to program their engaging, community-centered events.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938981\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"504\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938981\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy-768x484.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jes Deville, director and co-producer of ‘Forgetting Tree.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Queer Cat Productions)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Hello/Goodbye\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Forgetting Tree’ gave grace to Queer Cat Productions’ final bow\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Modeling important values in and out of the theatre such as consent, access, and emphatically queer joyfulness, Queer Cat’s performance offerings throughout these pandemic times have been thoughtfully crafted and boldly imaginative. Thankfully they left us one last production to remember them by—the gorgeously-rendered \u003cem>Forgetting Tree\u003c/em>, co-produced and directed by Jes DeVille of Openhaus Athletics. Combining the creative gifts of cellists, clowns, acrobats, dancers, permaculture designers, and the fierce love of a Living Altar (Rawiya Tariq), \u003cem>Forgetting Tree\u003c/em> offered remembrance, ritual, and catharsis to those of us fortunate enough to experience it—both in the room and virtually.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938976\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938976\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christine Mirzayan (Goli) in ‘English’ at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. \u003ccite>(Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘English’ Speaks All Languages\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘My accent is a war crime’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first week of May, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s wonderful, poignant West Coast premiere production of \u003cem>English\u003c/em> closed. The day after the final curtain, playwright Sanaz Toossi’s script, about a group of four Iranian adults preparing for a daunting English language exam near Tehran in order to come to other parts of the world, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The production was significant for its stewarding by local director Mina Morita, the longtime artistic director of San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater Company. Morita is moving away from the company this month to focus more on her directing career, and will be in Australia late next year directing \u003cem>Yoga Play\u003c/em> by Dipika Guha at the National Theater of Parramatta.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938978\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1424\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938978\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-800x445.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1020x567.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-160x89.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-768x427.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1536x854.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-2048x1139.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1038x576.jpg 1038w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1920x1068.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">L.M. Bogad as Dr. Masc in the ‘immersive experience’ from Say Nothing and Leave, ‘Change Your Mind.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Say Nothing and Leave)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>You Gotta Believe\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change Your Mind (or don’t) with ‘Say Nothing and Leave’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I may have entered the bustling Say Nothing and Leave-designed \u003cem>Change Your Mind\u003c/em> clinic a Guarded Contrarian, but I left it…a Guarded Contrarian. Ok, so some personality types are more resistant to change than others, but in this tone-perfect immersive experience, the promise of personality editing is presented with such matter-of-fact aplomb you will almost certainly find yourself wondering if it could \u003cem>really\u003c/em> be done. Whether you actually choose to change or not, the experience playfully and thoroughly raises the question of what could be gained through said deletion—and what could be irretrievably lost.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938973\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 864px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"864\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938973\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater.jpg 864w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordan Maria Don as Clara and Monique Crawford as Annie in ‘Edit Annie’ at Crowded Fire Theater. \u003ccite>(Cheshire Isaacs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Collaboration is Key\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Crowded Fire restructures, premieres ‘Edit Annie’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowded Fire has always been a highly unified company, with a commitment to tell stories and present opportunities for all marginalized groups. While many companies follow a structure with an artistic director at the top of the pyramid, Crowded Fire instead turned one leader into seven, cross-pollinating everyone’s institutional knowledge into all aspects of the company. The first production of this new regime was the highly regarded west coast premiere of \u003cem>Edit Annie\u003c/em> by Mary Glen Fredrick, which kicked off in October.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938977\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938977\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SeQuoiia (center) in ‘De Mangangá’ at the 2023 New Roots Theatre Festival. \u003ccite>(Courtesy SFBATCO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>New Roots Meets Old School\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>SFBATCO’s annual festival gave center stage to exciting collaboration\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making space for experimentation, innovation, and camaraderie, this year’s New Roots festival lineup included the breathtaking, capoeira-inspired \u003cem>De Mangangá\u003c/em> written by mother-son team Tania Santiago and SeQuoiia, \u003cem>Shidaiqu\u003c/em>, an intriguing new musical by Jord Liu, revealing the intersections of Jazz and Communism in 1920s Shanghai, and a stunning revival of Zaccho Dance Theatre’s \u003cem>Dying While Black and Brown\u003c/em>, choreographed by Johanna Haigood with music by Marcus Shelby. By focusing attention on BIPOC-centered creation at every stage of development, these New Roots festivals are nurturing some of the most exciting theatrical collaborations in the Bay Area, including SFBATCO’s own \u003cem>Sign My Name to Freedom, The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin\u003c/em>, which will receive its full world premiere in 2024.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1655px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1655\" height=\"1205\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938975\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios.jpg 1655w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-800x582.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-1020x743.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-768x559.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-1536x1118.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1655px) 100vw, 1655px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sofia Ahmad and Neamah Hussein in ‘Closure’ at Golden Thread’s 2023 ReOrient Festival. \u003ccite>(David Allen Studios)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>ReOrient-ing at Golden Thread\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Festival of Middle Eastern works has run since 1996\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Sahar Assaf took over in 2021 from Golden Thread Productions’ artistic director and founder Torange Yeghiazarian, she knew there were massive shoes to fill. She also learned quickly that the company’s ReOrient Festival is beloved as one of the longest running theater festivals of new work in the Bay Area. With incubators disappearing nationally, such as the Lark and the Humana Play Festival, new playwrights have fewer places to develop their work. More than 100 scripts were submitted for consideration this year. Six were selected. The company has also worked to expand Middle Eastern narratives, and how those stories impact Middle Easterners who make the Bay Area and beyond their home. For the first time in the festival’s history, all of this year’s plays were set in the United States. \u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1082px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1082\" height=\"720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938974\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376.jpg 1082w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1082px) 100vw, 1082px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arielle Powell as Miriam in ‘Exodus to Eden’ at Oakland Theater Project. \u003ccite>(Ben Krantz Studio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Big Things in the East Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Oakland Theater Project’s world premiere of ‘Exodus to Eden’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Setting foot inside the Flax Art & Design building for an Oakland Theater Project show means knowing you’re in for some highly charged theater that’s not to be missed. The company has a great sense of how to present a classic text (their 2018 \u003cem>A Streetcar Named Desire\u003c/em> and the more recent \u003cem>Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf\u003c/em>, featuring associate artistic director Lisa Ramirez and co-artistic director William Hodgson, were both phenomenal), but have also dove headfirst into world premieres. This year, co-artistic director Michael Socrates Moran made his playwriting debut with \u003cem>Exodus to Eden\u003c/em>, which he also directed. The intimate Flax space provided the production some spatial limits, yet the show still featured a sizable cast of 17 performers. Whether it’s a world premiere or a tried-and-true play, Oakland Theater Project has strategically found a formula that melds the potential of people with a sky-high commitment to artistry.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933234\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1679px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1.jpg\" alt=\"a red and black and green painted building\" width=\"1679\" height=\"1208\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933234\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1.jpg 1679w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-800x576.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-1020x734.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-768x553.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-1536x1105.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1679px) 100vw, 1679px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The newly painted exterior of BAM House at 1540 Broadway in downtown Oakland. \u003ccite>(Ariana Proehl/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>New Spaces for Fresh Faces\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s been an incredibly tumultuous time for small performance venues in the Bay Area, and the list of spaces we’ve lost feels like it just keeps growing. But incredibly and inspiringly, a new crop of venues and multi-use spaces have blossomed in their wake. This is just a small sampling of the marvelous specificity and neighborhoods being served by some of our newest artistic homes.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.churchofclown.org/\">Church of Clown\u003c/a>, 2400 Bayshore Blvd., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.eclecticboxsf.com\">Eclectic Box\u003c/a>, 446 Valencia St., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.lowerbottomplayaz.com/\">BAM House\u003c/a>, 1540 Broadway, Oakland\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.therhino.org\">Theatre Rhinoceros\u003c/a>, 4229 18th St., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.447minna.com/\">447 Minna\u003c/a>, 447 Minna St., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.performingartsworkshop.org/\">Geneva Powerhouse\u003c/a>, 2301 San Jose Ave., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://sealevelsf.com\">Sealevel\u003c/a>, 4331 Irving St., San Francisco \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938979\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1758px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1758\" height=\"1321\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938979\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447.jpg 1758w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/DAP_4447-1536x1154.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1758px) 100vw, 1758px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sofia Ahmad and Neamah Hussein in ‘Closure’ at Golden Thread’s 2023 ReOrient Festival. \u003ccite>(David Allen Studios)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area theater in 2023 often went in woeful directions. Audiences still haven’t returned to bustling pre-pandemic levels, and too many theaters closed, unable to balance their high levels of artistry with financial solvency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, there are encouraging signs for live storytelling as the calendar marches toward 2024. Some critical Bay Area festivals returned, carrying national repercussions, and many bold theatermakers chose this year to reveal transcendent passion projects — with no shortage of local world premieres. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, Bay Area theater critics and regular KQED Arts contributors Nicole Gluckstern and David John Chávez reflect on the region’s significant theater news, events and premieres of 2023. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938999\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938999\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/TNL-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rotimi Agbabiaka, AeJay Marquis Mitchell, Aidaa Peerzada and Donald Lacy, Jr. in ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ at Magic Theatre. \u003ccite>(Jay Yamada)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Not Sorry to Bother You\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ was a breakthrough hit\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To say that Marc Anthony Thompson’s debut play \u003cem>The Ni¿¿er Lovers\u003c/em> at Magic Theatre pulled no punches would be to massively understate its gleeful fearlessness. Its focus, the story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped from slavery in 1848 by dressing Ellen up as a white man traveling North, with William posing as her servant. But rather than taking a somber bio-pic approach to their heroic flight the play went for satirical gusto, casting its daring protagonists as unrepentant kinksters (impeccably performed by Aidaa Peerzada and Rotimi Agbabiaka), and presenting their story in a series of vignettes punctuated by music, monologues, comic sketches, and sharply-honed, go-for-the-jugular irreverence that felt decades in the perfecting.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938972\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/6_Once_TabardTheatre_EdmondKwongPhotography-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Once’ at Tabard Theatre. \u003ccite>(Edmond Kwong Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tabard Sings ‘Once’ More\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Goodbye to a popular South Bay company\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Tabard Theater production of \u003cem>Once\u003c/em> in March was a warm delight, but will mostly be remembered as the last production of the venerable 22-year-old downtown San José company. Tabard’s longtime home, formerly known as the Theatre on San Pedro Square, is one of the most quaint, charming spaces in the entire South Bay, with flickering candles atop cabaret tables and a plentiful bar with a rustic feel. The area is also a happening spot, with lots of trendy restaurants and plentiful parking surrounding the second story theater. Adding to the melancholia more recently, the company lost their lease on the building, leaving both the company (which moved away from theater productions and focused on live events) and the space itself up in the air. Despite all that, the company remains resolute and optimistic to find new places to program their engaging, community-centered events.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938981\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"504\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938981\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ForgettingTree.JesDeville-copy-768x484.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jes Deville, director and co-producer of ‘Forgetting Tree.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Queer Cat Productions)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Hello/Goodbye\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Forgetting Tree’ gave grace to Queer Cat Productions’ final bow\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Modeling important values in and out of the theatre such as consent, access, and emphatically queer joyfulness, Queer Cat’s performance offerings throughout these pandemic times have been thoughtfully crafted and boldly imaginative. Thankfully they left us one last production to remember them by—the gorgeously-rendered \u003cem>Forgetting Tree\u003c/em>, co-produced and directed by Jes DeVille of Openhaus Athletics. Combining the creative gifts of cellists, clowns, acrobats, dancers, permaculture designers, and the fierce love of a Living Altar (Rawiya Tariq), \u003cem>Forgetting Tree\u003c/em> offered remembrance, ritual, and catharsis to those of us fortunate enough to experience it—both in the room and virtually.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938976\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938976\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/012_English-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christine Mirzayan (Goli) in ‘English’ at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. \u003ccite>(Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘English’ Speaks All Languages\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘My accent is a war crime’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first week of May, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s wonderful, poignant West Coast premiere production of \u003cem>English\u003c/em> closed. The day after the final curtain, playwright Sanaz Toossi’s script, about a group of four Iranian adults preparing for a daunting English language exam near Tehran in order to come to other parts of the world, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The production was significant for its stewarding by local director Mina Morita, the longtime artistic director of San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater Company. Morita is moving away from the company this month to focus more on her directing career, and will be in Australia late next year directing \u003cem>Yoga Play\u003c/em> by Dipika Guha at the National Theater of Parramatta.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938978\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1424\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938978\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-800x445.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1020x567.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-160x89.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-768x427.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1536x854.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-2048x1139.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1038x576.jpg 1038w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/CYM-1920x1068.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">L.M. Bogad as Dr. Masc in the ‘immersive experience’ from Say Nothing and Leave, ‘Change Your Mind.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Say Nothing and Leave)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>You Gotta Believe\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change Your Mind (or don’t) with ‘Say Nothing and Leave’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I may have entered the bustling Say Nothing and Leave-designed \u003cem>Change Your Mind\u003c/em> clinic a Guarded Contrarian, but I left it…a Guarded Contrarian. Ok, so some personality types are more resistant to change than others, but in this tone-perfect immersive experience, the promise of personality editing is presented with such matter-of-fact aplomb you will almost certainly find yourself wondering if it could \u003cem>really\u003c/em> be done. Whether you actually choose to change or not, the experience playfully and thoroughly raises the question of what could be gained through said deletion—and what could be irretrievably lost.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938973\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 864px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"864\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938973\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater.jpg 864w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Jordan-Maria-Don-as-Clara-and-Monique-Crawford-as-Annie-in-EDIT-ANNIE-photo-by-Cheshire-Isaacs-for-Crowded-Fire-Theater-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordan Maria Don as Clara and Monique Crawford as Annie in ‘Edit Annie’ at Crowded Fire Theater. \u003ccite>(Cheshire Isaacs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Collaboration is Key\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Crowded Fire restructures, premieres ‘Edit Annie’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowded Fire has always been a highly unified company, with a commitment to tell stories and present opportunities for all marginalized groups. While many companies follow a structure with an artistic director at the top of the pyramid, Crowded Fire instead turned one leader into seven, cross-pollinating everyone’s institutional knowledge into all aspects of the company. The first production of this new regime was the highly regarded west coast premiere of \u003cem>Edit Annie\u003c/em> by Mary Glen Fredrick, which kicked off in October.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938977\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938977\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Sequoiaa.AfroMusical-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SeQuoiia (center) in ‘De Mangangá’ at the 2023 New Roots Theatre Festival. \u003ccite>(Courtesy SFBATCO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>New Roots Meets Old School\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>SFBATCO’s annual festival gave center stage to exciting collaboration\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making space for experimentation, innovation, and camaraderie, this year’s New Roots festival lineup included the breathtaking, capoeira-inspired \u003cem>De Mangangá\u003c/em> written by mother-son team Tania Santiago and SeQuoiia, \u003cem>Shidaiqu\u003c/em>, an intriguing new musical by Jord Liu, revealing the intersections of Jazz and Communism in 1920s Shanghai, and a stunning revival of Zaccho Dance Theatre’s \u003cem>Dying While Black and Brown\u003c/em>, choreographed by Johanna Haigood with music by Marcus Shelby. By focusing attention on BIPOC-centered creation at every stage of development, these New Roots festivals are nurturing some of the most exciting theatrical collaborations in the Bay Area, including SFBATCO’s own \u003cem>Sign My Name to Freedom, The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin\u003c/em>, which will receive its full world premiere in 2024.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1655px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1655\" height=\"1205\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938975\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios.jpg 1655w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-800x582.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-1020x743.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-768x559.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/GoldenThread.Reorient.DavidAllenStudios-1536x1118.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1655px) 100vw, 1655px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sofia Ahmad and Neamah Hussein in ‘Closure’ at Golden Thread’s 2023 ReOrient Festival. \u003ccite>(David Allen Studios)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>ReOrient-ing at Golden Thread\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Festival of Middle Eastern works has run since 1996\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Sahar Assaf took over in 2021 from Golden Thread Productions’ artistic director and founder Torange Yeghiazarian, she knew there were massive shoes to fill. She also learned quickly that the company’s ReOrient Festival is beloved as one of the longest running theater festivals of new work in the Bay Area. With incubators disappearing nationally, such as the Lark and the Humana Play Festival, new playwrights have fewer places to develop their work. More than 100 scripts were submitted for consideration this year. Six were selected. The company has also worked to expand Middle Eastern narratives, and how those stories impact Middle Easterners who make the Bay Area and beyond their home. For the first time in the festival’s history, all of this year’s plays were set in the United States. \u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1082px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1082\" height=\"720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938974\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376.jpg 1082w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Exodus_To_Eden_2023_376-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1082px) 100vw, 1082px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arielle Powell as Miriam in ‘Exodus to Eden’ at Oakland Theater Project. \u003ccite>(Ben Krantz Studio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Big Things in the East Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Oakland Theater Project’s world premiere of ‘Exodus to Eden’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Setting foot inside the Flax Art & Design building for an Oakland Theater Project show means knowing you’re in for some highly charged theater that’s not to be missed. The company has a great sense of how to present a classic text (their 2018 \u003cem>A Streetcar Named Desire\u003c/em> and the more recent \u003cem>Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf\u003c/em>, featuring associate artistic director Lisa Ramirez and co-artistic director William Hodgson, were both phenomenal), but have also dove headfirst into world premieres. This year, co-artistic director Michael Socrates Moran made his playwriting debut with \u003cem>Exodus to Eden\u003c/em>, which he also directed. The intimate Flax space provided the production some spatial limits, yet the show still featured a sizable cast of 17 performers. Whether it’s a world premiere or a tried-and-true play, Oakland Theater Project has strategically found a formula that melds the potential of people with a sky-high commitment to artistry.\u003cem>—David John Chávez\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933234\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1679px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1.jpg\" alt=\"a red and black and green painted building\" width=\"1679\" height=\"1208\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933234\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1.jpg 1679w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-800x576.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-1020x734.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-768x553.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/image1-1536x1105.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1679px) 100vw, 1679px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The newly painted exterior of BAM House at 1540 Broadway in downtown Oakland. \u003ccite>(Ariana Proehl/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>New Spaces for Fresh Faces\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s been an incredibly tumultuous time for small performance venues in the Bay Area, and the list of spaces we’ve lost feels like it just keeps growing. But incredibly and inspiringly, a new crop of venues and multi-use spaces have blossomed in their wake. This is just a small sampling of the marvelous specificity and neighborhoods being served by some of our newest artistic homes.\u003cem>—Nicole Gluckstern\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.churchofclown.org/\">Church of Clown\u003c/a>, 2400 Bayshore Blvd., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.eclecticboxsf.com\">Eclectic Box\u003c/a>, 446 Valencia St., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.lowerbottomplayaz.com/\">BAM House\u003c/a>, 1540 Broadway, Oakland\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.therhino.org\">Theatre Rhinoceros\u003c/a>, 4229 18th St., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.447minna.com/\">447 Minna\u003c/a>, 447 Minna St., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.performingartsworkshop.org/\">Geneva Powerhouse\u003c/a>, 2301 San Jose Ave., San Francisco\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://sealevelsf.com\">Sealevel\u003c/a>, 4331 Irving St., San Francisco \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Powerful ‘Dragon Lady’ Weaves Tales of Trauma, Karaoke — and a Very Memorable Matriarch",
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"content": "\u003cp>In Sara Porkalob’s hands, the haunting, succulent Filipino standard “Dahil Sa’yo” is sheer perfection, a beautiful aria that leaves zero amount of passion to the imagination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she delves into her maternal family history for 100 minutes onstage, she distills the story succinctly in her singing of Mike Velarde, Jr.’s 1938 ballad:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dahil sa’yo ako’y matapang / Because of you I’m brave\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Dahil sa’yo ako’y lalaban / Because of you I will fight\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Para sa’yo pagmamahal na walang katapusan / For you a love with no end\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13936220']Porkalob’s one-woman opus \u003cem>Dragon Lady\u003c/em>, running through Dec. 17 at Marin Theatre Company, is part of a trilogy of plays about the women in her family. It’s also the culmination of a gift she was given by her boss of a grandmother, Maria Sr.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Dragon Lady\u003c/em>, Maria Sr. is less than thrilled about the prospects of a 60th birthday party. But, with this milestone date, she decides she’d better tell her past family stories to someone before it’s too late. Fortunately, those stories land with Porkalob, a Seattle-based performer who has gone on to a celebrated storytelling career, including her Broadway debut in 2022. (That New York performance, starring as Edward Rutledge in \u003cem>1776\u003c/em>, introduced Porkalob to the masses in more ways than one; \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/1776-star-sara-porkalob-interview-molasses-to-rum.html\">an interview in Vulture\u003c/a> where she shared her frank thoughts on the production made her a national conversation piece.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13938722\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-800x1203.jpg\" alt=\"a Filipina woman in black stands on a stage with her hands over her heart in front of a large projected image of her grandmother\" width=\"800\" height=\"1203\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-1020x1533.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-1362x2048.jpg 1362w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-scaled.jpg 1703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sara Porkalob stands in front of an image of Maria Senora Porkalob, the matriarch of the family, in ‘Dragon Lady.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne/Marin Theatre Company)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the framing of a birthday party has a slightly contrived feel, it ultimately serves as a scintillating showcase for the whirling-dervish talents of Porkalob. She plays a multitude of characters, most of them effective, within a sharply metaphoric scene design (from Randy Wong-Westbrooke) and beautiful lighting design (by the always-solid Spense Matubang). The musical backing of three-piece combo Hot Damn Scandal provides terrific texture, pulled together sweetly by director Andrew Russell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Grandma sets foot on stage to start the proceedings, injecting morsels of Tagalog in her delivery, she provides a taste of her past talents as she shows off her new karaoke machine. Some dulcet, velvety-smooth trills emanate from Porkalob’s golden pipes, immediately accompanied by hip-hop beats, thanks to the machine’s remixing capabilities. Grandma’s giddiness over her toy is tempered, though, with anxiety over the birthday festivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938723\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13938723\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-800x1203.jpg\" alt=\"three men in a jazz ensemble dressed in red suits and black bowler hats stand on a staircase on a stage\" width=\"800\" height=\"1203\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-1020x1533.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-1362x2048.jpg 1362w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-scaled.jpg 1703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazz ensemble members of Hot Damn Scandal in Sara Porkalob’s ‘Dragon Lady’ at Marin Theatre Company. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne/Marin Theatre Company)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Porkalob’s approach to her grandmother is reverent without skirting past the complexities that made living with a complicated matriarch such a chore: Grandma would disappear for weeks on end, we learn through Sara’s mother Maria, working multiple jobs to support the family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But is that \u003cem>really\u003c/em> what she was doing? For as much as Grandma worked, there was very little to show for it. A microwave rendered useless due to electricity being shut off in their Washington trailer park structure is another indignity suffered. Warming up a bottle for the newest baby in the house challenges 13-year-old Maria, a young girl spending more time caring for her baby sister in her mother’s absence than going to school. It’s soul-crushing to hear Maria express her crippling fear as she grapples with a pitch-black house full of petrified littles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s clear: the women in Porkalob’s tale are fighters. Grandma’s brand was built in a tawdry Manila nightclub, where seductive gangsters fawned over Maria Sr. and her heavenly vocal talents. The thrilling yet seedy world of sketchy figures, murderous propositions and a never-ending debt to the lordess of the club provides the backdrop for Grandma’s harrowing escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the exit from the underbelly of gangsters has its benefits, domestic life — with too many famished kids — offers very little respite. Porkalob’s narrative moves expediently from the devastation of hunger to the sweet humor of complicated family life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13938730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"a woman in all black stands on a stage lit in a red and purple\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sara Porkalob performs in ‘Dragon Lady,’ with scene design by Randy Wong-Westbrooke and lighting design by Spense Matubang, at Marin Theatre Company. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne/Marin Theatre Company / )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One particularly poignant moment involves two of Grandma’s empathic boys, Junior and Charlie, who devise a scheme to snag donated groceries thanks to some borrowed Boy Scout uniforms. Earnestly, they stand in front of each house, gently inquiring for something to eat. “We can’t just ask for food, we have to ask for ‘food donations,’” instructs Junior with crushing clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The payoff of the young tykes and their trudging door-to-door is an emotional punch to the gut, as young Maria discovers what they’ve just done. “We can all have spam fried rice for dinner tonight,” declares an emotional Maria in a particularly tear-inducing delivery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complicated history of the strong women of Sara’s family, the charms of Grandma and the unsympathetic lens through which daughter Maria recalls that generational trauma — they all lend the story its power. Porkalob pulls not one punch in the way she translates past damages, devastating the audience through hilarity. It’s a testament to Grandma’s foresight that she deemed these stories, with all their warts, to be a necessary gift to her eldest granddaughter, the one who shared the treasure with a grateful audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the title \u003cem>Dragon Lady\u003c/em> nods to the grandmother who fought for everything, the story actually has three Filipina heroines. Thanks to the immense talents of Sara Porkalob, the audience sees that all the beautiful brown women showcased in her piece are brave fighters, with a transcendent love that has no end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Dragon Lady’ plays at Marin Theatre Company (397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley) through Dec. 17, 2023. \u003ca href=\"https://www.marintheatre.org/productions/dragon-lady\">Tickets and more info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Review: ‘Dragon Lady’ Weaves Tales of Trauma, Karaoke — and a Very Memorable Matriarch | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In Sara Porkalob’s hands, the haunting, succulent Filipino standard “Dahil Sa’yo” is sheer perfection, a beautiful aria that leaves zero amount of passion to the imagination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she delves into her maternal family history for 100 minutes onstage, she distills the story succinctly in her singing of Mike Velarde, Jr.’s 1938 ballad:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dahil sa’yo ako’y matapang / Because of you I’m brave\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Dahil sa’yo ako’y lalaban / Because of you I will fight\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Para sa’yo pagmamahal na walang katapusan / For you a love with no end\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Porkalob’s one-woman opus \u003cem>Dragon Lady\u003c/em>, running through Dec. 17 at Marin Theatre Company, is part of a trilogy of plays about the women in her family. It’s also the culmination of a gift she was given by her boss of a grandmother, Maria Sr.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Dragon Lady\u003c/em>, Maria Sr. is less than thrilled about the prospects of a 60th birthday party. But, with this milestone date, she decides she’d better tell her past family stories to someone before it’s too late. Fortunately, those stories land with Porkalob, a Seattle-based performer who has gone on to a celebrated storytelling career, including her Broadway debut in 2022. (That New York performance, starring as Edward Rutledge in \u003cem>1776\u003c/em>, introduced Porkalob to the masses in more ways than one; \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/1776-star-sara-porkalob-interview-molasses-to-rum.html\">an interview in Vulture\u003c/a> where she shared her frank thoughts on the production made her a national conversation piece.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13938722\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-800x1203.jpg\" alt=\"a Filipina woman in black stands on a stage with her hands over her heart in front of a large projected image of her grandmother\" width=\"800\" height=\"1203\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-1020x1533.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-1362x2048.jpg 1362w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_177-scaled.jpg 1703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sara Porkalob stands in front of an image of Maria Senora Porkalob, the matriarch of the family, in ‘Dragon Lady.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne/Marin Theatre Company)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the framing of a birthday party has a slightly contrived feel, it ultimately serves as a scintillating showcase for the whirling-dervish talents of Porkalob. She plays a multitude of characters, most of them effective, within a sharply metaphoric scene design (from Randy Wong-Westbrooke) and beautiful lighting design (by the always-solid Spense Matubang). The musical backing of three-piece combo Hot Damn Scandal provides terrific texture, pulled together sweetly by director Andrew Russell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Grandma sets foot on stage to start the proceedings, injecting morsels of Tagalog in her delivery, she provides a taste of her past talents as she shows off her new karaoke machine. Some dulcet, velvety-smooth trills emanate from Porkalob’s golden pipes, immediately accompanied by hip-hop beats, thanks to the machine’s remixing capabilities. Grandma’s giddiness over her toy is tempered, though, with anxiety over the birthday festivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938723\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13938723\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-800x1203.jpg\" alt=\"three men in a jazz ensemble dressed in red suits and black bowler hats stand on a staircase on a stage\" width=\"800\" height=\"1203\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-1020x1533.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-1362x2048.jpg 1362w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_152-scaled.jpg 1703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazz ensemble members of Hot Damn Scandal in Sara Porkalob’s ‘Dragon Lady’ at Marin Theatre Company. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne/Marin Theatre Company)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Porkalob’s approach to her grandmother is reverent without skirting past the complexities that made living with a complicated matriarch such a chore: Grandma would disappear for weeks on end, we learn through Sara’s mother Maria, working multiple jobs to support the family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But is that \u003cem>really\u003c/em> what she was doing? For as much as Grandma worked, there was very little to show for it. A microwave rendered useless due to electricity being shut off in their Washington trailer park structure is another indignity suffered. Warming up a bottle for the newest baby in the house challenges 13-year-old Maria, a young girl spending more time caring for her baby sister in her mother’s absence than going to school. It’s soul-crushing to hear Maria express her crippling fear as she grapples with a pitch-black house full of petrified littles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s clear: the women in Porkalob’s tale are fighters. Grandma’s brand was built in a tawdry Manila nightclub, where seductive gangsters fawned over Maria Sr. and her heavenly vocal talents. The thrilling yet seedy world of sketchy figures, murderous propositions and a never-ending debt to the lordess of the club provides the backdrop for Grandma’s harrowing escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the exit from the underbelly of gangsters has its benefits, domestic life — with too many famished kids — offers very little respite. Porkalob’s narrative moves expediently from the devastation of hunger to the sweet humor of complicated family life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13938730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"a woman in all black stands on a stage lit in a red and purple\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/DLY_049-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sara Porkalob performs in ‘Dragon Lady,’ with scene design by Randy Wong-Westbrooke and lighting design by Spense Matubang, at Marin Theatre Company. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne/Marin Theatre Company / )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One particularly poignant moment involves two of Grandma’s empathic boys, Junior and Charlie, who devise a scheme to snag donated groceries thanks to some borrowed Boy Scout uniforms. Earnestly, they stand in front of each house, gently inquiring for something to eat. “We can’t just ask for food, we have to ask for ‘food donations,’” instructs Junior with crushing clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The payoff of the young tykes and their trudging door-to-door is an emotional punch to the gut, as young Maria discovers what they’ve just done. “We can all have spam fried rice for dinner tonight,” declares an emotional Maria in a particularly tear-inducing delivery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complicated history of the strong women of Sara’s family, the charms of Grandma and the unsympathetic lens through which daughter Maria recalls that generational trauma — they all lend the story its power. Porkalob pulls not one punch in the way she translates past damages, devastating the audience through hilarity. It’s a testament to Grandma’s foresight that she deemed these stories, with all their warts, to be a necessary gift to her eldest granddaughter, the one who shared the treasure with a grateful audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the title \u003cem>Dragon Lady\u003c/em> nods to the grandmother who fought for everything, the story actually has three Filipina heroines. Thanks to the immense talents of Sara Porkalob, the audience sees that all the beautiful brown women showcased in her piece are brave fighters, with a transcendent love that has no end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Dragon Lady’ plays at Marin Theatre Company (397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley) through Dec. 17, 2023. \u003ca href=\"https://www.marintheatre.org/productions/dragon-lady\">Tickets and more info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When the third \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/nrtf-2023#nrtf-2023-about\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">New Roots Theatre Festival\u003c/span>\u003c/a> kicks off on Nov. 10, it’ll be a family affair in more ways than one. The festival itself is a family reunion-style celebration of works coming out of local, BIPOC-led theater companies, which this year include Zaccho Dance Theatre, Campo Santo, Magic Theatre, AfroSolo and SF Recovery Theatre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We connect, we unite them, we put them in the same space, make them breathe the same air, and have to think about the perspectives of the characters and situations that everyone’s going through,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rodneyearljacksonjr/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. Jackson is the festival’s founder, and also the co-founder and artistic director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. He adds that the festival seeks “to unearth those unique queer, BIPOC, intergenerational voices all under one roof.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13937550 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Two women dance facing a mirror in a dance studio while a man and a woman in the background look on. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Co-choreographers Tosh Harris Santiago, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, and Tania Santiago (both rear) watch as Nasha Harris Santiago (left) and another dancer rehearse ‘De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical’ at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Bekah Lynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two of the intergenerational voices featured in this year’s festival are mother and son duo \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/afrobraziliansf/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tania Santiago\u003c/span>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sequoiia_/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tosh Harris Santiago\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, who co-direct and co-choreograph \u003cem>De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical\u003c/em>. The cast includes Tosh’s siblings, Nasha and Orion. Fusing moves from the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, contemporary Afro-Brazilian dance and hip-hop, they tell the story of Besouro Mangangá, an early 20th century capoeira master who fought against oppression in Santo Amaro, Brazil — where Tania, a dance instructor at ODC, was born and raised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Expect a lot of fun, and a lot of new aspects to folklore movements and dance,” says Tosh, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, who graduated from Oakland School for the Arts and most recently performed as part of \u003cem>Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical\u003c/em> at A.C.T. this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937552\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13937552\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Three people stand on stage, one woman looks at pages in a binder she's holding, one looks out in the distance and another hold his arms outstretched while reading from a binder he holds in his hand.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Actors Sarah Lee, Amanda Le Nguyen, and Faustino Cadiz III rehearse ‘Shidaiqu: A Partly-Historical Musical’ at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco ahead of the show’s debut on Nov. 10 at the New Roots Theatre Festival. \u003ccite>(Bekah Lynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Shidaiqu: A Partly-Historical Musical,\u003c/em> meanwhile, was inspired by Shanghai in the 1920s, when a huge wealth gap, a new Communist Party and American jazz defined much of the city’s culture. Written by San Francisco playwright \u003ca href=\"https://jminjie.com/portfolio/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jord Liu\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Shidaiqu\u003c/em> takes elements from that Shanghai history, as well as modern-day San Francisco to create a fictional world where characters explore themes of art and activism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every show at this year’s festival is a musical, mind you. But there is a common theme, says Jackson: “We’re tapping into perspectives of the universal conversation around who has access, who’s allowed to be a full human, and what does it mean to feel whole,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, joy. “I feel like often a lot of plays can be downers or [theatrical] experiences can be very, very introspective,” Jackson adds. “So the shows that we are producing … really have a full-rooted expression of joy that surrounds them… That’s why we want you to come out. To feel some joy with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The New Roots Theatre Festival runs Nov. 10–12 at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/nrtf-2023#nrtf-2023-about\">Tickets and more info\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/nrtf-2023#nrtf-2023-about\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When the third \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/nrtf-2023#nrtf-2023-about\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">New Roots Theatre Festival\u003c/span>\u003c/a> kicks off on Nov. 10, it’ll be a family affair in more ways than one. The festival itself is a family reunion-style celebration of works coming out of local, BIPOC-led theater companies, which this year include Zaccho Dance Theatre, Campo Santo, Magic Theatre, AfroSolo and SF Recovery Theatre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We connect, we unite them, we put them in the same space, make them breathe the same air, and have to think about the perspectives of the characters and situations that everyone’s going through,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rodneyearljacksonjr/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. Jackson is the festival’s founder, and also the co-founder and artistic director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. He adds that the festival seeks “to unearth those unique queer, BIPOC, intergenerational voices all under one roof.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13937550 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Two women dance facing a mirror in a dance studio while a man and a woman in the background look on. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-32.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Co-choreographers Tosh Harris Santiago, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, and Tania Santiago (both rear) watch as Nasha Harris Santiago (left) and another dancer rehearse ‘De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical’ at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Bekah Lynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two of the intergenerational voices featured in this year’s festival are mother and son duo \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/afrobraziliansf/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tania Santiago\u003c/span>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sequoiia_/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tosh Harris Santiago\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, who co-direct and co-choreograph \u003cem>De Mangangá: An Afro-Brazilian Musical\u003c/em>. The cast includes Tosh’s siblings, Nasha and Orion. Fusing moves from the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, contemporary Afro-Brazilian dance and hip-hop, they tell the story of Besouro Mangangá, an early 20th century capoeira master who fought against oppression in Santo Amaro, Brazil — where Tania, a dance instructor at ODC, was born and raised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Expect a lot of fun, and a lot of new aspects to folklore movements and dance,” says Tosh, a.k.a. SeQuoiia, who graduated from Oakland School for the Arts and most recently performed as part of \u003cem>Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical\u003c/em> at A.C.T. this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937552\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13937552\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Three people stand on stage, one woman looks at pages in a binder she's holding, one looks out in the distance and another hold his arms outstretched while reading from a binder he holds in his hand.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/BLPHOTO_SFBATCO-NRF_2023-74.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Actors Sarah Lee, Amanda Le Nguyen, and Faustino Cadiz III rehearse ‘Shidaiqu: A Partly-Historical Musical’ at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco ahead of the show’s debut on Nov. 10 at the New Roots Theatre Festival. \u003ccite>(Bekah Lynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Shidaiqu: A Partly-Historical Musical,\u003c/em> meanwhile, was inspired by Shanghai in the 1920s, when a huge wealth gap, a new Communist Party and American jazz defined much of the city’s culture. Written by San Francisco playwright \u003ca href=\"https://jminjie.com/portfolio/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jord Liu\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Shidaiqu\u003c/em> takes elements from that Shanghai history, as well as modern-day San Francisco to create a fictional world where characters explore themes of art and activism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every show at this year’s festival is a musical, mind you. But there is a common theme, says Jackson: “We’re tapping into perspectives of the universal conversation around who has access, who’s allowed to be a full human, and what does it mean to feel whole,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, joy. “I feel like often a lot of plays can be downers or [theatrical] experiences can be very, very introspective,” Jackson adds. “So the shows that we are producing … really have a full-rooted expression of joy that surrounds them… That’s why we want you to come out. To feel some joy with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The New Roots Theatre Festival runs Nov. 10–12 at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/nrtf-2023#nrtf-2023-about\">Tickets and more info\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfbatco.org/nrtf-2023#nrtf-2023-about\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
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"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"source": "WaitWhat"
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
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