We attended Cirque Oui-Et at Stage Werx Theatre this past weekend, and had a fun time…read more The show was a long form improv performance consisting of a storyline based on a single suggestion from the audience. And within that storyline was a variety show. Although the performers did follow the theme overall, the individual acts did seem a bit random and disconnected at times (perhaps due to the "variety show" aspect). But it was still entertaining. My favorite parts were the "burlesque" (male striptease with a comedic twist), the "clown" (more like a tramp clown, miming a scene), and one of the performers incorporating slapstick humor with a ventriloquist dummy as a prop. Lots of wtf moments for sure, but in a good way, the kind that had me giggling behind my mask (yes, masks are still required to sit in the audience). Overall, Cirque Oui-Et was both funny and weird, with enough elements of both improv and circus acts to keep me interested. Not perfect, but definitely a unique experience! The show was about 1 hour 15 minutes long this past Sunday, which was a bit shorter than I expected, but that gave guests time to talk to the performers afterward so it was fine.

First I must make a confession: I simply cannot sit through any more of the "traditional" holiday…read moreofferings. Nope, can't see "A Christmas Carol". Not able to witness another rendition of "The Velveteen Rabbit". Simply cannot afford multiple tickets to "A Hard Nut". Just goes to show you that when you least expect it, something falls into place...the kids and I piled on to BART and scurried through the bustle of 24th Street on a Saturday afternoon and had a blast at the Brava Theater and Dance Brigade's 20th anniversary showing of "The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie"...the Kidz Version. The theater had been over-sold and there were no seats left, let alone together. The announcer came on and asked everyone who had been saving seats to please give them to the folks standing in the aisles. There were people with bundled up babies walking back and forth, the place was filled with families and children of all sizes and ages. It was loud and pretty chaotic. Then the show began and magic happened! The music is traditional but with some twists and there are lots of up-dated allusions to PC topics and contemporary concerns, as well as some good-natured ribbing of the wealthy who like to "slum" with the "ethnic masses"....nothing heavy-handed, but the point is definitely made. The character of Clara is danced by 3 women, Herr Drosselmeyer is danced by an amazing performer who has pink hair and shocks the family portrayed in the classic story (can't give anything away here, but it's funny).The mice and the Rat King are portrayed by dancers in Zoot suits with ropes for tails, and they perform their numbers with selections from Hip Hop and Salsa sequences. There's a trapeze with wings, a dance number from the Ivory Coast, Taiko drumming....so many sights and sounds that it is hard to capture in print. It is BIG FUN for very little $$. It was $15.00 a ticket and I got them on-line at brownbagtickets.com (it's a great way to get tickets and it's socially responsible by donating funds to great causes). The performance itself warrants 5 stars. The no reserved seating, the over crowded conditions, the hunting down an usher to acquire a program, and finally the numerous screaming babies force me to give 4 stars...still, it was mesmerizing and loads of holiday fun without much in the way of cliches. Well worth investigating if you are not already over-committed. The Kidz Version is only this weekend. I would happily go again to see the regular show. It's supposed to be spicier and probably a bit more pointed in the political references. Oh and I must give credit where credit is due: I have been pre-occupied with kids, holiday business, cards, and all the trimmings and thus "out of touch". 'Twas the ever-alert hubby who heard about this production, and all of us are happier for it. Go check this out!!

I love this show!! Dance Brigade does a wonderful job.read more

Roem Baur is a one-man juke box!…read more We recently did an event at HopMonk Tavern Novato. The restaurant hired a local musician (their "go-to guy") to perform on their patio. That man was Roem Baur. Apparently, he's been a local favorite for quite some time. And rumor has it, he was even a contestant on NBC's "The Voice" a few years back. In any case, Roem provided a rockin' soundtrack to our evening. He covered oldies to current hits. Everything from Journey to John Mayer. This guy can play (and sing) it all. I highly recommend Roem to perform at your next event. He'll get your guests up and dancing in no time, and help turn your party up a notch (from a 10 to an 11). In short, this guy rocks!

Saw a great show on Tuesday night.. Who was the show? You guessed it, Roem Baur. He was awesome!…read morePerfect amount of energy, volume and hits. He really kept the atmosphere going. Everyone in attendance was unanimous in the great performance by Roem Baur. It makes me want to host a party just to hire him to perform. I signed up for his emails so I can hit his next performance in Sf. I would highly recommend checking him out. He kept the beat going and got the audience bopping around in high spirits. Great sound and a wide variety of music! Rock on Roem Baur!

I've got a special place in my heart for Writers with Drinks. I read for them once, only my second…read morereadig ever in The City, and I bombed. Just flat-out bombed. It was hilariously bad. The rest of the readers that night, including the author of Stiff, were fantastic and I was so glad to be there. Writers with Drinks has been going on for years with the basic concept of being a mash-up of literary styles in one reading. You might get Armistead Maupin and Tad Williams on the same bill with a stand-up comic and someone who really wants to be Maggie Estep. It's an important piece of the puzzle to get the right mixes of almost incompatible genres. Host Charlie Anders is great introducing the various readers and puts together these great cards. I've never had a WwD where there wasn't at least one writer I was really interested in hearing. Writers with Drinks is easily the best reading series in the Bay Area and one of the best regular readings in the US.

There's a pretty wide variety in what you get. Charlie's introductions are sort of well, strange…read more Right on the verge between not understanding what's going on and thinking you do and understanding what's going on and thinking you don't. If that intrigues, you, then maybe you should go. Or you could stay at home and listen to a book on tape backwards, which would pretty much replicate the experience. Sometimes it's funny, but not nearly as much so as the crowd would make it out to be. As for the writers, well, some are good, and some go right over my head. It's entirely possible that I'm not sophisticated enough to understand some of them, or that they are chosen to be intentionally obscure and difficult to follow. In any case, get there early, because seating is quite limited.

Imagine "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" updated, with a wicked sense of humor. The "urban twang",…read morefantastic lyrics, and a top-notch stage presence make this mostly female group a favorite of mine. They play around the Bay Area on a regular basis, and if you go to their website and join their email list, sometimes you can catch a low-cost or even free show. They're excellent musicians, but if you listen to the lyrics, you'll find these women are poets, too.

I chanced upon a flyer for a series of Sondheim shows at the Harvey Milk Recreation Center from…read moreyptmtc. I saw Assasins first and liked it a lot, but yesterday I saw their production of Into the Woods and I loved it! I've always loved the songs from Into the Woods, but I"ve never seen it live, so I was ecstatic to know that yptmtc was doing it. I'm so happy that for Into the Woods they hung microphones above the singers, as some of their voices aren't as strong as the primary cast members. The costumes and set was also beautiful and well executed. The kids were great, you can tell that they need a little more acting lessons before their ready for the great white way, but hey they're still kids. Good Luck to everyone!

HAIR opened last night and the audience LOVED IT! (Kind of amusing: half the audience was…read moreintrigued by the times it protrays; the other half was REMEMBERING the time it portrays!!) For nostalgia or to introduce younger folks to this era, check it out. (It's a PG-13 version -- no nudity.) Details in my earlier post.

This is a performing art group that are simply fantastic.... I have seen them in a number of…read moredifferent arenas, I think... but for sure last week at the Academy opening. Amidst the chaotic energy of a huge meet and greet and tour party a 9 ft tree paper thin is walking in and out of the crowd with barely a whisper... she would freeze against a post or wall and look like a tree, or vines. That is simply one of the performing artists that were there. I assume some of this came from talent discovered at the burn, because it is very much that crowd, stilts in tow. It might just be a carnivale crew doing some moonlighting, but whoever they are, I was quite impressed.

Jan is highly professional and skilled at what she does. They have a toy soldier on stilts that's…read morejust to die for. Skilled performers and elegant costuming makes these guys a hot at every event I've seen them at.

Yesterday, my three year old daughter and I joined my mom, my best friend, and her mother for what…read morewe consider an annual holiday tradition: the Dance Along Nutcracker! Yesterday marked the 4th time I have put on a tutu to the sounds of SF's LGFB. This year's theme was 60s so we all enjoyed hearing hits from The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Nancy Sinatra, Tom Jones, and Motown, as well as the classic ballet excerpts. And you can't top an all-audience finale to the Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In from "Hair." This is an all-ages local gem!

The Dance-Along Nutcracker is one of the greatest holiday events San Francisco has to offer. Only…read morehere can something as conventional and traditional as the Nutcracker Ballet be given a decidedly San Franciscan twist, thanks to the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. They've been putting on this show for over 20 years. Like the typical Nutcracker performances, at Dance-Along Nutcracker you will be dazzled by the music, the dancing, and the costumes. But unlike the typical Nutcracker performances, at Dance-Along Nutcracker you will be encouraged not vilified for boogey-ing and pirouetting in the aisles. And of course, you are expected to break out your tutus and tiaras for the occasion. Don't have one? No worries, you can get them there. Kiddies LOVE it so take your nieces and nephews here, put a lock on the title for "Favorite Auntie" and have lots of fun in the process!