Posts by hilary@theatrebayarea.org
Show Round Up: A Full Calendar
March is starting off with a bang! It’s hard to believe it’s March already! I was looking through our show calendar and was struck by how many shows are opening. Especially the six shows that are only playing this week. How do I get a time machine so I can see them all? Here’s the round…
Read MoreShow Round Up: Winter Theatre for You
Shows make me want to leave the house! These days, I often hear that the biggest competition for theatres is the couch. With the on and off rain these past few weeks, I can see why. But this week’s show lineup has me excited to put on a coat and see some theatre. Here’s what got me excited: Opening Three…
Read MoreShow Round Up: Valentines Day Weekend
Plan your date night and fall in love with Bay Area theatre! Between the wintry weather and the Valentine’s Day holiday this weekend it is the perfect time to spend a cozy weekend at the theatre. Only This Weekend! Romance and Juliet at SPARC Theatre Cheyenne Jackson: Signs of Life at SF Gay Men’s Chorus…
Read MoreA Fireside Chat with Anne W Smith and Sean Fenton
We’ve been using this space to share a peek behind the curtain on the exciting transformation-in-process here at TBA. In the past six weeks, we have welcomed three new leaders into the fold: our Executive Director, Sean Fenton, and two new board members, Juan Manzo and Calvin Kai Ku. With this coalescence of emerging and…
Read MoreFireside Chat with Anne W. Smith: May 2022
Spring Greetings, Everyone, After a busy month and a half here at TBA, it’s a pleasure to re-connect with our “insiders.” What a treat it was to join nearly 150 artists and administrators in Berkeley on April 4th to listen, learn, and chat at the first in-person TBA Conference since 2019. The conference, “Brick by…
Read MoreFireside Chat with Anne W. Smith: March 2022
DEAR MEMBERS, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES, After participating as a Theatre Bay Area Board member for many seasons, I am delighted to be involved in leading our organization through this period of transition, development and growth. Throughout this interim period, I’m honored to use this column to update you about the transition and provide a window…
Read MoreI’m Like A Utility Player: Meet TBA’s Interim Managing Director
by Sam Hurwitt Interim managing director Ann Marie Lonsdale comes to Theatre Bay Area at a transitional time for the organization. Brad Erickson is scheduled to end his 18-year tenure as executive director on February 28, 2022, with the search for his successor still underway. It’s been a while since Theatre Bay Area actually had…
Read MoreTaking the Temperature of Arts Audiences
by Sam Hurwitt When COVID-19 pandemic precautions started closing venues in March of 2020, theaters were hungry for any information about what they could expect. That’s when consulting firm WolfBrown began to put together the Audience Outlook Monitor, an international research project reporting back on shifting attitudes and concerns of theater audiences over time. Alan Brown…
Read MoreJoy To The World, Holiday Shows Are Back
by Rotimi Agbabiaka Tis the season for holiday shows and after an almost two-year hiatus, live, in-person holiday theatre is back. In keeping with the unprecedented times, many of the productions on Bay Area stages are adapting, updating, or reimagining classic tales in ways that marry tradition with the needs of a world wearily emerging…
Read MoreAfter 23 Years, FoolsFURY Practices The Art of Letting Go
by Jean Schiffman “Today we are practicing the art of letting go,” said Debórah Eliezer, artistic director of FoolsFURY, at a recent public closure ceremony at the Mission Cultural Center. Her “sunset speech” marked the ensemble’s graceful withdrawal, as a company, from the local theatre scene after 23 years. Concrete symbols of that withdrawal were…
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