"tick, tick...Boom!," is more tickle than gloom. Now charming audiences in an already-extended production at NCTC, this posthumous cobbling of writer-composer Jonathan Larson's pre-"Rent" music shines a welcome light on his sly humor and jukebox wit.

In the afterword to his novel, "American Scholar," author Patrick Horrigan notes that it was a historical coincidence that inspired him to write his book, and how his own life affair paralleled his scholarly subject.

Edited by critic/curator Michael Peppiatt, with a forward by novelist Colm Toibin, "Francis Bacon: A Self-Portrait in Words" arrives at a propitious moment. Bacon's paintings have set world record-breaking prices at auction.

Romelo Urbi is poised for breakout local stardom as he takes on the title role in Ray of Light Theatre's upcoming Bay Area premiere of "Everybody's Talking About Jamie."

The Wingfields' wings have been clipped. That's the burning kernel of pain at the center of "The Glass Menagerie," Tennessee Williams' oft-revived 1944 family drama, now playing in a frustratingly unfocused production at SF Playhouse.

Each year the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band produces "Spotlight," the band's annual gala and fundraiser. This year's event will take place on May 18 with music from animated films and video games.

Harmonia Mundi has released a new live recording of Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto, with Isabelle Faust as soloist. As in the case of "Spring Symphony," the recording is rounded out with shorter pieces that demonstrate how fine a composer Britten was.

The new film "I Saw the TV Glow" both revels in this compulsive escapism but critiques our culture's fixation with nostalgia as a kind of cocoon and the ways we find and identify ourselves in the shows we watch.

More than four decades after its New York premiere, Harvey Fierstein's streamlined 2017 revision of "Torch Song Trilogy," retitled simply "Torch Song," makes its Bay Area debut at the Marin Theatre Company beginning May 9.

A.E. Hines' poetry is the opposite of labeling himself or others. His work is a true breath of fresh air in our universality. Not just our sameness but our kinship with human life, our beingness, our essence. In this, we share authentic power.

Perhaps the only way one can find purpose in life and avoid meaninglessness is to author one's own story, or so asserts Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar in his wondrous, incandescent new novel "Martyr!"

From delicate dances to robust theatrics, Bay Area arts and nightlife events spring forth, including the queer rock cover band GayC/DC, who perform at The Ivy Room in Albany on May 3. Rock on with plenty more events in Going Out.

The winners of La Asamblea's Pa'lante Artist Grant Program have been announced by Kimzin Creative. Also, two film festivals and a theater company announced calls for submission.

At the 2024 Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans, writer Gerard Cabrera had the opportunity to immerse himself in a vibrant and diverse community of writers and readers.