Arts & Culture :: Theater

Boldly inventive 'Froggy' premieres at Center Rep
Going Out, Jan. 30-Feb. 7, 2025 arts & nightlife events

Going Out, Jan. 30-Feb. 7, 2025 arts & nightlife events

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Jan 29, 2025

Get into the groove at arts events and at nightclubs near you. Over in the East Bay? Shake your booty at legendary DJ Page Hodel's new event, Respect, at the White Horse on Feb. 2. For more events, check out Going Out.

Queer crime stories: Two solo shows debut next week at Rhino & NCTC

Queer crime stories: Two solo shows debut next week at Rhino & NCTC

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 27, 2025

Next week, San Francisco's two leading queer stage companies, the New Conservatory Theatre Center and Theatre Rhinoceros will each open a solo show with a murder at its center. In one, crime is very much a laughing matter. In the other, it's dead serious.

'Exotic Deadly: Or The MSG Play' - Keiko and Jesca's excellent adventure at SF Playhouse

'Exotic Deadly: Or The MSG Play' - Keiko and Jesca's excellent adventure at SF Playhouse

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 21, 2025

Writer Keiko Green and director Jesca Prudencia cheerfully cite "Wayne's World" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" as major aesthetic influences on "Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play," which opens on Jan. 30 at the San Francisco Playhouse.

Black Choreographers Festival: 20th anniversary includes multiple events through June

Black Choreographers Festival: 20th anniversary includes multiple events through June

  • by Finbar LaBelle
  • Jan 20, 2025

The African & African American Performing Arts Coalition and K Star Productions present the Black Choreographers Festival: Here and Now. From February to June, the festival will welcome the new year with its twentieth anniversary.

Queer comedy picks: Highlights of SF Sketchfest 2025

Queer comedy picks: Highlights of SF Sketchfest 2025

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 14, 2025

SF Sketchfest returns this weekend for a 22nd citywide celebration of mirth. Here are a few of the queer performers and queer-focused programs worth checking out; Joel Kim Booster, Straightio Lab, Trans-It Girls and more.

Going Out, Jan. 9-17, 2025 arts & nightlife events

Going Out, Jan. 9-17, 2025 arts & nightlife events

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Jan 8, 2025

Put your mittens on if you have to, because there's still plenty of arts and nightlife events to see, including live music, museums, theater and even more, in Going Out.

Kathy Griffin's 'Life on the PTSD List' legendary comic finds humor in her misfortunes

Kathy Griffin's 'Life on the PTSD List' legendary comic finds humor in her misfortunes

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Jan 7, 2025

Kathy Griffin has bounced back. Now cancer-free and able to fly, she is touring in a new show titled "My Life on the PTSD List." In her show, Griffin speaks candidly about all she's been through, finding humor in the worst of situations.

'Dragcula' - the queerest vampire show you'll ever see

'Dragcula' - the queerest vampire show you'll ever see

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Jan 5, 2025

Coming to Oasis beginning on January 16 is what may be the scariest, funniest the venerable club has offered to date. "Dragcula" will be a comic adaptation of the 1931 vampire film classic cast entirely with queer and trans performers.

'Some Like It Hot' at the Orpheum - Tavis Kordell stars as a newfangled ingénue

'Some Like It Hot' at the Orpheum - Tavis Kordell stars as a newfangled ingénue

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Dec 30, 2024

In this era of calculated personal branding and TikTok careerism, it's delightful to meet an honest-to-goodness ingénue. Tavis Kordell is now playing the nonbinary lead role of Jerry/Daphne in the first national tour of "Some Like It Hot."

Going Out, Dec. 26, 2024-Jan. 3, 2025 arts & nightlife events

Going Out, Dec. 26, 2024-Jan. 3, 2025 arts & nightlife events

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Dec 24, 2024

Celebrate the new year as trepidatious an exercise it may be. Perhaps start polishing up your 'Cabaret' playlist. Storm into -or away from -balloon drops and complimentary champagne in a plastic cup- in this week's Going Out.

Going Out, Dec. 19-27, 2024 arts & nightlife events

Going Out, Dec. 19-27, 2024 arts & nightlife events

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Dec 18, 2024

We're making a list (every week), checking it twice, and while we don't care if you're naughty or nice, we've got plenty of both in this week's arts and nightlife events, including some venues open on Christmas. Unwrap this week's Going Out.

Holiday triple plays - New versions of old favorites

Holiday triple plays - New versions of old favorites

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Dec 17, 2024

Sometimes revisiting a time-honored tradition lends the perfect twinkle to holiday season theater productions; sometimes not. 'Peter Pan: Panto in the Presidio,' 'The Kinsey Sicks: Deep Inside Tonight,' and 'A Whynot Christmas Carol,' are reviewed.

Going Out, Dec. 12-21, 2024 arts & nightlife events

Going Out, Dec. 12-21, 2024 arts & nightlife events

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Dec 11, 2024

There's something in the air besides pollutant particulates, and that's the holiday spirit. Whether you're a "Come all ye faithful" type or a downright Scrooge, it's inescapable, so dig in and enjoy it.

'Thirty-Six' at Shotgun Players: Love, sex, art, and tech-themed play is rated experimental

'Thirty-Six' at Shotgun Players: Love, sex, art, and tech-themed play is rated experimental

  • Dec 10, 2024

Imagine a matchmaking app for theatergoers. Playwright Nanako Winkler's beguiling "Thirty-Six" would fit, but would you reflexively swipe left if a piece's profile included the word "experimental"?