Matthew Sklar, composer of the "The Prom," the snazzy, uplifting queer musical that opens June 22 at the Golden Gate Theatre, discusses the eight-year development of the show, whose themes joyfully take on homophobia in a small town.

At a time when every day's headlines feature collapse, corruption, war and plague, "Hadestown" works like an angel in devil drag. Its sultry come-on promises to lick you with flame, then anoints you with balm of Gilead.

You can't help but focus on actress Jordan Baker's mouth during the first few minutes of "Dana H.", now on stage at Berkeley Repertory. Playwright Lucas Hnath's mother was held captive by a white supremacist kidnappers. How it's told is also disturbing.

Adam Rapp's "The Sound Inside," making its West Coast premiere in a polished Marin Theatre Company production, is neither fish-meta nor foul-Meta. It's shaggy dog-meta; a mind-bending piece about a novelist writing a novel.

The most inclusive showcase of trans, queer, disabled and gender-nonconforming artists is this year online June 16-19, with five programs of recorded performances in music, dance, performance and other genres. Also, it's free!

In TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's new production of the hit musical "Ragtime," actor Leo Ash Evens gained inspiration for his role as a Jewish immigrant from his own family's heritage. He also shared stories from some other iconic roles he's played.

The Cockettes were only around for a few years, beginning in 1969, but left a fabulous legacy in their wake. A new show at Oasis revives their drag fabulism, with some original troupe members, including composer Scrumbly Koldewyn.

With the opening of "Encore" this weekend, San Francisco's stalwart gay stage celebrates its 40th birthday with a roster of dozens of songs from musicals staged at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

San Francisco's Theater Rhinoceros hosts the debut of an altogether different 'Hart to Hart' (not the TV show) project from gay cabaret ace Mark Nadler, a solo show abrim with its own bonanza of queer bonafides.

On May 8, Rinabeth Apostol will take her last bow as Alison Bechdel in the 42nd Street Moon production of the Tony-winning musical "Fun Home." Just three nights later, she'll be on stage at the Magic Theatre in "Monument, or Four Sisters (A Sloth Play)."

The complexities of the generation gap between gay men who grew up in the AIDS epidemic and those who came-of-age with tenofovir pills are explored in 'PrEp Play, or Blue Parachute,' now in a world premiere at NCTC.

Musician-playwright Rachel Lark's stage musical, 'Coming Soon,' opens at Z Space this week, with sex on its mind, but it's more serious and less schticky than her previous tunes performed at Bawdy Storytelling.

Stories of intergenerational family drama, post-traumatic stress and the ravages of drug addiction are complexly interwoven in playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes' 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Water By The Spoonful,' now at SF Playhouse.

Domineering den mother Fefu dispenses aphorisms like casually tossed grenades in 'Fefu and Her Friends,' Irene Maria Fornes' oblique psychosocial puzzle play, now being mounted in a luxe American Conservatory Theatre production at the Strand Theater.