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THEATRE NEWS FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Posted by:	Richard Connema 04:52 pm EDT 08/24/14

Charles Busch’s camp Hollywood glamour returns to NCTC with Bay Area Premiere of Die! Mommie, Die! Award-winning drag cabaret sensation J. Conrad Frank to star Busch to appear in conversation at NCTC, presented with Yale GALA New Conservatory Theatre Center welcomes back the Hollywood glamour and camp hilarity of Charles Busch with the Bay Area Premiere of Die! Mommie, Die!. After the great success of Charles Busch’s The Divine Sister at NCTC in 2013, NCTC presents the play L.A. Times calls “very nearly illegally entertaining.” The time is the 1960’s and fallen pop singer Angela Arden is trapped in a corrosive marriage with her film producer husband. Desperate to find happiness with her young lover, Angela murders her husband, leaving their two children to avenge his death. Part Greek tragedy, part Hollywood kitsch - this is Charles Busch at his best! Set to play the doomed titular mother originated by Busch on stage and screen is J. Conrad Frank, the celebrated actor, singer, and creator of the San Francisco drag cabaret sensation Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. Die! Mommie, Die! runs October 5 – November 2, 2014 in NCTC’s Decker Theater. Opening Night is Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 8pm. Tickets are $25 - $45 and are available at nctcsf.org or by calling (415) 861-8972. NCTC’s Producer’s Circle, in association with Yale GALA: Yale’s LGBT Alumni Association and the Yale Club of San Franciscco, will present a special conversation with Charles Busch with NCTC Founder & Artistic Director Ed Decker, Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 7pm. After the discussion, Busch will sign copies of Die! Mommie, Die!¸ which will be available for purchase. Admission is free for NCTC subscribers and $25 for non-subscribers, reservations required through the Box Office. In addition to J. Conrad Frank, the Die! Mommie, Die! cast will feature Ali Haas, Justin Liszanckie, Devin O’Brien, Marie O’Donnell, and Joe Wicht. The Die! Mommie, Die! creative team will feature Scenic Design by Kuo-Hao Lo, Costume Design by Jorge Hernandez, Dresses by Mr. David, Prop Design by Kirsten Royston, and stage management by Stephanie Desnoyers. ################################### Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) WEST COAST PREMIEREOctober 3 – November 1, 2014The Victoria Theatre (16th at Mission) San FranciscoBook and Lyrics by Greg Kotis; Music and Lyrics by Mark HollmannDirected by Jason Hoover; Musical Direction by Ben PrinceTickets available now at: www.rayoflighttheatre.com -- Ray of Light Theatre, San Francisco’s non-profit musical theatre company, today announced the cast and production team behind the second show in its season of new musicals that explore the distant past. Opening October 3, 2014, at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco, Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) teams Ray of Light up with Tony-winners Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, the brains behind the smash-hit Urinetown, to develop the West Coast premiere of this bizarrely hilarious rock musical. In the year 3,000,458,000 B.C., the salt-eating yeasts are the only living creatures on earth, and they’re up against a food shortage, a strange new emotion called “love” and the oppression of a tyrannical king. When the king's dreamer of a son ventures out of the known yeastiverse, the yeasts’ story – and ours – is changed forever. The New York Times says, "This is the rare satire that knows exactly what it's doing and commits to it," while the Chicago Tribune raves, "When you've stopped laughing from this yeast infection, you can tap your toes and clap your hands to a wholly lovable score.” This West Coast premiere production is the product of a collaboration with Ray of Light and writers Greg Kotis (book and lyrics) and Mark Hollmann (music and lyrics). Kotis conceived the musical almost twenty years ago as “a contrarian, environmentalist anti-musical and it would tell the tale of the first musicalizable moment in all of time.” After performances in Alaska, New York City and Chicago, Kotis and Hollmann chose Ray of Light for the West Coast premiere production. The writers worked side-by-side with Ray of Light staff and cast during a week-long workshop in July, which concluded with a presentation to early subscribers. “The workshop showed us that this musical has electricity, primordial as it may be,” said Jason Hoover, Yeast Nation director and Ray of Light Theatre artistic director. “The audience had no clue what to expect, yet connected with the bizarre story of these ‘yeasts’ and laughed all the way through the show’s hilarious book and score. Yes, it is possible to connect with singing yeasts!” Ray of Light has assembled a cast of eighteen of the best and most talented performers in the Bay Area to round out the Yeast Nation cast. Spanning backgrounds in opera, modern and classical dance, as well as cabaret and musical comedy, this group will bring the world’s first living life forms to life with grace and humor. ################################### DAFFODIL: A PLAY ON HAPPINESS BrickaBrack Presents New World Premiere Theatre Piece BrickaBrack, the award-winning theatre collaborative, returns to the San Francisco Fringe Festival with Daffodil: A Play on Happiness. Previously awarded "Best of Fringe" for their inaugural production Stalking Christopher Walken (2012), Daffodil will play four performances at the Fringe and an encore performance at the Temescal Arts Center in Oakland, on selected dates from September 7th - 19th. Daffodil is set in contemporary Paris, with a plot that focuses on a family patriarch, Serge LeBoeuf, who has decided he doesn't want to go on living. The piece examines personal happiness in the digital age, following the adventures of Serge's three children as they attempt to convince him not to commit suicide. It sounds dark, but BrickaBrack's Artistic Director, Gabriel Grilli, says it has a comedic tone: "I'd call it a black comedy with puppets, music, movement, and audience interaction," reveals Grilli, "What's been really exciting about this piece is that we started with nothing but a title and a theme. We knew we wanted to examine happiness, and we liked the title Daffodil; everything else has emerged over the past few months. Its been a challenging and amazing process to see it take shape." This is BrickaBrack's fourth new world premiere production over the past two years, and marks the first piece created exclusively by BrickaBrack company members Grilli, Alexander Lydon, Gloria McDonald, and Maura Tang. Grilli adds, "After never fall so heavily again, which was our biggest and most complex project to date in terms of scale, budget, and personnel, we wanted to do something really intimate, where we could just get in a room and shoot ideas around and see what inspired us. Of course, we ended up with something pretty epic and ridiculous, but also poignant. That's kind of become the BrickaBrack style. Should be a perfect fit for the Fringe." Daffodil plays four September performances at the Exit Theatre (156 Eddy Street) as part of the SF Fringe Festival: Sunday, the 7th at 5:30pm, Wednesday the 10th at 9pm, Friday the 12th at 7pm, and Tuesday the 12th at 7pm; with an additional encore East Bay performance Friday the 19th at 9pm at the Temescal Arts Center (511 West 48th St., Oakland 94609). **##################################### Contra Costa Civic Theatre announces auditions for Doubt: a Parable* - Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT), now in its 55th season, announces auditions for its upcoming production of the Pulitzer Prize-winner, Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Daren A.C. Carollo. Auditions will be held on Sunday, September 28 from 7-9pm and Monday, September 29, from 7-10 pm at the theater, 951 Pomona Ave (cross street Moeser) in El Cerrito. Callbacks are scheduled for Saturday, October 4, from noon-5pm, with a second callback slated for Sunday, October 5 if necessary. Needed are the following: 1 woman, 55-65 1 woman, 20-25 1 man, 35-45 1 African-American woman, 35-45 The cast breakdown is available on the CCCT website at http://www.ccct.org/participate-audition.html. Auditioners should prepare prepare two contrasting monologues; total time 90 seconds. Audition appointments at auditions@ccct.org; please put DOUBT AUDITIONS in the subject header. Non-AEA only; travel stipend for performances will be provided. Rehearsals will begin January 5, 2015. Doubt will run on the CCCT Main Stage weekends from February 13 through March 8, 2015. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8pm; Sunday matinees begin at 2pm. ***###############################################

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