Arts and Lifestyle'Elf The Musical' A Kitschy Collage Of Christmas ClichésNovember 10, 2015 | Jeff HudsonBroadway Sacramento is hosting this touring musical based on a holiday film from a dozen years ago. The stage version comes with an additional 40 minutes of song-and-dance numbers. It should also come with a discreet parental advisory. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and Lifestyle'Five Lesbians Eating A Quiche' Full To The Brim With FarceOctober 22, 2015 | Jeff HudsonWith it provocative title, “Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche,” you might wonder what the current show at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre is about. Jeff Hudson says this over-the-top comedy falls somewhere between "Dumb and Dumber" and The Three Stooges. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and Lifestyle'Mr. Burns,' A Futuristic, Unconventional ShowSeptember 30, 2015 | Jeff HudsonThe title of this show at Sacramento’s Capital Stage gives you a clue as to its unconventional nature. “Mr. Burns” is a reference to the Simpsons, and “post electric” refers to life in the aftermath of a vast technological breakdown. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and Lifestyle'Hair' Musical Serves Up Delightful NostalgiaAugust 20, 2015 | Jeff HudsonSacramento’s Music Circus series is reviving the 1968 musical “Hair,” replete with young actors wearing love beads distributing flowers to the audience. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and LifestyleTheatre Review: "The Fantasticks" Shows Its AgeAugust 18, 2015 | Jeff HudsonThe Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival is pairing Shakespeare’s tragedy about teenage lovers “Romeo and Juliet” with "The Fantasticks,” a small musical from fifty years ago. It offers a lighter look at romance but hasn't quite stood the test of time. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and LifestyleTheatre Review: 'West Side Story' Revitalized By Sacramento's Music CircusAugust 6, 2015 | Jeff HudsonWhen West Side Story premiered in 1957, with courtship scenes set on fire escapes, critics said the show was contemporary and provocative. After three Music Circus runs in the 60's, it faded from fashion. Now it's back and more relevant than ever. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and LifestyleTheatre Review: Tahoe Shakespeare Fest Energizes 'Romeo And Juliet'August 5, 2015 | Jeff HudsonThe Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival's “Romeo and Juliet” is set not during the Italian Renaissance but after World War I, as Mussolini was seizing power. The beautiful lakeside setting and a riveting sound design add new life to this familiar tale. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and LifestyleTheatre Review: Twelfth NightJuly 17, 2015 | Jeff HudsonAudiences have been laughing at Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" since the 1600's, partly because this comedy has people falling helplessly in love and partly because of the shenanigans of Sir Toby Belch, played masterfully in this Davis production. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and LifestyleTheatre Review: Uncanny ValleyJuly 8, 2015 | Jeff HudsonIf you transfer a complete set of human memories into a robot that looks just like a human, should we regard that robot as a person? That question is central to this futuristic, thought-provoking play at Capital Stage. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Arts and LifestyleTheatre Review: Chemical ImbalanceJuly 6, 2015 | Jeff HudsonAudiences have long been fascinated by Robert Louis Stevenson’s respectable Dr. Jekyll, whose secret elixir transforms him into the brutish Mr. Hyde. Jackson's Mainstreet Theatre Works is presenting a comic take on this Victorian-era classic. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.