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The cast of “Anything Goes” with a dynamic Seana Nicol as Reno Sweeney in the Altarena Playhouse’s production running through April 26. (Photo courtesy Grizzly De Haro)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alameda: For a light-hearted time at the theater, try Altarena Playhouse\u2019s delightful production of \u201cAnything Goes.\u201d Running through April 26, the musical features Cole Porter\u2019s foot-tapping tunes, romance and colorful characters aboard the S.S. American where anything goes.<\/p>\n
Director Laura Morgan assembled a talented group of performers to bring the outrageous characters to life with Nico Jaochico a charming Billy and Seana Nicol a sizzling hot Reno Sweeney. Christina Swindlehurst Chan uses her gorgeous voice as Billy\u2019s love interest Hope Harcourt with Dan Kolodny and Erica Hartono adding laughs as Moonface Martin and Bonnie.<\/p>\n
Rachelle King Campodonico creatively choreographed exciting dance numbers on Altarena\u2019s small stage with Jenn Stephens\u2019 beautiful period costumes and Tom Curtin\u2019s nautical set added greatly to the fun.<\/p>\n
Music Director Armando Fox and his orchestra get into the swing of things not only with their snappy tunes, but also by wearing sailor hats including Anastasia Preston\u2019s thin-line stand-up electric bass.<\/p>\n
For tickets to this toe-tapping production, call 510-523-1553 or go to altarena.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pittsburg and Martinez: Pittsburg Theatre Company presents Alfred Uhry\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning play \u201cDriving Miss Daisy\u201d starting Friday through April 19 at Steeltown Coffee & Tea in Pittsburg before transferring to the Martinez Campbell Theater May 28-30.<\/p>\n Dianna Schepers directs with Sandy Wright as Daisy, Kirk Waller as her driver Hoke and Michael Wilson as her son Boolie.<\/p>\n Go to pittsburgcommunitytheatre.org<\/a> to purchase tickets at either venue.<\/p>\n S.F.: It\u2019s game on at San Francisco Playhouse where Candrice Jones\u2019 \u201cFlex\u201d scores high in its West Coast premiere.<\/p>\n Jones, a competitive girls basketball player in high school and college, has all the right moves as she tells of a 1997 high school team in southeast Arkansas hoping to win the state championship and the attention of scouts from Division I universities.<\/p>\n More than just a game to these young women, basketball offers an opportunity to leave their backwater town, go to college and, possibly, one day play for the newly formed WNBA.<\/p>\n Director Margo Hall keeps the action at a fast pace as her excellent cast creates diverse characters dealing with the challenges of being young, Black and female in the rural South.<\/p>\n Basketball consultant Emmanuel Blackwell\u2019s work certainly shows as the actors perform various drills and shooting sequences with ease.<\/p>\n The scenes between rivals Starra (Santeon Brown) and Sidney (Paige Mayes) up the intensity of the action on and off the court. Brown, in particular, shows some fine basketball moves. Every time she made a basket or executed a difficult dribbling sequence, the audience roared its approval.<\/p>\n Camille Collaco (April), Emma Gardner (Cherise) and Courtney Gabrille Williams (Donna) beautifully capture their vibrant characters as well as the teenage energy and athleticism necessary for this show.<\/p>\n Halili Knox as the tough but motherly Coach Francine keeps the girls in line and helps them form a cohesive team.<\/p>\n For tickets to \u201cFlex,\u201d call 415-677-9596 or go to sfplayhouse.org<\/a>. The theater is located on 450 Post St. in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Also in S.F.: The Tenderloin Museum presents \u201cThe Compton\u2019s Cafeteria Riot\u201d through June 30 on 835 Larkin St. in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Based on the April 11,1966 riot and presented in the same neighborhood, the show honors those LGBTQ+ individuals who stood up for their rights during that volatile time. Given the current political climate, the community is once again fighting for their rights making the upcoming anniversary of the riot even more meaningful.<\/p>\n Directed by trans activist and theater veteran Ezra Reaves, the show places audiences inside a 1960s cafeteria as the riot unfolds around them.<\/p>\n For more information and tickets, go to comptonscafeteriariot.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reach Sally Hogarty at sallyhogarty@gmail.com<\/a>, and read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com\/author\/sally-hogarty<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your conception of love and commitment will be turned upside down in Shotgun Players\u2019 brilliant production of Edward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2245,2237,2248,2241,1472,2246,2242,967,2240,143,145,144,2244,2239,112794,63718,2247,32220,2243,112795,1058],"class_list":{"0":"post-254365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-acting","9":"tag-altarena-playhouse","10":"tag-choreography","11":"tag-comedy","12":"tag-dance","13":"tag-directing","14":"tag-drama","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-musicals","17":"tag-oakland","18":"tag-oakland-headlines","19":"tag-oakland-news","20":"tag-on-stage","21":"tag-performing-arts","22":"tag-pittsburg-theatre-company","23":"tag-san-francisco-playhouse","24":"tag-screenwriting","25":"tag-shotgun-players","26":"tag-singing","27":"tag-the-tenderloin-museum","28":"tag-theater"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}