In a town that drag acts are a dime a dozen, this diva has staying power and a voice to back it up…read more I first saw Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy at her regular Martuni's show (third Sunday of the month), and was instantly impressed and thoroughly entertained. Her NCTC show, "From Russia with Love" and the delightful follow-up, "A Red Christmas" were divine. Aside from doing her own skillful singing, what sets the countess apart from other drag performers is the elegance she brings to a stage. Her gowns are well-crafted and the personality developed beyond a simple kitsch. Classical music lovers will enjoy the operatic repertoire (even if it is transposed), club kids will enjoy the "poperatic" versions of songs that the countess hears while working the Chanel counter at Macy's. The Countess delivers a tasteful performance as well, avoiding trash and maintaining a sense of true style and humility when she's had one too many vodka & tonics. What I like the most about Countess Smirnoff-Skyy is the format of her performances, which include clever parodies and timeless send-ups to ladies like Streisand, Liza, and yes, Ms. Tina turner. I enjoy the stories that the Countess has accumulated over her twenty--er, many, many years-- on the stage. She can at once leave you in stitches with "Proud Mary" and touch your heart with a tender "What are you doing New Years Eve." The Countess excites me as a performer and delivers a rare performance each time she dons her wig and gives her loving audience a hearty "Wilkommen."

I did not enjoy it. I did not enjoy the singing of the Christmas songs with the fake voice. I did…read morenot find the lyrics funny. To me, it's more of a goofy comedy than a cabaret. I am disappointed. The seating was tight and uncomfortable.

I chanced upon a flyer for a series of Sondheim shows at the Harvey Milk Recreation Center from…read moreyptmtc. I saw Assasins first and liked it a lot, but yesterday I saw their production of Into the Woods and I loved it! I've always loved the songs from Into the Woods, but I"ve never seen it live, so I was ecstatic to know that yptmtc was doing it. I'm so happy that for Into the Woods they hung microphones above the singers, as some of their voices aren't as strong as the primary cast members. The costumes and set was also beautiful and well executed. The kids were great, you can tell that they need a little more acting lessons before their ready for the great white way, but hey they're still kids. Good Luck to everyone!

HAIR opened last night and the audience LOVED IT! (Kind of amusing: half the audience was…read moreintrigued by the times it protrays; the other half was REMEMBERING the time it portrays!!) For nostalgia or to introduce younger folks to this era, check it out. (It's a PG-13 version -- no nudity.) Details in my earlier post.

We attended Cirque Oui-Et at Stage Werx Theatre this past weekend, and had a fun time…read more The show was a long form improv performance consisting of a storyline based on a single suggestion from the audience. And within that storyline was a variety show. Although the performers did follow the theme overall, the individual acts did seem a bit random and disconnected at times (perhaps due to the "variety show" aspect). But it was still entertaining. My favorite parts were the "burlesque" (male striptease with a comedic twist), the "clown" (more like a tramp clown, miming a scene), and one of the performers incorporating slapstick humor with a ventriloquist dummy as a prop. Lots of wtf moments for sure, but in a good way, the kind that had me giggling behind my mask (yes, masks are still required to sit in the audience). Overall, Cirque Oui-Et was both funny and weird, with enough elements of both improv and circus acts to keep me interested. Not perfect, but definitely a unique experience! The show was about 1 hour 15 minutes long this past Sunday, which was a bit shorter than I expected, but that gave guests time to talk to the performers afterward so it was fine.

First I must make a confession: I simply cannot sit through any more of the "traditional" holiday…read moreofferings. Nope, can't see "A Christmas Carol". Not able to witness another rendition of "The Velveteen Rabbit". Simply cannot afford multiple tickets to "A Hard Nut". Just goes to show you that when you least expect it, something falls into place...the kids and I piled on to BART and scurried through the bustle of 24th Street on a Saturday afternoon and had a blast at the Brava Theater and Dance Brigade's 20th anniversary showing of "The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie"...the Kidz Version. The theater had been over-sold and there were no seats left, let alone together. The announcer came on and asked everyone who had been saving seats to please give them to the folks standing in the aisles. There were people with bundled up babies walking back and forth, the place was filled with families and children of all sizes and ages. It was loud and pretty chaotic. Then the show began and magic happened! The music is traditional but with some twists and there are lots of up-dated allusions to PC topics and contemporary concerns, as well as some good-natured ribbing of the wealthy who like to "slum" with the "ethnic masses"....nothing heavy-handed, but the point is definitely made. The character of Clara is danced by 3 women, Herr Drosselmeyer is danced by an amazing performer who has pink hair and shocks the family portrayed in the classic story (can't give anything away here, but it's funny).The mice and the Rat King are portrayed by dancers in Zoot suits with ropes for tails, and they perform their numbers with selections from Hip Hop and Salsa sequences. There's a trapeze with wings, a dance number from the Ivory Coast, Taiko drumming....so many sights and sounds that it is hard to capture in print. It is BIG FUN for very little $$. It was $15.00 a ticket and I got them on-line at brownbagtickets.com (it's a great way to get tickets and it's socially responsible by donating funds to great causes). The performance itself warrants 5 stars. The no reserved seating, the over crowded conditions, the hunting down an usher to acquire a program, and finally the numerous screaming babies force me to give 4 stars...still, it was mesmerizing and loads of holiday fun without much in the way of cliches. Well worth investigating if you are not already over-committed. The Kidz Version is only this weekend. I would happily go again to see the regular show. It's supposed to be spicier and probably a bit more pointed in the political references. Oh and I must give credit where credit is due: I have been pre-occupied with kids, holiday business, cards, and all the trimmings and thus "out of touch". 'Twas the ever-alert hubby who heard about this production, and all of us are happier for it. Go check this out!!

I love this show!! Dance Brigade does a wonderful job.read more

Imagine "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" updated, with a wicked sense of humor. The "urban twang",…read morefantastic lyrics, and a top-notch stage presence make this mostly female group a favorite of mine. They play around the Bay Area on a regular basis, and if you go to their website and join their email list, sometimes you can catch a low-cost or even free show. They're excellent musicians, but if you listen to the lyrics, you'll find these women are poets, too.

This all-female Shakespeare troup does free outdoor performances each summer in area parks. I can…read moreonly say... Awesome!!! Bring a picnic lunch/snack and a picnic blanket and/or low outdoor chairs. Note that although it is free, the cast comes around to collect donations after the show.

Great performance! Took the whole family to "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Pleasanton Centennial…read morePark showing. Perfect day, grassy slope with shady trees left us cool in the hot day, and a good view from anywhere. My 7 and 11 years old girls were able to enjoy the entire play and understood it, as did my 73 year old mother. Kept us all completely engaged with the excellent quality performers. Good for the kids to see women performing like this. Will go again every year and recommending to friends!

Roem Baur is a one-man juke box!…read more We recently did an event at HopMonk Tavern Novato. The restaurant hired a local musician (their "go-to guy") to perform on their patio. That man was Roem Baur. Apparently, he's been a local favorite for quite some time. And rumor has it, he was even a contestant on NBC's "The Voice" a few years back. In any case, Roem provided a rockin' soundtrack to our evening. He covered oldies to current hits. Everything from Journey to John Mayer. This guy can play (and sing) it all. I highly recommend Roem to perform at your next event. He'll get your guests up and dancing in no time, and help turn your party up a notch (from a 10 to an 11). In short, this guy rocks!

Saw a great show on Tuesday night.. Who was the show? You guessed it, Roem Baur. He was awesome!…read morePerfect amount of energy, volume and hits. He really kept the atmosphere going. Everyone in attendance was unanimous in the great performance by Roem Baur. It makes me want to host a party just to hire him to perform. I signed up for his emails so I can hit his next performance in Sf. I would highly recommend checking him out. He kept the beat going and got the audience bopping around in high spirits. Great sound and a wide variety of music! Rock on Roem Baur!

On a Tuesday night, the last thing I want to do is surround myself with high art and pretentious…read morepeople. I want to unwind. Last night, Carrie Fisher's show was a little like reading Entertainment Weekly on heavy doses of codeine (which happens to be her drug of choice). There was this warm relaxing glow to the whole evening, complete with complimentary wine after the show. Oh, and George Lucas was sitting three rows in front of me. As in, THE George Lucas. As in, "these are not the droids you are looking for" George Lucas. Debbie Reynolds was in the audience once again (she came for the first preview), and Fisher even "outed" her at one point, yelling "Right, mom?? RIGHT??". Perfection. The production is not a play as much as a loosely organized string of silly anecdotes about Hollywood and testimonials to addiction and its aftermath. You won't be able to discuss the actress's "layered performance" and the "subtle nuances" of the character's rites of passage. This show is not for culture snobs but for Americans hooked on reality tv and Flavor Flav. The next production at Berkeley Rep, Les Waters' TRAGEDY, will bring back your exploration of the futility of man's existence in a postmodern world. I'm sure it will be brilliant. But for now, I'll pour myself a drink and keep laughing.

I should have known what type of evening I was headed for when I saw four old women dressed in the…read moreRed Hat Society uniform - scarlet red sequent berets with head too toe matching ensembles probably purchased from QVC - enjoying the roast turkey special in the window at Cosmic diner. As I walked by thinking "that will be me one day" little did I know I was already one of them. I would run into this gaggle of elderly girl power again in the first mezzanine of Studio 54 for a preview performance of Carrie Fisher's one woman show Wishful Drinking. Now, you may ask, "why did you get a ticket to that, Kristen?" Good question, a one-woman show created and performed by the woman most famous for being chained to a blob while wearing a metal bikini normally would not be on my theatre to-see list, but I love solo performances. To carry an entire show solo, in my opinion, is the boldest act of theatrical courage I can witness and when one pops up I like to support the person who takes on the challenge. Highlights of this style have been Vanessa Redgrave in Year of Magical Thinking and the most memorable of them all Christopher Plummer in Barrymore. So where does a bipolar Princess Leia fit into the mix? I have to say she doesn't. If I was in Branson, MO with my fellow silver fox bus tour members I think I would have loved this show, or at least would have been giggly shocked by some of the references to drugs, gay men and the love life of Eddie Fisher. But I'm a New Yorker, please - we are sitting in Studio 54 the walls have more shocking stories. And as for opening the show with a charming - and odd - antidote about waking up next to a gay guy dead in your bed - hello I live in Chelsea I can hear more hard core gay stories during Musical Monday at Splash. Ms. Fisher is a snappy lady. I would love to have her as a guest at a dinner party because I bet she is magnificent with her spontaneous one-liners and jokes around a table, but she is not much of an actress - or she was having a manic episode on stage - I'm not sure which. I felt bad for the director because I can't imagine his instruction was pace, use your hands a lot and talk fast. Plus, did she choose the costumes? She kept making jokes about her weight and her looks - she looks like her Mother (Debbie Reynolds) with a hint of her Step-Mother (Connie Stevens) added on via plastic surgery - but she came out wearing silk pajamas and kicked off her shoes. You wear pajamas for comfort not for attractiveness, so don't make fun of yourself for not looking great. The delivery of the stories felt very stale and she forgot her accounts more then once blaming her early morning trip to the Today show as the reason (I would also blame whatever medication she obviously is on). There was some predictable interaction with the audience and a very predictable bit about a Princess Leia sex doll that looked more like an anime character to me, but I guess the point was made. The Red Hats loved the show laughing at all the bits and blushing at the mere mention of "gay". I suspect they stayed after to get pictures and autographs that I know Ms. Fisher happily obliged. I left vowing to never move to Florida, keep my plastic surgery to a minimum and if I ever end up marrying a man who leaves me for another man I will do the sensible thing and act like it never happened.