TVYPA is an amazing program for young people that want to perform in a variety of different…read moremusicals. I've been to several different shows and always have been highly entertained, and impressed with how the director Brian has worked with these kids to help show them how to perform on stage.

TVYPA is a blessing to the families of young children in the Tri-Valley East Bay Area. We have…read moreknown the Director Brian for a few years now. He is really passionate about drama and high performance. Since he is a full-time Elementary school teacher, he really knows how to get the best out of these kids. He has a team of excellent choreographers and directors working with him. Their whole team works really hard and the result is a phenomenal production. Drama improves a child's self-confidence in public speaking and provides a great platform for team work. After every performance we are totally awed by the enthusiasm and perfection of the whole team. The only negative I would say is that we are spoilt with TVYPA and would have a tough time doing drama with any other company.

My daughter has been with SingOut Theater throughout this entire year. She auditioned in to the…read morekids competition and performed 'Junglebook' with her team in Sacramento. An intense, exciting time! They won an award for choreography at JTF West! She also did Triple Threat and High school Musical this summer. So to say the least, We Are FANs! We feel so lucky to have Chelsea teaching our daughter! A lovely personality and mentor, a highly skilled dancer and choreographer, a patient and kind Director. The Music Director Kevin warmly and patiently builds the student's musical understanding and performances. His contribution keeps musical standards high and performances enjoyable. The Business Director/Producer Rachel adds the no nonsense behind the scenes taking care of business ballast for all this creativity. We are grateful for her expertise to keep SingOut thriving. My daughter is attending a performing arts school in the fall. We will still be attending Tue/Thurs Musical Theater at SingOut. It is top notch and she loves it!

There is something confusing about the discussions regarding the Diablo Light Opera Co & Diablo…read moreTheater Company. They were one and the same. Originally named DLOC in 1959 when they formed a company performing Gilbert & Sullivan Light Operas. Eventually they changed the name to Diablo Theater Co. They had a youth program called STARS 2000, which continues to this day to operate. Diablo Theater Co. that use to produce large scale Musicals & Light Opera productions at the Lesher Center For The Arts in Walnut Creek, is no longer in business. STARS 2000 continues as their own company. There is no other youth program that is under the auspices of the Diablo Theater Co. and in fact their studios were sold and are under the ownership of Performing Arts Academy.

A nice production of Hamlet, but an unreliable venue at Darcie Kent Vineyard. Food was advertised…read more Hey, come for dinner! No dinner. We watched Hamlet on empty stomachs. Certainly not the fault of the actors, but the venue relationship is very disappointing.

This is the last season our beloved Livermore Shakespeare Festival is playing at the Concannon…read moreWinery (they may move to Wente or Las Positas CC next year). We usually go once every year and it's the highlight of our summer - my wife always calls early and books us front row tickets, so there's no barrier between us and the action! Last night we got the grandparents to come a little earlier to babysit our girls and started the evening off with wine and appetizers at the Underdog Wine Bar (that's a different review!), then strolled over to the Victorian house that serves as the backdrop to all LSF plays, extra layers of clothing in tow to tug on the as the evening got progressively cooler. The play - Much Ado About Nothing - was superb, though some lines were flubbed (it was opening night, after all). The actors engaged the audience and walked off-stage into the crowd a lot (which I like). Jennifer Le Blanc and Ryan Tasker in the lead roles of Beatrice and Benedick were superlative, and the others held up their end of the bargain as well. My pet peeve showed up again, which was audience members not following along with the plot and loudly asking lots of questions (READ the synopsis in the program if you don't know the story!). Other than that, another magical evening for the missus and I. We can't wait to be back next month for Pride & Prejudice!

Just saw Ragged Wing's performance of The Winter's Tale and really enjoyed it. It's an unusual…read moreShakespeare play in switching between tragedy and comedy, and a refreshing change from the 100th performance of MacBeth or Romeo & Juliet. The cast is wonderful and the ensemble uses the space creatively so you have close to an immersion experience. It's great to see vibrant theatre in Oakland. Flora is a great restaurant nearby if you want to do dinner before the show

I went to see their performance of Inanna's Descent and was completely impressed. Great ensemble,…read moredirection, script, acting, music, everything! I especially liked the interactive sites where you could meet the characters.These were brilliantly conceived, creative, fun, and thought provoking. I can't wait to see what else they do.

First, the good/fine:…read more This is a very nice high school theater that often hosts fairly well-known artists. You can see everything from local recitals to bands you've heard on the radio. Most seats are good. Parking is easy and free. And now, sigh, the bad: The night we were there, after the show my family was accosted by a staffer who was incredibly creepy. She followed us around, listened to our conversation, yelled at us. She was so hostile, it was weird. The other kids and parents who were around noticed and were upset.

Beautiful new venue. Saw the Marshall Tucker Band tonight, good show, great music and 50 years…read morelater going strong. Tons of parking, zero traffic, beautiful new theater, comfy seats, clean restrooms, good lighting and sound. Orchestra/mosh pit area for VIP ticket holders to dance. Only complaint, audio was too loud for the size of the theater.

2025 Christmas Carol is a terrible remake of a classic. Look at all the latest reviews on the…read moreLesher Center in Walnut Creek and you will see not 1 good review for this remake. You "retired" an amazing classic that so many families loved and was apart of our Christmas traditions and replaced it with a terrible modernization. Please bring back the older version of the show. It is way better. So many more WOW! moments in it. We all left so disappointed and confused as to what happened. I will never go back to this version of the story.

We went there for play at weekend. It was Froggy and I loved it. Definitely would recommendread more

The first show I saw here was their current production, The Grand Inquisitor…read more Great use of small space. Great actors (By the way, Michael Gene Sullivan and Julian Lopez-Morillas are amazing!). Great production team. What's not to love? Do yourself a favor and watch a show here. or 5.

Central Works is a unique Bay Area treasure. Their stock-in-trade is developing new scripts--…read moreevery play they do is developed internally by the company. Because of that method, sometimes the work is hit or miss (developing new plays is harder than it sounds-- trust), so if you go see a play and think it's crappy, don't count them out-- the next one is likely to be utterly kickass. One of their playwrights, Gary Graves, tends to write plays about amazing women in history-- Adah Isaacs Menken, Lola Montez, Anne Bonny and Mary Read-- and the company supports his writing with deep research. Graves often incorporates orginal texts into his writing-- letters and such-- making the plays all the more authentic and cool. All right-thinking people love plays about badass historical women. Their prices are very low-- sliding scale starts at a mere nine bucks-- and they work out of the gorgeous Berkeley City Club. Check them out!

We've been with the Valley dance theater for 3 years now and we love it…read more My 5 year old is confident and always eager to learn more with her teachers. She's been in the Nutcracker every year and looks forward to it every holiday season. My only set back is with younger classes, if there's a time where a child or a group of children are acting out/not participating it's really hard on a solo teacher. So proper discipline and redirection can be hard... but overall we are still very pleased with this company and will continue to return.

I know ... community theater ... but if you take the family and make it a Holiday treat ... there…read moreis something very special about what goes on at The Bankhead Theater every December. "The Nutcracker" is a memorable story that children 2-92 years can enjoy year after year. The Livermore production is made up of a group of talented performers from our community who take their efforts very seriously. You can tell from the production value that they have spent many hours honing their craft and it shows in every performance. This is not a casual display but a full two hours of ballet, humorous asides, dazzling costumes and of course - the wonderful music. I'm probably posting this too late for you to enjoy this year's production ... but if the economic downturn continues another year ... consider "The Nutcracker" for a grand family outing in 2010.