"The Legend of Georgia McBride" ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

"The King is Dead. Long Live the Queen." If ever a slogan fit a show, this is it. We loved everything about Matthew Lopez's "The Legend of Georgia McBride," a celebration of not only the world of drag but the dreams and ambitions of us all.

Adam Magill is brilliant as Casey, an Elvis impersonator in a small beach town in the Florida panhandle. Casey's luck has run out -- not only are he and his wife broke, but she has discovered she is pregnant. He then loses his Elvis job at a funky bar on the beach, having been replaced by the cousin of the bar owner. The new act is made up of two drag queens, Miss Tracy Mills (Kraig Swartz) and Anna Rexia Nervosa (Jason Kapoor).

Kraig Swartz and Jason Kapoor could not be better. But Adam Magill is off the charts. Casey must fill in for Anna Rexia Nervosa when she becomes too drunk to perform. The scenes where Miss Tracy instructs the straight Casey on how to dress and act like a woman are absolutely priceless. "Tits up and testicles tucked," she says and Casey gamely straps on his high heels and teeters out to the mike.

Many surprises follow. Casey is good at it -- really good! Audiences start filling up the bar. Bar owner Eddie (John R. Lewis) is ecstatic and keeps adding more shows. The only one who has been kept out of the loop is Casey's wife, Jo (Tatiana Wechsler), because Casey is embarrassed to admit he has been wowing the crowds as a drag queen. This leads to touching moments where Miss Tracy and Anna Rexia speak frankly to Casey about the outcast lives they have been forced to live. Casey realizes he must face his own fears of failure. The lesson here is: we are who we are.

With such grand  humor and slapstick buffoonery, "Miss Georgia McBride" closes gaps between us and teaches us to open our eyes as wide as we can.

The inclusion of Lady Gaga's "I Was Born This Way" as the grand finale number is genius. Perfection. Just like the rest of this lovely show.

RATINGS ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division is proud to give FOUR STARS and a BANGLE OF PRAISE to "The Legend of Georgia McBride." The Four Stars are for Story, Acting, Directing (Kent Gash) and Set/Lights (Jason Sherwood and Kurt Landisman). The music is perfect. The show is funny and important -- a rare combination. And we can promise that Tammy Wynette never knew "Stand By Your Man" could sound this good.

"The Legend of Georgia McBride"

Marin Theatre Company

397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley

Through July 2, 2017

$22 - $72

"Hershey Felder, Beethoven" ☼ ☼ BANG

We have seen Hershey Felder in his memorable "Irving Berlin," one of our favorite evenings of theater in recent memory. I wish I could say we enjoyed "Beethoven" nearly as much. Sadly, this Felder performance is funereal. (The set is a grand piano in a graveyard.) The costumes are dark, the set is dark and, above all, the story line Felder has invented, that of the son of a best friend of Beethoven's narrating an outline of the composer's life, is without energy or excitement. There is little connection with the audience. And, amazingly, for a show about one of the greatest composers in the history of western culture, there is far too little music. When Felder plays piano, we enjoy the timeless melodies so many of us grew up with. But there is far too much talk and too many forgettable characters.

Beethoven himself is portrayed as bombastic. Perhaps this was so. But between Beethoven's bombast and the narrator's strained sadness, there is little. Yes, it is a tragedy that Beethoven went deaf so early in his life, but surely there must be something else in the maestro's life we could learn about? Something else must explain his massive outpouring of creativity? Yes, his father beat him. So...that's it?

Hershey Felder is worth seeing at any time. But we wish this show were more about the composer 's music and less about the actor's craft.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ BANG

 The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants TWO STARS with a BANGLE OF PRAISE to "Hershey Felder: Beethoven." But be forewarned: if the music of Ludwig von Beethoven could not squeeze another star out of those of us who grew up playing and venerating his music, it may not do so for you either.

A BANGLE OF PRAISE, certainly, for "Ode to Joy."

"HERSHEY FELDER: BEETHOVEN"

Mountain View Center for Performing Arts

500 Castro Street, Mountain View

EXTENDED through July 9

$45-$105

"Grandeur" ☼ ☼ ☼

It is rewarding for an audience to absorb pieces of a story and have them come together at the end to reveal the heart of the show. Perhaps we have war and revolution and the vastness of a snowbound continent, but ultimately we care more about Zhivago and Lara. Our brains love the details, but our hearts are involved with more intimate matters.

Sadly, the opposite seems true in the World Premiere of Han Ong's "Grandeur." There is no big story, only details. If you are an ardent fan of the words and music of the late Gil Scott-Heron, you may relish the story of the older Scott-Heron (Carl Lumbly), towards the end of his life, being interviewed by the young and fawning journalist Steve Barron (Rafael Jordan). Scott-Heron reveals little, he speaks in riddles that the younger man takes to be signs that his hero has not lost his touch. Scott-Heron's sort-of-niece, Miss Julie (Safiya Fredericks) has a role that feels undefined -- except that she certainly shares Scott-Heron's revolutionary ideal.

In real life, Gil Scott-Heron, even in his prime of the early 1970s, was an acquired taste. Brilliant at times but also a substance abuser, his reputation suffered as he continued to decline to show up at his concerts. For some fans, this was a plus -- the poet refusing to knuckle under to the demands of the commercial marketplace. But though he is played to KJAZ-deejay laconic perfection by Carl Lumbly, our story is not with Scott-Heron, who remains static, but with Steve Barron. Will this young man become a true hero, or is he simply another opportunistic writer attempting to further his own career by scoring cocaine for the old man and then writing about the experience?

The Supertitles at the beginning of Act 2 suggest the latter.

World Premieres are often raw and things always change as the show advances. We are aware that we are watching historical fiction, that no such encounter as is enacted here ever really occurred. So we wish we were left with something at least moderately uplifting. It is somewhat surprising that Scott-Heron's estate would allow such an unflattering, if fictional, portrait.

 RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division gives "Grandeur" Three Stars. Any show with Carl Lumbly is worth seeing and loose ends will become tied up as the run proceeds. We particularly enjoyed Ray Oppenheimer's subdued lighting, which becomes part of our understanding of this latter part of Scott-Heron's life. Also, Sara Huddleston has thrown in some terrific blues guitar at the show's beginning and during intermission.

The CD spoken of in the show, "I'm New Here," is real. It was the comeback album that never quite came back. The CD was released in 2010. Scott-Heron died in 2011.

"Grandeur"

The Magic Theatre

Building D, Fort Mason, San Francisco

Through June 25, 2017

$35-$75

"The Roommate" ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

"There's a great liberty in being bad."

That's the lasting quote from Jen Silverman's "The Roommate." It supposedly refers to one's first poem, but neither of the two women on stage is a poet. They just like being bad.

We love this show. "The Roommate" requires two major-league actresses to pull it off and they've got 'em. Susi Damilano plays Sharon, the Iowa housewife whose naivete surprises and intrigues Robyn (Julia Brothers), the Bronx hustler who has come to share Sharon's Iowa City apartment. We don't know why Robyn has come to the Midwest, but from the start it is clear she has way too many secrets.

We can't say enough for Damilano. She infuses Sharon with innocence and humor, as we watch her become more and more attracted to Robyn's dark side. Robyn, meanwhile, understands the price you pay when you give in to your baser instincts. She walks the line. On one hand, she truly loves being a thief. She glows when she ultimately begins to describe her scams to Robyn. On the other hand, she has come to care for Sharon and doesn't want to be the agent of her descent. Both Damilano and Brothers are perfect. They make us wish this were a pilot of a new cable show, so we could look forward to the next thirteen weeks.

Theodore J.H. Hulsker's sound is another plus. Not at all what you'd expect, we get both vocal and instrumental pastiches that blend well with Sharon's emotions. Nicely done.

RATINGS ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Both ranking members of the San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division went ga-ga over this show. A FOUR STAR rating is the result. Damilano and Brothers earn one star each, plus one star for Becca Wolff's flawless direction and Silverman's story filled with growth and surprises. Special mention for the scene with the gun.

"The Roommate"

San Francisco Playhouse

450 Post Street, San Francisco

2d Floor of the Kensington Park Hotel

Through July 1

$20-$125

NEW YORK EXTRA: "SWEAT" ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

The old Studio 54 dance club is now the Studio 54 Theatre. The stage is small and the nine-piece cast of Lynn Nottage's "Sweat" use every inch. We feel the angst of once-thriving Reading, PA, as its factories get ready to pack up and move to Mexico, leaving behind the workers who once felt protected by their good union jobs and at the same time proud to be turning out an excellent product on the line.

Almost all of these same union workers, however, are white. They have been oblivious to their black and Latino brothers and sisters denied access to the union and therefore to steady employment. When the company brass decides to close the factory, all these submerged grievances explode to the surface.

The story's heart is borne by three women friends. Johanna Day plays Tracey, who has spent thirty-two years on the line. She goes up for a promotion along with her friend Cynthia (Michelle Wilson), the first black woman to ever have earned her union card. There was never racial animosity between these two women who have grown up together, but now, when Cynthia gets the promotion, Tracey's disappointment is masked by her belief Cynthia was chosen only because of her skin color. The third friend is Jessie (Alison Wright), who we see in various flashbacks as she descends from hard worker into addiction.

James Colby is excellent as Stan, the bartender in the tavern where most of the action takes place. He and his father, as well as his grandfather, once worked in the same factory. We loved Khris Davis as Chris, Cynthia's son, who along with his friend Jason (Will Pullen), Jessie's son, can no longer see any future for themselves in Reading.

Carlo Albán has the unfortunate role as Oscar, the Colombian-American, also born and raised in Reading. Blacks and whites can agree on one thing: even if he's a home-boy, there is nothing lower than a Spanish-speaking scab. Tough luck, Oscar.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Big Apple Division grants "Sweat" Three Stars with a BANGLE OF PRAISE. The story, the ensemble of actors and director (Kate Whoriskey) earn one star each as the various personal and political threads tie themselves together at the end. The BANGLE is for how Lynn Nottage makes us tune into the longing every character feels for the America they either once experienced or dreamed about -- when people had good jobs and the respect that went along with hard work. As President Orange has said: these problems are complicated.

"Sweat"

Studio 54

254 West 54th Street, New York City

Through June 18

$59-$149

Word 4 Word: "Smut" ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Alan Bennett, author of The Madness of King George, Prick Up Your Ears and The History Boys, among others, is a literary icon in his native England. His 2011 two-story collection "Smut: An Unseemly Story (The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson)" has now been adapted for the Word 4 Word stage by Amy Kossow. It is a smashing success, one of the finest and funniest Word 4 Words we have seen.

Nancy Shelby plays Mrs Donaldson, on the surface a middle-aged widow with little joy in her life. She takes a job at a local medical school as an actor-out of various medical maladies, in order to teach medical students how to react during real-life diagnoses. Her boss, Søren Oliver as Mr. Ballantine, is magnificent in his frustration with his students' lack of humanity as well as his growing attraction to Mrs. Donaldson.

Enter the boarders: Rosie Hallett and Andre Amarotico as two young medical students, whose proposition to Mrs. Donaldson seems preposterous at first: they will allow her to observe them making love in lieu of paying the weekly rent. We then watch Mrs. Donaldson warm to the subject matter before her, which leads to a lovely ending.

Robert Parsons is excellent, as always, as another of Mr. Ballantine's stable of actors. Likewise Delia MacDougall as the dowdy daughter as well as Mrs. Donaldson's friend with whom she can share her intimate secret. But the show is about Mrs. Donaldson. We learn and we grow and then the unexpected takes us new places.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Smut" Four Stars. It's that good. The entire ensemble of actors, the story, the adaptation and direction earn one Star each. There is nothing not to love here -- "Smut" delivers. (It usually does.)

"Smut: An Unseemly Story (The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson)"

Z Space Below

450 Florida St., San Francisco

Through June 11
ADDED PERFORMANCE SAT. JUNE 10 3PM

$40-$60

"The Mushroom Cure" ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

Either Adam Strauss knows a lot about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or he is an amazing actor. From the beginning of the 90-minute solo performance, where we find him paralyzed with indecision over whether to purchase an IPod or an IRiver, to his adventure with cyborgs and penises in the ambulance towards the end, we are convinced that we are watching one extremely talented comedian as well as someone we definitely don't want to date our daughter.

Zany or Certifiable, you can't take your eyes off him. The story centers around his attempts to find a supply of psilocybin, which is illegal in New York, but he has heard is a possible cure for the OCD that has plagued him as long as he can remember. Along the way we hear a touching story about his relationship with his girl friend Grace, as well as any number of vignettes from the world of people desperately seeking drugs. Strauss is addicted to trying to get better, if only these attempts didn't include using substances that make him worse. Until...well, we'll let you hear that for yourself.

"The Mushroom Cure," he is quick to remind us, is cheaper than Hamilton. And you can learn things too -- like, for example, if you call 911 on yourself you can obtain a transcript of that conversation for only $8.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Those Were the Days and Thank God They Are Over Division awards "The Mushroom Cure" Three Stars with a BANGLE of PRAISE. Adam Strauss is brilliant. The BANGLE is for his unforgettable riff on The Lexicon of Lonely Dinners.

"The Mushroom Cure"

The Marsh

1062 Valencia St., San Francisco

Through June 3

(Wed. and Fri. at 8pm

Sat. at 8:30pm)

$20-$35 Sliding Scale