San Francisco Bay Area Shows

The Phantom of the Opera show at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, 2008, was very good.  Unfortunately, I had already seen it at the Lincoln Center in Washington, DC.  That was many years ago and it was amazing.  That was a larger scale production than the one at the Orpheum Theatre.  But, this one was pretty good for its size.  I thought the singing was pretty good, and the sets were impressive as well.  Of course, there was quite a bit of opera style singing as well as drama and adventure which are both very fun.  I thought the smoke scene with the boat was very well done. In my opinion, this show could be worth watching for the person who is not seen Phantom of the Opera, the next time it returns.  If you’ve seen Phantom of the Opera before, or haven’t seen many musicals, it is up to you whether you want to start with this one or another one.  Knowing what I know now about this particular production of Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California,  I may have waited on this one and seen another show first.

Wicked is currently playing at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California. My wife and I saw the show and this is our review.  We thought that the show started out a bit slowly.  It just ended up that the first half of an hour was building up the characters and the story.  It was an important part of the show as although it was not spectacular yet, it was beginning to be interesting.  As the show continued it started to get more and more exciting.  It became interesting how well the story was weaved in with that of the movie The Wizard of Oz.  In fact by the time the intermission was over, things really got going.  The second half of this show was spectacular.  The music reached a new level, the dancing was fun, and the special effects were impressive.  There were moments that gave both of us goosebumps as the combination of costume, effects, lighting, and music all came together for terrific moments.  This is a show one can see once or 10 times.  You can see it alone, on a date, or with the group.  It has action, it has drama, and it has comedy!  Before the show wicked leaves San Francisco, make sure to get your ticket as soon as you can.  Enjoy.