Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Everyone’s favorite Spinning Platters backup writer, I was summoned to cover an event that had conveniently piqued my interest: Becoming Britney. A show written in the space between the tongue and the inner cheek, the only concern was whether it would collapse under the weight of being over the top. Nope.
Continue reading “Theatre Review: Becoming Britney at the Retro Dome, 3/2/2012”
In the last decade or so, the musical theater world has been inundated with shows that use pre-existing popular music instead of original works. Well many of these have been very successful, such as Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys and the recent American Idiot, others have been critical and commercial failures, like Footloose and a proposed Radiohead musical.
While the success rate may vary on these, the one thing that they all have in common is the fact that every one of these shows uses music that the masses are very familiar with. There is a built-in audience for the show because of the fans. This show is a little bit different, though. It shows that the good people at Berkeley Rep are willing to take a risk. They are brave enough to chance a musical based on a relatively obscure power-pop record from the early ’90s, Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend.
Continue reading “Theatre Review: Girlfriend at Berkeley Rep, 4/24/10”