Sam Hurwitt

Shabwah

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Bay Area arts journalist. You can find me elsewhere under the same handle.

Articles

A Black man confronts his Blackness in 'Blue Door' in Berkeley

May 2, 2024 | mercurynews.com | Sam Hurwitt |Tanya Barfield

Over one fitful night a man is visited by three ghosts that terrorize him into reexamining his life and his entire way of thinking. But this isn’t Ebenezer Scrooge being taught the meaning of Christmas. It’s Lewis, an erudite professor of the philosophy of mathematics, being prodded by three generations of his own family to come to terms with being a Black man in America.
Explore the star-studded trajectory of Bay Area singers on their path to Broadway

May 2, 2024 | mercurynews.com | Sam Hurwitt

The Bay Area is one of the great theater hubs of the nation, a breeding ground for new work and for the stars of tomorrow, so it’s no surprise that the road to Broadway for countless performers starts in the Bay.
Bay Area actors assemble in mass benefit reading

May 1, 2024 | marinij.com | Sam Hurwitt

COVID-19 has been rough on the Bay Area theater scene, as companies have struggled to rebuild their audiences and some have gone under. One positive thing that grew out of the pandemic is the Actors’ Reading Collective. It started during the shutdown as a way for out-of-work actors to get together and read plays aloud. These online gatherings soon spawned a series of public Zoom readings, and then some in-person readings last summer at the Marin Shakespeare Company’s new indoor theater.
New star putting her own stamp on ‘Funny Girl’: ‘No universe in which I will be Barbra Streisand’

Apr 29, 2024 | mercurynews.com | Sam Hurwitt

It’s been 58 years since “Funny Girl” last came to San Francisco. Loosely based on the life of legendary comedian and singer Fanny Brice, the musical’s first national tour came to San Francisco’s Curran Theater in April 1966. It’s been a similarly long time between Broadway productions. The original 1964 Broadway production famously starred Barbra Streisand, who went on to win an Academy Award for the 1968 movie version in her film debut.
San Rafael nonprofit’s drama program inspires, empowers autistic adults

Apr 24, 2024 | marinij.com | Sam Hurwitt

At the Belrose Theatre in San Rafael, a group is doing a familiar warmup exercise, tossing a ball to each other and thinking up different words that start with the same letter. Then, they do movement warmups and practice dance steps.
‘Strange Loop,’ the improbable Broadway sensation, opens in SF

Apr 23, 2024 | mercurynews.com | Sam Hurwitt

When Michael R. Jackson’s debut musical “A Strange Loop” premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 2019, it was an immediate sensation. A musical about a Black gay man writing a musical about a Black gay man, the show combines captivating metafiction with hilarious pop culture commentary, bawdy sexuality and deeply touching doubts and introspection.
Marin Shakes’ powerful play reimagines ‘Julius Caesar’

Apr 17, 2024 | marinij.com | Sam Hurwitt

It’s already been a month since the Ides of March, but there’s never a bad time to revisit William Shakespeare’s tale of Julius Caesar.
For San Francisco native Kristina Wong, COVID project becomes a hit comedy show

Apr 8, 2024 | marinij.com | Sam Hurwitt

When the going gets tough, the tough get sewing. That may be the lesson of “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord,” the acclaimed solo show now playing at American Conservatory Theater’s Strand Theater. When the COVID-19 shutdown came in March 2020, comedian and performance artist Kristina Wong was touring with “Kristina Wong for Public Office,” her show recounting her successful campaign for neighborhood council in Los Angeles’ Koreatown.
Biting satire ‘Tiger Style’ roars into South Bay — with an old friend

Apr 5, 2024 | mercurynews.com | Sam Hurwitt |Mike Lew

When Francis Jue takes the stage in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s “Tiger Style!,” it’s like coming home. A San Francisco native, the Obie Award-winning actor has performed on Broadway in “Pacific Overtures,” “M. Butterfly” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” But he’s also performed in more than a dozen TheatreWorks productions over the years, from “Pacific Overtures” in 1988 to “The Language Archive” in 2019.
Mount Tamalpais looms large in Adam Strauss’ new solo show

Apr 3, 2024 | marinij.com | Sam Hurwitt

Adam Strauss has a tendency to obsess over things. That trait might help him create some hilarious comedy in his standup and long-form solo shows, but at times it can completely derail his life. Strauss’ hit solo show “The Mushroom Cure” chronicles his attempt to treat his debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder with psychedelic mushrooms. After an extended run at San Francisco solo performance hub the Marsh in 2017, the show has returned almost every year since.