A DAUGHTER CELEBRATES HER FATHER: “KING OF THE YEES” AT SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE IS A SWEET, CRAZY FUNNY LOOK AT CONNECTIONS BETWEEN GENERATIONS. How little we understand our parents. Their lives and pasts are unknown countries to us. A young woman writes a play about her father, but when her father goes missing, the writer’s search for him in San Francisco’s Chinatown brings her into a world both foreign and familiar. The path she follows to find him brings her a greater understanding of what is important to him and, ultimately, to her. “King of the Yees” is a fast-paced, topical and very funny story, a sweet depiction of generational miscommunications and connections. Written by Lauren Yee. Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody. Two hours including one 15-minute intermission. Through March 2.
TICKETS AND STAGE DIRECTIONS: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets from $25. For information call (415) 677-9596 or visit www.sfplayhouse.org. San Francisco Playhouse is located at 450 Post St. in San Francisco, on the second floor of the Kensington Park Hotel, one-half block from Union Square. The comfortable second-floor lobby has a spacious area with an attractive bar serving both before performances and during intermissions. San Francisco Playhouse provides audiences the opportunity to experience professional theater with topnotch actors and world-class design in a setting where seats are close to the action.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT. Playwright Lauren Yee was born and raised in San Francisco, received her bachelor’s degree from Yale and currently lives in New York City. Her play “King of the Yees” premiered at The Goodman Theatre and Center Theatre Group, followed by productions at ACT Theatre and Canada’s National Arts Centre. Of the play, Yee said: “I always felt that my father deserved to have a play written about him — so who better to write it than me? ‘King of the Yees’ is a love letter to my family, and to San Francisco and its vibrant and historic Chinatown community. It’s an extreme honor to be back in my hometown and making art for the people I grew up with.”
AN ASIDE: San Francisco Playhouse Artistic Director Bill English said: “Set in and around Chinatown, Lauren Yee’s play not only features her Dad as a character in the play, “The King,” but features an actor playing herself, the playwright. … Such an original way to tell a story, featuring the story of Lauren and her Dad and riffing off of current events in Chinatown. I had never seen anything quite like it. Very meta-theatrical, but with such warmth and affection for the Chinese-American community.”
ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? #HAM4HAM HAMILTON TICKET LOTTERY AT THE SHN ORPHEUM. 44 TICKETS FOR EVERY PERFORMANCE. $10 EACH. A digital lottery for HAMILTON tickets will begin in conjunction with the show’s first performance, Feb. 12, in San Francisco at the SHN Orpheum Theatre. Forty-four tickets will be sold for every performance for $10 each. The digital lottery will open at 11 a.m. Feb. 10 for tickets to the Feb. 12 performance. Subsequent digital lotteries will begin two days prior to each performance. To enter the digital lottery, use the official app for HAMILTON, now available for all iOS and Android devices in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store (http://hamiltonmusical.com/app). Each winning entrant may purchase up to two tickets. No purchase or payment necessary to enter or participate. Lottery tickets may be picked up at will call beginning two hours prior to the performance with a valid, non-expired photo ID that matches the name used to enter. Tickets are non-transferable. Visit http://hamiltonmusical.com/lottery to register and for specifics. Tickets for HAMILTON are currently on sale. Patrons are advised to check the official HAMILTON channels and www.hamilton.shnsf.com for late release seats which may become available at short notice.
THE MAN BEHIND NARNIA: AN EVENING WITH C.S. LEWIS AT THE MARINES’ MEMORIAL THEATRE. The year is 1962 and C.S. Lewis, the author of “The Screwtape Letters” and “The Chronicles of Narnia,” is hosting a group of American writers at his home near Oxford. Seated in his living room, Lewis recalls the people and events that shaped his life: his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien, why he nearly abandoned the Narnia Chronicles, how he came to embrace Christianity, and the American woman who turned his life upside down. London born actor and playwright David Payne’s An Evening With C.S. Lewis has led thousands to discover, or rediscover, a man whose collected works made him one of the literary giants of the 20th Century. Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter St. in San Francisco. April 25 to April 28. Tickets at shnsf.com. For an early look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0QqPL6-tas. To learn more visit www.aneveningwithcslewis.com.
THE GREAT MOTHERS OF SONG: MICHAEL FEINSTEIN RETURNS TO FEINSTEIN’S AT THE NIKKO WITH “IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING.” Two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominee Michael Feinstein returns to Feinstein’s at the Nikko May 9-12 (just in time for Mother’s Day) with It “Might as Well Be Spring,” an all-new show celebrating the great mothers of song. Feinstein lends his signature polish and style to songs by Rosemary Clooney, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Margaret Whiting, Helen Reddy and more. May 9 at 8 p.m.; May 10 at 8 p.m.; May 11 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. A special Mother’s Day performance will take place on May 12 at 5 p.m. Tickets at (866) 663-1063 or www.ticketfly.com. Located within Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. in San Francisco, Feinstein’s at the Nikko presents a wide range of entertainers from stage and screen, all within an intimate 140-seat cabaret setting.
Susan Cohn is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association. She may be reached at susan@smdailyjournal.com.
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