Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away… an epic space drama unfolded to the delight of children of all ages. This December, we here at Dark Room Productions proudly fold it back up to present, for eight performances only, STAR WARS: Live on Stage! A deliciously evil empire. A heroic rebel alliance. Cool laser battles! Lightsaber duels! Awesome zero-gravity dogfights! And a $100 special effects budget! It's everyone's favorite, classic blockbuster performed with a very small block.
In service to the Emperor, Grand Moff Tarkin constructs the Death Star, a colossal battle station with sufficient firepower capable of annihilating an entire planet. The fledging rebel alliance manages to steal the Death Star's blueprints and put it in the hands of Princess Leia Organa. With the evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader in pursuit, she hides the plans in little maintenance droid R2D2 before being captured and imprisoned. The tiny droid and his counterpart C3PO flee to Tatooine and end up in the hands of local farm boy Luke Skywalker. When Stormtroopers destroy his home and kill his family in pursuit of the fugitive droids, Luke and former Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, plan to escape the desert planet. Together they hire notorious smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee First Officer Chewbacca to make the trip to Alderaan. Captured by Vader, they turn their misfortune into an escape attempt and free Leia-but not without a terrible cost. With Vader still on their trail, Luke must use the force to stop the empire before it's too late.
STAR WARS: Live on Stage is a Dark Room Production adapted and directed by Jim Fourniadis, produced by Erin Ohanneson and stars: Joe Gorman, Nancy Bower, Jim Jeske, Damien Chacona, Dave Mckew, Steffanos X, John Halfacre, Dan Foley, Gayle Dumm, Erik Salmonson and a cast of thousands (give or take a thousand).
Star Wars performed with permission of Lucasfilm Ltd.
All 'STAR WARSTM' elements property of Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.
I Am Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is back and he's PISSED! Christmas has become all about Santa & presents and nothing about him. He decides to take a job as a Store Santa to try the get the message out to the kids but is the modern world too much for this lone savior? Find out in the comedy musical short film extravaganza, "I Am Jesus Christ". For more info, check out
www.myspace.com/iamjesuschristfilm.
Playing four times a night: 8:00pm, 8:45pm, 9:30pm and 10:15pm.
Tickets: $2.50 at the door
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday December 16, 17 and 18
8:00pm, 8:45pm, 9:30pm and 10:15pm
This Winter comes the tragic, but magical tale of a man whose only dream was to bring happiness to children. MACGYVER PRODUCTIONS presents Rhiannon Charisse’s first show ever, I AM SNOWMISER: Walken in a Winter Wonderland. Discover the life of a man whose acting talent and haunting voice has graced our beloved childhood memories of stop-animated holiday specials. This is Christopher Walken as you’ve never seen him—in a Christmas cabaret. FOUR NIGHTS ONLY! There’s no business like snow business.
Christopher Walken recounts his life for his official biography, reliving the greatest and most dreadful moments of his career, in such roles as Snowmiser, Frosty the Snowman’s whistle-swallowing Cop, and the nay-saying anti-dentistry Boss Elf. He broke the hearts of Mrs. Claus and the Doll from the Island of Misfit Toys, but ultimately found a holiday spirit which cannot be denied. Walk in our winter wonderland and bask in our ranks of the best local SF talent!
IAS:WIAWW is a MACGYVER PRODCUTION from Rhiannon Charisse and features the talents of Sean Owens, Sherilyn Connelly, Alexia Staniotes, Mikl-Em, Jim Jeske, Erin Lucas, Dan Foley, and Kelly McCarron.
Fridays and Saturdays
December 12, 13, 19 and 20 10pm
SPF7
SPF7 will perform a free, invite only improv show on Friday, December 5th at 10pm.
Email spf7improv@gmail.com to get on the invite list and bring and unwrapped toy for "Toys for Tots."
Friday, December 5
10pm
The Mark Growden Trio
Featuring:
Mark Growden - Voice, accordion, banjo
Seth Ford-Young (fresh off tour with Tom Waits) - Upright Bass
Sam Bass (Loop!Station, Les Claypool) - Cello
With special guests Birds in Blue
Featuring Drea Roemer - Voice and Guitar
Wednesdays in November
8pm
VentureTek in “Snack To The Dude Church”
In VentureTek's new show, “Snack To The Dude Church”, reason is left at the door and your jaws (and drawers) are left speechless and also, on the floor. This time the boys in white (they are scientists/ scientists wear lab coats) are going on their most exciting adventure yet! A journey through time! A journey that promises to teach them all about former U.S Presidents, Space, Pizza, Ghosts, Cool Sunglasses, and maybe, just maybe, the most important lesson of all: the importance of Friendship!!!
Remember kids, come in a labcoat, get really cool stuff….for free!
Tickets: $5 at the door
Friday, November 14 Fridays and Saturdays, November 21, 22
10pm
The Safe Way
What would you do if you were trapped in a grocery store? If there were goddamned monsters roaming the goddamned earth and you couldn't leave the store, because they kill people...and then eat them? How would you react if your fellow survivors wanted to risk their lives for the sake of entertainment? What about heroism? Where do you draw the line when you believe your cause is just?
Andrew Wenger and Damien Chacona pooled their considerable comedic talents to write, direct, and assemble an international cast of San Francisco independent theater mainstays and talented newcomers for the world premiere of The Safe Way. Featuring the musical talents of William Hibbitts and the considerable acting chops of Adolph Karajah, Carrina Schindler, Julien Cierra, Ben Gilbert, Monica Hernandez, Kirk Matthew White, Gerri Lawlor, Lionel Rouge, Diana Slampyak, and of course Andrew and Damien, The Safe Way is going to be "so freaking funny it'll probably make someone pee".
The San Francisco Improv Alliance Presents Improv Juggernaut Comedy: The Halloween Spectacular!
The San Francisco Improv Alliance presents comedy that scares you into laughing!
Start your Halloween night off right with this two-night/three Improv Ensemble Lineup that features the best from The West.
The Irish Mutts: Two person Improv Ensemble of Shaun Landry (SF) and Kevin McShane (LA) fresh off successful runs at Chicago Improv Festival, Twin Cities Improv Festival, and shows at The Avery Schreiber Theater
Oui Be Negroes: San Francisco's staple African American Improv Ensemble.
Tickets: $15.00
$7.50 for stud/sen/sfia/TBA/ in costume
(415) 863-1076 for tickets
April showers bring the sanctimonious Sergeant Howie a mysterious letter concerning a missing girl from Summerisle, the tiny pagan island commune renowned for its bountiful produce and unabashed holy day rituals. His investigation of the restless natives proves as fruitless as last year's crops, though; and the bizarre inhabitants only serve to add fuel to the flames of his righteous indignation. Driven to save the girl's immortal soul from this den of idolaters, he discovers the truth behind the girl's disappearance: that come May Day, the villagers intend to sacrifice her to their gods of the field to ensure a successful harvest. Howie must infiltrate their festivities, find the girl and escape—but will his plan put him out of the frying pan and into the fire?
The Wicker Man: A Rock Opera about the Ultimate Sacrifice is a Foul Play from Cameron Eng and Sean Owens with an original music score from the Dark Room's Jim Fourniadis and LIVE EVIL, and starring Dan Foley, Erin Lucas, Flynn De Marco, Jim Jeske, Khamara Pettus, Maura Sipila, Mikl-em, and Steffanos X.
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
October 2 - 25 8pm
Uphill Both Ways Recycles!
Greatest Skits: 100% Recycled Comedy.
Tickets: $10 at the door
Part 1: Fridays, September 19 & 26, 10pm
Part 2: Fridays, October 17 & 24, 10pm
Frown Land: The Happiness Show
Frown Land, San Francisco's hottest sketch sensation, premieres "The Happiness Show." With its combination of sketch, theater, and short films, Frown Land is prepared to shake up the San Francisco comedy scene like an autistic child jiggling a snow globe.
"The Happiness Show" also features standup comedy from Alex Koll (Boomtime, SF Air Guitar Champion), Caitlin Gill (The Ladies Room), and Donny Divanian (Tennis coach).
Frown Land is comprised of veteran comedians Joey Devine (Your Name Here), Sean Keane (Heuristic Squelch Comedy Experience), and Kevin O'Shea (Blah Blah Blah). Above all, Frown Land is dedicated to making America smile.
Tickets: $5 at the door
Friday, October 10
10pm
DJ REAL CD Release Party
DJ REAL is throwing a CD Release Party for his fourth studio album, entitled - Personal Growth. The show will open with the very inspiring musical act, Foxtails Brigade. Then, DJ REAL will hit the stage, performing songs from the new album, showing weird videos, and dancing horribly. Lots of surprises in store! Those who attend the show will receive a free CD. Special editions of the album will also be made available at the show.
DJ REAL has been performing throughout the Bay Area's music and comedy circuit, most recently featuring at the 2008 San Francisco Sketch Festival. His live act draws inspiration from the likes of the Talking Heads, The Residents and Steve Martin.
You can find DJ REAL info at the following websites:
Dark Room Productions presents The Night of a Thousand Stars...Wars, a two-night cabaret show benefiting our original stage adaptation of George Lucas' Star Wars (coming December 2008). Kids love the Dark Room, and kids loooove rascally bounty hunter Boba Fett, so we thought, what the heck, let's call our big show a Bene-Fett!!!! In fact you might kind of say we're the Boba Fett of Mission street theaters. Not that we have a jet pack or anything, but we can round up the best sketch comedy, yodeling, improv, spoken word, and baked goods that the galaxy (more specifically, SF) has to offer.
Our bene-fett (God I love that!!!) will run September 12 & 13, Friday and Saturday @ 8pm, and features: Uphill Both Ways, Gerri Lawlor, Rafe Chase, Dr. Hal Robins, Kasper Hauser, Sherilyn Connelly, Steffanos X, Toshio Hirano, Flynn DeMarco, Tales of Mere Existence with Lev and a Saturday Night Bake Sale with the Cock-T's.
Star Wars performed with permission of Lucasfilm Ltd.
All 'STAR WARSTM' elements property of Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.
Working for the Weakened
Ever had a really lousy job? So have we. Clock out and come laugh the pain away as Sherilyn Connelly hosts a local independent organic worker-owned-and-operated 501c3-certified evening of employment horror stories, including comedy, storytelling, cartoons, poetry, music and more.
Rubber Chicken and the gang present a slide show about their summer vacation, 2008. Join the chicken and turkey as they seek adventure throughout California and beyond. Multiple shows in one--a combo value pack--plus San Francisco comedy friends!
Saturday, August 23, 2008 8:30pm
Subterranean Comedy V: Of Mice, Men, & Women
"Subterranean Comedy V: Of Mice, Men, & Women" is the fifth episode in the Stand Up Comedy Theater Series based in San Francisco Featuring Amir Malekpour. The show produced by Amir Malekpour, includes sketches, videos, and Stand-Up Comedy of all forms; mainly all funny.
Featuring:
Amir "AmirCat" Malekpour (Subterranean Comedy Show)
Alex Koll (Comedy Central's Open Mic Fight, www.alexkoll.com)
Joseph William Gorman (Baby Faces Tour)
David "The WIz" Wiswell
Christopher Remmers
ZineFest 2008 presents
Michael Capozzola's "Cheap City...The Show!"
Comedian & Cartoonist Michael Capozzola's "CHEAP CITY...The SHOW!" -is part stand-up comedy & part slideshow and is based around his weekly San Francisco Chronicle cartoon, "Cheap City."
The San Francisco FROZEN FILM FESTIVAL shows yearly in July, and brings independent filmmakers and musicians to the San Francisco Bay Area from around the globe!
The Fix Shot in the first person by the actors in the film, Fix is a one day odyssey through the myriad worlds of Los Angeles as documentary filmmakers Bella (Wilde) and Milo (director Tao Ruspoli) race to get Milo's brother Leo (Andrews) from jail to rehab before 8pm, or Leo goes to prison for 3 years. Inspired by true events, we follow the trio as they document their trip from a suburban police station in Calabasas through mansions in Beverly Hills, east LA chop shops, rural wastelands, and housing projects in Watts as they attempt to raise the $5000 deposit required to get Leo into the rehab clinic. Along the way we meet dozens of colorful characters, each with their own unique perspective on Leo's larger than life personality and style, and each with their own excuse for why they cannot help out... In the end, it may take a drug deal to get the necessary funds for rehab.
Tickets: $10 at the door.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 10pm
More Shoes Legendary Filmmaker Werner Herzog, once said, "filmmakers should skip film school and instead make a journey alone on foot, let's say from Madrid to Kiev… this journey would teach one more about what cinema truly means than would five years of sitting in classrooms." It would take one dedicated, resourceful and crazy filmmaker to attempt such a feat. Meet Lee Kazimir. In More Shoes, Kazmir takes us on an amazing journey through the European countryside…on foot. Covering six months, seven countries and countless wild cats, Kazmir's film discovers the extent of his own mettle while showing us the universal nature of humanity. Along the way he meets a cast of characters WGA members only dream of creating. From fabulous French café patrons to an elderly woman celebrating her birthday picking Asparagus by the train tracks, More Shoes displays the breath of life one can only experience by living it not just recording it. Life truly becomes art in this more than unique road movie.
Tickets: $10 at the door.
Sunday, July 13, 2008 6pm
The Monsters of Podcasting
The Monsters of Podcasting are the podcasting industry's first, best
and handsomest national touring group. See podcasting magic created
live before your very eyes. Laugh, cry and feel indifferent to the
most amazing podcasting tapings available for human consumption.
Featuring "You Look Nice Today: A Journal of Emotional Hygiene," with
Merlin Mann, Scott Simpson and Adam Lisagor. Plus Jordan, Jesse Go!,
featuring Jordan Morris (Fuel TV) and Jesse Thorn (Public Radio
International's The Sound of Young America).
Saturday, June 28, 2008 10pm
Subterranean Comedy IV: Charlotte's Web Of Deceit
"Subterranean Comedy IV: Charlotte's Web Of Deceit" is the fourth installment of the successful San Francisco based Comedy Variety Show featuring the cities best comedic talent. In addition, it includes videos, skits, and other comedic art forms. Featuring Amir Malekpour, Marcella Arguella, Laundry Basket & Spiegelman, Nitin Kant and more!
A shadowy thief sneaks into the vaults of a prominent movie
studio…Film critics and curators across America receive a mysterious
but exciting invitation…A television personality is fired up to hit a
casino for a major Hollywood press junket…And a private investigator
receives an urgent summons…
The lives of these disparate characters all intersect in MEN WITH
MICROPHONES, a thought-provoking and moving new play by Aaron S. Luk.
MEN WITH MICROPHONES revolves around a pirate film festival. Drawn
into the festival's orbit is a pair of estranged partners. One is a
beloved and well-connected television personality; the other is a
newspaper film critic who values cinema over much else. These two men
will once again come together in a conflict for what may be the very
soul of cinema.
In MEN WITH MICROPHONES, Luk has crafted a story drawn largely from
real-life events. The play is approachable from many angles: it is at
once an essayistic discourse on the state of cinema; a thrilling
narrative in which colorful individuals take on a faceless, enveloping
conspiracy; a political call to cultural action; and an exciting,
almost fantastic tale in which film critics are heroes fighting the
good fight.
MEN WITH MICROPHONES: If the cinema is their church, this is their pilgrimage.
MEN WITH MICROPHONES is an independent production that will be
performed at the Dark Room Theatre, 2263 Mission Street at 19th, in
San Francisco, California. It will be performed Friday and Saturday
nights at 8pm, June 13, 14, 20, 21, 28, 29. Ticket information
available at http://www.menwithmicrophones.com and
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/36274
The cast includes John Harrison, Michelle Lai, Leaf Nunes, Khamara
Pettus, David Robson, Susan Salituro, and Chris Sellers.
MEN WITH MICROPHONES is written and directed by Aaron S. Luk.
May Day! May Day! Six weeks of cinematic pseudo-sincerity! This May Day comes Attack of the Killer B-Movies, a trio of deadly B-movies at their biggest, baddest and most brilliant! For two weekends each, horror classics The Birds, The Bad Seed and The Blob, are brought to life by an intrepid acting ensemble, and expertly adapted into a ‘streamlined stage format’ by SF playwright Sean Owens. Two weekends each—and all three deftly handled by a fearless stable of actors. Another Dark Room classic, to be talked about for years to come!
Equal parts camp and cunning, each of these film classics exudes mischievous excess, as well as astute insights on the taboos and terrors of its era, balancing the satiric with the sensational, the cliché and the clever.
Beginning with the Hitchcock classic, THE BIRDS (May 1-10), this ominous tale of avian invasion ripples with undercurrents of feminism, as willful gadabout Meanie Daniels pursues a ‘lovebird’ relationship with enterprising lawyer Mitch Brenner, while the quiet town of Bodega Bay takes notice. It’s Mitch’s mother, Lydia who rules the roost—but before feathers can fly, an aerial assault pits the hapless household against a squadron of starlings. Michelle Talgarow directs.
Next, Maxwell Anderson’s cult classic THE BAD SEED (May 15-24) gets the spanking it deserves. Devoted mother Christine Penmark seems powerless against the looming figure of her 10-year old daughter Rhoda. When a classmate drowns and his penmanship medal disappears, it’s impossible for anyone—including a criminologist, a mystery writer and a Freud-fixated neighbor—to believe that Rhoda’s polished smile may be seething with moral decay. Jim Fourniadis directs.
Finally, it takes a ragtag team of scofflaws to alert their sleepy town to the slimey dangers that a fallen meteor has unleashed. Brooding teen Steve Andrews interrupts a hit date with good girl Janie Johnson to chase the oozing, formless horror that’s gobbling up the community in THE BLOB (May 29-June 7). Sean Owens directs.
Don't believe us? Watch the trailer! (They never lie.)
Tickets: $20 at the door, or
$15 at brownpapertickets.com:
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays May 1 – June 7, 2008 8pm
Stanford Robber Barons Present Life!: A Comical
The Stanford Robber Barons are a sketch comedy troupe with 16 members, dozens of sketches, and literally hundreds of solid opportunities they eschewed in favor of writing skits about dirty monks and dating advice for vampires. From birth to the afterlife, no topic is too small, too large, or too tasteless, so long as they can make fun of it without getting kicked out of school. That said, the Stanford Robber Barons Present Life!: A Comical. Be there.
Friday, May 30, 2008 10pm
Sex Appeal: Doo Doo & Buttholes
Comedy duo Sex Appeal (Justin Lamb and Jay Starr) return to the Dark
Room to host an evening of stand-up with some of their favorite local
comedians, including Beata Bakhtiari, Sean Keane, Brendan Lynch, and
headliner Sammy Wegent (Winner - 2005 Battle of the Bay). There will
be stand up, beer (BYO), strip club critiques, and most likely some
arguments about Iron Man.
There is a fifth dimension—and
a Fifth Season!—beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension
as vast as space and as small as The Dark Room’s stage. It is the
middle ground between lighting directors and sound designers, between
science and superstition (and sometimes comedy), and it lies between the
pit of man's fears, the summit of his knowledge and on Mission Street,
between 18th and 19th Streets. Cross over into Impossible Production’s
Twilight Zone: The Plays, Season V.
Don't miss this year's all new episodes, all new commercials and all new Rods!
April 4, 5 and 6
Maria Picar directs “The Hitchhiker”
Crisis Hopkins directs “ The Time Element”
Colin Benoit plays Rod
Commercials by Jason McCrary and Sam Shaw and friends
April 11, 12 and 13
Flynn DeMarco directs “The New Exhibit” & “Nick Of Time”
Sadie Lune plays Rod
Commercials by Flynn DeMarco and friends
April 18, 19 and 20
Jim Fourniadis directs “Aliens Among Us”
Patrick Bulger and Jesse Fernandez direct “Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”
Christopher Kuckenbaker plays Rod
Commercials by Sean Keane and Wyana Cooper & DJ Real
