Bay Area theaters reschedule shows due to Omicron variant

With the omicron variant of COVID-19 still casting uncertainty in the Bay Area, several local theater companies have announced postponements or delayed openings for shows originally scheduled for January.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has pushed its planned opening of the musical “Hershey Felder as Monsieur Chopin” from Jan. 19 to mid-August.

“We’re doing this out of an abundance of caution,” TheatreWorks artistic director Tim Bond said in a statement. “Both Hershey Felder and our team made this difficult decision, because keeping our audience members, performers, crew and staff safe is of paramount importance to us.”

Felder, whose home base is in Italy, said his “Chopin” production is an intimate performance piece where he frequently talks and engages with his audiences. He says he’s eager to return to what he describes as “one of his favorite venues” this summer.

Patrons who have already received their tickets for “Chopin” will be issued new ones Jan. 17-31.  For more information, visit www.theatreworks.org.

As of Jan. 3, Palo Alto Players Executive Director Elizabeth Santana said the company is going ahead with its Jan. 14 opening of “Men on Boats,” with $20 tickets available for at-home viewing Jan. 27-30.

“Men on Boats,” written by Jaclyn Backhaus, will be staged at Lucie Stern Theater in Palo Alto in accordance with CDC and state and local health guidance.  For more information, visit www.paplayers.org.

Managing director Ed Sengstack said Los Altos Stage Company has decided to shorten its upcoming run of “Roe,” which was originally scheduled to open for previews in late January. “We’re cutting several weeks, so now our preview night is Feb. 10, and then we’ll run two weekends: Feb. 11-13 and Feb. 16-20.”

“Roe,” by Lisa Loomer, deals with Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion and is still being fiercely debated 50 years later. The play follows the divergent personal journeys of lawyer Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) in the years following the Supreme Court decision. For more information, visit www.losaltosstage.org.

Mountain View’s Pear Theatre intends to continue its paired openings of plays with “The Mountaintop” which runs Jan. 21-Feb. 12 and plays in repertory with “Sunset Baby,” running Jan. 22-Feb. 13.  For the past several months, the Pear has adhered to strict protocols regarding spacing between seats, a maximum of 60 people per performance and masks while inside the theater.

“The Mountaintop” by Katori Hall is a “creative imagining” of the last night of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life. “Sunset Baby,” written by Dominique Morisseau, looks at the world of an activist years after his days in the headlines have passed. Both productions were selected by artistic director Sinjin Jones to be presented during Black History Month. For more information, visit www.thepear.org.

The beloved board game “Clue” has been turned into a stage production currently scheduled to run Jan. 27-feb. 13 at Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City.  Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn and written by Sandy Rustin, it’s a combination of the 1985 movie and the Hasbro board game. For more information, visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.