If you’re ready to laugh until it hurts, be sure and catch Clayton Theatre Company’s “Tootsie.”
A wonderful mix of comedy with lots of heart and plenty of Broadway flair, this musical follows New York actor Michael Dorsey. A talented perfectionist, he finds that no one wants to work with him anymore. Desperate for a gig, Dorsey reinvents himself as an actress and gets a long-term contract in a soap opera. His newfound career hits some rough waters when he falls for his castmate Julie, who believes he’s a woman.
Clayton Theatre Company presents the musical comedy “Tootsie” runs Oct. 17-26 at Endeavor Hall on 6008 Center St. in Clayton. Roxanne Pardi directs with Kevin Coren taking the dual role of Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels, Katie Guilbeaux as Julie and James Bradley Jr. as Michael’s roommate.
For tickets, call 925-334-0880 or go to claytontheatrecompany.com.
Walnut Creek: Are you ready for a weekend of unscripted theater? Well, ready or not it will be here Oct. 24-26 at Lesher Center for the Arts on 1601 Civic Drive.
The Diablo Improv Festival begins on a Friday night with a lively reception at Up the Creek Records on 2042 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Saturday features a performance by the legendary Los Angeles-based comedy powerhouse “The Groundlings,” plus a plethora of fun workshops. The workshops continue Sunday with a performance by Synergy Theater among others.
There will also be a special session for teens and kids to help young performers build confidence and creativity. Not to be left behind, the 55-and-over crowd can partake of their own workshops.
“If you’ve never taken an improv class, my advice is simple: get off the sidelines,” said Randy Wight, DIF co-producer. “The Diablo Improv Festival offers top-notch instructors and a wide array of workshops to meet you wherever your experience level or sense of adventure may be.”
The busy weekend also includes several 90-minute variety shows and culminates with an open jam giving improv students at all levels the chance to take the stage.
For a full schedule and tickets, go to lesherartscenter.org.
Berkeley: Central Works concludes its 2025 season with the premiere of Maury Zeff’s “Dada Teen Musical: The Play.” Developed in Central Works Writers Workshop, the play runs Oct. 18 through Nov. 16 at the historic Berkeley City Club on 2315 Durant Ave.
Zeff, a long-time member of the Central Works Writers Workshop, has had his plays performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. In “Dada Teen Musical: The Play,” he follows 17-year-old Annabelle, who rebels against her family’s dedication to Yale by applying to Harvard. To round out her Harvard application, the feisty teen decides to do a Dadaist (revolutionary) version of “The Sound of Music,” which unleashes chaos at her high school.
Gary Graves directs with a cast composed of Zoe Chien, Alan Coyne, Jacob Henrie-Naffaa and Chanel Tighman. MaryBeth Cavanaught is the choreographer with original music by Alex Mandel and sound design by Gregory Scharpen.
For tickets, call 510-558-1381 or go to centralworks.org.
El Cerrito: The ever-expanding Contra Costa Civic Theatre is now presenting a concert series at its venue on 951 Pomona Ave. First up is a tribute to John Lennon “In the Spirit of Lennon” with the Bay Area’s Drew Harrison, who has been perfecting the show the last 20 years.
Slated for Oct. 11 at 7 p.m., the intimate, acoustic concert journeys through the legendary life and career of Lennon and coincides with what would have been Lennon’s 85th birthday weekend.
“Drew and I have known each other for the last two decades,” said CCCT’s Executive Artistic Director Joel Roster. “I can’t think of a finer way to kick off this series. Let’s rock.”
For tickets, call 510-524-9132 or go to ccct.org.
Also in Berkeley: The line between performance and participation blurs in Shotgun Players’ “The Motion” as audience members are invited to be part of a debate regarding man’s complex relationship with animals and whether animal testing should be banned.
Obie Award-winning Christopher Chen penned the clever comedy with lots of sharp dialogue and surreal bursts of science fiction. He calls upon audience members to become part of the experience by using their voting cards to side for or against as cast members engage in a heated debate.
Patrick Dooley directs with Erin Gould (moderator Jack Donovan), Gabrielle Maalihan (Professor Lily Chan), Soren Santos (Professor Neel Serrano), David Siniako (Dr. Alan James) and Erin Mei-Ling Stuart (Dr. Sarah Matthis).
As Dooley writes in his program notes: “Morals are slippery. Christopher Chen’s plays are fascinated by our stumbling and earnest attempts to grasp a sense of self and ‘the right way of being,’ even as our own perspectives and the world around us continue to shift and evolve.”
“The Motion” runs through Oct. 12 at 1901 Ashby Ave. For tickets, call 510-841-6500 or go to shotgunplayers.org.
Reach Sally Hogarty at sallyhogarty@gmail.com, and read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com/author/sally-hogarty.