Second Row Center

Feb 04, 2020

Marin Theater Company’s Noura (Aired: February 5, 2020)

It’sChristmas Eve and a family readies their home for guests. Gifts are placedunder a tree. Food is prepared. Mass will

Jan 28, 2020

Mary’s Wedding at Main Stage West (Aired: January 29, 2020)

Plays and films set during World War I are few and farbetween, at least

Oct 22, 2019

Luna Gale at the Cinnabar Theater (Aired: October 23, 2019)

The term “MacGuffin” was popularized byAlfred Hitchcock to describe objects or events that took place in his

Oct 15, 2019

Sovereignty at Marin Theater Company (Aired: October 16, 2019)

There aren’t a lot of plays that explore Native Americanhistory or the modern-day social and political issues that continue tochallenge

Oct 08, 2019

Gypsy at the 6th Street Playhouse (Aired: October 9, 2019)

In sports, the term ‘ringer’ generally refers to thepractice of using a clearly superior competitor in order to gain an

Oct 01, 2019

Merman’s Apprentice – October 2, 2019

It’s a virtual Merman-palooza in the North Bay as twotheatre companies present ‘musical fables’ with Ethel Merman connections. SantaRosa’s 6th

Sep 24, 2019

Curtain Call’s The Haunting of Hill House and Raven’s Arsenic & Old Lace (Aired: September 25, 2019)

Halloween comes early to North Baystages with two productions more commonly seen around that particular holiday. MonteRio’s Curtain

Sep 17, 2019

“Nuts” at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre (Aired: September 18, 2019)

While technically not set in a courtroom, Tom Topor’s Nuts,running now at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre

Sep 10, 2019

Eureka Day at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center (Aired: Spetember 11, 2019)

A recent New YorkTimes headline asked the question “Can a Play About Vaccines Be a LaughingMatter?” Bay Area audiences can

Sep 03, 2019

The Book Club Play at 6th Street Playhouse (Aired: September 4, 2019)

Perhaps the most mislabeledentertainment genre is what we refer to as “reality TV”. The belief that anything can be real in thepresence of cameras is…

Aug 27, 2019

“The Merry Wives of Windsor” Running in Mill Valley (Aired: August 28, 2019)

For twenty years, Mill Valley’s Curtain Theatre has treatedlocal audiences to admission-free, fully-produced Shakespeare plays performedin

Aug 20, 2019

Monty Python’s Spamalot at Dominican University (Aired: August 21, 2019)

Silliness takes the stage atDominican University’s Forest Meadows Amphitheatre as the Marin ShakespeareCompany presents Monty Python’s Spamalot. It’s…

Aug 13, 2019

Napa’s Lucky Penny Production of “The Tasting Room” – August 14, 2019

Adhering to Mark Twain’s advice to “write what you know”,Napa Valley’s Barry Martin has written and directed a play based on hisexperiences in the…

Aug 06, 2019

Raven Theater’s As You Like It (Aired: August 7, 2019)

Summer used to be the season for Shakespeare ‘al fresco’ but with the shuttering of the Shakespeare in the Cannery

Jul 30, 2019

Crimes of the Heart – Ross Valley Players (Aired: July 31, 2019)

The Ross Valley Players conclude their 89thseason with a production of Crimes of the Heart, running in Ross throughAugust 11. Beth

Jul 23, 2019

“Bonnie & Clyde” at SRJC’s Summer Repertory Theater (Aired: July 24, 2019)

After a one-year hiatus forced upon them by the renovationof Santa Rosa Junior College’s Burbank Auditorium, the Summer Repertory Theatreprogram…

Jul 16, 2019

Marin Theater Company’s “Measure for Measure” – July 17, 2019

The Marin Shakespeare Company opens its 30thseason with Measure for Measure. The Bard’s take on justice and mercywould seem to be a perfect fit for a…

Jul 09, 2019

Young Frankenstein at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg – July 10, 2019

Filmmaker MelBrooks took Broadway by storm with his musical adaptation of The Producers and hoped lightning would strike twice with the same approach…

Jul 02, 2019

Wink – July 3, 2019

“Where is my cat?” So begins the saga of Wink, playwright Jen Silverman’s longgestating play whose title character is said cat. Written in 2013, it’s…

Jun 25, 2019

A Chorus Line – June 26, 2019

For eight years, theTranscendence Theatre Company has entertained local audiences with top qualitymusical revues featuring magnificent choreography…

Jun 18, 2019

West Side Story – June 19, 2019

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been the source material for umpteen movies and plays. The tale of star-crossed lovers had its most successful…

Jun 11, 2019

Cabaret – June 12, 2019

Is there a darker or more depressing Broadway musical than Cabaret? Kander and Ebb’s 1966 musical (with book by Joe Masteroff)won eight Tonys for its…

Jun 04, 2019

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical – June 5, 2019

“Jukebox” musicalstend to use really flimsy connecting material to string together the musicalhits of an artist or genre in the creation of a show.…

May 28, 2019

Faceless – May 29, 2019

Courtroom dramas have long been a staple of massentertainment. From TV’s Perry Masonto plays and films like The Caine MutinyCourt Marshall and A Few…

May 21, 2019

This Random World – May 22, 2019

Serendipity. Fate. Chance. Destiny. Karma. Fortune. Kismet. Call it what ever you like, but playwright Steven Dietz (Becky’s New Car) doesn’t believe…

May 21, 2019

Jazz – May 15, 2019

The Oxford Dictionary uerecsa Huerdefines ‘jazz’ as a type of music of black American origin characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and usually…

May 21, 2019

To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men – May 8, 2019

The theatrical treatments of two great American novels come alive on North Bay stages with mixed results in productions running through May 19. 6th…

Apr 30, 2019

Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – May 1, 2019

Most folk’s affection for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory began with reading the book or watching the somewhat renamed 1971 Gene…

Apr 23, 2019

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown – April 24, 2019

One would be hard-pressed to find Clark Gesner’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in the pantheon of great American musicals. What began as a concept…

Apr 22, 2019

Barbecue Apocalypse – April 17, 2019

It’s been said that the only two things guaranteed to survive the Apocalypse are cockroaches and Cher. Playwright Matt Lyle would like to add one…

Apr 09, 2019

Heathen Valley, The Perfect Ganesh – April 10, 2019

God takes center stage in two North Bay productions running through April 14. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West transports to you to 1840 and an…

Apr 02, 2019

The Revolutionists – April 3, 2019

“That’s so meta” is a phrase you hear bandied about a lot these days. It’s usually used to describe a reference by someone about themselves.…

Mar 26, 2019

These Shining Lives – March 27, 2019

At a time when occupational safety regulations are being loosened and funding for the agencies responsible for their enforcement being reduced, it’s…

Mar 19, 2019

The Who & The What – Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Playwright Ayad Akhtar burst on the theatrical scene in 2013 with Disgraced, a searing drama about identity politics and Islamophobia which earned…

Mar 12, 2019

Million Dollar Quartet – March 13, 2019

On December 4, 1956, a legendary jam session was held at rock and roll pioneer Sam Phillips’ Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Johnny Cash,…

Mar 05, 2019

Hello, Dolly! – March 6, 2019

Anyone going to a performance of Hello, Dolly! – running now at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco through March 17 – with an appetite for…

Feb 26, 2019

After Miss Julie – February 27, 2019

Sometimes the most interesting dramas are the simplest – a single set, a few characters, a conflict. “Naturalistic” plays, as they are sometimes…

Feb 19, 2019

Forever Plaid – February 20, 2019

Musical zombies rise from the dead to sing an evening of ‘50’s pop standards. Let me try that again. On February 4, 1964, The Plaids, an eastern…

Feb 12, 2019

Hamlet – February 13, 2019

To see or not to see? That is the question. Anyone with even the slightest interest in theatre has probably seen a production or two of William…

Feb 05, 2019

Arsenic & Old Lace – February 6, 2019

Serial killing would seem to be rather ghoulish subject matter for a comedic play, yet Arsenic and Old Lace has been a reliable audience-pleaser for…

Jan 29, 2019

How I Learned What I Learned – January 30, 2019

When playwright August Wilson passed away in 2005, he left behind a body of work that has become a staple of the American theatre. As much a…

Jan 22, 2019

Moon Over Buffalo – January 23, 2019

Continuing with the tradition of theatre companies producing theatre about theatre, 6th Street Playhouse is presenting Ken Ludwig’s 1995…

Jan 15, 2019

Top Torn Tickets of 2018 – Part Two, the Musicals – January 16, 2019

It’s said that musicals are the bread and butter of community theatre, so here’s a list of the North Bay productions I toasted this past year. Here…

Jan 08, 2019

Top Torn Tickets of 2018 – Part One, the Plays – January 9, 2019

‘Tis the time for “Best of …” lists, so in the spirit of my illustrious predecessor and with a nod to the substantial differences in mounting a…

Jan 01, 2019

Love, Linda – January 2, 2019

For years, Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater has closed out the year with a musical cabaret show. Past years’ productions have celebrated the work of…

Dec 25, 2018

Dear Evan Hansen – December 26, 2018

Dear Evan Hansen, I attended the opening night performance of the San Francisco run of your national tour at the Curran Theatre. I’ve heard a lot…

Dec 17, 2018

12 Dates of Christmas – December 19, 2018

One-person shows with a holiday theme tend to skew toward the male variety, whether it’s a show about a disgruntled department store Christmas elf…

Dec 11, 2018

Sonoma/Napa Holiday Theater Preview – December 12, 2018

For folks looking for some respite from Christmas shopping or from becoming participants in the demolition derby that is mall parking, North Bay…

Dec 04, 2018

Polar Bears – December 5, 2018

When after sixteen years David Templeton hung up his theater critic’s hat, his stated purpose was to turn his full attention to other pursuits:…

Nov 27, 2018

Marin Theater Holiday Preview – November 28, 2018

If you’re trying to avoid attending the umpteenth production of The Nutcracker in your lifetime, Marin theatre companies are providing several other…

Nov 20, 2018

The New Century – November 21, 2018

For an area with as large a gay population and as much theatre as Sonoma County, it’s surprising how little gay-themed theatre is produced in the…

Nov 13, 2018

Uncle Vanya – November 14, 2018

I don’t know anyone who attends theatre to reinforce their belief that life is simply a series of travails to be endured until the sweet release of…

Nov 06, 2018

God of Carnage – November 7, 2018

In the past month, North Bay stages have been occupied by vampires, ghosts, a Thing, and Transylvanian transvestites. The Novato Community Playhouse…

Oct 30, 2018

Blithe Spirit – October 31, 2018

If you’re wary of attending the latest splatter fest at your local multiplex and seeking a kinder, gentler Halloween season entertainment, Napa’s…

Oct 24, 2018

Oslo – October 24, 2018

At a time when the language of diplomacy has been reduced to a 140-character tweet transmitted at 3 am, it’s good to be reminded of the men and women…

Oct 24, 2018

The Addams Family, Count Dracula – October 17, 2018

The credits for the Spreckels Theater Company production of The Addams Family, running now through October 28, notes that the musical is “based on…

Oct 24, 2018

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents – October 10, 2018

There’s an interesting style of theatre in which a piece of dramatic prose, usually a short story or selected chapters from a longer piece, is fully…

Oct 02, 2018

Guys and Dolls – October 3, 2018

If you’ve missed having Summer Repertory Theatre around this year, 6th Street Playhouse’s production of “Guys and Dolls” may hold you until SRT’s…

Sep 25, 2018

Church & State, Time Stands Still – September 26, 2018

Last year, Healdsburg’s Raven Players surprised this critic with a very interesting production of Quiara Alegría Hudes “Water by the Spoonful”. The…

Sep 18, 2018

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Naked Truth – September 19, 2018

Spreckels Theatre Company opens their season with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s 2003…

Sep 11, 2018

The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV Part 1 – August 29, 2018

Like an Elizabethan game of whack-a-mole, as soon as North Bay theatre companies knock out one outdoor summer Shakespeare production, another one…

Sep 11, 2018

North Bay Theatre Season Preview – September 5, 2018

With September come football games that actually matter, open season on California tree squirrels (daily limit of four) and the opening of the new…

Sep 11, 2018

Cabaret, Savage Wealth – September 12, 2018

Theatregoers hankering for a classic or the desire to see something new have two productions running now that fit the bill. Cinnabar Theater presents…

Aug 21, 2018

The Trial of John Brown – August 22, 2018

So, what’s former Spreckels Performing Arts Center Manager Gene Abravaya been doing since his retirement to the Arizona desert? “Well”, he told me in…

Aug 14, 2018

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change & Heroes – August 15, 2018

Relationships are front and center in two very different shows now running on the North Bay’s northernmost stages through August 19. The Cloverdale…

Aug 08, 2018

Shall We Dance – August 8, 2018

Transcendence Theatre Company’s seventh season of “Broadway Under the Stars” continues with a dance-centric production entitled, appropriately…

Jul 31, 2018

Pericles, Shakespeare in Love – Aug 1, 2018

‘Tis the season for Shakespeare al fresco so pack a picnic, grab a blanket and check out these North Bay productions: Marin Shakespeare closes out…

Jul 24, 2018

Always… Patsy Cline – July 25, 2018

Jukebox musicals have become the bread and butter for a lot of community theatre groups. Minimal casts, simple sets and the built-in audience that…

Jul 17, 2018

The Hunchback of Notre Dame – July 18, 2018

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was originally scheduled as the closing production of the Spreckels Theatre Company’s 2017-2018 season. The musical,…

Jul 10, 2018

School of Rock – July 11, 2018

One might think that the talents behind Downtown Abbey and Phantom of the Opera would be odd choices to make a Broadway musical out of a 2003 comedy…

Jul 03, 2018

llyria – July 4, 2018

In a world of theatre based on movies and television shows, why not Shakespeare? Such is Illyria, a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night first…

Jun 26, 2018

Stairway to Paradise – June 27, 2018

Sonoma’s Transcendence Theatre Company opened its seventh season of “Broadway Under the Stars” in Jack London State Park with Stairway to Paradise,…

Jun 19, 2018

The Fantasticks, Bullshot Crummond – June 20, 2018

Two community theatre workhorses have galloped onto North Bay stages. Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater is presenting The Fantasticks, the 1960 musical…

Jun 12, 2018

Honky – June 13, 2018

“Everyone’s a little bit racist” sing the puppets in the musical Avenue Q. Playwright Greg Kalleres takes that thought and runs with it in Honky,…

Jun 05, 2018

Hands on a Hardbody – June 6, 2018

Ten down-on-their-luck Texans gather on a car lot to compete for a cherry red Nissan pickup. They must lay their gloved hands upon the truck and,…

May 29, 2018

Mamma Mia – May 30, 2018

High atop Mount Tamalpais, at about the 2,000 foot level, sits the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre where the “great outdoor theatre adventure” known as…

May 22, 2018

Jeeves Intervenes, The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) – May 23, 2018

That the name ‘Jeeves’ immediately conjures up the image of a staid British manservant is a tribute to the staying power of author P. G. Wodehouse’s…

May 15, 2018

Women In Jeopardy, Eurydice – May 16, 2018

Female protagonists in peril are the focus of one very silly and one very melancholy production running now in the North Bay. Left Edge Theatre’s…

May 08, 2018

Peter Pan – May 9, 2018

J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan has been seen on stage in one form or another for well over 100 years. It’s survived being Disney-fied and even Christopher…

May 01, 2018

La Cage aux Folles – May 2, 2018

It’s been thirty-five years since La Cage aux Folles took Broadway by storm. What began in 1973 as a French stage farce followed by a series of…

Apr 24, 2018

Into The Woods – April 25, 2018

The Santa Rosa Junior College theatre season ends with their production of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. It’s a fairy tale…

Apr 17, 2018

Death of a Salesman, Farragut North – April 18, 2018

Dramas old and new dominate North Bay stages with two good ones continuing their runs. Film, television, and theatre veteran Charles Siebert…

Apr 10, 2018

Lost in Yonkers, Time of Your Life – April 11, 2018

Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas hit North Bay stages, first with the Raven Players production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers. Simon, whose best-known…

Apr 03, 2018

Amadeus – April 4, 2018

In Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, Count Franz Orsini-Rosenberg assesses Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with the criticism that it has “too many notes.”…

Mar 27, 2018

By The Water – March 28, 2018

One wouldn’t think that a play that deals with the wreckage left behind by a natural disaster would be particularly attractive to North Bay residents…

Mar 20, 2018

Blackbird – March 20, 2018

At a post-show Q & A following the opening night performance of Main Stage West’s Blackbird, director David Lear stated he felt that one of theatre’s…

Mar 13, 2018

Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter – March 14, 2018

While time may heal all wounds, a little human kindness along the way doesn’t hurt. That’s the basic takeaway from the Santa Rosa Junior College…

Mar 06, 2018

The Realistic Joneses – March 7, 2018

One of the oddest plays I’ve seen in a while, Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses isn’t particularly real in its examination of two suburban couples who…

Feb 27, 2018

Tenderly – February 28, 2018

Ask anyone under fifty years of age who Rosemary Clooney is and they’re likely to respond “George Clooney’s wife?” They’d be in the ballpark (she was…

Feb 20, 2018

Equus – February 21, 2018

Why? It’s a question we seem to be asking ourselves daily as we wake up to the news of the latest national tragedy or act of incomprehensible…

Feb 13, 2018

South Pacific – February 14, 2018

World War II didn’t seem like ancient history in 1949 when South Pacific made its Broadway premiere. Sadly, its warnings of the damage that bigotry…

Feb 06, 2018

Buried Child, Good People – February 7, 2018

The choices in life that haunt you take center stage in two terrific productions running now in North Bay theatres. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West is…

Jan 30, 2018

Disgraced – January 31, 2018

Blistering drama takes the stage at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre with the North Bay premiere of Ayad Akhtar’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama…

Jan 23, 2018

The Dining Room – January 24, 2018

The plight of the vanishing New England WASP is the subject matter of A. R. Gurney’s The Dining Room, running now at Sonoma Arts Live. No, it’s not a…

Jan 16, 2018

Honky Tonk Angels – January 17, 2018

North Bay theatre kicks off the new year with 6th Street Playhouse’s Honky Tonk Angels, a country music revue by Ted Swindley. Swindley, best known…

Jan 09, 2018

A Look Back at Sonoma County Theatre in 2017 (Part II) – January 10, 2018

Avoiding the typical “Best of…” lists that are commonplace at this time of year, last week I presented Part I of my 2017 “Special End of Year” Awards…

Jan 02, 2018

A Look Back at Sonoma County Theatre in 2017 (Part I) – January 3, 2018

It’s that time of year again for the usual “Best of…” lists where critics review their picks for the best (and sometimes worst) in music, movies,…

Dec 19, 2017

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge – December 20, 2017

In comedy, timing is everything and the timing is so off in 6th Street Playhouse’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge that the fact that it…

Nov 28, 2017

Daddy Long Legs – November 29, 2017

If you like A.R. Gurney’s popular two-person play “Love Letters”, you’re going to love “Daddy Long Legs”, a musical adaptation of the 1912 novel by…

Nov 21, 2017

Bakersfield Mist – November 22, 2017

In 1992, a retired truck driver named Teri Horton paid five dollars for a painting from a southern California thrift store to give as a gag gift to a…

Nov 14, 2017

2017 Holiday Plays – November 15, 2017

The holiday season will soon be upon us and Sonoma County Theatre companies will be providing plenty of opportunities to escape the bumper-to-bumper…

Nov 07, 2017

2nd Annual MTJA Awards – November 8, 2017

At last count, Sonoma County had over twenty active theatre companies, ranging from the nomadic Pegasus Theatre Company to the theatre departments of…

Nov 05, 2017

Steel Magnolias – November 1, 2017

The unique bonds of female friendship are at the heart of Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias, now in the middle of its run at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street…

Oct 24, 2017

Mary Shelley’s Body – October 25, 2017

“Am I supposed to be retelling my creature’s story or confessing my own?” – so asks Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, author of Frankenstein and the…

Oct 17, 2017

SPAMALOT – October 18, 2017

The old axiom “the show must go on” traces its origins back to traveling circuses when, if an animal got loose, the ringmaster and the band tried to…

Sep 19, 2017

Constellations – September 20, 2017

Back in my college days when, after the ingestion of a substantial quantity of adult beverages, the conversation topic amongst my friends inevitably…

Sep 12, 2017

Sideways – September 13, 2017

Two shows hit North Bay stages whose titles audiences may recognize from their somewhat better-known film adaptations. First up is Santa Rosa’s Left…

Sep 05, 2017

Elephant Man & Man of La Mancha – September 6, 2017

Titular roles don’t come more challenging than those of Miguel de Cervantes, the Man of La Mancha and John Merrick, better known as The Elephant Man,…

Aug 29, 2017

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown – August 30, 2017

A citizen of Santa Rosa who criticizes anything Charles Schulz / “Peanuts”- related runs the risk of being run out of town on the next Smart Train.…

Aug 17, 2017

The Farce Awakens – August 9, 2017

According to IMDB, the budget for 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens was an estimated $245,000,000.00. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here in…

Jul 18, 2017

Gypsy – July 19, 2017

Musicals are the bread and butter of community theatre. They’re usually crowd pleasers and with their large casts they can bank on a crowd of family…

Jun 27, 2017

George M! – June 28, 2017

George M. Cohan was known as “the man who owned Broadway” in the first two decades of the twentieth century. A prolific playwright and composer of…

Jun 20, 2017

Becky’s New Car – June 21, 2017

Middle-aged angst takes center stage at the Sonoma Community Center as Becky’s New Car pulls into Sonoma Arts Live. Steven Dietz’s bittersweet comedy…

Jun 13, 2017

Clue: The Musical – June 14, 2017

Your enjoyment of Clue: The Musical, now running at Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, may be wholly dependent on two factors – 1.) Your…

Jun 06, 2017

Beauty and the Beast – June 7, 2017

If you haven’t had a chance in the last 104 years to check out the Mountain Play, now’s as good a time as any. This year brings an enjoyable…

May 30, 2017

The Money Shot – May 31, 2017

“Vapid” and “vacuous” are two terms that come to mind when discussing the characters in The Money Shot, Neil LaBute’s theatrical thumb-in-the-eye to…

May 23, 2017

A Masterpiece of Comic… Timing – May 24, 2017

Big shot Broadway producer Jerry Cobb has a problem. He’s in desperate need of a big comedy hit to impress the Hollywood bigwigs and pave his way to…

May 16, 2017

Guards at the Taj – May 17, 2017

It’s 1648 and the splendiferous Taj Mahal awaits its opening. Humayun and Babur, the two lowliest members of Emperor Shah Jahan’s Royal Guards, are…

May 09, 2017

Tarzan – May 10, 2017

In recent years, when you entered the Spreckels Performing Arts Center’s Codding Theater you found yourself in an undersea world, or on the deck of…

May 02, 2017

Songs For A New World – May 3, 2017

Songs for a New World is not a typical piece of American musical theatre. There is no book or “story”, per se, with a standard beginning, middle and…

Apr 25, 2017

Breeders – April 26, 2017

Sonoma County is, some would say blessed, others might say cursed, with a lot of theatre. Currently running or recently closed shows range from…

Apr 18, 2017

The Birds – April 19, 2017

Before attempting to explain what Conor McPherson’s The Birds is, running now at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West, best make it clear what it isn’t. It…

Apr 16, 2017

The Odd Couple – April 12, 2017

There’s a certain segment of the “thea-tuh” community that turns its collective nose up at the mere mention of a mainstream, commercially-successful…

Apr 05, 2017

Visiting Mr. Green – March 29, 2017

There’s a nice, little show running in the 6th Street Playhouse Studio Theatre right now. You’ve probably never heard of it, though it’s been around…

Apr 04, 2017

Sugar Bean Sisters – April 5, 2017

A title like The Sugar Bean Sisters may conjure up images of sweet Southern belles, mint julips, or quaint sibling rivalries that end in hugs,…

Mar 21, 2017

The Handoff – March 22, 2017

The Handoff… DAVID: The art of theater and the inevitability of change – they’ve gone together from the beginning of, well, of theater. And I’m not…

Mar 15, 2017

“Race” – March 15, 2017

It has been argued, effectively, that the person most qualified to talk about race and racism is the victim of that racism – not those who,…

Mar 07, 2017

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” – March 8, 2017

There’s a line that comes about halfway through Edward Albee’s classic play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Unlike so much of the rest of Albee’s…

Mar 01, 2017

“Mojada” – March 1, 2017

Well, it’s spring, and the annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival has kicked off its 2017 season with four new shows – out of an eventual total of eleven…

Feb 21, 2017

“Hand To God” – February 22, 2017

I’m not sure what it is, but there’s just something appealing—if that’s the word—about watching a puppet – especially a cute puppet – talking dirty ……

Feb 14, 2017

“Evita” – January 25, 2017

Powered by some pretty spectacular voices, Sonoma Arts Live’s clever, minimalized production of Webber-and-Rice’s iconic musical “Evita” scores major…

Feb 14, 2017

“Native Son” – February 1, 2017

Beauty, one could argue, isn’t always very pretty. Especially in the case of great literature. Richard Wright’s 1940 masterpiece Native…

Feb 14, 2017

“You Got Older,” “Buyer & Cellar” – February 8, 2017

Playwright Clare Barron, a New York theater artist with a fast-rising reputation for crafting quirky comedy-dramas with the ring of truth and an…

Feb 14, 2017

“1776” “One Stone” – February 15, 2017

Truly effective plays are often built on big ideas. And ideas don’t get much bigger than the Birth of America – or E = mc 2, which happen to be the

Jan 17, 2017

“Emile,” “Stage Kiss” – January 18, 2017

Valentine’s Day is less than a month away, and love is already in the air at some local theaters. Well, love and sex, and betrayal … and sex, and…

Dec 27, 2016

New Year’s Eve 2017 – December 28, 2016

Whatever else one has to say about the year 2016, for those in the North Bay who love live theater, it’s been an especially strong year. If you were…

Dec 13, 2016

“Miss Benet: Christmas at Pemberley” – December 14, 2016

It all began on a road-trip to Ashland, Oregon. The acclaimed playwright Lauren Gunderson was taking a theater-going excursion with Margot Melcon,…

Dec 06, 2016

“Hope” – December 7, 2016

“Hope. Do we ever give up on hope? Even in the face of hard evidence?” That the question at the heart of Si Kahn’s succinctly-titled new musical…

Nov 29, 2016

“Luzia” – November 30, 2016

Describing a new Cirque du Soleil show is a little like describing a dream while still half asleep. Talking about ‘Luzia,’ appropriately subtitled “A…

Oct 18, 2016

“Quality of Life” – October 19, 2016

Have you ever noticed that most stories that appear, on the surface, to be all about death and dying, actually turn out to be all about life and…

Oct 04, 2016

“Threepenny Opera” – October 5, 2016

The Threepenny Opera — Bertolt Brecht’s 1928 “play with music — is like an expensive desert that’s so complex and filled with flavor most people…

Sep 27, 2016

“Sweeney Todd,” “Baskerville” – September 28, 2016

Victorian England produced some spectacularly bloody and murderous literature. Some was written and published, some began as the stuff of urban…

Sep 20, 2016

“The Big Meal,” “August Osage County” – September 21, 2016

Two appetizingly notable stage plays, both currently running in the North Bay, feature the unpredictable combustible power of people related to one…

Sep 13, 2016

“The House That Jack Built” – September 14, 2016

Jack London. One cannot grow up in Sonoma County, or even visit here for very long, without gaining at least some awareness of who Jack London was.…

Sep 06, 2016

“The Most Happy Fella” – September 7, 2016

It’s been twelve years since Stephen Walsh last played Tony the grape grower, in the classic Frank Loesser musical ‘The Most Happy Fella,’ at…

Aug 30, 2016

“Animal Crackers” – August 31, 2016

Hooray for Captain Spalding. And hooray for the weird, wonderful, creatively imitative assemblage of actors who are currently bringing the Marx…

Aug 23, 2016

“Comedy of Errors” – August 23, 2016

The issue of high ticket-prices is rarely discussed openly within the North Bay theater community, nor do many seem eager to talk about the arguable…

Aug 16, 2016

“Big Fish” – August 17, 2016

Some stage musicals are lighter than air, soothing as water, sounding good and feeling delightful as long as they last, then evaporating on the wind,…

Jul 27, 2016

“Rock Of Ages” – July 27, 2016

Let’s talk about Jukebox Musicals. That’s a slangy term describing a stage show that is built around an assortment of pre-existing, usually…

Jul 19, 2016

“Macbeth” – July 13, 2016

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” One of Shakespeare’s scariest lines comes from what is easily his scariest play,…

Jul 19, 2016

“The Little Dog Laughed” – July 20, 2016

Summer Repertory Theater Festival, Santa Rosa’s acclaimed training program, has returned for its 45th year. Over the last four-and-a-half decades,…

Jul 10, 2016

“A Winter’s Tale” – July 6, 2016

Prince Hamlet is a moody death-metal addict with a messed-up ghost on his case. The jealous monarch from The Winter’s Tale has become a tyrannical…

Jul 10, 2016

“The Invisible Hand” – June 9, 2016

Money corrupts, as does Power, and they often work together, because of course, everywhere you go in this world, money is power. In playwright Ayad…

Jun 01, 2016

“West Side Story” – June 2, 2016

West Side Story—Sondheim, Bernstein and Laurents’ beloved 50s-era street-gang homage to Romeo and Juliet. Few American musicals are as widely loved…

Jun 01, 2016

“Red Velvet” – May 25, 2016

Fictionalized history, like ‘free trade’ and ‘forgotten memories,’ is something of an oxymoron. The minute you introduce fiction to a story, its…

May 17, 2016

“Venus In Fur,” “My Fair Lady” – May 18, 2016

“Battle of the sexes.” That phrase dates back to at least 1914, when the notorious filmmaker D.W. Griffith (he of “Birth of a Nation”) released a…

May 11, 2016

“Bob” – May 12, 2016

The writings of San Francisco playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb have always been a balance of the weird, the wondrous, the sensitive, and the cynical.…

May 10, 2016

“Treasure Island,” “Little Mermaid” – May 11, 2016

One recently-opened Bay Area stage show takes place under the Sea, where fish creatures dwell, another takes place on the Sea, where dangerous men…

May 03, 2016

“Twelfth Night” – May 4, 2016

For several years, the lack of strong roles for women has been the talk of the theater world, lighting up blogs and theater-related websites. With…

May 03, 2016

“Anne Boleyn” – April 27, 2016

Anne Boleyn lost her head. Everyone knows that. Little else is known about the infamously short-lived second wife of King Henry VIII. Largely because…

May 03, 2016

“The Andrews Brothers” – April 20, 2016

When is a play not a play? When it’s a concert. Because concerts have no plots, and plays have plots That’s the argument some have made against the…

Apr 12, 2016

“Silent Sky,” “All My Sons” – April 13, 2016

Two plays based on real happenings from the first half of the twentieth century have recently opened in the North Bay. One is new, the work of an…

Apr 06, 2016

“Time Stands Still” – April 7, 2016

War is not just about bombs and bullets and blood. It’s also about politics and position and power. Playwright Donald Margulies is not particularly…

Mar 23, 2016

“God of Carnage” – March 23, 2016

As theatergoers, we occasionally attend plays we never previously liked, and end up changing our minds by the end. Maybe the acting and directing…

Mar 16, 2016

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” – March 17, 2016

I am, in a moment, going to talk about spelling, as in spelling bees, as in ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,’ a musical that is currently…

Mar 01, 2016

Oregon Shakepeare Festival – March 2, 2016

Many playwrights strive to create poetry on stage, hoping to put such elegant words in the mouths of their characters that audiences will sit stunned…

Feb 23, 2016

“Arches, Balance and Light” – February 24, 2016

In author-playwright Mary Spletter’s world premiere, Arches, Balance and Light, the East Bay playwright takes on a difficult, if not impossible,…

Feb 16, 2016

“Kismet” – February 17, 2016

Last year, Spreckels Theater Company staged an unconventional revival of Rogers and Hammerstein’s ‘Carousel,’ a play many have heard of but few have…

Feb 09, 2016

“Road To Mecca,” “Bad Dates” – February 10, 2016

The Nobel-prize winning novelist Edith Wharton once wrote, “There are two ways of spreading light—to be the candle or the mirror that reflects…

Feb 02, 2016

“From Russia With Love,” “In Love With the 8×10” – February 3, 2016

Short plays aren’t easy. Like a haiku, you have to say a lot with a little. Because of that, it’s easy for a short play to come off less like

Jan 27, 2016

“A Steady Rain” – January 28, 2016

Good cop. Bad cop. It’s a formula so mainstream that it was the basis of a character in the ‘The LEGO Movie,’ where Liam Neeson voiced the…

Jan 26, 2016

“Gem of the Ocean” – January 27, 2016

The late August Wilson wrote ten plays as part of his celebrated Century Cycle, completing one play for each decade of the twentieth century, all but…

Jan 19, 2016

“One Man, Two Guvnors” – January 20, 2016

Four-and-a-half years ago, Richard Bean’s comedy play ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ appeared out of nowhere, making a mad, merry pratfall onto the stage of…

Jan 19, 2016

“Mahalia Jackson” – January 6, 2016

“Sometimes,” exhorts actress Sharon E. Scott, stirringly embodying the rich voice and sassy-sweet attitude of the great Gospel singer Mahalia…

Jan 19, 2016

“Into The Woods” – January 13, 2016

Magic isn’t easy. And sometimes, it takes a village to make something truly magical—and that even goes for fairy tale villages perched on the edge of…

Dec 15, 2015

New Year’s Eve Traditions – December 16, 2015

Let’s talk a little about New Year’s Eve. I know, I know. It’s not even Christmas yet. But given that some of the New Years Eve events I’m about to…

Dec 08, 2015

“Polar Bears” – December 9, 2015

Many of our Christmas entertainment traditions are tales of tribulation from Jimmy Stewart contemplating suicide in It’s a Wonderful Life to Charlie…

Dec 01, 2015

“A Christmas Carol,” “Little Women: The Musical” – December 2, 2015

“I wear the chains I forged in life!” This ghostly report from the doomed spirit of Jacob Marley is amongst the most famous supernatural utterances…

Nov 17, 2015

“Seminar” – November 18, 2015

It has been said that there is nothing less dramatic or more lacking in entertainment value than watching a writer write. In the clever comedy-drama…

Nov 10, 2015

“The Other Place,” “My Mañana Comes” – November 11, 2015

Invisibility. It’s not just something that happens in fantasy books and science fiction movies. In the real world, there are invisible people, folks…

Oct 27, 2015

“The Rocky Horror Show,” “Blithe Spirit” – October 28, 2015

Halloween is upon us, and to get us in the mood, two infamous supernatural sex-comedies are currently haunting 6th Street Playhouse. Both plays are…

Oct 21, 2015

“The Creature” – October 21, 2015

1999 years ago, an unmarried teenage mother had a bad dream. The next morning, she decided to turn that dream into a short story. Over the next few…

Oct 13, 2015

“The Light in the Piazza” – October 14, 2015

A little emotion goes a long way. And music is one of the best communicators of emotion, as Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Billy Joel can tell…

Oct 06, 2015

“Glorious” – October 7, 2015

Oh, the glory of the human voice. And the power of the human mind to hear one’s own voice, and somehow experience it as beautiful when to other’s…

Sep 29, 2015

“Treasure Island” and “Amelie” – September 30, 2015

A story is an illusion, a series of events that are not really taking place, presented in a way that fools its audience into believing, for a moment,…

Aug 26, 2015

“The Taming of the Shrew” – August 26, 2015

In Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” the indelible Kate and Petruchio—a feisty, ferocious fiancé and her would-be “tamer”—together discover…

Aug 26, 2015

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – August 12, 2015

“Oh, what fools these mortal’s be!” “The course of true love never did run smooth.” “Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.” There are a lot…

Aug 05, 2015

Maintaining That Festival State-Of-Mind – August 5, 2015

Last week—in my report on Dezi Gallegos’ new show, ‘Yesterday Again’—I spent a lot of time talking about newness, originality, world premieres, fresh…

Jul 28, 2015

“Yesterday, Again” – July 29, 2015

It’s a mystery, a challenge, a puzzle, a conundrum. How do you keep theater alive and interesting, when the majority of your audience has proven…

Jul 21, 2015

The Sonoma County Stage One Theatre Arts Awards – July 22, 2015

It is better, they say, to give than to receive. That must be why so many groups gather so often to give so many awards to so many people

Jul 15, 2015

“Shiner” – July 16, 2015

For those who prefer not to travel far for their onstage entertainment, and like to avoid any excursions into foreign territory, there are,…

Jul 14, 2015

“Twelfth Night” – July 15, 2015

“Twelfth Night” is amongst Shakespeare’s most popular plays, in part because the story is so accessible, and the situations so universally funny.…

Jul 08, 2015

“Twelfth Night;” “Cymbeline” – July 8, 2015

There’s an old Latin saying. “Aestivo Tempori est Shakespeare!” Roughly translated: There’s no better time to watch Shakespeare than in the…

Jul 05, 2015

“The Count of Monte Cristo;” and “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night” – July 6, 2015

One of the cool things about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the current season of which I have been reporting on lately, is the way it often…

Jul 01, 2015

“Antony and Cleopatra;” and “Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land” – July 2, 2015

The good, the bad and the ugly. It’s not just the name of an old Clint Eastwood movie. It’s also a fitting way to think about this year’s

Jun 30, 2015

“Head Over Heels” – July 1, 2015

Well, the recent Supreme Court ruling affirming marriage equality to all couldn’t be better timed, ‘cause the big celebration’s already started up in…

Jun 23, 2015

“Oh, What A Night!” – June 24, 2015

Lets talk about inspiration. Inspiration is often likened to lightning striking, or an electric bulb popping on over our heads. Metaphorically, when…

Jun 16, 2015

“Falstaff;” and “Choir Boy” – June 17, 2015

There’s no denying it. Music is a powerful force. Music can express the deepest of human emotions. And there are, obviously, many different styles…

Jun 02, 2015

“The North Plan;” and “The Clean House” – June 3, 2015

Making an audience laugh is not an easy task for any playwright, or for the actors indebted with bringing the author’s words to life on stage. Humor…

May 26, 2015

“Peter Pan” – May 27, 2015

No one’s ever done an official scientific study on this, but I have observed certain conspicuous distinctions between the way adults react to the…

May 19, 2015

“Noises Off;” and “One Man, Two Guvnors” – May 20, 2015

Let’s face it – it’s not always easy to look on the bright side of life. Laughter helps, but getting there often requires a helpful boost. If you are…

May 13, 2015

“Mary Poppins;” and “Crazy For You” – May 14, 2015

Theater is all about transformation, and transformation is never easy. But transforming one of the best-loved movies of all time into a stage…

May 12, 2015

“Trailer Park Gods” – May 13, 2015

First, let me tell you about a show I saw last week, then let me say a few words about where I saw it. “Trailer Park Gods” is an

May 06, 2015

“Point Break Live!” – May 6, 2015

Whatever else one says about “Point Break Live!,” you have to agree there aren’t many other live entertainments where the audience is doused with…

Apr 27, 2015

“The Way West;” and “The Amen Corner” – April 29, 2015

Music has a way of reaching out like no other art form. In times of stress it calms our nerves. It gives us strength when we are struggling. Then…

Apr 21, 2015

“Nunsense!” – April 22, 2015

There may be more-than-one theatrical franchise of musical plays that started out as a line of greeting cards showing nuns saying vaguely racy…

Apr 14, 2015

“King Lear” … with puppets! – April 15, 2015

I love puppets. It’s a secret that only a certain number of people know about me, but in my late teens, I was a professional puppeteer. It’s true. I

Apr 07, 2015

“Venus in Fur” – April 8, 2015

Something kinky has been taking place lately in the world of mainstream entertainment. Sadism and masochism are now to romantic comedy what romance…

Apr 01, 2015

Oregon Shakespeare Festival: “Guys and Dolls” and “Fingersmith” – April 2, 2015

One thing about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that surprises a few newcomers is that only about four or five of the eleven shows they do each year…

Mar 31, 2015

Oregon Shakespeare Festival: “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Pericles” – April 1, 2015

Every year in spring, when people hear me talking about the shows that just opened at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, they get confused.…

Mar 24, 2015

“[Title of Show];” and “Deathtrap” – March 25, 2015

It’s a striking coincidence. You don’t have to be the writer of stage thrillers to see it. Maybe it’s the work of some devious theatrical conspiracy.…

Mar 09, 2015

39th Annual San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Awards – March 11, 2015

Well, Monday night was a good night for North Bay theater people. At the 39th annual San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Awards, a batch of Sonoma…

Mar 02, 2015

“The Convert” – March 4, 2015

Change is part of life. Some changes are easy, others much less so. And when cultures collide, change is often dangerous, violent, and destructive.…

Feb 28, 2015

“Bonnie & Clyde;” and “Shining City” – February 25, 2015

The thing about death is, it’s not negotiable. Sooner or later, we all have to face it. Till then, it’s hanging out there, somewhere, waiting for us.

Feb 18, 2015

“Carousel” – February 18, 2015

“Carousel,” the second musical created by the legendary Rogers & Hammerstein, is noted today for two major things. One – it’s the show from which we…

Feb 10, 2015

“I Am My Own Wife” – February 11, 2015

Twelve years ago, journalist and playwright Doug Wright unveiled a new one-actor play with a curious name: “I Am My Own Wife.” As a member of the…

Feb 03, 2015

“Heroines” and “In the Next Room” – February 4, 2015

In Victorian England, the unhappy wife of a repressed doctor yearns to feel alive – and finally takes matters into her own hands. In an imaginary…

Jan 27, 2015

Theatre Awards Season! – January 28, 2015

It’s awards season, and everyone’s talking about who got nominated and who didn’t. And no, I’m not talking about the Oscars. Last week, the San…

Jan 20, 2015

“The Fever” – January 21, 2015

I saw an amazing performance last weekend, but I have no clue how to properly describe what I saw. I could start by talking about Wallace Shawn, the…

Jan 13, 2015

“Clybourne Park” – January 14, 2015

One need not have ever seen Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun to appreciate the setup – or laugh at the jokes – in Bruce Norris’s…

Jan 06, 2015

“Edith Piaf: Under Paris Skies” – January 7, 2015

It’s a new year, and as the North Bay theater community prepares to launch its first shows of 2015, Cinnabar Theater, in Petaluma, has already…