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House lights down. Cue the music. The curtain rises weekly on KRCB’s early-morning news segment Second Row Center.
There’s a lot of theatre in the Bay Area. With so many options and limited time and resources, how does one go about deciding just what to see? That’s where a critic can be of assistance.
Theatre critic Harry Duke has been knocking around Bay Area stages for twenty years since his days in the Sonoma State University Theatre Arts program. He’s turned what used to be post-show conversations with fellow artists into full-fledged reviews of Bay Area theatre that can be found in the Sonoma County Gazette and on the For All Events website. More than a simple recitation of a plot (you can look that up yourselves,) his reviews are honest evaluations of the components that make a good show good and a bad show bad.
- 230 - 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, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley were labeled the “Million Dollar Quartet” by a local journalist and the moniker stuck to the recordings of the session released decades later. In 2006, Colin Escott and Floyd Matrux unleashed a highly fictionalized and time-compressed theatrical version of the event also titled Million Dollar Quartet. After several successful bay area productions, Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse gives the North Bay a chance to check out this popular jukebox musical now running through March 24. Jukebox musicals are usually comprised of a couple of dozen well-known songs connected by expositionary material and Million Dollar Quartet is no different. Sam Phillips (Benjamin Stowe) narrates the tale of the event, filling in the backstory and presenting the dramatic conflict (Will Johnny Cash sign a contract extension or fly the coop?) around which the music swirls. At a recording session for Carl Perkins (Jake Turner) with Jerry Lee Lewis (Nick Kenrick, also music director) on piano, who should happen to drop by but Elvis Presley and his girlfriend (played by Daniel Durston and Samantha Arden) and Johnny Cash (played by Steve Lasiter)! In no time, there’ll be a whole lot of shakin goin’ on as we’re treated to “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “That’s All Right”, “Great Balls of Fire” and 20 other classics. Director Michael Ray Wisely – who has played Phillips and directed this piece before - had the benefit of 6th Street expending significant coin on this production beginning with an impressive set (Conor Woods adapting Kelly James Tighe’s original scenic design) and imported talent. It’s not an easy show to cast as each performer must be a “triple threat” - an actor, a singer, and a musician. Kenrick reprises his TBA Award-winning performance as Jerry Lee Lewis and steals the show with his kinetic piano playing and entertaining characterization. Local performer Jake Turner manages to hold his own against Kenrick as Carl Perkins, and Durston and Lasiter do fine in capturing the essence of their characters while avoiding simple caricatures. They receive good musical support by locals Nick Ambrosino on drums and bassist Shovanny Delgado Carillo. Ignore the shaky musical history and often-pedestrian exposition that’s presented and you’ll find yourself enjoying a well-performed staged concert of some of rock and roll’s greatest hits. 'Million Dollar Quartet' runs Thursdays through Sundays through March 24 at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. Thursday through Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm; there are Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 - 4min - 229 - 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 an enlightened look at male/female relationships is likely to leave quite hungry. The current national tour of the 2017 revival of the 1964 Broadway smash based on Thorton Wilder’s 1955 revision of his 1938 play extrapolated from an Austrian playwright’s 1842 extension of an English dramatists 1835 one-act reflects the then-common attitudes towards a women’s place in society and the home. Anyone going to a performance of Hello, Dolly! with an appetite to see a Broadway legend at work, or hear magnificent musical classics delivered with gusto, or see a bevy of athletic dancers spring across the stage in spirited numbers based on Gower Champion’s original choreography, or be dazzled by the color and craftsmanship at work in Santo Loquasto’s scenic and costume design, is likely to leave the theatre with their appetite satiated. Tony-winner Betty Buckley (Cats, Sunset Boulevard) plays Dolly Gallagher Levi, a matchmaker and jill-of-all-trades in 19th century New York engaged by the well-known Yonkers half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder (Lewis J. Stadlen) to find him a bride, an assignment which Dolly intends to fill herself. Sub-plots involve Vandergelder’s niece Ermengarde and her paramour Ambrose Kemper (played by Morgan Kirner and Garret Hawe) and Feed Store clerks Cornelius and Barnaby (played by Nic Rouleau Jess LeProtto). At age 71, Buckley does her damnedest to make the part made famous by Carol Channing (at age 42) her own, and succeeds to an extent. It’s obvious and understandable that her choreography has been limited and that she lacks the vocal power to deliver some of the musical’s biggest moments (“Before the Parade Passes By” was disappointingly flat) but she really delivers in the show’s quieter moments when she engages with the memories of her late husband. The supporting cast is outstanding with Rouleau and LeProtto really scoring as the clerks unleashed in New York City and Analisa Leaming and Kristen Hahn as the objects of their affections. MVP of this production goes to Stadlen, a reliable Broadway performer for the past 50 years who often toils in the anonymity common to great character actors. His eyebrows are as expressive as anything else on stage. Go ahead, roll your eyes during “It Takes a Woman” but don’t be surprised to find yourself cheering after “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “The Waiters’ Gallop” and, at the very least, smiling through almost everything else. ‘Hello, Dolly! ’runs through March 17 at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. Dates and times vary. For more information, go to shnsf.com
Wed, 06 Mar 2019 - 4min - 228 - 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 referred, were the result of a late 19th century movement in European theatre to enhance the realism of plays with an understanding of how heredity and environment can influence an individual. The most famous play to come out of this period is Swedish playwright August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. Set in the downstairs kitchen of an estate, it’s a three-character piece examining issues of sex and class. The title character’s the daughter of a count with an eye for the manor’s chauffeur, complicated by the presence of the manor cook who also happens to be the chauffeur’s wife-to-be. Playwright Patrick Marber (Closer, film’s Notes on a Scandal) adapted the play for British television in 1995 under the title After Miss Julie and a stage version premiered in 2003. It’s the version running now through March 3 at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West. Marber moved the time and setting of the play to post-WWII England, specifically to the night of the Labour Party’s landslide victory over Winston Churchill and the Conservative Party. The significant upheaval to Great Britain’s political and social system is reflected in the characters. Miss Julie (Illana Niernberger) is literally “to the manor born”, but that doesn’t stop her from slumming with the servants. John (Sam Coughlin) is the Lord of the Manor’s chauffeur who, while harboring a long love for Miss Julie, is to be married to Christine (Jennifer Coté), the manor cook. Miss Julie is used to getting what she wants, and that includes John. John wants something, too, and that is to “improve” his lot in life and Miss Julie can facilitate that. Christine wants a simple life with a husband with a pension and a family. Co-Directors/Scenic Designers Elizabeth Craven and David Lear elicit strong performances from the cast. Niernberger’s Julie is lost in a changing society, turning on a dime from entitled superior to groveling submissive. Coughlin’s John is the villain of the piece, desperate to be something other than he is at any cost, but destined to be no more than a (literally) bootlicking lackey. Coté’s Christine is the most aggrieved of the party, but she is willing to overlook - or forgive – John’s boorishness to ensure she gets what she wants. After Miss Julie is a classic love triangle told exceedingly well, though the question of how much “love” exists between any of them is up for debate. 'After Miss Julie' runs through March 3 at Main Stage West in Sebastopol. Thursday through Saturday evening performances are at 8pm. The Sunday matinee is at 5pm. For more information, go to mainstagewest.com
Wed, 27 Feb 2019 - 4min - 227 - 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 Pennsylvania-based vocal quartet, were headed for a major gig at the Fusel-Lounge at the Harrisburg Airport Hilton when their cherry red Mercury was broadsided by a bus full of Catholic schoolgirls. The girls, who escaped unscathed, were on their way to see the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Plaids went on to that Great Performance Hall in the Sky… or at least the green room of the Great Performance Hall in the Sky. Rather than spend an eternity waiting to “go on”, they make their way back to earth to give the concert that never was. That is the plot upon which Stuart Ross and James Raitt hang twenty-four musical standards in their very popular jukebox musical Forever Plaid, running through March 3 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. Frankie (F. James Raasch), Sparky (Scottie Woodard), Jinx (Michael Scott Wells), and Smudge (David Murphy) were high school friends who dreamed of musical glory. Following the path created by ‘50’s versions of what we now refer to as “boy bands” (The Four Lads, The Four Aces, The Crew-Cuts, etc.), they formed The Plaids and specialized in four-part harmonies. And that’s what you’ll hear over the Michael Ross-directed show’s one hour and 45-minute running time. “Three Coins in the Fountain”, “Sixteen Tons”, “Chain Gang”, and “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” are just some of the 20-plus songs performed by the crisply costumed gents (courtesy Barbara McFadden) with matching choreography by Woodard. Music is nicely performed by a trio consisting of music director Craig Burdette (keyboards), Quentin Cohen (drums), and Alan Parks (bass). The guys are good with each one getting a solo shot to go along with the group work. Their stock characters (the shy one, the funny, etc.) banter with each other between numbers and amusingly engage with the audience. The comedic numbers are particularly well done with the show’s highlight being a three-minute recreation of The Ed Sullivan Show, though it helps to have some familiarity with that show. The same can be said for the music. Yes, it’s a trip down memory lane, but if toe-tapping, hand-squeezing and perpetual grinning are any indications, Forever Plaid hits all the right notes with an audience willing to make the trip. ’Forever Plaid' plays through March 3rd at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. Thursday evening performances are at 7pm; Fridays and Saturdays are at 8pm. There’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm. For more information, go to luckypennynapa.com
Wed, 20 Feb 2019 - 4min - 226 - 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 Shakespeare’s Hamlet in their lifetime. Considered by many to be Shakespeare’s - if not the world’s - greatest play, it’s one-third ghost story, one-third dysfunctional family drama, and one-third revenge tale. It’s now the first-ever Shakespeare play to be mounted on the Nellie W. Codding stage at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center. Artistic Director Sheri Lee Miller helms the production which runs through February 17. Something is rotten in the state Denmark. A spirit claiming to be the late King has appeared to Prince Hamlet to inform him he was poisoned by his own brother Claudius, who then married the widowed queen Gertrude and usurped the throne. He has one simple request of Hamlet – revenge! Miller has gathered an impressive roster of talent to essay the Bard’s classic roles. First and foremost, there’s Keith Baker as the brooding Prince. Baker is a marvel to watch and to listen to as Shakespeare’s words come trippingly off his tongue. Peter Downey is magnetic as the scheming Claudius, shading his villainy with a glimpse into his humanity and his true love of Gertrude. Eric Thompson’s Polonius brings a welcome lightness to the stage and is sorely missed upon his “departure”. Chad Yarish as faithful friend Horatio, Danielle Cain as the easily swayed Gertude, Ivy Rose Miller as the doomed Ophelia and the entire supporting cast do honor to their roles. The stark yet imposing set by Elizabeth Bazzano and Eddy Hansen in conjunction with Hansen’s lighting Design and Chris Schloemp’s projections design give the production an otherworldly feel. Costumes by Pamela Johnson pop against the dark and dank (courtesy of ample fog) backgrounds. An extremely effective addition is a live music “soundscape” composed and performed by Nancy Hayashibari. Accompanying many scenes, Hayashibari’s contribution to this production’s success cannot be overstated. Look, folks, I’m no Shakespeare pushover. It’s overdone, usually underproduced, and often interminable, but I get it. It’s royalty free, has roles that are on every actor’s bucket list, and comes with a built-in audience. Yes, it’s long, but director Sheri Lee Miller has put together an outstanding production of Hamlet that should reach beyond that “Shakespeare” audience. Will they come? Aye, there’s the rub. 'Hamlet' runs through February 17th at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8pm, the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. There’s also a Thursday, February 14th performance at 7pm. For more information, go to spreckelsonline.com
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 - 4min - 225 - 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 over seventy-five years. Sonoma Arts Live has a production running through February 10. Joseph Kesselring’s tale of the Brewster sisters and their pension for helping lonely old men meet their maker via a glass of elderberry wine debuted on Broadway in 1941 and ran for 1,444 performances. It starred Jean Adair, Josephine Hull, and Boris Karloff as black sheep Jonathan Brewster. A film adaptation by Frank Capra followed in 1944 starring Cary Grant as Jonathan Brewster. Though the play has since become a staple of the American theater, like an old haunted house it’s starting to creak. Mortimer Brewster (Michael Coury Murdock) returns to his childhood home and his Aunts Abby & Martha (Karen Brocker & Karen Pinomaki). After getting engaged to the next-door preacher’s daughter Elaine (Julianne Bradbury), Mortimer is horrified to discover his aunts have taken on the most macabre hobby. They’re helping lonely old men find “peace” and disposing of the bodies in the basement. Luckily, Uncle “Teddy” (Tim Setzer) believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt and is always willing to dig a new lock downstairs at the Panama Canal for the latest “yellow fever victim.” Mortimer figures he can pin everything on the obviously insane Teddy, but things get complicated when brother Jonathan (Mike Schaeffer) shows up with a physician friend (Rose Roberts) and a body of their own. Director Michael Ross has some good talent at work here. Mmes. Brocker and Pinomaki are delightfully dotty as the sisters, and Setzer invigorates the stage with his every appearance. However, Mr. Murdock is too one-note as Mortimer, showing little range of emotion considering the insanity that’s going on around him. He rarely seems to be “in the moment”, often appearing to be casually awaiting his next line. Ms. Bradbury is far more animated as Elaine, making one wonder what she see’s in Mortimer. Schaeffer and Roberts are two very talented actors, but I’m not sure these were the right roles for them. I found Schaeffer’s menacing Jonathan undone by his distracting John O’Hurley (J. Peterman from Seinfeld)-like voice and Roberts baby-faced Dr. Einstein too youthful to capture the character’s exhaustion and desperation. Nice stagecraft compliments the performances. The black and white set (by Michael Walraven) and costumes (by Janice Snyder) evoke a classic cinema period-like feel. Arsenic and Old Lace is definitely a nostalgia piece, best enjoyed by those familiar with it. ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ runs through February 10 at Andrews Hall in the Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 7:30pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to sonomaartslive.org.
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 - 4min - 224 - 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 documentarian as a poet and author, the ten plays (Jitney, Fences, et al.) of Wilson’s Century (or Pittsburgh) Cycle chronicle the twentieth century African-American experience mostly through the lives of the residents of Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where Wilson grew up. In 2002, Wilson stepped away from the Cycle and turned to himself as his subject with How I Learned What I Learned, running now at Mill Valley’s Marin Theatre Company in partnership with San Francisco’s Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and Oakland’s Ubuntu Theatre Project. The show will play other Bay Area venues under their auspices after the conclusion of its Marin run. Directed with obvious love by Margo Hall and starring Steven Anthony Jones as Wilson, the show is a 110-minute intermission-less conversation between the author and the audience. It’s not a “greatest hits” review, but a look back at the life experiences that shaped Wilson as a young man and the people he encountered along the way. Those familiar with Wilson’s work will recognize some people as the basis for characters or plot elements in his work. Set on a simple stage against a backdrop of sheets of paper hanging like laundry drying on a line, each of Wilson’s often humorous reminiscences is announced by a projection of a typewritten title. After a quick review of the African-American experience through 1863, it begins with his decision to move out of his mother’s house and zig-zags through his experiences as a young man seeking work, his neighborhood interactions, his dalliances, his time in jail, his discovery of jazz, and the indignities he suffered because of the color of his skin. From an early job interview that ended with a warning not to steal, to being asked to stop mowing a lawn because the white home owner objected to a black man being on her property, to the difficulties in cashing a check, the show’s most powerful moments are those in which Wilson reminds us that the respect of others won’t come without respect of self. Steven Anthony Jones is a marvelous story teller who, though he struggled a bit with lines on opening night, completely captured the audience by the time the lights had dimmed. August Wilson may be gone, but Jones brings him roaring back to life with an entertaining, enraging, and eye-opening evening of solo theatre. ‘How I Learned What I Learned’ runs Tuesday through Sunday through February 3 at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley before moving to other venues in the Bay Area. Dates and times vary. For more information, go to marintheatre.org
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 - 4min - 223 - 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 door-slamming farce Moon Over Buffalo. The backstage comedy runs through February 3. Buffalo, New York’s Erlanger Theater is hosting the repertory company of George and Charlotte Hay (Dodds Delzell & Madeleine Ashe), grade-B actors and grade-A hams who never made it big on stage. Content to spend their waning years touring second-rate theatres and playing roles more appropriate for actors half their age, they’re on the ropes when word comes to George that Frank Capra is coming to see them perform and possibly cast them as replacements for Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson in a big-budget period film. Charlotte doesn’t believe George as she’s just found out he’s been lying about an affair he had with company ingenue Eileen (Victoria Saitz) who happens to be carrying George’s child. Charlotte announces she’s running off with family friend/attorney Richard (Joe Winkler) which sends George into a drunken spiral. Charlotte finds out the Capra story is true, so it’s up to Charlotte, her recently returned daughter Rosalind (Chandler Parrot-Thomas), her daughter’s ex-lover and current stage manager Paul (Robert Nelson) and Charlotte’s hearing-impaired mother Ethel (Shirley Nilsen Hall) to sober up George in time for the matinee. There’s also the confusion over Rosalind’s current fiancé Howard (Erik Weiss), a TV weatherman who is mistaken by Charlotte for Capra and by George as Eileen’s vengeful brother, and a concluding performance of Noël Coward’s Private Lives mashed up with Cyrano de Bergerac. Director Carl Jordan has a terrific cast of comedic talents running, jumping, stumbling and rolling through Ludwig’s tale which comes off as a lesser knock-off of his superior Lend Me a Tenor. All the elements are there (mistaken identity, feuding lovers, running jokes, etc.) but at its core it’s a hollow re-do that starts slowly before hitting its stride. More problematic, the characters as written simply aren’t very likeable. The show only works if you care about the characters and want them to get out of their mess. I just didn’t. The set by Jason Jamerson is solid – literally, as it has to withstand two hours of door slamming – and it’s one of the better sets seen recently on 6th Street’s stage. The cast is game and their timing is great with each squeezing some laughs out of their characters. Delzell gets to play half the show soused, Parrot-Thomas is quite delightful as Rosalind, and while Weiss’s physical comedy is always fun to watch, I’d really like to see him do something different with his next role. Moon Over Buffalo is a case where the whole is less than the sum of its parts. 'Moon Over Buffalo' runs Friday through Sunday through February 3 at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. There’s a Thursday, January 24 performance at 7:30 pm For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 - 4min - 222 - 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 are my top torn tickets of 2018: Part Two, the Musicals (in alphabetical order): Always, Patsy Cline… - Sonoma Arts Live - Danielle DeBow’s Patsy was as heartbreaking as Karen Pinomaki’s Louise was amusing in director Michael Ross’s labor of love. Excellent costume and set design work (also by Ross) along with outstanding live music accompaniment under the direction of Ellen Patterson made this a memorable evening of musical theatre. A Chorus Line - Novato Theater Company - Few small theatre companies would take the risk of producing a vehicle that requires triple-threat performers in most roles. Director Marilyn Izdebksi’s decades of experience in dance and choreography and terrific casting were key to this production’s success. Hands on a Hardbody - Lucky Penny - The perfect sized musical for the Napa company’s small space, there wasn’t much room for anything else once they got the pickup truck that’s central to the story on stage. Director Taylor Bartolucci and choreographer Staci Arriaga had just enough room for a nice, diverse cast to beautifully tell the atypical story. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change - Raven Players - The cavernous Raven Theatre in Healdsburg was converted into a quaint black-box space where director Diane Bailey let loose four talented performers to tell musical stories about the arc of human relationships. It worked really well. Illyria - 6th Street Playhouse - Shakespeare. Ugh. A Shakespeare musical? Groan. A really entertaining musical production based on Twelfth Night? Surprising! Director Craig Miller’s swan song was a clever adaptation of the Bard’s comedy that combined excellent vocal talents and the musical direction of Lucas Sherman to produce the best sounding show I’d seen at 6th Street in a long time. Peter Pan - Spreckels Theatre Company - There’s no better stage in the North Bay on which to see a large-scale musical than the Codding stage at Spreckels. Flying around on wires is so much more impressive in a 550-seat theater, and Sarah Wintermeyers’ winsome performance as Peter was good enough for me to set aside my long-standing beef with always casting a female in the role. Scrooge in Love! - Lucky Penny - A fairly new play (this was only its third production) that’s good enough to become a Christmas standard. A great lead performance from Brian Herndon was supported by a top-notch ensemble in this reverential continuation of the Dickens classic.
Wed, 16 Jan 2019 - 4min - 221 - 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 musical versus a play, here are my top torn tickets of 2018 - Part One, the Plays (in alphabetical order): Blackbird - Main Stage West – As dark subject matter goes, this look at a pedophile and his victim is as unsettling a piece of theatre as I’ve seen. Under David Lear’s direction, Sharia Pierce and John Shillington acted the hell out of David Harrower’s script which raised a lot of really uncomfortable questions and provided no answers. Buried Child - Main Stage West – Elizabeth Craven’s direction of Sam Shepard’s nightmarish look at the crumbling American Dream found the right balance between the real and the surreal in this dark, funny, disturbing, and heartbreaking show. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Spreckels Theatre Company – Elijah Pinkham’s revelatory performance as a 15-year-old with an Asperger’s/autism-like condition on a journey of self-discovery was the centerpiece of this Elizabeth Craven-directed production. Death of a Salesman - Novato Theatre Company & 6th Street Playhouse - It’s a critic’s burden to have to go see multiple productions of the same piece within weeks or months of each other and it’s rare when both productions are superb. The Carl Jordan and Craig Miller-helmed productions each had their own strengths and weaknesses but both had towering lead performances. Joe Winkler’s and Charles Siebert’s takes on Willy Loman were utterly different and totally devastating. Equus - 6th Street Playhouse – Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play about a boy and his horse was such a left-field choice for 6th Street to produce that I really didn’t know what to expect. That this very difficult play turned out to be one of the North Bay’s best 2018 productions is a credit to director Lennie Dean and an outstanding ensemble. The Great God Pan – Cinnabar Theater – A terrific combination of script, performance, technical and design craft under the direction of Taylor Korobow made this rumination on recovered memory unforgettable. Oslo - Marin Theatre Company – While the Oslo Accords have been deemed a failure, MTC’s excellent production of the J.T. Rogers drama about the negotiations that lead to them reminded us that humanity is too often the missing element in politics today. Next week: Top Torn Tickets, the Musicals!
Wed, 09 Jan 2019 - 4min - 220 - 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 musical artists from Edith Piaf to Mahalia Jackson to Frank Sinatra. This year, the work of classic American tunesmith Cole Porter takes center stage via Love, Linda, a look at Porter through the eyes of his wife, Ms. Linda Lee. Veteran cabaret performer Maureen McVerry plays Mrs. Cole Porter and yes, there was a Mrs. Cole Porter. More than a marriage of convenience, the Porters had a genuine affection for each other, despite Porter leading an active homosexual life. Notwithstanding the challenges that presented to the relationship, they remained married until Lee’s death in 1954. The show is set in the Porter’s elegant Parisian apartment where Linda reminisces about her life before Porter, how they met, their life together in Paris, their adventures in Hollywood, and their settling in an apartment at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Interspersed between the memories are, of course, the songs. The tale of their time in Paris is matched with “I Love Paris”, their time in Hollywood with “Night and Day” (also the title of the highly fictionalized film biography where the diminutive Porter was portrayed by the 6’4” Cary Grant). Her complex relationship with Porter is represented by “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” and “Wunderbar”. Ms. McVerry’s vocals are accompanied by a terrific on-stage three-piece combo of piano (played by Chris Alexander for the opening performance, musical director Cesar Cancino handles it for the rest of the run), bass by Steven Hoffman, and drums by John Shebalin. McVerry does not possess a particularly rich voice, which led the musical accompaniment to regularly overwhelm her vocals. We hear Porter’s beautiful compositions, but his often amusing, often passionate lyrics are frequently lost. Cinnabar should really consider miking their musicals. Director Clark Sterling keeps things moving at a brisk pace and brings the show in at 85 minutes, including an intermission. Scenic designer Wayne Hovey brings an expansive apartment feel to the Cinnabar space, though I wish the projections used throughout the show had been worked more into the set rather than displayed over it. Love, Linda is an affectionate look back at one of America’s greatest musical talents. My affection for it would be amplified if the vocals were. 'Love, Linda' runs through January 13th at Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. There’s a New Year’s Eve party and performance at 9pm on December 31st. For more information, go to cinnabartheater.org.
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 - 4min - 219 - 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 about your show - the six Tonys (including Best Musical) and the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. I’ve seen the songs performed on various television shows and many of my friends own the album. I know this show has touched a nerve with a lot of people and, after seeing it, I understand why. Yet, I left the theatre feeling a bit uncomfortable. Your story of a friendless high school student (played by Ben Levi Ross) with an unspecified behavioral condition who finds himself trapped in a lie of his own creation about a fellow student’s death has a lot to say. It speaks to the lonely, the different, and the heartbroken via some beautiful songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, like “You Will Be Found” and “Waving Through a Window”. Your tale of the desperate need for human connections in a technologically oppressive world is filled with terrific performances, especially Jessica Philips as your mother, Jared Kleinman as your “family friend” Jared, and Maggie McKenna as Zoe, the object of your affection. Steven Levenson’s book speaks many truths as well. I have experienced first-hand the phenomenon of what happens at a public school when students are faced with the unexpected death of a classmate; how some latch on to a person they never knew and create a relationship that never existed. Where I find the story less than truthful, however, is in dealing with the issue of your condition and the underlying message of the myth of a “good lie”. What is it that led you to seek therapeutic help? Is your awkwardness a manifestation of that condition? If it is, why is the audience amused by it? Do they find your behavior cute? Funny? Is your pain being played for laughs? Is that why your lying is excused? The more I thought about these things, the more troubled I became. And what of your lie? Is the fact that everyone seems to come out of the situation unscathed, or even better off, a classic case of the ends justifying the means? Is that the message with which the playwright really wants to leave us? We live in perilous times, Evan. Truth is a precious commodity that is in too short supply these days. Let’s not lose sight of that via eye-popping stagecraft and soaring ballads. Sincerely, Me ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ runs through December 30th at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. Dates and times vary. For more information, go to sfcurran.com
Wed, 26 Dec 2018 - 4min - 218 - 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 (David Sedaris’s Santaland Diaries) or a single dad desperate to maintain the fiction of Santa Claus with his children (David Templeton’s Polar Bears). Even Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol has been reduced to a one-man show with Scrooge. Playwright Ginna Hoben’s the 12 Dates of Christmas is a rare female-centric holiday themed show that, despite its title, has little to do with the holiday and more to do with a one woman’s experience in the dating world. It runs at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through January 6. Mary (Jess Headington), a thirty-something actress in New York, is getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with her fiancé when he calls to beg off due to food poisoning. She’s watching the Macy’s Parade on television, when what to her wondering eyes do appear but said fiancé nibbling on his co-worker’s ear. No sooner is the engagement ring dropped in a Salvation Army kettle when Mary begins her own parade - of dates. We skip from holiday to holiday and follow her through a year of family set-ups, chance meetings and the occasional hook-up. Each date is represented by an ornament Mary hangs on her Christmas tree. There’s a doctor who’s too good to be true, a bartender who forces Mary to break one of her personal rules (never date anyone with an ass smaller than your own), a stalker, a guy who offers her a steady job, a co-worker, an old friend, and even the ex-fiancé. Some dates are better than others. She turns down a guy who calls back. She waits for a call from a guy who never does. A year later, she’s still single, but seems content with her choices and has moved on, continuing to build her life, whether there’s another person in it or not. Headington is a talented performer and engages the audience from the get-go. Her Mary is a fully-formed character, neither perfect nor a walking disaster. She owns her choices, recognizes the bad ones she makes, revels in the good ones, and keeps plowing forward through the ups-and-downs of dating with her sense of humor intact. Mary is not the only character to take the stage, as Headington takes on the roles of her mother, her busy-body aunt, her perfect sister, her various dates and about a half-dozen other characters who enter the scene. She does a good job making each character distinctive and recognizable, either through vocal choice or physicality. Director Juliet Noonan keeps Mary on the move and brings the show in at about 90 minutes with an intermission. She utilizes the entire black box space and even has Mary come into the audience. Headington’s goodwill prevents these moments from becoming too intrusive. The closing moments of both acts need to be defined a bit more, though. It’s never good when an audience isn’t sure whether a show is over or not. The dating world is often a fertile field for comedy. Headington and the 12 Dates of Christmas do a pretty good job of harvesting that field for good-natured laughs. 'The 12 Dates of Christmas' runs through January 6th at the 6th Street Playhouse Studio Theatre in Santa Rosa. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. There’s one Saturday matinee on December 29th and a Thursday evening performance on January 3rd. For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com.
Tue, 18 Dec 2018 - 4min - 217 - 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 theatre companies are providing several seasonal entertainments to help keep you in the holiday spirit. Family-friendly musicals are the usual fare and there are several on tap. While not all would be classified as holiday-specific shows, they’ll still get the kids out of the house for a few hours and give adults some welcome relief. Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts (theatrearts.santarosa.edu) is presenting Shrek, the Musical. Burbank Auditorium renovations continue to require them to do their shows “on the road”, so you’ll have to travel to Maria Carrillo High School to see this one. Spreckels Theatre Company (spreckelsonline.com) is doing The Tailor of Gloucester. This original holiday musical, based on the Beatrix Potter story, was originally commissioned and produced by Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater back in 2004 and had several Youth Theatre productions there. Michael Ross directs (mostly) adults in this studio theater production. Sonoma Arts Live (sonomaartslive.org) brings Anne of Green Gables to their Rotary stage. This musical version of the L.M. Montgomery classic is about a spunky redheaded orphan winning over her new family and an entire Canadian island. Speaking of spunky redheaded orphans, 6th Street Playhouse (6thstreetplayhouse.com) assures us the sun’ll come out tomorrow with Annie. It’s Daddy Warbucks versus the evil Miss Hannigan with Annie - and her little dog, too – as the objects of their attention. The 12 Dates of Christmas will run in the 6th Street Studio Theater. It’s a single woman’s ‘holiday survival guide’. For nostalgia fans, Redwood Theatre Company (redwoodtheatrecompany.com) will be presenting It’s a Wonderful Life in the live radio play format. A plucky little girl – this time named Eve – takes center stage at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center (cloverdaleperformingarts.com) in Yo Ho Ho: A Pirate’s Christmas. Can she rescue Santa and Christmas from the clutches of a gang of directionally-challenged pirates? If she doesn’t, the audience may mutiny. Over in Napa, Lucky Penny Productions (luckypennynapa.com) is presenting Scrooge in Love. This will be only the third fully staged production of this original musical after having been done twice by San Francisco’s 42 Street Moon. It musically answers all the questions you may have about what happened after the end of Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol. Dyan McBride, the show’s original director, heads this production as well. Finally, for those in the mood for a big, splashy music and dance extravaganza, there’s always Transcendence Theatre Company (transcendencetheatre.org) and their Broadway Holiday Spectacular. They’ll be doing three performances at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center and two performances in Napa at the Lincoln Theatre in Yountville. Lots of entertainment options, and I’m sure the producing companies would like to remind you that theatre tickets make GREAT stocking stuffers. You can find links to all these shows and more on the calendar page of the North Bay Stage and Screen web site at northbaystageandscreen.com.
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 - 4min - 216 - 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: artistic, journalistic, theatrical and otherwise. Since then, he continues to write, has a full-time gig as the Community Editor at the Petaluma Argus-Courier, and took a featured role in Left Edge Theatre’s pole dancing extravaganza The Naked Truth. An “otherwise” pursuit for Templeton would be directing, and he’s about to do just that with his holiday-themed one-man show Polar Bears, opening November 30 at San Rafael’s Belrose Theater. Templeton describes Polar Bears as “a heartwarming holiday tragedy.” Say Again? “I wrote it,” said Templeton, “because I've read scads of stories about Christmas and families and Santa Claus, but never have I read any story about that unique passage of childhood, and parenthood, that is the moment that kids stop believing, and the ways their parents help or hinder that rite of passage.” It’s an autobiographical tale of an average father who finds himself a bit in-over-his-head one holiday season and goes to increasingly outlandish lengths to keep his kids' belief in Santa alive. It seems his own faith in Santa was disrupted when he was four-years-old and he's hellbent on making sure that doesn't happen to his kids. Polar Bears had two successful productions in Sonoma County with Templeton under the direction of Sheri Lee Miller. For the this production, Templeton takes over the directing reins and has cast actor Chris Schloemp in the role of David Templeton. Sound strange? “I’m actually not thinking of it as Chris playing ME,” said Templeton, “he’s playing a character named David, who did some things I did, but I told him from the beginning to think of David as a fictional character. He’s constantly surprising me with new things, and I love it.” What’s it like for an actor to be directed by his ‘character’? “Being directed by the guy you’re performing and who’s also the writer is a little intimidating”, said Schloemp, “but also very rewarding in that, in any play, there are always those nagging questions you want to ask. Here I get to ask them at every rehearsal. David’s been very insistent that I am not playing him, so I have free rein.” So, in a season full of Nutcrackers and Christmas Carols, where does Polar Bears fit in? “I think anyone who loves Christmas stories but has grown tired of the same old cloying, overly sentimental holiday stories will appreciate it”, said Templeton. “That was the intention, and based on audience reactions in the past, I think we’ve succeeded.” ‘Polar Bears’ opens November 30 and runs through December 15 at the Belrose Theater in San Rafael. There are Friday and Saturday evening performances at 7:30pm. For more information, go to thebelrose.com There will be one performance in Santa Rosa at 7:00pm on December 23 at Left Edge Theatre at the Luther Burbank Center. For more information, go to leftedgetheate.com
Wed, 05 Dec 2018 - 4min - 215 - 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 entertainment options for this holiday season. Last year, the Marin Theatre Company (marintheatre.org) was one of the participants in the rolling world premiere of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. The continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was a smashing success, so it’s no surprise that Gunderson and Melcon have returned to the material and created a companion piece entitled The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley. While Miss Bennet dealt with the folks celebrating Christmas ‘upstairs’ at the manor, The Wickhams is more of a ‘downstairs’ piece focusing on the estate’s staff as they deal with an unwelcome visitor and a potential holiday disaster. Megan Sandberg-Zakian directs the show which will no doubt be colorfully costumed and impressively designed. The College of Marin Performing Arts Department (pa.marin.edu) will be presenting the musical comedy Nuncrackers in their Kentfield campus’s studio theater. Yes, it’s a Nunsense Christmas musical. Creator Dan Goggins’s Little Sisters of Hoboken return to stage a Christmas special in their new basement cable access TV studio to raise funds for the Mount Saint Helens School. The nuns will be singing songs like “The Twelve Days Prior to Christmas” and “Santa Ain’t Comin’ to Our House”, dancing in their habits, and handing out fruit cake. I think Sister Amnesia makes a return appearance, but I can’t remember. Actors Basement is staging PacSun contributor David Templeton’s one-man holiday show Polar Bears at The Belrose (thebelrose.com) in San Rafael. It’s the autobiographical tale of a father’s attempt to keep his children’s belief in Santa Claus alive way past the point most others do. Templeton has performed the piece in Sonoma County several times in the past few years. For this Marin production of his “heartwarming holiday tragedy”, Templeton moves into the director’s chair and turns over the performance duties to actor Chris Schloemp. The Ross Valley Players (rossvalleyplayers.com) are giving audiences the chance to completely forget about the holiday season with their production of The Odd Couple. The Neil Simon classic comedy about a mismatched pair of middle-aged roommates that’s been a proven laugh-getter since it’s 1965 Broadway premiere. For those willing to travel and in the mood for a big holiday musical extravaganza, the Transcendence Theatre Company (transcendencetheatre.org) will be presenting their Broadway Holiday Spectacular with three performances up at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center and two performances out at the Lincoln Theatre in Yountville. There’s nary a Sugar Plum Fairy in sight on these North Bay stages. You can find links to all these shows and more on the calendar page of the North Bay Stage and Screen web site at northbaystageandscreen.com
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 - 4min - 214 - 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 region. Oh sure, the larger companies will produce the more mainstream musicals like Cabaret or La Cage aux Folles every few years, and Halloween usually brings The Rocky Horror Show, but little else seems to cross local stages. The nomadic Pegasus Theater Company, in existence in one form or another for about 20 years, is the exception. Its Russian River roots have been planted firmly in the gay community since its inception, and it regularly programs shows with gay content into its seasons. Previous productions include newer plays like Avow to old chestnuts like Norman, is that You? This season Pegasus brings Paul Rudnick’s The New Century to the Mt. Jackson Masonic Lodge in Guerneville. Rudnick (I Hate Hamlet, In & Out) has taken a collection of comedic one-acts and put them together for this show. It’s basically three monologues and a “wrap up” scene. “Pride and Joy” opens the show with a meeting of the Massapequa, Long Island chapter of the PLGBTQCCC & O – the “Parents of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgendered, Questioning, Curious, Creatively Concerned and Others”. Ms. Helene Nadler (Thea Rhiannon) introduces herself to the membership as the "most loving mother of all time". She has to be. She has three children: a lesbian daughter, a transgendered son who dates lesbians, and a gay son into BDSM and scatology. Beat that, parents. We the meet “Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach”. Charles (Nick Charles) has been exiled from New York by the gay community for being “too gay”, which happens to be the title of the cable access show he now hosts along with his “ward” Shane (director John Rowan) where he answers viewer mail and revels in being who he is. With “Crafty” we meet Barbara Ellen Diggs (Noel Yates), a crafts-crazy Midwesterner who makes toilet paper koozies and tuxedo toaster covers. The passing of her son by AIDS has led her to question her faith. “I don’t know if I believe in God anymore,” she says, “but I do believe in cute.” All these characters come together in a really contrived closing scene set at a New York Hospital maternity ward that seems tacked on to create a full-length show. The show suffers from the challenges inherent in running a small theatre company - no budget, minimal sets and lighting, a limited talent pool leading to casting issues, etc., but it has heart, which counts for a lot, and you have to love a show that credits costumes to an entity called “Nutsack Creations”. ‘The New Century’ runs through November 25 at the Mt. Jackson Masonic Lodge in Guerneville. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm, the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to pegasustheater.com
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 - 4min - 213 - 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 death, but if you’re out there, have I got show for you. Birdbath Theatres is presenting Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in a new adaptation by Jesse Brownstein, directed by David Abrams and playing at The Belrose through November 18.Vanya (Rob Garcia) and his niece Sonya (Winona Wagner) manage the small estate of his late sister where they live with the family matriarch Mariya (Molly Noble), an old family nurse (Shirley Nilsen Hall), and a guitar-playing family friend (Andrew Byars). The estate’s meager proceeds have gone to support his late sister’s husband Professor Serebryakov (Ray Martin) and his new trophy wife Yelena (Claire Champommier). A perpetually infirmed Serebryakov, after spending the summer at the estate, has come to a decision. He wishes to sell the estate to come up with enough money to purchase a nice retirement cottage in Finland for him and his wife. What of the others who live there? Well, those details can be worked out later. This infuriates Vanya, who’s already ticked off because Yelena, for whom he secretly pines, has shown affection for country doctor Astrov (Jesse Lumb), who has also caught the eye of the perpetually sad Sonya, who bemoans her looks. After two and a half hours, no one ends up with anyone, nothing is sold, and life drones on. Abrams takes a minimalist approach to Chekhov’s look at the miserable lives of a turn-of-the-twentieth century Russian family. There’s no set of which to speak; the audience is seated against the theater walls and up on the stage; and the action (and I use that term loosely) often takes place at opposites sides of the small space, leading many in the audience to have to make a tennis match-like back-and-forth observation of the proceedings.It’s a well-acted production, with Garcia’s Vonya a cauldron of self-loathing that, after finally boiling over, returns to a state of eternal simmering. Lumb’s Dr. Astrov is the least dreary of the lot who, while filled with remorse about his life decisions, provides a welcome spark to the often-lethargic proceedings. The play’s bleak tone is reinforced with some fine cello accompaniment by Diego Martinez Mendiola. Is there any sadder sound produced than that of the bowed chordophone? Regret is the overriding theme of Uncle Vanya; the regret that comes when revisiting the decisions that define a life. I don’t regret the time I spent with the dispiriting Voinitsky family, but I don’t see the need to revisit them anytime soon.‘Uncle Vanya’ runs through November 18 at the Belrose Theater in San Rafael. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm.For more information, go to birdbaththeatres.com
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 - 4min - 212 - 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 now finds itself overrun with the most ghastly, heinous, and horrifying creatures ever to set foot on a theatrical stage. I am referring, of course, to white upper middle-class parents. They are the featured monsters in playwright Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage, directed by Terry McGovern and running at the Playhouse through November 11. Alan and Annette Raleigh (Ken Bacon & Jena Hunt-Abraham) have come to the home of Michael and Veronica Novak (Marty Lee Jones & Heather Shepardson) to discuss the matter of a fight between their sons. It seems that the Raleigh’s son knocked two teeth out of the mouth of the Novak’s son with a stick. After a quick review of the Novak’s statement on the incident (and the decision to change the verbiage to reflect the Raleigh boy being “furnished” with a stick, as opposed to “armed”), the two couples sit down to awkwardly determine what to do next. Over the next ninety intermission-less minutes, the façade of civilized gentility will give way to tribal warfare. Reza’s play has always seemed to me to be a grade B knock-off of Edward Albee’s Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? If it was Reza’s attempt to show that who we appear to be is rarely who we really are, she’s at least fifty years late to that party. What she adds to that familiar trope is the omnipresence and annoyance of cell phones in our lives and a considerable quantity of stage vomit. Ah, yes, the vomit. Within the theatre community, this show has garnered the nickname “the vomit play” as there is a scene that requires (per the stage directions) “a brutal and catastrophic spray of vomit.” While it’s always interesting to see how a company accomplishes this, it’s really little more than a device to represent the verbal garbage spewn by many on a daily basis. The Novaks and Raleighs have been vomiting on each other all evening, why not take it to its logical conclusion? Have I mentioned yet this is a comedy? Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to laugh at the parents’ idiocy, but the joke is ultimately on the audience. Go ahead. Laugh at them, because they couldn’t possibly represent you. The late, great cartoonist Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” line comes to mind: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” ‘God of Carnage’ runs Friday through Sunday through November 11 at the Novato Theater Company Playhouse in Novato. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8 pm; there’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm. For more information, go to novatotheatercompany.org.
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 - 4min - 211 - 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 Lucky Penny Productions brings you Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, running through November 4. It’s an old-fashioned ghost story laden with Coward’s acerbic wit and charm. Author Charles Condomine (Tim Kniffin) is researching the occult world for his next novel. He’s invited a local medium, Madame Arcati (Karen Pinomaki), to conduct a séance in his home. Charles is convinced she’s a charlatan, but Arcati manages to call forth the spectral presence of his late first wife Elvira (Sydney Schwindt). As Charles is the only one who can see or hear Elvira, Charles’ current wife Ruth (Kirstin Pieschke) thinks he’s going quite mad. Soon convinced of Elvira’s presence, Ruth finds herself in a battle with Elvira over their husband. At first terrified with the situation, Charles actually begins to take some delight in the circumstances and starts to adapt to living with two wives – even if one is dead. Elvira goes about scheming to get Charles to join her on the ‘other side’ while Ruth seeks out Madame Arcati to help rid her of the troublesome spirit. That’s easier said than done. Director Barry Martin brings a light touch and a good cast to this production. Kniffin is solid as the initially flustered but soon rolling-with-the-punches Charles who, after closer examination, is really quite a cad. He’s the perfect vehicle to deliver some classic Coward lines in a classic Coward manner. Schwindt is a lot of fun as the devilish Elvira and gets a major assist from makeup designer Brette Bartolucci. Small, intimate spaces like Lucky Penny can be a test for makeup designs as the audience’s proximity to the stage can make the artificiality abundantly clear. In this case, Bartolucci’s makeup and April George’s lighting design work really well together. As Madame Arcati, Pinomaki has the showiest role (it won Angela Lansbury her fourth Tony for the 2009 revival) and garners big laughs with her physicality. Festooned in costume designer Barbara McFadden’s colorful accoutrements, Pinomaki earns those laughs by playing the character straight. Her visual outlandishness and other spectral bits are nice counterparts to the dry verbal humor for which Coward is best known and that this cast delivers well. The play creaks a bit, but in a day when stage pyrotechnics often overwhelm a show, it’s nice to be reminded that the words are what really matter. ‘Blithe Spirit’ plays through November 4 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. The Thursday performance is at 7pm; Friday and Saturday’s are at 8pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to luckypennynapa.com
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 - 4min - 210 - 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 for whom the quest for peace demanded actual thought and personal interaction. J. T. Rogers’ Oslo, now running in its West Coast premiere at the Marin Theatre Company through October 28, is a look at the circumstances and personalities responsible for the Oslo Accords. The 1993 Accords, considered to be a breakthrough in the search for Middle Eastern peace, brought about Israeli acceptance of the Palestinian Liberation Organization as official representatives of the Palestinian people and the PLO’s recognition of the state of Israel. Norwegians Terje Rod-Larsen (Mark Anderson Phillips) and Mona Juul (Erica Sullivan) are a well-connected husband and wife. He runs a think tank in Oslo; she is an official in the Foreign Ministry. They are the unlikely leaders of a plan to try a “gradualist” approach in middle east diplomacy. Issues would be dealt with one at a time, from the smallest to the largest, and they would be resolved person-to-person, not nation-to-nation. As it was the official stance of both parties to never deal directly with each other, this had to be accomplished through secret, back-channels. Those channels, though far from Washington, D.C., led to that moment on the White House South Lawn when Israeli Prime Minister Rabin shook the hand of PLO chairman Arafat. Rogers’ play takes the same approach as the negotiations. We get to gradually know the individuals involved. As they become better acquainted, we become better acquainted. As the process evolves, the audience evolves with it to the point where you would swear you were in the room with them. Director Jasson Minadakis has gathered a terrific ensemble to tell this riveting story. It’s an exceptional cast of fourteen players. Sullivan’s Juul acts as the narrator, providing context and humor and facilitating the initial connection between the audience and the play. Phillips is magnificent as the part strutting peacock, part heartfelt peacemaker Rod-Larsen. His alcohol-fueled takedown at one point in the negotiations by the participants was wrenching. J. Paul Nicholas and Ashkan Davaran as the PLO representatives and Brian Herndon and Ryan Tasker as the initial Israeli contacts are excellent as the across-the-table enemies who soon develop a friendship. While a true peace remains elusive, and regardless of how much of this dramatization is actually factual, Oslo reminds us that when humanity is allowed to enter a political process, there’s still hope. ‘Oslo’ runs through October 28 at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley. Tuesday through Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm. The Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to marintheatre.org.
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 - 4min - 209 - 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 characters created by Charles Addams.” It is not a recreation of the beloved 1960’s sitcom. It is not an adaptation of the visually inventive films of the ‘90’s. At the insistence of the Charles Addams Foundation, who retain control of all things Addams, the source material for the musical had to be the cartoons Addams published for fifty years in the New Yorker. The 2010 Broadway musical by Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice and Andrew Lippa had a moderately successful run before becoming a theatrical Halloween season staple. It banks on the goodwill and fond memories of the generations raised with the reruns or the films and then goes in a very different direction. Uncle Fester (Erik Weiss) narrates the show and lets the audience know it’s gonna be a story about love. A teenage Wednesday Addams (Emma LaFever) is worried about bringing her “normal” boyfriend/fiancée Lucas (Cooper Bennett) and his straight-laced, midwestern parents (Larry Williams, Morgan Harrington) home to meet her unconventional family. Wednesday lets her father Gomez (Peter Downey) in on her marriage plans but gets him to agree to not reveal her intentions to her mother Morticia (Serena Elize Flores) till an announcement is made at dinner. Things don’t go as planned. It’s a stock plot dressed up with the Addams characters though the characters bear little resemblance to their previous incarnations. Downey comes closest with a very nice paternal take on Gomez while Flores’ voluptuous Morticia lacks the character’s dark, funereal tone. The score is bouncy yet unmemorable, but there are a lot of good voices delivering it. Prepare to be knocked out when Pugsley (Mario Herrera) sings about the potential loss of a playmate sister with “What If.” Ignore the trick the show’s creators play with The Addams Family characters and you’ll enjoy a family-friendly Halloween treat. ‘The Addams Family’ runs through Oct. 28 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Fri. & Sat @ 8 pm; Sun @ 2 pm, Thurs, Oct. 25 @ 7 pm. For more information, go to spreckelsonline.com. Now, in order for a show like Count Dracula - running now in Monte Rio through October 27 - to work, it has to be either played straight or as total camp. Playwright Ted Tiller’s 1971 version of the Bram Stoker novel under the direction of Nadja Masura tries to do both and the mix just doesn’t work. Tiller also seems to have worked under the assumption that no one had ever heard vampire lore before and inserted reams of lengthy, dull exposition that makes the show run an hour longer than it should. A good set, some nice effects, and a game cast can’t mask the un-dead weight of a leaden script. ‘Count Dracula’ runs through Oct. 27 at the Russian River Hall in Monte Rio. Fri. & Sat. @ 8pm; Sun @ 3pm. For more information, go to curtaincallrussianriver.com.
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 - 4min - 208 - 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 staged and performed. Usually referred to as a “word-for-word” or “page-to-stage” dramatization, it takes some getting used to as literally every word on the written page -every word- is spoken. It’s the approach director John Shillington and the SRJC Theatre Arts Department take to tell the story of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Two chapters are taken from the 1991 novel by Julia Alvarez and given the page-to-stage treatment. Alvarez’s novel is a collection of stories told from the perspectives of the four Garcia sisters about the challenges they faced as emigrants from the Dominican Republic. It covers thirty years in the family’s life, from their childhood on the Caribbean island to their adult lives as emigrants to the United States. Two of the chapters are performed. “Floor Show” tells the tale of the family’s big night out courtesy the largess of a well-to-do American friend. It’s told by Sandi (played by Jasmine Flores-Nunez), the youngest of the four sisters and features the Garcia parents. Papi (Khalid Shayota) is having difficulty getting his license to practice medicine approved while Mami (Jisaela Tenney) is trying to raise her four girls properly in a foreign land. They are preparing to go out for a fancy meal at the invitation of Dr. and Mrs. Fanning, a couple they met back in the Dominican Republic. Mami is very clear as to what she expects from her girls (she will order their modest meals, they will like everything they eat) and Papi is somewhat ashamed at what he sees as charity. Several things happen over the course of what should be a pleasant evening that reinforce the family’s feelings of displacement. “The Rudy Elmhurst Story” is told by Yolanda (played by Aaronne Louis-Charles, Annelise Hermsen, and Katerina Flores as the character at various ages), the third-oldest of the sisters. It’s the late 1960’s, the sexual revolution is well underway and she’s away at school. On her first day of English class, she draws the attention of one Rudy Brodermann Elmenhurst III (Riley Craig). They are soon an “item” but the conflict between Rudy’s liberal take on sex (“Can’t it just be fun”?) and the mix of Yolanda’s Old-World upbringing with the fragmentation of identity that comes with assimilation leads him to leave her and her to believe that she “would never find someone who would understand my particular mix of Catholicism and agnosticism, Hispanic and American styles." There’s a bittersweet, but empowering ending to the story. Shillington and his diverse cast are good storytellers. They’re housed in Newman Auditorium where the use of technical elements is limited, but designer Andrew Moore manages enough lighting to give the show a more theatrical feel to it than the lecture hall environment usually allows. The (mostly) young multi-cultural cast are the perfect vehicles to tell stories that must resonate with many of them. High school student Jasmine Flores-Nunez perfectly captures the petulant behavior of the even younger Sandi, and the actresses playing Yolanda give a real sense as to the character’s internal conflicts and maturation. There’s good work by the young ensemble throughout the piece. While the stories focus on the girls, the challenges faced by their parents are not ignored. The difficulties in having to start over after leaving a good life are well played by Shayota and Tenney. The combination of the unique presentational style of interesting stories with a diverse, vibrant cast makes the SRJC production of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents well-worth checking out during its limited run. ‘How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents’ runs Wednesday through Sunday through October 14 in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Newman Auditorium. Wednesday–Saturday, 8pm; Saturday & Sunday, 2pm. There's more at theatrearts.santarosa.edu
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 - 4min - 207 - 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 return in 2019. SRT Artistic Director James Newman helms this production of the 1950 musical about colorful New York gamblers trying to avoid the police, a persistent fiancé, and the goodly influence of local missionaries. Nathan Detroit (played by Ariel Zuckerman) runs the “oldest, established, permanent floating crap game in New York" but police pressure is making it difficult to find places to house it. The only willing host wants a thousand bucks, which Nathan ain’t got. When word gets out that big-time gambler Sky Masterson (played by Ezra Hernandez) is in town, Nathan figures he can finance his game by getting him to make a sucker-bet that Nathan can’t lose. Nathan bets Sky he’ll be unable to get Sarah Brown, the leader of the newly-opened Save-a-Soul Mission, to go away with him for an evening. While Skye goes about winning the bet (and falling in love, of course), Nathan scurries about trying to get the game going while avoiding the matrimonial pressure of his fiancé of fourteen years Adelaide. Trouble comes to town in the forms of gun-toting Chicago gambler Big Jule (Carl Kraines), and General Cartwright (Laura Davies) who wants to close the mission. Things work out for everyone after about a dozen-or-so Frank Loesser tunes and dance numbers. Perhaps the most SRT-like aspect of this production is its youthful cast. It’s chock-full of SRJC Theatre Arts and high school grads mixed in with some stage vets. The casting leads to some significant age issues with the characters as written. Apparently, Miss Adelaide has been engaged since age six and there’s something a little unsettling about a teenage Harry the Horse (Benjamin Donner) roughing up senior citizen Big Jule. Thankfully, the talent onstage can get you past that issue. Zuckerman brings a legitimate New York vibe to his character and Hernandez has the cockiness requisite for Sky. The character arc for Sarah Brown isn’t particular believable, but Elenor Paul makes it work. Ella Park is an absolute delight as Adelaide and her rendition of “Adelaide’s Lament” is a show highlight. The shows other highlights include Randy Nazarian’s terrific work as Nicely Nicely Johnson and the show-stopping “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” production number. If you enjoy well-crafted productions of classic American musicals, it’s a good bet you’ll enjoy “Guys and Dolls”. 'Guys and Dolls' runs Thursday through Sunday through October 14 at the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 7:30pm. There are Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 03 Oct 2018 - 4min - 206 - Church & State, Time Stand 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 play, which tells parallel stories of the tribulations of a returning Iraq war vet trying to assimilate back into civilian life and a group of recovering drug addicts trying to stay clean, was not what I expected from this theatre group whose home is located one block from the quaint wine country destination’s town square. It was a fascinating variation in the norm of this venerable community theatre. This year, they’re opening their season with not one, but two very interesting shows running in repertory – a serious comedy called “Church & State” and the intense drama “Time Stands Still”. With just 72 hours before election day, North Carolina Senator Charles Whitmore (played by Matt Farrell) is having a crisis of faith. A recent school shooting in his hometown has led him to question his belief in God and in his usual staunch defense of the Second Amendment. What’s worse, he’s admitted as much to a reporter. His re-election campaign manager is apoplectic. His Bible-quoting, Glock-toting wife will have none of it. He’s about to make the biggest campaign speech of his life. Will he stick to the script or speak from the heart. Playwright Jason Odell Williams has written an interesting 80-minute polemic on the political paralysis that has gripped our nation on this subject. While there’s no doubt where Williams and director Steven David Martin stand on the issue of gun control, the play does not reduce those who take a different stand to cartoon figures. He’s does, however, wrap the debate in a sitcom-like script albeit one with a joltingly dramatic climax. Farrell does well as the conflicted Senator, though he lacks some of the gravitas and maturity one would expect from a southern politician. Priscilla Locke is terrific as the tough-as-nails wife, and Katie Watts-Whitaker holds her own in scenes between the two. Zack Acevedo plays multiple roles and provides some of the play’s lighter moments as a campaign gofer. For the second show. Caitlin Strom-Martin directs a very strong cast in the Donald Margulies-penned “Time Stands Still”. Maureen O’Neill plays Sarah Goodwin, a photojournalist returning home after being blown up by a roadside bomb in Iraq. She’s accompanied by her partner James (Rusty Thompson), a reporter who had returned stateside earlier after suffering a breakdown from his own war zone experiences. While Sarah’s are more visible, both individuals have scars that run deep. The scabs from those scars are ripped by off by the arrival of Sarah’s editor Richard (Pablo Romero) and his rather young (“There’s young, and there’s embryonic.”) and deceptively lightweight girlfriend Mandy (Emily Tugaw). Their relationship has James contemplating a less chaotic life while Sarah looks to return to her work. Time may stand still but relationships don’t. Margulies’ thought-provoking script about life’s dramas both big and small is well-served by the artists involved in this production. Kudos to the Raven Players for continuing on their occasionally-out-of-the-ordinary programming path. ‘Church & State’ and ‘Time Stands Still’ run in repertory through October 7 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg. There are Thursday through Sunday performances but the specific show dates and times vary. For more information, go to raventheater.org
Wed, 26 Sep 2018 - 4min - 205 - 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 novel about a boy with ‘behavioral difficulties’ took England and Broadway by storm and earned multiple awards on both continents. Christopher (Elijah Pinkham) is a 15-year-old boy with an unspecified cognitive condition (that some read as autism or Asperger’s) living with his father in Swindon, England. He discovers a neighbor’s dog has been killed and, to his father’s consternation, decides to undertake an investigation. That investigation leads to another mystery culminating in a journey of self-discovery and affirmation. Director Elizabeth Craven gets outstanding performances from her cast. Pinkham completely inhabits the incredibly difficult lead role. David L. Yen as Chris’s father and Bronwen Shears as a woman in their lives are also superlative and there’s a “who’s who” of quality North Bay performers filling out the ensemble. Excellent technical elements (set design, lighting design, sound, and projections) effectively transport you inside Christopher’s oft-confused mind but occasionally overwhelm the story. Performance and presentation combine to make The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time unlike anything previously produced in this area. ’The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ runs through September 30 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Thursday performances are at 7pm; Friday and Saturday’s are at 8pm; and there’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm. For more information, go to spreckelsonline.com If you’re going to see only one ‘five British women of varying ages, socio-economic statuses and body types bonding over pole dancing’ play in your lifetime, might as well make it Dave Simpson’s The Naked Truth. A big hit in England, director Argo Thompson imports it to the North Bay for its U.S. premiere at Left Edge Theatre. Its story of five disparate individuals brought together with the goal of putting on a charity show is hardly original and its characters are pretty stock (the shy one, the bawdy one, the snobby one, etc.), but its well-acted and the five performers (Angela Squire, Bonnie Jean Shelton, Katie Kelly, Annabel Pimentel, Serena Elize Flores) and their instructor (Heather Danielle) have definite chemistry. After your ears adjust to the accents, there’ll be two hours of laughs and tears as the ladies deal with self-image and relationship issues, sex talk, ill health, and betrayal. Will all conflicts be resolved in time to put on the big charity pole dance? How did you think the show would end? ‘The Naked Truth’ runs through September 30 at Left Edge Theatre in Santa Rosa. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to leftedgetheatre.com
Wed, 19 Sep 2018 - 4min - 204 - 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 the 50-year-old classic Cabaret. The Kander and Ebb musical, which has gone through significant changes via numerous revivals since its 1966 debut, is the tale of two couples whose lives intersect via the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy pre-WWII Berlin cabaret. Cliff Bradshaw (Lucas Brandt) is an American traveling through Europe as he attempts to write the great American novel. His train mate Ernst Ludwig (Mark Robinson) sets him up at the boarding house of Fräulein Schneider (Mary Gannon Graham) whose other boarders include members of the chorus of the Kit Kat Club. Cliff meets Sally Bowles (Alia Beeton), the “headliner” at the club with whom he’s soon sharing his room. Fräulein Schneider, who’s becoming adept at looking the other way at certain situations, finds herself being courted by Herr Schultz (Michael Van Why), the local grocer. The future of these relationships grows gloomier as the cloud of National Socialism forms over Germany. One of the darkest American musicals ever written with as depressing an ending ever staged, director Elly Lichenstein proves that Cabaret still has the ability to stun, evidenced by the opening night audience’s hesitation at applauding the end of Act One. Michael McGurk makes the iconic role of the cabaret Emcee his own, but it’s the delicate and devastating performances of Gannon Graham and Van Why that will haunt you. Mary Chun does her usual fine job of musical direction, though a balance between vocals and accompaniment was occasionally elusive. ‘Cabaret’ runs through September 23 at the Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 pm; There’s a Sunday matinee at 2 pm. For more information, go to cinnabartheater.org For audiences looking for something a lot lighter, there’s Main Stage West’s production of Savage Wealth. It’s a world premiere comedy by local playwright Bob Duxbury. John Shillington directs Peter Downey and Matt Cadigan as Todd and Gabe, two very different siblings dealing with the disposal of their late father’s Lake Tahoe home. Complications are provided by their new-age neighbor/friend/ex-lover Beenie, played by Ilana Niernberger. It’s a very amusing script that only occasionally belies the pedigree of its retired English professor author. Timing is everything in comedy and the three performers have it down to a tee. It’s well worth checking out, particularly for those who decry the cyclical and repetitive nature of local theatre. ‘Savage Wealth’ runs through September 16 at Main Stage West in Sebastopol. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 8 pm; their Sunday matinee is at 5 pm. For more information, go to mainstagewest.com
Wed, 12 Sep 2018 - 4min - 203 - 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 artistic season for many North Bay theatre companies. Here’s some of what they have in store for local audiences: Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater (cinnabartheater.org) transforms itself into Berlin’s Kit Kat Club and bids you willkommen, bienvenue, and welcome to the classic Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. Broadway veteran Michael McGurk and Petaluma native Alia Beeton take on the roles that won Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli their Oscars. The Spreckels Theatre Company of Rohnert Park (spreckelsonline.com) opens its season with the multi-Tony-Award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Fans of the Mark Haddon novel about a young boy on the autism spectrum investigating the death of a neighborhood dog will find that it’s been somewhat reworked for the stage, but Tony voters liked it enough to name it 2015’s Best Play. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West (mainstagewest.com) opens its season with the world premiere of an original comedy by local playwright Bob Duxbury. Savage Wealth examines the impact of the sale of a Lake Tahoe home and the vacant lot next to it on a pair of brothers and their childhood friend. John Shillington directs a cast of three in a story that also manages to work new age philosophy, politics, and romantic betrayal into it. Dancing and singing New York “wiseguys” take over Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse (6thstreetplayhouse.com) as they present Guys and Dolls. Summer Repertory Theatre Artistic Director James Newman moves to Railroad Square to helm what has been called “the greatest of all American musicals”. Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre (leftedgetheatre.com) continues to provide North Bay audiences with recently written plays never before seen in the area with the U.S. premiere of a hit British comedy. David Simpson’s The Naked Truth involves charity fundraising, female empowerment, and pole dancing. Argo Thompson directs and somehow has worked former Second Row Center host David Templeton into the mix. The Pegasus Theatre Company of Guerneville (pegasustheater.com) will present its 12th annual Tapas: New Short Play Festival. This year’s festival will include seven short plays by Northern California playwrights and will be the first production overseen by new Artistic Director Rich Rubin. Healdsburg’s Raven Players (raventheater.org) open with two contemporary dramas that deal with a host of complex issues including war, PTSD, gun violence, politics and religion. Time Stands Still and Church & State will run in “rep”. In Marin, the Novato Theater Company (novatotheatercompany.org) hopes to have one singular sensation with their production of A Chorus Line, while Mill Valley’s Marin Theatre Company (marintheatre.org) will present the West Coast premiere of the 2017 Best Play Tony-winning political thriller Oslo. Ross Valley Players buck the trend and bring Shakespeare indoors for a change with their production of Twelfth Night. Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions (luckypennynapa.com) invites you Into the Woods, where director James Sasser has apparently added another layer of “fun” to the musical fairy tale mash-up. Plenty of options for the avid theatregoer. Information on all these shows can be found in the “Calendar” section of the North Bay Stage and Screen web site at northbaystageandscreen.com
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 - 4min - 202 - 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 seems to pop up. Marin Shakespeare brought us Pericles at Dominican University’s Forest Meadows amphitheater, the Raven did A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Healdsburg’s Seghesio Winery, and Shakespeare in the Cannery did Shakespeare in Love in the, well, Cannery. A few more weeks of summer means a few more weeks of North Bay Shakespeare al fresco. The Petaluma Shakespeare Company is presenting their Shakespeare by the River Festival with two shows – the bard’s All’s Well That Ends Well and an original production by Jacinta Gorringe entitled Speechless Shakespeare – through September 2. Marin’s Curtain Theatre is presenting Henry IV, Part 1 at the Old Mill Park in Mill Valley through September 9, and Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse closes out their season with The Comedy of Errors, one of Shakespeare’s earliest and mercifully shortest plays (merciful as it gets might cold in the Cannery after the sun goes down.) It’s the tale of two sets of twins - masters and servants - separated by shipwreck who years later come together in the city of Ephesus, thoroughly confusing wives, mistresses, merchants, and each other. Yes, the basic plot isn’t very original (Shakespeare “borrowed” it from a couple of even earlier plays) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining. Director Jared Sakren has gathered a group of quality actors who all seem to be having fun with their roles. William Brown and Ariel Zuckerman are the masters who share the moniker Antipholus while Jared Wright and Sam Coughlin each play a servant named Dromeo. They’ll find themselves dealing with a bewildered wife (Jessica Headington), her supportive sister (Isabella Sakren), a doctor (Eyan Dean) who diagnoses demonic possession and an Abbess (Jill Wagoner) who’s just this side of Misery’s Annie Wilkes before everything is sorted out in the end. Colorful Victorian-era costumes (that’s when it’s set) by Pamela Johnson add to the jovial tone of the show and there’s some excellent physical comedy by Wright and Coughlin as the put-upon servants. It’s a silly show done seriously (and occasionally a bit too intensely) but overall, it’s an amusing way to bring summer theatre to a close. The Shakespeare by the River Festival runs Thursday through Sunday through September 2 on the Foundry Wharf Green in Petaluma. Times & shows vary. Admission is free. For more information, go to petalumashakespeare.org ‘Henry IV, Part 1’ runs Saturdays and Sundays through September 9 at the Old Mill Amphitheatre in Mill Valley. All performances are at 2pm and admission is free. For more information, go to curtaintheatre.org 'The Comedy of Errors' runs Friday through Sunday through September 2 at the Cannery Ruins behind 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. Performances are at 7pm For ticketing information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 - 4min - 201 - 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 a recent interview, “I’ve been enjoying my retirement and developing style and techniques for the abstract sculptures I am interested in designing.” “Oh”, he added, “and I’ve been working on a new play.” That play, The Trial of John Brown, will have a one-time staged reading at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park this Saturday, August 25th. In 1859, John Brown, an ardent abolitionist and a fanatically religious man, led his followers into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His objective: confiscate weapons from a rifle factory and an Armory, then sweep across the Southern United States, setting free every black slave he encountered. He was met with heavy resistance. After a three-day battle, during which all but five of his men were killed, Brown was finally captured. The trial that followed brought the issue of slavery to the attention of the nation and the entire world. What piqued Abravaya’s interest in this moment in American history? Abravaya told me that he’s “always been fascinated with it ever since seeing Raymond Massey’s portrayal in a 1940 Errol Flynn film called Santa Fe Trail”. Although he felt that the character was somewhat distorted and superficial, there was much about John Brown's personality that rang true to him and he was captivated after reading more about the actual raid and the trial that followed. Abravaya is bringing it to Spreckels from Arizona for practical reasons – his previous connection to the facility plus the quality of talent he knew he could find in the North Bay. Abravaya said that he “wanted actors who were talented enough to make the written words come to life”. He knew he would find the people he needed up here to give life to the play and to help him see what legitimately works in the play and what still needs work. Spreckels Theatre Manager Sheri Lee Miller is excited for the opportunity to offer North Bay patrons the first look at Abravaya’s script and will be participating in the reading. “Since Gene had been so much a part of Spreckels for many years,” said Miller, “it was only natural he should give us the first shot at sharing the script publicly.” Miller said that when she read the script, she found herself in the very uncommon position of having no suggestions on how it might be improved. She thinks it's a tight script with a clear narrative. “I didn't know much at all about John Brown,” she said, “so it was great to learn something historic through a play.” Cast members will include Heather Buck, ScharyPearl Fugitt, Chris Ginesi, Mary Gannon Graham, Nate Mercier, Sean O'Brien, Dixon Phillips, Michael Ross, Chris Schloemp, Tim Setzer, William Thompson, Zane Walters, and Sarah Wintermeyer. The project, Abravaya says, is more than about just writing a play. “I want to illustrate that the injustices of the past, no matter how much we try to deny them, are still with us, influencing the course of our lives”, said Abravaya, “If I manage to agitate someone enough to become an agitator or an activist, I will have succeeded and maybe have contributed something of value to what might be the most important issue of our time.” ‘The Trial of John Brown’ will be performed at a staged reading on Saturday, August 25 at 7:30pm at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Admission is free, but the seating is limited.
Wed, 22 Aug 2018 - 4min - 200 - 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 Performing Arts Center is presenting Heroes, playwright Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of a 2003 French play about three World War I vets in a retirement home. Gustave (Robert Bauer), Henri (Peter Immordino), and Philippe (Dale Harriman) pass their days sitting on a terrace, annoying each other, and plotting their escape from the veterans’ home. Convinced that the tyrannical nun in charge has it out for Philippe, their latest plan starts out with the goal of running to French Indo-China but ends on settling for a poplar grove within view of their terrace. Now if they can just figure a way to take a 200 lb. statue of a dog with them. An odd combination of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Waiting for Godot, and The Golden Girls (with Gustave as Dorothy, Henri as Blanche, and Philippe as Rose), Heroes is a slight piece with some amusing dialogue and geriatric slapstick. 'Heroes' runs Friday through Sunday through August 19 at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center in Cloverdale. Friday and Saturday evening performances at 7:30pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to cloverdaleperformingarts.com Healdsburg’s Raven Players have converted the cavernous Raven Theatre into an intimate black box performance space and are presenting an updated version of 1996’s I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. The Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts musical revue holds the record as the second-longest running Off-Broadway show. It consists of a series of comedic vignettes that follow the arc of human relationships from dating, sex, and marriage through children and aging. Four versatile performers (Bohn Connor, Kelly Considine, Troy Evans, and Tika Moon) sing and dance their way through eighteen scenes with songs like “Better Things to Do”, “Single Man Drought”, and “I Can Live with That”. Recent revisions include 21st century additions like sexting (“A Picture of His…”) and same-sex families (“The Baby Song”). It’s a very entertaining show helped immensely by the talented cast. All do well by the multiple roles they play, but the rubber-faced Connor really makes an impression with characters ranging from an incarcerated mass murderer giving dating tips to a hapless husband trying to put the kids to bed so he and the missus can get it on. ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ runs Thursday through Sunday through August 19 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 8pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to raventheater.org.
Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 4min - 199 - Shall We Dance - Aug 8, 2018
Transcendence Theatre Company’s seventh season of “Broadway Under the Stars” continues with a dance-centric production entitled, appropriately enough, Shall We Dance. The show runs through August 19 at the Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen. Transcendence imports Broadway and national touring professionals to populate their productions so the caliber of performance is always quite high. Director Lesley McDonald and choreographer Mark Kimelman guide a cast of seventeen talented artists through a program featuring songs from eighteen Broadway shows like The King and I and Hamilton as well as pop hits from artists like Madonna and Ed Sheeran. The show opened, as is tradition, with a passage from the writings of Jack London as introduced by a coterie of tap dancers. The audience was then welcomed by the full company with an amusing adaptation of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast that replaced banquet table staples with wine varietals, though I’m not quite sure what dancing strawberries were doing on the stage. The (mostly) fast-paced, forty minute first act included numbers from In the Heights, West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Kiss Me, Kate. The highlight of the act was an energetic production of Louis Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” which incorporated a variety of dance styles that complimented its swing roots. Things then slowed down with “Mama Who Bore Me” from Spring Awakening, which seemed tonally out of step in a mostly joyous program, before concluding on a lighter note with the hilarious “A Musical” from Something Rotten. Act two featured dancing set to numbers from a diverse group of artists ranging from Janelle Monae (“Tightrope”) to Madonna (“Vogue”). The evening’s most visually striking moment came courtesy of a tango-infused production of Sting’s “Roxanne” from Moulin Rouge with the winery ruins bathed in red. The juxtaposition between the diversity in dance styles and music selection in this production with the lack of diversity among the cast is noticeable. For a company that imports a great deal of its talent from New York and the world, the relatively small number of artists of color utilized is disappointing. Simply put, it’s jarring to have Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” and Michael Jackson’s “Bad” sung and danced by a bunch of white guys, talented as they may be. It’s time for Transcendence’s casts to be as colorful as the costumes they wear. ‘Shall We Dance’ runs Friday through Sunday through August 19 at the Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen. Doors open for picnicking at 5pm; the show starts at 7:30pm. For more information, go to transcendencetheatre.org
Wed, 08 Aug 2018 - 4min - 198 - 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 its season under the stars with Pericles, a play whose authorship by Shakespeare has fostered many a debate. Plot points include incest, assassination, famine, a shipwreck, marriage, maternal death, familial separation, attempted murder, kidnapping, pirates, prostitution, and a seemingly dead person rising from a watery grave. Who knew Shakespeare wrote a zombie play? And this is a comedy. Director Lesley Currier and her design team have taken all these elements, dressed them up in modern garb, added a few topical references, and come up with the theatrical equivalent of a “B” movie. It’s entertaining and even moving at the end, but it evaporates quickly in the night air. Artist-in-residence Dameion Brown brings his commanding stage presence to the title role. Fine supporting work is done by Cathleen Ridley as the loving Queen Simonedes and the treacherous Dionyza; Eliza Boivin as Marina, Pericles’s daughter; Rod Gnapp and Richard Pallaziol in a variety of roles; and Diane Wasnak, who is very engaging as the puckish storyteller Gower. 'Pericles' runs Thursday–Sunday through August 5 at Forest Meadows Amphitheater at Dominican University in San Rafael. The showtimes vary and the venue opens one hour before curtain for picnicking. For more information, go to marinshakespeare.org Santa Rosa’s Shakespeare in the Cannery ceases to exist after this season’s production as the property is being “repurposed.” Co-founder/director David Lear decided to go out on a lighter note so they’re presenting Shakespeare in Love, the stage adaptation of 1998’s Best Picture Oscar winner. Poor Will Shakespeare (John Browning) has writer’s block and can’t seem to finish his latest opus, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter. A muse arrives in the person of Viola (Sydney McNulty), who disguises herself as ‘Thomas Kent’ so as to get around the ‘no women on stage’ rule. Shifty theatre producers, a loathsome Lord, a treacherous boy and a haughty queen all come into play before Romeo and Juliet sees the light of day. It’s a piffle but the cast has fun, with good comedic support from Alan Kaplan and Liz Jahren. Isiah Carter impresses in two roles and keep an eye out for Isabella, one of the moodiest, scene-stealing “bitch” characters I’ve seen on a North Bay Stage. 'Shakespeare in Love' runs Friday through Sunday through August 5 at the Cannery in Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. Show time is at 7pm with the gate opening at 5pm for picnicking. For more information, go to shakespeareinthecannery.com
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 - 4min - 197 - 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 comes with a popular singer or musical group is tough for an artistic director to resist. Around since the 1970’s, the genre really exploded onto the scene with the success of the ABBA-themed “Mamma Mia!” and continues with the recent Broadway opening of the Go-Go’s-themed “Head Over Heels”. Back in 1988, playwright Ted Swindley took 27 songs recorded by Patsy Cline and created “Always… Patsy Cline”, which is running now at Sonoma Arts Live through July 29. It’s not so much a musical biography as a snippet of Cline’s career as seen through the eyes of one of her biggest fans. It covers the six years from her appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s television program till her untimely death at age 30 in an aviation accident. Louise Seger (Karen Pinomaki) fell in love with Cline’s music the moment she heard it on a Texas radio station. When she hears that Patsy (Danielle DeBow) will be making a local appearance, she and some friends hightail it to the Empire Ballroom to discover no one’s there yet but Patsy. They strike up a conversation and become fast friends. Patsy ends up spending the night at Louise’s before heading back out on her tour. They regularly corresponded with each other after that night and it’s those letters that are the basis for the show. DeBow is a gifted vocalist who, in conjunction with her backup singers “The Jordanaires” (Sean O’Brien, F. James Raasche, Michael Scott Wells, Ted Von Pohle) and musical director Ellen Patterson and a six-piece band, delivers a quality evening of Cline’s greatest hits including “Sweet Dreams” and “Crazy”. The songs are interspersed with Louise’s musings about her life and her love for Patsy. Pinomaki is very entertaining as the bombastic, big-haired Louise, though there were moments where less would be more. Director Michael Ross, who’s directed a few female-centric musicals in his day (“Gypsy”, “Little Women”, “Sister Act” for example) shows a real mastery of the material here. Also responsible for costumes and some of the set design, he gets almost everything right. Costume work is stellar as DeBow must go through a dozen changes throughout the evening with each one colorfully evoking period and personality. The two-level set/three-sided audience design is interesting, but it leads to some awkward blocking and audience perspectives. Terrific performances, colorful design work, and classic Americana combine to make “Always… Patsy Cline” one of the better jukebox musicals I’ve seen on a North Bay Stage. “Always… Patsy Cline” plays Thursday through Sunday on the Rotary Stage of Andrews Hall in the Sonoma Community Center. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 7:30 pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2:00 pm. For more information, got to sonomartslive.org.
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 - 4min - 196 - 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, whose development by Walt Disney’s theatrical arm started in Germany and ended in New Jersey (having never made it to Broadway), is an atypical Disney production. More Les Miserables than The Little Mermaid, it’s an interesting amalgam of Victor Hugo’s original gothic novel with music and elements from Disney’s 1996 animated adaptation. Far darker than one would expect from a production with the Disney named semi-attached, Spreckels’ decision to replace it in their season with a more ‘family-friendly’ production of the classic Peter Pan is understandable. It’s also regrettable, because as the production running now in San Francisco produced by Bay Area Musicals reveals, it’s a very good show. Hugo’s 15th century-set tale of Quasimodo (Alex Rodriguez), the bell ringer at Paris’s Cathedral of Notre Dame, his guardian (and uncle) Archdeacon Frollo (Clay David), and a gypsy girl named Esmeralda (Aysia Beltran) contains enough thematic elements for a half-dozen shows. Religious extremism, class differences, bigotry, love vs. lust, lookism, repression and oppression are all explored in Hugo’s story and Peter Parnell’s book and through the score with music by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Wicked). It’s grand opening number “The Bells of Notre Dame” provides the somewhat lengthy backstory before the main narrative kicks in. A band of gypsies has come to Paris and its newest member Esmeralda has caught the eye of both Quasimodo and Archdeacon Frollo. Quasimodo is taken by her kindness while Frollo is taken by ‘impure thoughts’. Add a dashing French soldier to the mix (Jack O’Reilly) and you have one helluva triangle. Music director Jon Gallo and the nine-piece orchestra do well by the score, which runs from the light (“Topsy Turvy”, “Tavern Song) to the dark (“Hellfire”). The choral numbers are particularly powerful with tremendous vocal work done by the entire cast. Alex Rodriguez makes for a fine Quasimodo and Clay David is excellent as the conflicted Frollo, who utters a few comments about immigrants and borders that might seem rather prescient. Both bring substantial vocal power to their musical moments. Director/Choreographer/Scenic Designer Matthew McCoy and his team do a pretty good job with the show’s technical aspects and the limitations imposed by the venue. Narration eliminates many of the challenges, but the solution to how to present a flood of molten lead poured over a rioting crowd was ingenious. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is no children’s show, talking gargoyles to the contrary. Operatic at times, classic American musical at others, it’s a worthy addition to the season of any company with the talent, facility and budget to do it as well as this production. 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' runs Thursday through Sunday through August 5 at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco. Thursday and Friday evening performances at 7:30 pm, Saturday evening performances at 8:00 pm. Saturday and Sunday matiness at 2:00 pm. For more information, go to bamsf.org
Wed, 18 Jul 2018 - 4min - 195 - 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 starring Jack Black. One would be correct. School of Rock, now on the San Francisco stop of its National Tour, is Julian Fellowes and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s overblown take on that modest film whose charm relied mostly on one’s appreciation of its star. Dewey Finn (Rob Colletti, doing Jack Black-light) has been kicked out of his band, has no visible means of support and is months behind on the rent due his best friend Ned (Matt Bittner). After receiving an ultimatum from Ned’s girlfriend (a shrewish Emily Borromeo) to raise the money or get out, he answers a phone call seeking Ned’s services as a substitute teacher. Since subbing obviously requires no skills at all, Dewey decides he can impersonate Ned and make some quick money. Soon it’s off to the toney Horace Green Academy where Dewey takes charge of an elementary class whose students have one thing in common – their parents all ignore them. When Dewey discovers he’s got a musically gifted group of kids, he hits upon the idea of creating a band and entering them in a competition. How long can he fool the stern headmistress (Lexie Dorsett Sharp, doing Joan Cusack-light) and bring his plan to fruition? Well, almost to the end of the show’s two hour and 40 minute running time, which is about an hour longer than the film took to tell the story, albeit with less music – which isn’t a bad thing. Webber’s score is his least memorable as may be this entire production. The characters are all one dimensional. Every adult comes off poorly (except, of course, Dewey, who is not what one would think of as a role model) with every parent self-absorbed, every educator an idiot and every child a prodigy. The kids are talented musicians – yes, they play their own instruments – but when it comes to acting, not so much. To be fair, they’re on stage a lot, the choreography requires them to jump up and down a great deal, and they spend a fair amount of time moving set pieces. Maybe that’s a lot to ask of a group of pre-teens. The best parts of the show, beyond the kids’ musical performances, are drawn straight from Mike White’s film script. There are laughs, but kids deserve a better School than this. This School simply doesn’t make the grade. 'School of Rock' runs Tuesday through Sunday through July 22 at the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. Show times vary. For more information, go to SHNSF.com
Wed, 11 Jul 2018 - 4min - 194 - 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 produced Off-Broadway in 2002 and now running at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse. Don’t let the words ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘musical’ chase you away. Peter Mills has written a book and score that takes the plotline of the Bard’s 17th century comedy, modernizes it a bit in speech and time period, sets it to music and comes up with a terrifically entertaining piece of theatre. Shakespeare’s tale involves shipwrecked and separated twins Viola and Sebastian (played by Carmen Mitchell and Lorenzo Alviso), Duke Orsino, the lovelorn leader of the isle of Illyria (played by Burton Thomas), and Olivia, the in-mourning object of his affection (as played by Tracy Hinman.) There’s also Andrew Aguecheek, a silly suitor for Olivia’s hand, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s soused uncle, Malvolio, a stuffed-shirt steward, Maria, a servant with eyes on Sir Toby, and Feste, a fool who narrates the tale. Impersonation, mistaken identity, gender confusion, and trickery all come into play before things get sorted out and everyone ends up with his or her intended. Well, most everyone. To fully enjoy this production, more than the usual suspension of belief is required in a couple of areas. One must accept Ms. Mitchell being regularly mistaken for a male and Ms. Hinman is a more mature Olivia than one usually sees in the role, but just go with it. Mills’s 20+ songs vary in style from a lilting ballad (the beautiful “Save One”) to English Musical Hall numbers like the hilarious “Cakes and Ale”. Musical director Lucas Sherman has a six-piece band delivering the beguiling score flawlessly while director Craig Miller’s cast brings superb vocal talents to bear. As strong a group of voices I’ve heard on a North Bay stage, this may be the best sounding musical 6th Street has produced. It’s gratifying that the characterizations provided by the performers match their vocal quality. Mitchell charms as the gender-bending Viola and is matched by Burton’s flustered Orsino. Orsino’s musical confession of love to Alviso’s Sebastian (whom Viola was impersonating) shows Shakespeare was a couple of centuries ahead of society when it came to same-sex relationships. Ample comedic support is provided by Seth Dahlgren as Toby Belch, Larry Williams as Malvolio, and Stephen Kanaski as the foppish Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Tim Setzer’s clowning and dancing as Feste was rakishly amusing. Craig Miller ends his tenure at 6th Street Playhouse on a high note with this delightful production. 'Illyria' runs Friday through Sunday through July 8 at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa; Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30pm; there are Saturday & Sunday matinees are at 2pm. For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 04 Jul 2018 - 4min - 193 - 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, the first of four staged concert events scheduled this year. The company takes performers with Broadway, touring company, film and television experience and creates an original themed musical revue around them. This year’s theme is ‘Every Moment Counts’ and director/choreographer Tony Gonzalez has designed 20+ production numbers full of memorable moments. Along with Broadway show tunes, the Transcendence play list includes a mix of recent and past pop hits, classic rock, and specialty numbers. They’re all done ‘Broadway style’ and occasionally with a twist. It often works well, but sometimes it doesn’t. The first act ran the gamut from numbers from Sunday in the Park with George, South Pacific, The Wiz, and Victor/Victoria to “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and “Feelin’ Groovy” by Paul Simon. Highlights included a recreation of the famous Judy Garland/Barbra Streisand duet of “Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again” with Courtney Markowitz and Shaleah Adkisson, Christine Lavin’s popular “Air Conditioner” song, also done by Adkisson with Tim Roller, and a large-scale production number of “Blue Skies” with the entire company led by Joey Khoury singing and dancing to the Irving Berlin classic. In an amusing bit that allowed the performers (and audience) a break, the cast played a round of ‘Transcendence Family Feud’ with contestants pulled from the crowd. The act ended on a local note with a performance of “Everything”, a tribute song written by Sonoma County songwriters Mark Beynon and Joe Label and the Transcendence version of “Oklahoma!” which morphed the Rogers and Hammerstein classic into “Oh, Sonoma!” The second act included numbers from Cabaret, Into the Woods, and The Sound of Music mixed with Justin Timberlake, Van Halen and, in the evening’s one clear misstep, Don McLean’s “American Pie”. Sorry guys, but perky, Cheshire cat-like smiling performers singing “This’ll be the day that I die” just doesn’t work for me. It actually came off a little creepy. Things snapped back with a jaunty Michael Linden performing Drew Gasparini’s “A Little Bit” and large-scale numbers with Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” and Van Halen’s “Right Now” before concluding with “Finale B’ from Rent. Dress in layers, pack a picnic, indulge in some wine or food purchased from local food trucks and vintners serving on-site, then sit back and enjoy a unique north bay entertainment experience. 'Stairway to Paradise' runs Friday through Sunday through July 1 at Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen. Doors open for picnicking at 5pm; the show starts at 7:30pm. For more info on this and the other three “Broadway Under the Stars” productions running this season, go to bestnightever.com
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 - 4min - 192 - 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 that ran for a record 42 years Off-Broadway and then had a revival in 2006 that ran for another eleven years. It’s a modest production with a sweet score and engaging performances. It’s a simple tale of two neighboring families. Mrs. Hucklebee (Krista Wigle) and Mr. Bellomy (Michael van Why) each have a child they wish to fall in love with the other. They figure the best way to achieve that is to start a pseudo-feud between the families and make it clear to them they don’t want them to see each other. When Luisa (Carolyn Bacon) and Matt (Lucas Brandt) do fall in love, how do they end the “feud” so all may live happily ever after? Well, they hire a mysterious stranger who goes by the name “El Gallo” (Sergey Khalikulov) and some players (James Pelican, Brandon Wilson) to stage a phony abduction of Luisa to allow Matt to rescue her so all may be forgiven between the families, of course! Act One ends on a happy note as all seems rosy for the couple. Act Two makes it clear the bloom has fallen off the rose. The Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt musical can trace its roots back to Shakespeare and even further back to Greek and Roman mythology and yet if often feels more dated than that. Director Elly Lichenstein utilizes several authorized revisions to make some of the show’s more problematic elements more palatable to today’s audience and it mostly works. The music is nostalgic (“Try to Remember” opens the show), the staging is colorful, and the cast is excellent with Ms. Bacon and Mr. Khalikulov in fine voice and Messrs. Pelican and Wilson providing welcome comedy relief. 'The Fantasticks' runs through June 24 at Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8pm; there’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm. For more information, go to cinnabartheater.org Curtain Call Theatre in Monte Rio is presenting Bullshot Crummond, a 45-year-old parody of a 100-year-old pretty-much-forgotten British literary character. Running through June 23, it’s the type of show where you’re encouraged to boo the villain and cheer the hero as he rescues a damsel in distress. An ambitious undertaking for the small theatre company in terms of staging, its technical elements are somewhat lacking but the steampunk-style costumed cast is game and director Avi Lind puts them through their paces. There are some nice bits of physical comedy and inventive sight gags that at the very least will have you cracking a smile and shaking your head. It’s silly and it’s stupid, but that’s what it’s supposed to be. 'Bullshot Crummond' runs through June 23 at the Russian River Hall in Monte Rio. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8pm. For more information, go to curtaincallrussianriver.com
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 - 4min - 191 - 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, running now at Left Edge Theatre. It opens up with a commercial for Skymax 16’s, the latest craze in athletic footwear. It ends with the tag line “S’up now?” which we soon learn is the last thing said to a black teen before he’s killed for the shoes. Lights up on the office of Davis Tallison (Mike Pavone), the white president of a company that makes footwear “by black people for black people.” Thomas Hodge (Trey G. Riley) is there to unveil his latest design and is aghast to learn that sales of the 16’s have exploded in the white youth community since the shooting. Tallison announces the new 17’s will now be marketed to them. Hodge is furious that something he created for “his people” has become bastardized and seeks some sort of retribution on the creator of the commercial he thinks is responsible. Enter Peter Trammel (Mark Bradbury), whose issues about the commercial’s impact have led him to a therapist (Liz Rogers-Beckley) with her own issues. In a coincidence that only occurs to writers, she happens to be Hodge’s brother. Credulity is further strained when Hodge runs into Peter’s fiancé (Lydia Revelos) and sees a way for some payback, but credulity really shouldn’t be an issue in a play with a sublot involving a new pharmaceutical cure for racism whose side effects lead to visions of a lusty Abraham Lincoln (Nick Christenson) and a foul-mouthed Frederick Douglass (Julius Rea). Part absurdist farce and part blistering social commentary, Honky will make you laugh and uncomfortable. More about racial identity than racism, the feelings of being “too white” or “not black enough” are deftly combined with swipes at our consumerist society where discrimination is masked as “marketing” and stereotypes are just “demographics.” Director Argo Thompson has a terrific cast with California-newcomer Riley outstanding as the conflicted Hodge. The opening scene with veteran Pavone crackles and sets the tone for the duration. Excellent work is done by all with an extra shout out to Julius Rea and Jim Kaskey for their work as a variety of ‘urban’ youth the other characters encounter. Funny, infuriating, profane and profound, shows like Honky don’t play on wine country stages that often. Catch it while you can. ‘Honky’ runs through July 1 at Left Edge Theatre located in the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 8pm. There’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm. For more information, go to leftedgetheatre.com
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 - 4min - 190 - 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, except for scheduled breaks every six hours, never let go. The last person standing wins. That’s the premise behind Hands on a Hardbody, a 2012 musical now in its Bay Area premiere run at Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center. Based on a 1997 documentary that followed 24 contestants in an actual endurance competition, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright trimmed the number of contestants to ten and Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Amanda Green composed a Tony-nominated score to tell their backstories. For those who don’t think there’s enough here for a full-length musical, Benny Perkins (Brian Watson) makes it clear to the audience that it’s a “Human Kind of Thing”, and then each contestant explains what they’d do “If I Had This Truck”. Benny’s won the contest before but since lost the truck and his wife. Ronald (Michael David Smith) thinks his all-Snickers diet is the ticket to victory (he’s mistaken.) J. D. (Barry Martin) sees the truck as a way to regain his virility. Greg (Ryan Hook) and Kelli (Kirstin Pieschke) meet cute and then make plans to drive away to Hollywood together. Janis (Lucinda Hitchcok Cone) is doing it for her kids. Jesus (Alex Gomez) could use some help putting himself through veterinary school. Chris (Michael Scott Wells) is a military vet who’s looking to make his son proud. Heather (Jenny Angell) may have the inside track, but Norma (Daniela Innocenti Beem) has God on her side. Benny is the ostensible lead, but it’s a true ensemble piece with each character, including the non-contestants involved (spouses, the car dealers, a radio DJ) having their moments. Credit to director Taylor Bartolucci for assembling a talented, diverse cast to explore the themes beneath the surface and to choreographer Staci Arriaga for figuring out how to make the cast move with one hand attached to a truck at all times (well, mostly.) By the way, the truck is on rollers and is frequently spun by the cast, so no one section of the audience spends the bulk of the show staring at the back end of a truck (or cast member.) Musical director Craig Burdette leads a four-piece band in the heavily country and western-influenced score whose musical highlight is the raucous gospel number “Joy of the Lord”. Basically, it’s A Chorus Line with a truck and at two and a half hours it runs a bit long, but by the end you’ll be giving a hand to this Hardbody. ‘Hands on a Hardbody' plays Thursdays through Sundays through June 17 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. Thursday performances are at 7pm; Fridays and Saturdays are at 8pm; the Sunday matinee is at 2pm. For more information, go to www.luckypennynapa.com
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 - 4min - 189 - Mama 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 The Mountain Play has been produced for the past 105 years. Your all-day adventure includes a slow, winding ride up the mountain, a hike to the 4,000 seat amphitheatre and a trek down to your seat lugging coolers full of food and ‘adult’ beverages (they’re allowed.) You get your umbrella and seat cushions arranged, unpack your goodie basket and just as you start to enjoy a pleasant afternoon picnic, a show breaks out.
Ah, yes. There is a show. This year’s production is Mamma Mia!, the 1999 jukebox musical that uses the slightest of stories as an excuse to perform the catalogue of pop super group ABBA.
Set at a Greek island taverna run by Donna Sheridan (played by Dyan McBride), the story centers on the circumstances of her daughter’s upcoming wedding. Sophie (a very charming Carrie Brandon) is about to get married to a slab of British beefcake (Jake Gale) and wants to invite her father to her nuptials. The problem is, she doesn’t know who it is!
A quick trip through her mother’s diary leads her to three possibilities – Harry (played by Sean O’Brien) is an uptight British banker, Bill (played by David Schiller) is a travel writer and adventurer, and Sam (played by Tyler McKenna) is an architect and, the other two possibilities notwithstanding, her mother’s one true love. Sophie decides, in proper musical theatre tradition, to invite them all and sort everything out later. Chaos, hilarity, singing, and dancing ensue.
Folks don’t go to shows like Mamma Mia! for their complex storylines or deep psychological subtext, they go for the songs. Put no thought into why the story leads to a particular song being sung, just enjoy the 20 + ABBA tunes including “Chiquitita”, “Dancing Queen”, “S. O. S.” and the title tune.
Director Jay Manley gets generally solid performances from the large cast, but it took a couple of songs for the vocals to really hit their stride culminating in a very powerful delivery of “The Winner Takes It All” by McBride. There’s colorful and clever scenic work by Andrea Bechert, some nice energetic choreography (including a chorus line of swim-finned dancers) by Nicole Helfer and Zoë Swenson-Graham, and the ABBA songbook is well played by Musical Director Jon Gallo and a nine-piece band.
The Mountain Play provides a unique Bay Area theatrical experience. Where else can you catch a pleasant Broadway musical that comes with a pre-show warning about ticks and rattlesnakes?
‘Mamma Mia!’ runs Sundays through June 17 (and there’s one Sing-Along Saturday performance on June 9), at the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre in Mount Tamalpais State Park. All shows are at 2pm. Be sure and pack the sunscreen.
For more information, go to mountainplay.org
Wed, 30 May 2018 - 4min - 188 - Jeeves, 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 character. Since his first appearance in 1915, he’s been featured in films, television, and even an internet search engine. There was but a single theatrical venture until playwright Margaret Raether began writing a series of plays beginning with Jeeves Intervenes, running now at Sonoma Arts Live.
Jeeves (Randy St. Jean) is the unflappable valet to Bertie Wooster (Delaney Brummé), an upper-class twit who Jeeves is constantly rescuing from troubles of his own making. Under pressure from his imperious Aunt Agatha (Jennie Brick), Bertie finds himself engaged to Gertrude Winklesworth-Bode with whom Bertie’s ne’er-do-well friend Eustace Bassington-Bassington has fallen hopelessly in love. Other complications arise, but leave it to Jeeves to sort it all out.
It’s a snazzy production with nice costume and set design work. Director James Jandak Wood has cast it well with St. Jean perfect as the imperturbable Jeeves. There’s good work from the supporting players, especially Nick Moore as Eustace and Libby Oberlin as Gertrude, but Jandak erred in having Brummé play Bertie with a voice that can best be described as “annoying”.
How annoying? Well, he had me envisioning a sequel entitled Jeeves Drowns Bertie in the Thames.
“Jeeves Intervenes” runs through May 27 on the Rotary Stage in the Sonoma Community center in Sonoma. Thursday through Saturday evening performances at 7:30pm; there’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm.
For more information, go to sonomaartslive .com
Wodehouse published a collection of essays under the title Louder and Funnier, which is the stage direction Jared Sakren must have given the cast of the 6th Street Playhouse production of The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged).
Significant energy is expended by the hard-working and talented Nick Mandracchia, Zac Schuman and Erik Weiss in comically presenting 38 Shakespeare plays in two hours, but it needn’t be delivered almost entirely at a decibel level that rivals the nearby SMART train.
The show is a fast paced series of jokes, bad puns, quick changes, and audience interactions. Some things worked, others (like the attempts at topical humor) didn’t. What comedy there was to be found was often drowned out by the vociferous cast.
C’mon, guys. If I wanted to spend two hours being yelled at, I can just go visit my mother.
“The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)” runs through June 3 at the 6th Street Playhouse Studio Theatre in Santa Rosa. Thursday through Saturday evening performances are at 7:30pm; there are Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 pm.
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 23 May 2018 - 4min - 187 - 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 “Women in Jeopardy!” is a laugh-out-loud look at the changing dynamic among a group of single friends once one of them begins a relationship. That the friends are middle-aged women makes for a nice change of pace.
Mary (Shannon Rider) and Jo (Sandra Ish) are having a tough time adjusting to a new addition to their circle of friends. Their friend Liz (Angela Squire) has a new man in her life and Jackson (Richard Pallaziol) is not quite their cup of tea. He’s a dentist who makes Little Shop of Horrors’ Orin Scrivello, DDS look like a pussycat. His hygienist has gone missing and it doesn’t take long for Mary and Liz to leap to the conclusion that he’s the responsible party. What’s worse, he’s about to take Liz’s daughter off on a camping trip. What do you do when your best friend is dating a serial killer?
All three wine-swilling ladies have their comedic moments, with Ish’s frequently flabbergasted second-banana Jo garnering a lot of laughs with just a look. Pallaziol is hilariously creepy as Jackson and equally amusing as a Dudley Do-Right-ish police sergeant. Victoria Saitz as Mary’s daughter and Zane Walters as her cougar-hunting on again/off again boyfriend also contribute to the fun.
The show is a lot of fun with Wendy MacLeod’s script full of witty lines and amusing bits. What the show doesn’t have is an ending as things just sort of conclude with an abrupt wind-up that you shouldn’t think too hard about.
You really don’t have to expend many brain cells at all as there’s no great message to be found in “Women in Jeopardy!”, just a lot of laughs.
“Women in Jeopardy!” runs through May 27th at Left Edge Theatre in Santa Rosa. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 8pm; there’s a Sunday matinee at 2pm.
For more information, go to leftedgethreatre.com
If Greek mythology is more to your taste, then Main Stage West has a production of Sarah Ruhl’s “Eurydice” running through June 2. Ruhl has flipped the focus of the classic tale of Orpheus (Taylor Diffenderfer) and his quest to bring his wife Eurydice (Brianna Rene Dinges) back from the dead to Eurydice’s time in the Underworld and her relationship with her father (John Craven).
Director Chris Ginesi flips it even further with the non-traditional casting of Orpheus that while seeming to fit Ruhl’s alternative world of raining elevators, a tricycle-riding Lord of the Underworld (Neil Thollander), and a Greek Chorus of Talking Stones (mollie boice, Nick Christenson, Samantha Bolke-Slater), actually detracts from it.
It’s a visually arresting piece with inventive design elements that complement the script’s other-worldliness and the performances are good, but there’s a hole in the heart of this production.
“Eurydice’' runs through June 2 at Main Stage West in Sebastopol. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 8pm; their Sunday matinee is at 5pm.
For more information, go to mainstagewest.com
Wed, 16 May 2018 - 4min - 186 - 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 Walken-ized in a disastrous live television spectacle. The most popular adaptation is the 1954 musical starring Mary Martin. It’s that version that takes flight in a well-mounted production running at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center through May 20.
Peter Pan (a winsome Sarah Wintermeyer) has lost his shadow while eavesdropping on story time at the Darling household. While retrieving it late one night, he awakens eldest child Wendy Darling (Lucy London) and after a quick flight demonstration, Peter convinces Wendy and her brothers to join him in Neverland. They’ll soon cross paths with some warriors and the dastardly Captain Hook (David Yen) and his scurvy pirate crew.
Director Sheri Lee Miller and her team get almost everything right here, from casting to costumes and sets, from choreography to musical direction. Wintermeyer is so good as Peter that she almost gets me to put aside my bucket list wish to see a production cast with a male in the role. This is actually the first production I’ve attended where I haven’t been surrounded by little tykes asking “Why is Peter a girl?”
David Yen must be on a low-fiber diet as he doesn’t really chew up the scenery as much as one would expect with such a role. Still terrifically entertaining, his decision to go ‘small’ with some things puts the bits in danger of being lost on the large Spreckels stage.
Nice supporting work is done by Craig Bainbridge as Hook’s right-hand man Smee, Morgan Harrington as Mrs. Darling and the entire cast as Wendy’s siblings, various warriors, pirates and Lost Boys. Honorable mention goes to the backstage “flight crew” and to Andy Templeton who spends the show costumed as either Nana the dog or a tick-tocking crocodile but manages to get some of the biggest audience reactions.
Miller handles the problematic parts of Barrie’s script - its depiction of Native Americans - by transmogrifying them from an “Indian” tribe to non-specific “warriors” and costuming them in a patchwork of styles and designs. It helps, but dialogue (“Let’s smoke a peace pipe!”) and lyrics are still a bit cringe-worthy.
The show is in three acts and runs about two hours and forty minutes, which seems long, but the first and third acts only run for a peppy 35 minutes. Act II runs about an hour and does get a bit sluggish. There are intermissions between the acts to give the kiddies a restroom break.
In toto, Peter Pan makes for a great evening of family entertainment.
Peter Pan runs Friday through Sunday through May 20 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7pm; Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 1pm. There’s a Thursday, May 17 performance at 7pm.
For more information, go to spreckelsonline.com
Wed, 09 May 2018 - 4min - 185 - 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 films, the Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman musical was considered daring for its time with its portrayal of a happily domesticated male couple thrown for a loop by a request from their son. With marriage equality the law of the land and RuPaul’s Drag Race a crossover hit, it seems less daring today but its message of self-acceptance still packs a punch.
Anthony Martinez plays Geirges, the proprietor of La Cage aux Folles, a French Riviera nightclub that features drag entertainment. The headliner is “Zaza”, otherwise known as Albin, Georges’s partner of twenty years as played by Michael Conte. Together they have raised their a son who’s come home to announce his engagement to a girl whose politician father happens to be the leader of the right-wing “Tradition, Family, and Morality” Party. He wants his fiancé’s father and mother to have dinner with his father and mother - that is, his biological mother. Albin is not to be included. It’s going to be quite some dinner party.
Herman’s Tony Award-winning score runs from the romantic (his “Song on the Sand”) to the comedic (the funny “Masculinity”) to the joyous (the popular “The Best of Times”) and hits its apex with “I Am What I Am”, a defiant ode to individuality. Musical conductor Ginger Beavers and a six-piece band handle the jaunty Herman score well.
There are two terrific lead performances in this Russell Kaltschmidt-directed production, both delivered by Michael Conte. As bombastic as he is as diva-deluxe Zaza, he’s even better as Albin. Conte brings real emotional depth to his character as he deals with his son’s rejection. It’s a depth that’s lacking from Martinez’s rather bland Georges.
Nice comedic support is provided by Joseph Favalora as their butler/maid Jacob and Michael Fontaine as the stuffed-shirt politician. His twelve-syllable delivery of a five-syllable word had me laughing out loud. Lorenzo Alviso also does well as the turncoat son who soon sees the error of his ways.
The design budget must have gone almost entirely to the costumes as there’s almost no set to speak of, but Zaza’s and Les Cagelles’ couture almost makes up for it.
Social progress may have dimmed some of the ‘novelty’ from La Cage, but it still has plenty of heart.
'La Cage aux Folles' runs Friday through Sunday through May 20 at the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30pm, there are Saturday and Sunday matiness at 2pm. There’s also a Thursday, May 3rd performance at 7:30pm.
For specific show dates and times, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 02 May 2018 - 4min - 184 - 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 mash-up with elements of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood set to a classic Sondheim score. As in the original tales - and not like most adaptations - things do not end well for the characters.
A childless baker (Brett Mollard) and his wife (Katie Smith) make a bargain with a witch (Alanna Weatherby) to lift a family curse and grant their wish for a child. They are tasked with acquiring four items – a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. Their search leads them to cross paths in the woods with the characters from the aforementioned fairy tales, all seeking fulfillment of their own wishes. The first act ends on a happy note as everyone seems to have their wishes granted but Act II gets very dark as the consequences of the characters’ actions play out.
In other words, be careful what you wish for…
With the JC’s Burbank Auditorium undergoing renovations, the limitations of the high school auditorium utilized for this production led director Laura Downing-Lee and her design team to get even more inventive than usual. They’ve reached back to the source material and set the show in a library. Scenic designer Peter Crompton loads the stage with oversized books that work as doors and steps. Other library materials are ingeniously worked into scenes – flapping books as birds, library carts as horses, etc.
Under the vocal direction of Jody Benecke and musical direction of Justin Pyne and a nine-piece offstage orchestra, the creatively-costumed cast did well with the often-challenging Sondheim score. Mollard, Smith, and Weatherby lead the talented ensemble which includes Levi Sterling as Jack, Serena Poggi as Little Red Riding Hood, Ella Park as Cinderella, Shayla Nordby as Rapunzel and Cooper Bennet and Roberto Perez Kempton as Princes who were “raised to be charming, not sincere”.
Unfortunately, the opening night performance was marred by numerous technical difficulties. Erratic microphone work and a failing projection system really distracted from the fine work being done onstage. My wish is that they get it all fixed so that audiences can fully enjoy this very entertaining production.
'Into the Woods' runs through May 6 at the Maria Carrillo High School Theatre in Santa Rosa. It’s recommended for ages 12 and above. Performances run Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:30pm.
For more information, go to theatrearts.santarosa.edu
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 - 4min - 183 - 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 headlines the 6th Street Playhouse production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Miller’s Pulitzer Prize and multi-Tony Award winning treatise on the elusiveness of the American Dream is considered by many to be the greatest American play ever written. While almost seventy-years-old, in the hands of the right artistic team it can seem as fresh as ever.
Director Craig Miller has assembled that team to surround Siebert’s towering central performance as Willy Loman, a traveling salesman whose days on the road are rapidly coming to an end. Frustrated at still living paycheck-to-paycheck at his late age, Willy is coming unraveled to the consternation of his wife Linda (Sheila Lichirie) and son Happy (Ariel Zuckerman). Things aren’t helped by the return of semi-prodigal son Biff (Edward McCloud). The action glides between the present and the past and between fantasy and reality as we see why Willy’s dreams for his boys and himself have come to naught.
The Studio theatre setting brings a level of intimacy to the show that makes Willy’s downfall, Linda’s helplessness, and Biff’s acknowledgement of his own failures even more gut-wrenching. In a very strong ensemble of North Bay regulars, take note of Bay Area newcomer Zuckerman’s performance as the son most like his father.
Attention should be paid to this excellent production of an American classic.
‘Death of a Salesman’ runs Thursday–Sunday through April 28 at the 6th Street Playhouse Studio Theatre in Santa Rosa. Thursday through Saturday performances at 7:30pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For specific show information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
If political drama is more to your liking, then the scrappy Redwood Theatre Company is presenting Farragut North by Beau Willimon (who’s responsible for Netflix’s House of Cards). Willimon turned his time as a press aide during Governor Howard Dean’s 2004 Presidential run into this tale of the inner-workings of a similar campaign.
Set in Iowa over two days before their caucuses, Press Secretary Stephen Bellamy (Kot Takahashi) is a 25-year-old political hot shot working on what everyone thinks is a winning campaign. Clandestine meetings and questionable decisions lead to double-crosses, triple crosses and unemployment before the first votes are cast.
RTC’s no-budget productions are always interesting and director Ron Smith uses the energetic young troupe to good advantage here. What they lack in production value, they make up for in talent and heart.
'Farragut North' runs Friday through Sunday through April 22 at the Redwood Theatre Company Studio Theatre in Healdsburg. Friday and Saturday evening performances at 7:00pm; Sunday matinee at 2pm.
For more information, go to redwoodtheatrecompany.com
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 - 4min - 182 - 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 works are comedies tinged with a little melancholy (The Odd Couple, The Sunshine Boys) won the 1991 Pulitzer for Yonkers, which is a melancholy family drama tinged with comedy.
With their mother deceased and their father off to work to pay off a loan shark he owes for covering his late wife’s medical bills, Jay (Ari Votzaitis) and Arty (Logan Warren) find themselves living for ten months in 1942 with their tyrannical grandmother (Trish DeBaun) and their mentally-challenged Aunt Bella (Priscilla Locke) in Yonkers, New York. Grandma Kurnitz is cold, demanding, and unable to express affection of any kind. She does not want the children there, but Bella does. The battle is on, first between Kurnitz and her grandchildren, but ultimately between mother and daughter.
Director Joe Gellura has a strong ensemble at work in this piece with laughs generated by Warren as Simon’s alter ego. The key performance is delivered by Locke, excellent as the daughter simply looking for a little happiness in her life. It’s a sensitive performance that grounds this show and gives it more heart than one expects from a typical Simon play.
‘Lost in Yonkers ' runs Friday through Sunday through April 15 at the Raven Performing Arts Center. 115 North St., in Healdsburg. Friday & Saturday evenings at 8pm; Sunday matinee at 2pm.
For more information, go to raventheater.org
There may be no more “community theatre” in our area than the folks at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center. A glance through the bios in their programs shows a mix of trained veterans, community actors, and a fair number of newcomers. This willingness to cast from the community, while commendable, often leads to a variance in the quality of their productions.
Their current presentation of William Saroyan’s prize-winning-but-severely-dated The Time of Your Life is a good example. The show, a sort of pre-WWII Cheers, has a cast of sixteen with various levels of experience playing the denizens of a San Francisco dive bar circa 1939. There’s no real plot, just a variety of human flotsam and jetsam floating through the tavern.
In an early scene, one character asks another if a performance they’re watching is any good. The response – “It’s awful, but it’s honest and ambitious...”
I can’t improve on Saroyan.
'The Time of Your Life' runs Friday through Sunday through April 15 at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center, 209 N. Cloverdale Blvd., in Cloverdale. Friday & Saturday evening at 7:30pm; Sunday matinee at 2pm.
For more information, go to cloverdaleperformingarts.com.
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 - 4min - 181 - 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.” Cinnabar Theater’s current production suffers from the opposite - it’s missing a few.
Amadeus is actually the story of Antonio Salieri (Richard Pallaziol), the most celebrated composer of his time and a man who’s dedicated his life to God and mankind as thanks for God’s granting him the gift of musical talent. Enter Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Aaron Wilton), a crude, boorish reprobate for whom reasons Salieri cannot fathom has been gifted by God with musical genius. Salieri, feeling mocked by God and unhinged by what he sees as a betrayal, seeks revenge on Him by destroying His vessel. He will bring about Mozart’s ruin while seeming to be his friend but destroy himself in the process.
Shaffer’s historical fiction won the 1981 Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play (Ian McKellen) and the film adaptation matched that with its 1985 Oscar wins for Best Picture and Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham). Both Pallaziol and Wilton have their moments as Salieri and Mozart with Pallaziol at his best when Salieri is at his most duplicitous. While Wilton succeeds in bringing a high level of obnoxiousness to his Mozart, there’s little chemistry displayed in scenes he shares with Rose Roberts as Mozart’s wife Constanza.
Chad Yarish leads an uneven supporting cast as the amusingly befuddled Austrian emperor Joseph II with Tim Setzer also effective as the pompous Count Johann Kilian von Strack.
Where this Jennifer King-directed production really falters is in its design elements. Scenographer Peter Parrish brings little more than a few platforms and some haphazardly hung drapes to a play whose settings include an 18th century Viennese palace. A large center scrim used occasionally for shadow projections went curiously unused for most of the production. Parrish’s lighting design was also lacking, really only effective in a scene where Salieri collapses in frustration after he reads page after page of Mozart’s compositions and finally succumbs to his genius.
Skipper Skeoch’s period costume design had to do double-duty in providing a sense of time and place with wigs and makeup by Jolie O’Dell also providing nice atmospheric support.
The show concludes with Salieri, speaking for all “mediocrities” in the word, absolving them. Sadly, that’s not in my power here.
“Amadeus” runs Friday through Sunday through April 15th at Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. Friday and Saturday evening performances at 8pm; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For specific dates and times, go to cinnabartheater.org
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 - 4min - 180 - 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 right now, but Sharyn Rothstein’s By the Water speaks to what our community is going through. While it’s set in 1992 on New York’s Staten Island after Hurricane Sandy, the human and material devastation portrayed might just as well be set in Coffey Park today.
The show opens with Marty and Mary Murphy (Mike Pavone and Mary Gannon Graham) returning to what’s left of their storm-ravaged home to begin the process of rebuilding. Word comes that the government may be offering buyouts to the residents as long as 80% of the neighborhood is willing to sell. The Murphy’s son Sal (Mark Bradbury) and their best friends Philip and Andrea Carter (Clark Miller and Madeleine Ashe) are all for getting out, but Marty is resistant. Actually, he’s more than resistant as he recruits his other son Brian (Jared Wright) to actively campaign against the buyout. He speaks of family and community and history, but there’s another reason for his intransigence. That reason just may do the job that Hurricane Sandy couldn’t and finish off the family.
Rothstein’s script is Arthur Miller-esque in its examination of a middle-class American family in economic crisis. The shadow of Death of a Salesman hangs over this production with its floundering patriarch, long-suffering-but-loyal wife, sons whose lives took different paths, a financially supportive friend, family secrets, etc. but Rothstein has effectively updated the story and added a few layers, though some like a subplot involving Brian’s rekindling of an old flame (Katie Kelly) feel superfluous.
Director Carl Jordan has an impressive cast with leads Graham and Pavone terrific as spouses whose relationship is put to the test, not by the disaster but by what it reveals about the family. Bradbury and Wright do well as the siblings who have their own issues but whose love for each other is clear. Madeleine Ashe delivers the most devastating line in the play – a single line that speaks of the desperation and frustration that many in this community now feel. Speaking to Marty she tries to explain why her and her husband are so inclined to accept the buyout. She looks directly at Marty and says, “I’m 60, and I have nothing.”
The pain in that line was palpable, and yet it was also cathartic. By the Water is not a story of natural disaster but of human resilience. It’s our story.
****
‘By the Water’ runs Friday through Sunday through April 8 at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Friday and Saturday evening performances at 8pm; Sunday matinees are at 2pm. There’s a Thursday, April 5 performance at 7:30pm.
For more information, go to spreckelsonline.com
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 - 4min - 179 - 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 responsibilities is to make an audience “a little uncomfortable.” He more than succeeds with this production.
The lights come up and through the windows of a darkened employee break room we see two people arguing in a hallway. The door to the breakroom opens, the lights are turned on and the two individuals enter the room. Not much is said, but it is obvious there is history between these two. Are they estranged father and daughter? Ex-lovers? Siblings?
It’s soon revealed that the fifty-something Ray (John Shillington) had a sexual relationship with the twenty-something Una (Sharia Pierce). However, the “relationship” occurred when Ray was forty and Una was twelve.
Uncomfortable yet? Well, it won’t get any easier over the course of the show’s uninterrupted eighty minutes as the conversation runs the gamut from their first “innocent” meeting to the graphic details of their last evening together. Una has come seeking the answer to a question that’s haunted her while Ray would rather say nothing.
He’s paid the legal price for his actions and tried to build a new life, but can that bill ever be paid in full?
Playwright David Harrower paints this picture with a palette full of greys, refusing to color these characters in simple black and white. Ray and Una are damaged individuals, but whether they were damaged before they met or as a result of their meeting is open to interpretation. He makes no excuses for Ray’s actions but dares to make an audience attempt to better understand them. Una is even more complicated. Deceptively written and played at the beginning as sort of an avenging angel, it soon becomes clear she’s not there to punish Ray. She’s there for a sort of closure. Neither of them will get it.
Pierce and Shillington are excellent in what have to be two of the most difficult roles ever played on a local stage. Lear has guided them well in giving their characters depth and complexity, eschewing the easy labels of hero and villain.
Post-show discussions give the audience and the actors a chance to decompress. Opening night’s talkback was almost as fascinating as the play.
Prepare to be angered, challenged, conflicted and ultimately saddened by Blackbird.
‘Blackbird' runs through April 1st at Main Stage West in Sebastopol. Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8pm; their Sunday matinee is at 5pm.
For more information, go to mainstagewest.com
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 - 4min - 178 - 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 production of Julie Marie Myatt’s Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter. Originally produced in 2008 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, it was one of the first works to address the issues faced by returning veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts.
Recently discharged Marine Jenny Sutter (Jenna Rechsteiner) has returned to California after being physically and emotionally wounded in the service of her country. Avoiding actually returning to her home for fear of her family’s reaction to her wounds, a happenstance meeting at a bus station leads her to join Lou (Maureen O’Neill) on a trip to Slab City, CA. It’s an actual location in the Sonoran Desert where squatters and campers have reclaimed an abandoned military base and turned it into a sort of off-the-grid commune.
Jenny soon finds herself surrounded by people dealing with their own damaged lives. There’s Lou, who is dealing with addiction problems (gambling, smoking, sex); Buddy (Geoffrey Nixon), an abuse survivor who fancies himself a preacher (his ordainment came free with a credit check); and Donald (Dylan Kupper), an anti-social jeweler with anger issues. They are all looking for someone or something to believe in, but they – and especially Jenny - need to begin with themselves.
With only six roles to fill from a school full of theatre arts students, Director Wendy Wisely has double-cast every role and has the two casts alternating performances. The opening night cast was fine with particularly warm performances from O’Neill as Jenny’s guide to recovery and Nixon as the sermon-delivering preacher.
With Burbank Auditorium in the thick of renovations, the somewhat-lacking Newman Auditorium hosts this production which translates to minimal set and lighting designs. That’s a shame because the story’s locale provides interesting opportunities for both, though lighting designer Vince Mothersbaugh does manage to do something with the limited resources.
The show is preceded by a slide presentation noting the military service of some of the cast, crew, and SRJC staff and the program notes that there are over 1,000 currently enrolled members of the student population who are active duty, reservists, veterans or their dependents. Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter is a nice salute to them and their families.
‘Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter' runs Wednesday through Sunday through March 18 at Santa Rosa Junior College's Newman Auditorium. Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm; Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to theatrearts.santarosa.edu
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 - 4min - 177 - 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 share the same surname.
It does, however, often ring true.
Set in an unnamed town, Bob and Jennifer Jones (Chris Schloemp and Melissa Claire) are spending a quiet evening in their backyard talking about nothing (and talking about talking about nothing) when some new neighbors come over to introduce themselves.
John and Pony Jones (Chris Ginesi and Paige Picard) have rented a house down the street and bring a bottle of wine over to break the ice. The awkward conversation that comes with meeting new people is really awkward as it veers into the personal.
It seems that Bob and Jennifer are there because it’s the best place for Bob to receive treatment for a degenerative neurological disease characterized by pain, bouts of blindness, and loss of memory. Bob deals with it by not dealing with it. Jennifer deals with it daily and is beginning to crack under the strain. John and Pony have just picked up and moved there on a whim, but it soon becomes clear the two couples have something in common.
The subject matter doesn’t seem ripe for humor, but it is. Its marvelously quirky dialogue is often absurd, and yet it feels genuine. In one of the plays best scenes, the two male Joneses have a late-night conversation:
John: “Arrrgh!’
Bob: “What?”
John: “Nothing. Ice cream headache.”
Bob: “Did you just have ice cream?”
John: “I wish.”
Delivery of dialogue like this can be a challenge and in the hands of lesser talents can come off cheaply, but director Argo Thompson has a cast that can handle it. Schloemp is excellent as the “everyman” struggling to deal with a failing body. Claire’s role as the put-upon wife borders on the stock, but she gives it just enough variance – particularly in her moments with John – to keep it interesting. Ginesi and Picard garner most of the laughs as neither’s character seems to possess much of an internal filter with Picard’s Pony having the verbal metabolism of a hummingbird.
The Realistic Joneses is difficult to categorize. It’s tough to find meaning in a play about the meaningless of meaning and for a play as funny as it is, an overwhelming sense of melancholy hangs over it. Highly original, it makes for a wonderfully weird evening of theater.
‘The Realistic Joneses’ runs through Mar. 25 at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre at the Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts; Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to leftedgetheatre.com
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 - 4min - 176 - 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 his aunt) but what they probably don’t know is that she was an immensely popular musical performer who charted numerous hit songs in the 50’s and 60’s. Changes in the musical landscape combined with a struggle with mental health issues led to her star fading. After an onstage breakdown and years of therapy, she was the rare performer who managed a ‘second act’ in showbiz when she turned to jazz. She continued to perform and record until her death in 2002.
Composers, lyricists and playwrights Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman use Clooney’s breakdown as the jumping off point for Tenderly, The Rosemary Clooney Musical, playing now at Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center. The show uses the framing device of Clooney’s therapy sessions to tell her tale.
After melting down during a Reno, Nevada performance, Rosemary Clooney (Taylor Bartolucci) finds herself in the care of psychiatrist Dr. Victor Monke (Barry Martin). At first reluctant, she soon finds herself opening up about her upbringing, her waning career, her failed marriages, and the struggles with addiction and depression that led to the breakdown.
It’s a standard showbiz melodrama wrapped up in the songs for which Clooney’s known, like “Hey There”, “Botch-A-me”, Come On-A My House”, “Mambo Italiano”, and the title tune. Bartolucci gives a restrained performance as Clooney, which is appropriate given the intimate performing space and subject matter.
Martin is challenged by not only playing her confessor, but every other person that Clooney encounters in her life including her mother, her sister, her uncle, various radio station employees, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and the twice-married-to Jose Ferrer.
Shifts in time and location are indicated by simple lighting changes and character transformations for Martin are expressed with slight costume modifications – a purse for mother, a pipe for Crosby, a jacket slung over the shoulder for Sinatra. Some characters read better than others (Martin does a pretty good Crosby) as the script keeps these characters superficial. It’s their effect on Clooney that matters.
One’s enjoyment of jukebox musicals is often dependent on one’s enjoyment of the specific style of music involved and how well it’s represented on stage. Music Director Craig Burdette, his three piece combo and performer Bartolucci represent Clooney and her style well.
Lucky Penny’s Tenderly, The Rosemary Clooney Musical brings a little luster back to Rosemary Clooney’s faded star.
‘Tenderly, The Rosemary Clooney Musical' plays Thursday through Sunday through March 11 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa - Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm; with Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to luckypennynapa.com
Wed, 28 Feb 2018 - 4min - 175 - 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 behavior. That too-oft-asked question with the most elusive of answers is at the heart of Peter Shaffer’s Equus.
Psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Craig Miller) is asked to take on the case of Alan Strang (Ryan Severt), a 17-year-old boy who has committed a horrific act of animal cruelty. Alan, a quiet boy, has taken a chance equestrian encounter in his youth and developed it into a personal theology. His devotion, passion for and submission to his God “Equus” (Latin for ‘horse’) makes his brutal and inhumane act of blinding horses in his care with a metal spike all the more difficult to fathom. Dysart must find out why.
Was it the conflict inherent in being brought up by a devout mother (Juliet Noonan) and atheist father (John Shillington)? Was it confusion over his burgeoning sexuality that’s been awakened by his co-worker Jill (Chandler Parrot -Thomas)? Or is it - in the play’s most disturbing point as expressed by Alan’s mother in her own search for answers - that evil simply exists?
Dysart’s search for the answer leads him to question his own state in life. His career in a state of “professional menopause” and married to a woman he hasn’t kissed in years, he envies Alan’s passion and begins to ponder whether it’s right to “cure” him and damn him to a life of normalcy. Dysart’s psychological quest finally leads to Alan’s confession and a recreation of the event, but is the initial question answered?
Director Lennie Dean balances the play’s innate theatricality with genuine human emotion which is all the more commendable considering four of the cast spend a good deal of time portraying horses. It’s a visually striking production, aided in good measure by original 1970’s costume pieces courtesy of American Conservatory Theater and an effective lighting design by April George.
Miller is excellent as the psychiatrist grappling with his own demons. Severt bares Alan’s soul (and body, as does Parrot-Thomas in the crucial climax) and gives a gut-wrenching performance. The pain in these characters is palpable. Superb work is done by the entire cast as they move in and out of the story as multiple characters.
An almost perfect combination of script, design, direction, and performance, 6th Street Playhouse’s Equus is not an easy play to sit through. It is also not to be missed.
'Equus' runs through February 25 at the 6th Street Playhouse Studio Theatre in Santa Rosa - Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances at 7:30pm; Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 - 4min - 174 - 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 traffic, full parking lots, and crowded stores that are all too common at this time of year. Some will be presenting traditional Christmas programs while others will be giving audiences some theatrical refuge from this often-overwhelming season.
Perhaps the most traditional will be 6th Street Playhouse’s production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, a stage musical based on the popular 1954 film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. It’s the story of a couple of song-and-dance men who come to the rescue of their old Army commander who’s now the proprietor of a failing Vermont lodge. Looks like they’re gonna put on a show to save the lodge, and do it while singing a bunch of classic Irving Berlin songs like “Happy Holidays”, “Blue Skies” and, of course, the title tune. The show opens on the GK Hardt stage December 1st and runs through December 23rd.
In their smaller Studio Theatre, 6th Street will be presenting the somewhat less traditional Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, playwright Christopher Durang’s manic mash-up of A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, It’s a Wonderful Life and some other stories. It’s a very funny show and runs from December 8th to December 23rd.
Out in Sonoma, the folks at Sonoma Arts Live will be presenting Inspecting Carol, a comedy about a flailing theatre company trying to get through a disastrous production of A Christmas Carol with the hopes of receiving a financial grant dangling over their heads like mistletoe. The Carl Jordan-directed show opens on November 29th and runs through December 10th.
For a wine country take on a couple of holiday classics, you might check out the Raven Players’ A Vintage Christmas. It’s a world premiere production written by Tony Sciullo that’s described as a cross between A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life set in wine country. It’s a Raven on the Road production that plays at the Trione Vineyards and Winery in Geyserville from December 1st through December 10th.
Travel a little further north and you’ll find The Nutcracker Musical being presented by the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center. It is not the ballet based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite (though there should be about one hundred productions of that produced in the next two months.) It’s a musical play based on the original E. T. A. Hoffman story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and has a two-weekend run starting on December 1st.
For those seeking a respite from holiday-themed shows, you have a few choices. Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre opens Bakersfield Mist on November 17th. It’s a comedy based on the true story of a Southern California trailer park resident who’s convinced the five-dollar painting she bought at a thrift store is a Jackson Pollack original worth millions. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West is presenting the two-person musical Daddy Long Legs. A turn of the century story most famously turned into a Fred Astaire/Leslie Caron film, it’s a May-December romance set to music. The Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park is reprising its production of Little Women: the Musical, albeit with a new director and an almost entirely new cast. It opens in Rohnert Park on November 24th. Monte Rio’s Curtain Call Theatre presents Rapture, Blister, Burn, a drama that presents a generational debate over the question “Can today’s woman really have it all?”
Finally, for those looking to ring-a-ding-ding in the New Year with the Chairman of the Board, Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater is presenting My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra. It opens December 15th and runs through mid-January.
Sonoma County Theatres are serving up a nice variety of shows for the holiday season. Consider checking one out or make a present of live theatre to a friend or family member. Season tickets to one of your local theatres would make a great gift.
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 - 4min - 173 - 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 and prejudice can do aren’t ancient history now as it bows at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center.
Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Tales of the South Pacific, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan took a couple of the stories, softened some of the characters and created an immensely popular musical tale of wartime love.
Set on two islands in the South Pacific during the war, two love stories are at the center of this tale. Navy Nurse Nellie Forbush (Heather Buck) finds herself falling in love with French expatriate plantation owner Emile de Becque (William O’Neill). Mssr. de Becque has a somewhat mysterious past, which doesn’t seem to bother Nellie too much. Well, at least not as much as the fact that he has bi-racial children born of a youthful relationship with a Polynesian girl.
Meanwhile, newly-arrived Lt. Joe Cable (James Raasch) flips head over heels (in what seems like record time, even for a Broadway musical) for local girl Liat (Maya Babow). Liat’s mother, Bloody Mary (Elsa Fulton), is anxious to marry her off. Joe, however, just can’t imagine bringing her back to his Philadelphia family. Nellie and Joe end their relationships. Emile and Joe head off on a dangerous military mission, but will love be the ultimate casualty?
Classic songs like “There’s Nothing Like a Dame”, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”, the enchanting “Bali Ha’i” and the beautiful “Some Enchanted Evening” fill out the story, with the daring-for-1949 “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” driving home the source of people’s prejudices.
Musical director Nancy Hayashibara and her 11-piece orchestra deliver the lush score and Buck and O’Neill are in excellent voice and character with O’Neill’s operatic training put to good use here. Nice comedic support comes from William Thompson as Seabee ‘entrepreneur’ Luther Billis and Jeff Coté as harried Captain Brackett. Elsa Fulton steals every scene in which Bloody Mary appears.
Directors Jim Coleman and Sheri Lee Miller keep things moving at a good pace through the two-hour, forty-five-minute running time, but there are some flat spots and things do get a bit sluggish in Act II.
Don’t dive too deeply in the waters and you’ll find yourself enjoying the music and appreciating the message of South Pacific.
South Pacific runs through February 25 at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. Friday and Saturday performances at 8pm with 2pm matinees on Sunday.
There’s also a Thursday, February 22 performance at 7:30pm.
For more information, google Spreckels Performing Arts Center. They’ve got a funky city web address.
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 - 4min - 172 - 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 presenting Sam Shepard’s Buried Child while Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater has David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People.
Shepard’s forty-year-old, Pulitzer-Prize-winning look at the implosion of the American nuclear family seems as fresh as ever with a very strong cast bringing Shepard’s oft macabre cast to life. John Craven (in a perfect melding of actor to role) is Dodge, the family patriarch. Once a successful farmer, he’s been reduced to being the cuckold of his domineering wife Halie (as played by Laura Jorgensen) and often finds himself at the mercy of his sons Bradley, an amputee who shaves Dodge’s head while he’s sleeping, and Tilden, who’s back home after getting in “trouble” in New Mexico. Tilden now spends his time carting in vegetables from a farm that hasn’t seen a seedling in decades. The sons are played by Eric Burke and Keith Baker, both making a welcome return to the Sonoma County stage after too-long absences.
The family’s decline can be traced to an event that is occasionally hinted at but never revealed - that is, until the arrival of grandson Vince and his girlfriend Shelly (played by Sam Coughlin and Ivy Rose Miller) sets a chain of events in motion in which the devastating secret is revealed and the family, perhaps, regenerated.
Rooted in realism yet often surreal, Buried Child is dark, funny, heartbreaking, disturbing and great theatre.
Good People, seen locally two years ago as the premiere production of Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre, is the tale of Margie (Sarah McKereghan), a down-on-her-luck Boston “southie” who some would say has made a string of bad choices in life but would say herself that she never had any to make.
At the encouragement of her friend Jean (Liz Jahren), she attempts to reconnect with her old boyfriend Mike (played by Nick Sholley), now a doctor who long ago abandoned the projects of South Boston. Margie, for whom the term “pushy” is an understatement, wrangles an invitation to a birthday party for Mike being thrown by his wife. The wife is played by Liz Rogers-Beckley, who interestingly is reprising the role from the Left Edge production. Margie hopes to connect with someone who can offer her a job, but then the party is cancelled - or is it? Margie’s gonna find out. It does not go well.
Funny, bleak, and utterly real, Good People will have you nodding your head in recognition of these characters and shaking your head in frustration at their decisions.
Two great scripts. Two great casts. Two great shows. Your Choice.
'Good People ' runs through February 18 at Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater - Friday & Saturday at 8pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to cinnabartheater.org.
'Buried Child' runs through February 25 at Main Stage West in Sebastopol – Thursday through Saturday at 8pm; Sunday matinees are at 5pm. For more information, go to mainstagewest.com.
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 - 4min - 171 - 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 Disgraced. Akhtar has taken the “friends drink to excess and soon truths are revealed” theatrical trope (along the lines of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and dragged it into the 21st century.
Amir Kapoor (an intense Jared N. Wright) is a mergers and acquisitions attorney who’s changed his name and family history and abandoned his Muslim faith in his attempt to climb the corporate ladder. His wife Emily (Ilana Niernberger in the play’s most difficult role) is an artist whose work is heavily influenced by Islamic culture. She’s anxious to have her work displayed by her friend Isaac, played by Mike Schaeffer in an alternately amusing and disturbing performance. He’s a museum curator and the husband of Jory (played by an effective Jazmine Pierce), who’s a fellow ladder-climbing attorney at Amir’s firm.
All seems to be on track until Amir appears at a court hearing for an imam accused of raising money for a terrorist organization. He did so after repeated entreaties from his nephew (played solidly by Sonoma State University student Adrian Causor) and under pressure from his wife Emily. A short blurb in the New York Times about Amir is the catalyst for the action that ensues at a dinner party where Isaac plans to share some happy news.
Akhtar manages to address issues of assimilation, cultural appropriation, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, bigotry, racism, workplace inequity, misogyny, and religious and political fundamentalism in 90 compact minutes with no intermission. The action all takes place in Amir and Emily’s apartment with two short expositional scenes prefacing the play’s main event - the dinner party. It’s a party that begins well enough but, after a plethora of alcohol is ingested and ugly truths are revealed, ends in a shocking act of brutality.
While the dinner party setting may be stock, these characters are not. Director Phoebe Meyer and the cast take a no-holds-barred approach to the material and it pays off. Each character’s complexity is refreshing and provides a worthy challenge for the experienced cast. The company is excellent in their portrayals of individuals who struggle with their core beliefs and the realization that they may not be who they think they are or - more frighteningly - that they are.
That struggle was mirrored by the audience in post-show conversations. The best theatre starts a dialogue, not just about the show, but of the issues raised. This production should lead to a lot of discussions and maybe some heated - but hopefully civil - arguments.
There’s no disgrace in that.
‘Disgraced’ runs through February 18 at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre in the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to leftedgetheatre.com.Wed, 31 Jan 2018 - 4min - 170 - 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 science lecture on the more annoying cousin of the honeybee but a look at the cultural transformation of a specific component of 20th century America – the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
Gurney, whose other works include Love Letters and Sylvia, uses 18 vignettes and about 50 characters to chart the rise and decline of upper middle-class America. The scenes all occur in the titular location around a stately dining table. The table, which was once the center point of family life and special occasions, in time has been reduced to a place on which to fold laundry.
Wafting through the room over its two-hour running time are generations of unrelated characters, ages four to ninety, all played by a company of six talented actors - Isabelle Grimm, Kit Grimm, Rhonda Guaraglia, Len Handeland, Trevor Hoffman, and Jill K. Wagoner. One actor goes from playing a stern, turn-of-the-century father lecturing his son on manners to a young boy begging the family servant not to leave her job. Another goes from playing a real estate agent eager to make a sale to a young girl pleading to go to the movies instead of dance lessons.
Scenes overlap and intertwine with characters from one era occupying the space at the same time as characters from another era. There are no blackouts as the action is continuous and the actors simply glide in and out of the room. This led to some confusion with a few audience members, so much so that were a few more empty seats post-intermission. It’s really not that confusing one you acclimate yourself to the style and buy into the premise of veteran performers playing children. Where else will you get the chance to see Kit Grimm bouncing around the stage like a four-year old pretending to be a monkey?
The scenes range from the poignant to the humorous with the most effective being a conversation between an ailing father and his son about funeral plans and a laugh-out-loud segment between an aunt and her nephew about a college photography project.
The action all takes place on the single dining room set, nicely designed and appointed by Bruce Lackovic. William Ferguson has added some effective lighting elements as well.
Director Joey Hoeber keeps his cast in check and despite the range in characters the show never veers into the cartoonish. If you don’t enter the theatre expecting a traditional linear narrative, you’ll find yourself enjoying a well-acted, acute observation of a slice of by-gone American life.
'The Dining Room' runs through February 4 at Andrews Hall in the Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma. Thursday through Saturday evening performances at 7:30pm, Sunday matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to sonomaartslive.org.
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 - 4min - 169 - 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 for the community theatre staple Always, Patsy Kline, has taken about thirty country standards and wrapped the thinnest of stories around them to create a raucous and enjoyable evening of entertainment.
It’s the tale of three would-be singers, each stuck in a rut, who decide to take a chance and follow their dreams of a singing career to Nashville. There’s Angela (played by Daniela Innocenti Beem), queen of her double wide who’s having trouble standing by her man (cue Tammy Wynette). Darlene (played by Abbey Lee), is struggling with being a coal miner’s daughter (cue Loretta Lynn) and the loss of her boyfriend Billy Joe (cue Bobbie Gentry). Finally, there’s Sue Ellen (played by Amy Webber), who’s fed up with the chauvinist boss at her 9 to 5 job (cue, of course, Dolly Parton).
Act I begins with their backstories and their individual decisions that it’s time for them to fly (cue REO Speedwagon. Wait a minute, REO SPEEDWAGON?!) and concludes with their fortuitous meeting on a Greyhound bus. A lot must happen during intermission because Act II consists of their farewell performance after a record-breaking six-week engagement at Nashville’s Honky Tonk Heaven. In addition to the songs alluded to earlier, others performed include “I Will Always Love You”, “Delta Dawn”, “Rocky Top”, “Sittin’ on the Front Porch Swing”, and “I’ll Fly Away”.
Director Michael Ross has a trio of talented ladies for angels. Ms. Beem as Angela is the unabashed leader of the trio. As the oldest and most worldly member, she grabs hold of the stage – and the audience – and never lets go. Ms. Webber gives her a run for her money as the brassy, big-haired Sue Ellen while Ms. Lee has the quieter moments as the wide-eyed, innocent Darlene.
Eye-popping costumes by Pamela Enz (think leopard skin and a lot of sequins) add to the fun, as does some playful choreography by Michella Snider. Both come together in the amusing “Cleopatra, Queen of Denial” number.
Swindley’s script – if you can call it that – doesn’t provide character depth and there’s no great message to be found beyond the pat “follow your dreams” axiom but what it does provide is the opportunity to hear some great American music performed live. Music director Robert Hazelrigg and musicians Ian Scherer, Quinten Cohen and Kassi Hampton handle the country/bluegrass songbook well. Credit the ladies for bringing the right amount of character and a quality voice to each song, particularly on some very sweet three-part harmonies.
When it comes to shows like Honky Tonk Angels, it is all about the songs. They’ve got this.
“Honky Tonk Angels” runs Thursday–Sunday through Feb. 4 at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse with evening performances at 7:30 pm and matiness at 2pm.
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 - 4min - 168 - 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 for local theatre. Here now is Part II:
The “One is the Loneliest Number” Award - I’ve been asked a couple of times “If you could open up a theatre company in Sonoma Country, what kind of shows would you do?” Getting past the issue that no one in their right mind would open another theatre company in this area, my answer is “one-person shows.” Why? Well, this year we had Patrick Varner as a Streisand employee, Libby Villari as a former Texas governor, Sheri Lee Miller as a ghost, and David Yen as a disgruntled Christmas elf. All were highly entertaining and each came down to a single performer and an audience.
The “No, I’ve Got Something in My Eye” Award – I found myself quite taken with two holiday presentations (that aren’t really holiday plays.) Main Stage West’s Daddy Long Legs and Spreckels’ Little Women, the Musical took me by surprise. Credit the performers for getting me to dust off the adjective “sweet” in my vocabulary.
The “Better Than It Had Any Right to Be” Award – The Redwood Theatre Company has impressed me in its short life for the energy and passion they bring to their productions. As one who has never succumbed to the cult of Star Wars, my expectations for their production of Brittany Law’s original musical parody The Farce Awakens were not high. I expected it to be a bunch of young folk in cheesy costumes with dime-store props saying silly things. That is EXACTLY what it was, and yet it was all delivered with such a sense of joy and fun that they won me over.
The “If You Build It, They Will Come” Award – Sonoma County is blessed with several excellent set designers who often do wonders with often tiny, restricted spaces. The sets for Cinnabar’s Man of La Mancha, Spreckel’s The Sugar Bean Sisters, and Main Stage West’s The Birds all grabbed your attention and transported you to another place from the moment you walked through the theatre door.
The “Just (Don’t) Do It” Award – Just because a show hasn’t been done in Sonoma County before (or in a long time), doesn’t mean it should be done. Some are chestnuts that are best left buried (The Children’s Hour), while others just aren’t very good (David Mamet’s Race.) And why do companies recycle shows that have played in the community within the past few years? You couldn’t pick one of the other 1,000 plays available?
2018 will be a challenging year for both theatre companies and audiences. The Sonoma County landscape has changed in many ways. Theatre companies that struggle even in good times face even greater difficulties now. I know our community’s support of the arts is greatly appreciated.
Again, here’s to an artistically invigorating 2018.
I’ll see you at the theatre.
Wed, 10 Jan 2018 - 4min - 167 - 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, fashion, and the like and give people at holiday parties something to argue about. For the past three years my approach has been a little different as I prefer to offer a few “Special End of Year Awards” to Sonoma County theatres and artists. Here is Part I of my 2017 awards:
The “Now You See It, Now You Don’t” Award - The Santa Rosa Junior College production of It Can’t Happen Here opened on October 6 and closed on October 8. The adaptation of the 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel about the rise of a populist blow-hard to the Presidency had a lot to say about our current political climate, but not a lot of people had a chance to see it. Its run was cut short with the closure of the SRJC campus as a result of the fires.
The “Show Must Go On” Award – There were many theatre companies that understandably postponed their runs during the North Bay fires. Cinnabar Arts and Spreckels Theatre Company went on with their scheduled openings of Quartet and Monty Python’s Spamalot. While neither facility was in immediate danger, I was conflicted about the decision. I attended both productions, enjoyed them both, and was glad they decided to open. That being said, I’m still not sure they should have.
The “Yes, There IS Diversity in Sonoma County, Dammit” Award – The Santa Rosa Junior College production of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s In the Heights proved the claim that there isn’t a diverse enough talent pool from which to cast many shows is suspect. Perhaps choosing shows in a season that speak and appeal to more diverse artists and audiences would widen the pool. Maybe it’s also time to check some artistic egos at the door and go and find them.
The “Big Things Come in Small Packages” Award – The studio theatres of Sonoma County’s largest companies often offered superior work to that displayed on their main stages - 6th Street’s Visiting Mr. Green and A Masterpiece of Comic… Timing and Spreckels’ The Sugar Bean Sisters and Little Women, the Musical for example.
The “Out of Left Field” Award – Not many people are willing to venture out to Monte Rio to catch theatre. You should give it a shot. You’re not going to get the bells and whistles other production companies may provide, but Curtain Call can do a lot with a little. They put on an excellent production of The Elephant Man with local comedian James Rowan giving an incredibly touching performance as John Merrick.
Live theatre continues to struggle in Sonoma County (as it does most any place else.) Like many residents, the theatre community did not escape the fires unscathed with some companies losing their performance space and others losing equipment, props and costumes. Numerous theatre artists lost their homes. Live theatre will go on because Sonoma County supports it but, as with every other part of our community, change is inevitable.
Tune in next week for Part II of my awards.
Here’s to an artistically invigorating 2018.
I’ll see you at the theatre.
Wed, 03 Jan 2018 - 4min - 166 - 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 still manages to extract any laughs at all from its audience is somewhat of a Christmas miracle. Plagued with pre-production challenges ranging from a change in director due to the fires to the untimely passing of its lead actor, director Jared Sakren and his cast have done their best to present local audiences an option for alternative holiday fun.
Christopher Durang’s musical parody of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – with detours through the worlds of Oliver Twist, The Gift of the Magi, and It’s a Wonderful Life amongst others– has not aged well since its 2002 premiere. Full of political and pop cultural references that might have seemed dated even them (Remember Enron and Kenneth Lay? Harry and Leona Helmsley? TV’s Touched by an Angel?), it follows Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Kit Grimm) on his Christmas Eve journey through his past as guided by an incompetent ghost (Debra Harvey, alternating in the role with Serena Flores). Their visit to the Cratchit household reveals an angry and bitter Mrs. Bob Cratchit (played by an appropriately crotchety Tika Moon), who’s fed up with her milquetoast husband (an earnest Conor Woods), their twenty children - most of whom live in the root cellar - and her lot in life. Soon it’s off to the pub for her where she’ll knock back a few followed by a London Bridge plunge into the Thames. Scrooge and Cratchit’s fates become intertwined, as Scrooge finds himself oddly attracted to his underling’s miserable wife and Cratchit wishes she had never been born. The show concludes with a decidedly un-Christmas-like moral – you can be poor, loving, and noble, or rich, mean, and happy. God bless us, everyone!
The play contains four original songs by Durang and Michael Friedman that offer a few chuckles, but you won’t be hearing carolers singing any of these any Christmas soon.
Dicken’s original story is ripe for parody, and Durang does manage to mine a few silly laughs out of it, but this show never really gets off the ground. There are hints at what Ms. Harvey might have been able to do with the lead role of the ghost with sufficient rehearsal time, but the necessity of her reading from a script played havoc with the show’s pacing. Without a strong, central performance, it was left to the supporting cast to veer out on their own and bring the laughs. The most successful of those were Moon’s bitingly sarcastic Mrs. Cratchit, Laura Levin’s ebullient, cherubic Mrs. Fezziwig, and Eric Weiss’s rubber-limbed not-so-Tiny Tim.
Credit to them and the entire ensemble for gamely marching on in the hopes of producing some Christmas cheer. While the punchbowl they’re serving it from is far from full, there’s at least enough in it for a couple of glasses.
Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge plays at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through December 23rd with evening performances at 7:30 pm and matinees at 2:00pm
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 - 4min - 165 - 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 Jean Webster. Set at the turn of the 20th century, it’s the story of the relationship between an orphan and her mysterious benefactor as told – well, actually, sung – through a series of letters. Elly Lichenstein, Artistic Director of Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater, transports her directorial skills from the cozy confines of Cinnabar to the even cozier confines of Sebastopol’s Main Stage West for this production.
Jerusha Abbott (Madison Genovese), the oldest orphan at the John Grier Home, is surprised to learn that a trustee who’s been impressed with her writing will provide her with a college education under a very particular set of circumstances. She must write him regularly with the knowledge that he will never respond. He will remain anonymous with her letters simply to be addressed to “Mr. Smith”. Jerusha imagines him to be a trustee whose shadow she caught a glimpse of one evening. His legs were long and spindly and as he is a trustee she imagines him to be quite old. Rather than address her benefactor with his chosen boring moniker, she titles him “Daddy Long Legs.”
Her benefactor is actually Jervis Pendleton (Tyler Costin), a young philanthropist who is at first amused but soon enchanted by Jerusha’s musings on college life and her personal growth. As he’s the uncle of one of Jerusha’s college roommates, he arranges to meet her while maintaining his anonymity. Their relationship grows over the four years of college, but Jerusha’s graduation may finally force Jervis’s hand in revealing his true identity.
This entire tale is told through song with titles like “Who is this Man?”, “She Thinks I’m Old”, “Freshman Year Studies”, “The Secret of Happiness”, “Graduation Day” and the like. The show’s format demands that the music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and John Caird be heavy on exposition and there’s so much of it that it often feels repetitive and one note.
Ah, but it’s a beautifully sung note. Ms. Genovese brings pluck and charm to Jerusha and Mr. Costin’s physical lankiness is perfect for the role of Jervis. Both are in fine voice and complement each other quite well in their duets. They manage to completely avoid the trap that a closer examination of the storyline might provide.
Elizabeth Craven had designed a very utilitarian set for the small MSW stage with half of it occupied by Jervis’s study and the other half representing the orphanage, the college, a farm and a mountaintop at various times.
Musical director Dave MacNab and his three-piece orchestra give the often-sweet score its due with the cello work by Gwenyth Davis particularly emotive.
Director Lichenstein, though again limited by the show’s epistolary format and the relatively small performance space, manages to add a few nice directorial touches that when combined with two appealing performances ends with the result being a very
pleasant evening of musical theatre.
“Daddy Long Legs” plays at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West through December 10, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, with Sunday matinees at 5pm.
For more information, go to mainstagewest.com
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 - 4min - 164 - 2017 Holiday Preview - 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 traffic, full parking lots, and crowded stores that are all too common at this time of year. Some will be presenting traditional Christmas programs while others will be giving audiences some theatrical refuge from this often-overwhelming season.
Perhaps the most traditional will be 6th Street Playhouse’s production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, a stage musical based on the popular 1954 film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. It’s the story of a couple of song-and-dance men who come to the rescue of their old Army commander who’s now the proprietor of a failing Vermont lodge. Looks like they’re gonna put on a show to save the lodge, and do it while singing a bunch of classic Irving Berlin songs like “Happy Holidays”, “Blue Skies” and, of course, the title tune. The show opens on the GK Hardt stage December 1st and runs through December 23rd.
In their smaller Studio Theatre, 6th Street will be presenting the somewhat less traditional Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, playwright Christopher Durang’s manic mash-up of A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, It’s a Wonderful Life and some other stories. It’s a very funny show and runs from December 8th to December 23rd.
Out in Sonoma, the folks at Sonoma Arts Live will be presenting Inspecting Carol, a comedy about a flailing theatre company trying to get through a disastrous production of A Christmas Carol with the hopes of receiving a financial grant dangling over their heads like mistletoe. The Carl Jordan-directed show opens on November 29th and runs through December 10th.
For a wine country take on a couple of holiday classics, you might check out the Raven Players’ A Vintage Christmas. It’s a world premiere production written by Tony Sciullo that’s described as a cross between A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life set in wine country. It’s a Raven on the Road production that plays at the Trione Vineyards and Winery in Geyserville from December 1st through December 10th.
Travel a little further north and you’ll find The Nutcracker Musical being presented by the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center. It is not the ballet based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite (though there should be about one hundred productions of that produced in the next two months.) It’s a musical play based on the original E. T. A. Hoffman story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and has a two-weekend run starting on December 1st.
For those seeking a respite from holiday-themed shows, you have a few choices. Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre opens Bakersfield Mist on November 17th. It’s a comedy based on the true story of a Southern California trailer park resident who’s convinced the five-dollar painting she bought at a thrift store is a Jackson Pollack original worth millions.
Sebastopol’s Main Stage West is presenting the two-person musical Daddy Long Legs. A turn of the century story most famously turned into a Fred Astaire/Leslie Caron film, it’s a May-December romance set to music. The Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park is reprising its production of Little Women: the Musical, albeit with a new director and an almost entirely new cast. It opens in Rohnert Park on November 24th. Monte Rio’s Curtain Call Theatre presents Rapture, Blister, Burn, a drama that presents a generational debate over the question “Can today’s woman really have it all?”
Finally, for those looking to ring-a-ding-ding in the New Year with the Chairman of the Board, Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater is presenting My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra. It opens December 15th and runs through mid-January.
Sonoma County Theatres are serving up a nice variety of shows for the holiday season. Consider checking one out or make a present of live theatre to a friend or family member. Season tickets to one of your local theatres would make a great gift.
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 - 4min - 163 - 2nd Annual MTJA Awards - November 8, 2017
2nd Annual Marquee Theater Journalists Association 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 the two local institutions of higher learning. From Petaluma to Cloverdale, from Monte Rio to Sonoma, the options available for those interested in live theatre in this county are plentiful.
Two years ago, four Sonoma County based theatre critics – including your host - gathered to discuss the possibility of celebrating the best of local theatre through an awards process. All were members of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, an organization that has for the past 41 years recognized excellence in theatre produced in the nine bay area counties with an annual awards ceremony. Theatre Bay Area, the largest regional theatre service organization in North America, started their own awards program four years ago, also for productions throughout the Bay Area.
While Sonoma County has made a respectable showing in these awards over the past few years – including two wins for Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre at the recent TBA Awards - the local critics thought there was enough theatre produced in this county to warrant their own honors.
Thus was born the Marquee Theater Journalists Association and the MTJA Awards, named for the legendary Marquee Theatre of Santa Rosa where many local artists began their theatrical careers. Awards are given in fifteen categories that recognize outstanding work in Sonoma County productions that opened from September of the previous year to August of the current year. One major difference with the MTJA Awards is that the performance categories are non-gender specific. There are awards for outstanding lead performances and awards for outstanding supporting performances – all performers are considered for each award. The terms “actor” and “actress” are nowhere to be found on the Award certificates. The awards are separated by genre, with categories recognizing the differences between dramas, comedies, and musicals.
Nominations for the 2nd Annual MTJA Awards were announced in mid-September with the awards ceremony scheduled for mid-October. Wellllll, that didn’t happen but this past Monday the Sonoma County theatre community had the opportunity to gather at the Confluence Taproom & Lounge in Santa Rosa and celebrate the past year in theatre.
Here are the recipients of this year’s MTJA Awards:
Outstanding Poster/Program Design
Pagliacci (Victoria Von Thal, Cinnabar Theater)
Outstanding Set Design
Peter Crompton (In the Heights, SRJC)
Outstanding Costume Design
Maci Cae Hosler (Fairyworlds!, 6th Street Playhouse)
Outstanding Light Design
Eddy Hansen (The Sugar Bean Sisters, Spreckels Theatre Company)
Outstanding Sound Design
Doug Faxon (The Birds, Main Stage West)
Outstanding Choreography
Sam Browne, Casandra Hillman, Anakarina Swanson (In the Heights, SRJC)
Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama
Rose Roberts (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Main Stage West)
Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical
Erik Weiss (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, 6th Street Playhouse)
Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy
Heather Gordon (The Money Shot, Left Edge Theater)
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical
Daniela Innocenti-Beem (Gypsy, Sonoma Arts Live)
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy
Melissa Claire (Becky’s New Car, Sonoma Arts Live)
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama
Alan Kaplan (Visiting Mr. Green, 6th Street Playhouse)
Outstanding Musical Production
In the Heights (John Shillington, director; Janis Wilson, musical director; SRJC)
Outstanding Comedy Production
Becky’s New Car (Carl Jordan, director; Sonoma Arts Live)
Outstanding Drama Production
Visiting Mr. Green (David L. Yen, director; 6th Street Playhouse)
Congratulations to these artists and the entire Sonoma County theatre community.
Wed, 08 Nov 2017 - 4min - 162 - 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 Playhouse. Based on the life of Harling’s sister, the show debuted off-Broadway in 1987 and shortly thereafter was adapted into the successful film starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts in an early Academy Award-nominated role.
Set in a Louisiana hair salon, it’s the tale of a group of small-town Southern “belles” of all ages and statuses who gather to gossip, share recipes, and occasionally get their hair done. There’s Truvy (Jennifer Peck), the bubbly proprietor and chief conduit of all local information, Annelle (Crystal Carpenter Wilson), the new girl in town who hires on at the salon as the show begins, Shelby (Ellen Rawley), an independent young woman about to be married, M’Lynn (Jill K. Wagoner), Shelby’s lovingly-controlling mother, Ouiser (mollie boice), the town “character”, and Clairee (Kate Brickley), widow of the mayor and town sage.
The play opens on Shelby’s wedding day and progresses through the next couple of years. We see changes in all of their lives, from Shelby’s desire for a family to Annelle’s maturation from an insecure lost lamb to true believer. M’Lynn struggles with letting her daughter live her own life, while Ousier, who really isn’t crazy (she’s “just been in a very bad mood for 40 years”), reconnects with an old flame. Clairee starts to step out of her late husband’s shadow and expand her horizons. It’s a tear-jerker, so someone’s gonna get sick and… well, you know.
Director Beulah Vega’s got a top-notch cast at work here with each actor providing a fully-formed character that while steeped in cliché is wholly believable. Kate Brickley’s Clairee is the heart of the show, overseeing things from a waiting chair and tossing out a quip every now and then. She’s the town mother, which is not meant to take anything away from Jill Wagoner’s M’Lynn, who is excellent as Shelby’s mother, torn between her daughter’s desire to be happy and what may be truly best for her. mollie boice follows up her role from earlier this year as a cantankerous Southern senior in Spreckel’s The Sugar Bean Sisters with her work here as a cantankerous Southern senior. Madame boice would seem to have a lock on this type of role and delivers the goods.
If Clairee is the heart of the show, then surely Ellen Rawley’s Shelby is the soul. To steal a line from another show currently running, she’s always looking on the bright side of life and Rawley is charming in the role. Crystal Carpenter Wilson’s Annelle has the greatest character arc and by the play’s conclusion has come into her own as a strong woman. The glue that holds this group together is Jennifer Peck’s Truvy. Her beauty shop is their refuge and Peck plays her with a heart of gold and a great deal of humor. The affection she holds for others and that others hold for her really comes through.
That beauty shop is well represented on the GK Hardt stage with a nicely appointed scenic design by Sam Transleau. Props for making it a functional shop, where hair is actually shampooed (not mimed) and props to the cast for taking on the challenge of setting curlers while performing. Set in the 80’s, the time is well represented in the costume choices of designer Gail Reine.
Full of humor, pathos and delivered via excellent character work by the entire cast, the 6th Street Playhouse production of Steel Magnolias delivers a heaping helping of southern comfort to its audience, and not just a female audience. Consider making an appointment.
Steel Magnolias plays at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through November 5 with evening performances at 7:30pm and matinees at 2pm.
For more information, go to 6thsteetplayhouse.com
Wed, 01 Nov 2017 - 4min - 161 - 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 protagonist in Petaluma playwright (and former Second Row Center Host) David Templeton’s latest theatrical piece Mary Shelley’s Body, now in its premiere engagement at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West. Templeton, whose previous plays are autobiographical, ventures into historical fiction with this stage adaptation of his same-named novella published last year in Worde Horde’s anthology “Eternal Frankenstein”.
The play opens, as most good ghost stories do, in a graveyard where we find Mary Shelley (Sheri Lee Miller) atop her tomb and coming to grips with the realization that she is dead. She finds herself trapped by an invisible force and begins to review her life with the hope of revealing the reason for her purgatorial existence. Her upbringing by a stern father, her romance with the married Percy Shelley, their eventual marriage after the suicide of Shelley’s wife, and the loss of three of her children are all relayed, as well as the fateful summer evening spent in the company of Lord Byron and others where she conceived the idea for her classic horror tale.
Interspersed with the biographical information is Templeton’s original take on the Frankenstein story, focusing on the “construction” of the monster. Four tales are told of the various parts collected by Victor Frankenstein – the hands of an ox man, the brain of a judge, the heart of a stallion, and the blood of a washwoman. Each tale is a horror story unto its own and they provide the play with its strongest, creepiest moments.
The play concludes with Shelley’s horrific realization as to how she met her demise but to reveal more may reduce the jolt audience members deserve to receive for themselves. I’ll just say that in Templeton’s world, Shelley’s tale of Frankenstein may be more autobiography than fiction.
Miller gives a tour-de-force performance as Mary Shelley, one moment exuding the charm of her character and in the next relating a bone-chilling tale of murder and body snatching. There is also a surprising amount of humor in the piece which Miller slyly delivers. She commands the stage from beginning to end of the play’s one hour and forty-five-minute run (with a fifteen-minute intermission.) The show could stand to be trimmed a bit, particularly with the sometimes-clunky exposition at the show’s start. There were also a few moments that left some members of the audience confused (including myself) that should be clarified.
Templeton writes a good horror story, and Miller as Shelley is a great story teller. Both are aided by a simple but effective set design by stage director Elizabeth Craven and the omnipresent flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder that surround the audience courtesy of designers Missy Weaver and Doug Faxon.
Current events may make some shy away from a tale in this genre but the Main Stage West production of Mary Shelley’s Body really will transport you to another time and place.
Mary Shelley’s Body plays at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, with a 2pm matinee on Saturday and a 5pm matinee on Sunday.
For more information, go to mainstagewest.com
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 - 4min - 160 - 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 keep things going so that the crowd would not panic. Well, there’s one hell of an ‘animal’ running loose in Sonoma County right now and the folks at the Spreckels Theatre Company have decided their show must go on. They’ve gone ahead and opened their production of Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park with the intent of completing its run through October 29.
I had mixed emotions about the decision. Most theatre companies have cancelled or postponed their productions. The air quality in the area is horrendous. Cell phones constantly beep with notices of the latest evacuations or fire updates. Thousands of people have lost their homes or have been evacuated from them. Roads are closed. Emergency vehicles from around our state and others are filling the streets. One cast member from this production is recovering from burn injuries in San Francisco.
And yet I attended, not so much as a reviewer, but as a member of the theatre and Sonoma County community seeking to support my fellow artists and citizens. I was joined by about one hundred other folks, some to support their family and friends, others to escape for a few hours from the harsh reality of the world literally just outside the theatre doors.
I’m glad I did. It was incredibly therapeutic to be in a theatre and to hear people laugh. I am extremely proud of the theatre artists who took the stage last night and gave their all to provide this community some relief.
The show began with a slight change to the usual admonition about cell phones. Rather than turn them off, people were encouraged to just switch them to vibrate. With that, musical director Lucas Sherman and the eleven-piece orchestra began the overture.
Spamalot is Monty Python member Eric Idle’s musical mash-up of their 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and several of their British television series’ best bits. It’s the warped tale of King Arthur (Robert Nelson) who, joined by his servant Patsy (Tom Smith), is gathering a company of knights (Zane Walters, Craig Bainbridge, Peter Rogers, David Gonzalez) to begin a quest for the Holy Grail. Along the way they’ll run into the Lady of the Lake (Shannon Rider), some Knights who say “ni”, a “him-sel” in distress (Lorenzo Alviso) and his exasperated, music- hating father (Sam Starr), a French taunter (Thomas Yen), a person who’s not quite dead (Emily Walters) and a rabbit that’s dynamite.
It’s a silly show with silly songs like “I’m Not Dead Yet”, “The Song That Goes Like This”, “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway”, and “Whatever Happened to My Part?”. Choreographer Michella Snider has them done in a variety of styles from classic Broadway show-stoppers to Vegas lounge acts to a smidgen of disco. In the same vein, director David Yen has his silly cast doing silly things. The humor is often bawdy and crude with both groan-inducing and laugh-out-load visual puns and bits. The “Black Knight” scene seemed to fall apart as much as the Black Knight, but that just made it funnier.
For those who expect more specific criticisms, let me just say this: For a cast that, like most people in the area, has probably slept little in the last week and have had to breathe ash for the last five days, they did all right. Hell, they made me laugh.
The show concluded with an encore of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Many in the audience joined in, and as they exited the auditorium, they all seemed a little happier than when they entered.
If you’re at the point where you need a break and feel safe enough to get out, go ahead and turn off your TV and radio, put your phone on silent, grab some friends who could use a laugh or two as well, and join King Arthur and his gang on their quest. You may not find the Grail, but you’ll find some something better – a little light during these very dark days.
Wed, 18 Oct 2017 - 4min - 159 - 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 steered to the meaning of life, my standard contribution was that life had no meaning, it was simply the sum of the choices we make. I then proceeded to a) throw up, b) pass out, or c) grab another beverage. See? Choices.
Who hasn’t put themselves in the position to wonder “What if?” or played the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” game when it comes to the choices we’ve made in life. Well, British playwright Nick Payne plays that game theatrically with his characters in his 2012 play Constellations, which is running in its North Bay premiere engagement at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse.
It’s a two-character piece that follows the relationship of quantum physicist Marianne (Melissa Claire) and bee-keeper Roland (Jared Wright) from their first meet through a multitude of life situations. Each situation lasts but a few minutes and is presented multiple times, with slight or major derivations each time. Marianne may confess infidelity, then Roland may be the guilty party. Roland may forgive her. Or not. He may be compassionate. Or violent. They may speak to each other in British accents. Or American Sign Language (a fascinating scene.) Their relationship may endure. Or not.
It’s an interesting exercise but hardly original (see the film Sliding Doors, for example).
It takes off from the concept of mulit-verses, which would take substantial research and writing time to explain fully, but I refuse to spend more time writing this review than it took to watch this production, which clocked in at the performance I attended at a very brisk 63 minutes. For a pretty good primer on the subject, check out the episode of Family Guy that covers the material.
What the show is more than anything is a challenge for its artists, and director Juliet Noonan and actors Claire and Wright meet the challenge. Performed in the round in 6th Street’s Studio theatre, what could easily bore an audience with its repetitive nature holds the audience from beginning to end, though the short running time is also key. I’m not sure I could sit through two hours of a show structured like this.
Claire’s and Wright’s ability to play the scenes with different shadings and maintain the characters’ credibility is a tribute to their talent. Scenes take emotional leaps that would throw many actors, but with a simple light or sound cue the transformation is almost immediate. Director Noonan keeps her cast in almost perpetual motion over an eye-catching, well-lit, yet simple set that evokes the vastness of time and space. With each shift in movement and placement comes a different version of the story.
I’m not sure what the big picture is here, or if there’s even a big picture to be found. One could go mad contemplating the infinite possibilities in life. Or one could go see this show.
Your choice.
Constellations plays at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through September 24th.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 20 Sep 2017 - 4min - 158 - 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 Edge Theatre’s presentation of Sideways, author Rex Pickett’s re-working of his 2004 novel which was adapted by filmmaker Alexander Payne into the multi award-winning film.
Adapting Pickett’s tale of a weeklong road trip/bachelor party through Central California wine country to a small, intimate stage would seem to be a bit of a challenge, but director/set designer Argo Thompson and his Left Edge team – in collaboration with Pickett – make it work. It’s well cast with Ron Severdia as Miles, a frustrated, unpublished author who’s sunk so low as to steal money from his mother to pay the rent and Chris Ginesi as Jack, Miles’ best friend and groom-to-be who’s a whirling dervish of positivity and testosterone. Jack sees the trip as his last chance to score before settling down. Miles just wants to get out of LA and escape into his own viticulturally-devised world. Their plans go a bit awry after meeting a couple of tasting room managers. Maya (Maureen O’Neill) seems to have an interest in Miles while Terra (Jazmine Pierce) has Jack thinking his upcoming nuptials may be a mistake.
If you know the film or novel, then you know the play. If you’re wondering how a story set in so many places can be fit onto a small stage, Thompson has designed a multi-functional set that easily transforms from a dingy apartment bathroom to a classy tasting room to a cheap motel room to a restaurant dining room, and all with minimal transition time.
Which is good, because the show feels a bit long. The pace should pick up a bit as the run gets rolling but the show could be streamlined a bit. Pickett has retained all the best scenes and lines of dialogue and there are plenty of laughs, but some scenes ran on and others seemed extraneous or repetitive. Payne changed the ending a bit in his Oscar-winning film script, but the play retains Pickett’s original conclusion. I think Payne was right. The ending as written seems a bit too pat with everything tidily wrapped up with a tone that is very different from the rest of the story.
Ah, but the rest of the story is so well done with the cast doing wonders with Pickett’s characters. Severdia and Ginesi are excellent in capturing the essence of male friendship and fraternal love when you can go from hugging your best friend one minute to punching him in the mouth in the next. O’Neill is quite effective as a weary divorcee whose scabs from marital wounds are picked fresh by Miles’ and Jack’s behaviors. Pierce does well as a free spirit who does not respond well to Jack’s machinations. Even the ensemble (Kimberly Kalember, Angela Squire and Mark Bradbury) get their moments as they take on all the other characters whose paths Jack and Miles cross from Miles’s mom to an effete tasting room manager.
One needn’t be a student of oenology to enjoy the Left Edge Theatre production of Sideways, but a glass or two of the stuff in the lobby beforehand (and at intermission) wouldn’t hurt – just don’t try to match the amount of drinking that seems to be going on on-stage.
In the vernacular of the Sommelier, it’s a full-bodied show that induces sufficient laughter to allow for proper aeration of its complex properties. This critic found Sideways well-balanced with just the right blend of humor and heart but with a finish that’s just slightly off.
Sideways plays through October 1st at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre in the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2pm.
For more information, go to leftedgetheatre.com
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 - 4min - 157 - Elephant Man & Man of La Mancha - Sepatember 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, so why not increase the challenge by casting the roles with performers whose fortés are outside of standard theatre?
Cinnabar Theater Director Elly Lichenstein has Daniel Cilli, primarily an opera singer, in the dual role of Cervantes and Don Quixote, while Michael Tabib of Curtain Call Theatre has cast stand-up comedian James Rowan as Merrick. Both gentlemen do honor to their characters.
La Mancha is set in the bowels of a 16th century Spanish prison, where Cervantes awaits his fate at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. Stripped of his belongings by the other prisoners, Cervantes pleads for the return of his manuscript of Don Quixote and demands a trial. His defense will be a reenactment of his story of honor and love. He will play the title role with his also-imprisoned manservant (Michael Van Why) as Sancho Panza. Other prisoners are drafted into roles as the tale is told.
And sung, because it is a musical after all. Under musical director Mary Chun, Cilli’s magnificent baritone is the perfect match for the Mitch Leigh & Joe Dario score culminating with a show-stopping version of “The Impossible Dream.” He sets the standard for musical performance in this show, and is met by Daniela Innocenti-Beem as his Dulcinea with the heart-breaking “Aldonza”. Nice vocal work is also done by Kevin Gino as the Padre. A necessary lighter tone is brought to this often-dark production courtesy of Van Why with “I Really Like Him” and Mary Gannon Graham as the Housekeeper in “I’m Only Thinking of Him”. Other quality performers round out the ensemble.
Befitting a show with a budget, there’s a dank and detailed dungeon set by Wayne Hovey and appropriately grimy costumes by Abra Berman. Chun continues her award-winning work at Cinnabar with a six-piece orchestra that fills the auditorium with the Tony-winning score.
Lichenstein wasn’t tilting at windmills when deciding to bring this production to the North Bay. A quest to Petaluma to catch this production will bring ample reward.
On the opposite side of the budget spectrum lies Monte Rio’s Curtain Call Theatre. Housed in the Russian River Hall, they’ve impressed me in the past with what they’re able to do with minimal resources. Their current production of The Elephant Man utilizes projections more so than set pieces to evoke a sense of time and place and, because of the playwright’s desire to not recreate the physical deformities that afflicted the title character, allows the audience to get past that potential distraction by displaying photographs taken of John Merrick and his condition.
That leaves it to James Rowan to give the audience the inner character. Best known for hosting and performing comedy at local taprooms, he’s begun dipping his toes in local theatre. There’s ample evidence that comedians make good actors (and, conversely, that actors do a lousy job playing comedians) and Rowan’s name can be added to that list. He gives a very human performance as Merrick that recalls John Hurt’s brilliant work in the same-titled film.
For those unfamiliar with the story, it’s the fact-based tale of John Merrick, the doctor who rescued him from his “freak show” existence, his life as a resident of London Hospital and his transformation into an A-list member of British society.
The cast consists of Curtain Call regulars and Tabib guides them in doing good work, but it all comes down to Rowan’s believability as the title character. His commitment to Merrick - his physicality and his manner of speech - is admirable. More importantly, he brings Merrick’s humanity to the forefront, particularly in several very touching scenes with Segal/Kendall.
The Elephant Man is an excellent example of how, while technical elements often play an important part in a production’s success, a strong central performance is what really makes a show.
Wed, 06 Sep 2017 - 4min - 156 - 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. This theatre critic took on that risk and attended the opening night performance of the 6th Street Playhouse production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I’m happy to report that I won’t be taking an unscheduled rail trip anytime soon.
Simplicity was one of the keys to the success of Schulz’s creation – simplicity of drawing, simplicity of character, simplicity of style. This simplicity masked the complexity of emotions and behaviors that Schulz was able to address in his long-running comic strip.
Director Marty Pistone honors both the simplicity and complexity of Schulz’s style with his sure-footed direction of this production. His diverse cast, while bearing slight physical resemblance to the world-renowned characters, captures each one’s inner character - Dominic Williams’ angst-ridden Charlie Brown, Cooper Bennett’s quiet but self-assured intellectual Linus, Amy Webber’s alpha-crab Lucy, Robert Finney’s musically-focused Schroeder, Katie Kelley’s frustrated at the world’s injustices Sally, and Eric Weiss’s manic puppy Snoopy – with assistance from some basic costuming and an occasional wig.
It’s the 50th anniversary of the original off-Broadway production which was itself a sort of spin-off of an original “concept” album by Clark Gesner. A 1999 Broadway revival brought three additional songs by Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family). The show itself is a series of vignettes, live comic strip panels if you will, which cover familiar “Peanuts” territory. The kite-eating tree, the baseball game, Lucy’s Psychiatric Help Booth, Schroeder’s piano, the little red-headed girl (Siena Warnert) and Snoopy’s Sopwith Camel all make appearances. Music often accompanied these scenes with music director Ginger Beavers and a small four-piece orchestra performing such titles as “The Kite”, “The Doctor is In”, and “Happiness”.
Musical highlights included the charming “My Blanket and Me” featuring Bennett’s Linus dancing with his baby blue security blanket (Warnert), and the joyous “Suppertime”, where a hyperkinetic Weiss presents Snoopy’s ode to his favorite time of day.
The comic strip feel of the show is helped immensely through the presence of animated projections created by Chris Schloemp. These along with several Schulz-inspired set pieces and the aforementioned costumes and wigs went a long way into getting the audience to “buy into” the concept of a live action comic strip.
But it all really comes down to the cast. Each has their moment while gelling very well as an ensemble. They can sing, they can move, and they can surrender to the child within themselves in bringing these characters to life. Much as how Snoopy was the break-out character from the strip, Weiss’s frenzied puppy frequently steals the show. With his understated performance, however, Bennett gets the show’s “awwww” moment when his Linus deals with Lucy’s physical bluster with verbal kindness.
I saw an absolutely terrible production of this a few years back when a theatre full of elementary school students came this close to turning into a European-soccer-match-style mob after failing to adapt to human beings playing their favorite comic strip characters – particularly Snoopy. Preparing your younger audience members for what they will see may go a long way in smoothing the path to an enjoyable evening of family theatre. The cast will do the rest.
Like paging through one of the “Peanuts” compendium books you probably have on your bookshelf, 6th Street Playhouse’s delightful You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown will make you smile – a lot.
And smiles don’t come easy these days.
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown plays at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through September 17th, Thursday through Sunday at 7:30pm, Sat and Sunday matiness at 2pm.
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.comWed, 30 Aug 2017 - 4min - 155 - 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 saying the budget for the Redwood Theatre Company’s production of Brittany Law’s original musical parody The Farce Awakens was about 1/245,000,000th of that. Cardboard sets, Super Soakers for ray guns, and a droid costume consisting of an oversized t-shirt and bike helmet equal a show with production values that would make Edward D. Wood, Jr. blush.
And yet there’s something charming about making due with the resources at hand, so playwright/composer/assistant director/dance choreographer/costume, set & prop designer Law joined with RTC’s Artistic Director/stage director/dance & fight choreographer Kot Takahashi to bring her creation to life on the quaint and comfortable Redwood Theatre Company stage in the heart of an industrial park in Healdsburg.
Law’s script follows the screen story of the search for the long-lost Luke Skywalker while battling the villainous ‘First Order’ but manages to chop the film’s 126 minutes down to about 75 while adding 14 songs to the mix. All your main characters are there – Rey (Ms. Law), Poe Dameron (Mr. Takahashi), Finn (Isiah Carter), Kylo Ren (Ezra Hernandez), BB8 (Adriano Brown), Teedo (Griffin Tatum) as well as Han (Brett Mollard), Chewie (Alex Jimenez), Luke (Alex Sterling) and Leia (Shawna Jackson).
Most of the cast fill in for various other roles from General Hux to a Rockettes-like kick line of dancing stormtroopers. The ensemble also has two members, Mathew Gravel and Jasmine Capriotti, from the Alchemia Arts program which supports adults with developmental disabilities through artistic expression. They all seem to be having a blast and their affection for the material is evident.
I don’t know how they are able to sing with their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks, but they do and often quite well. Ms. Law and Mr. Hernandez are trained singers and did best with Ms. Law’s often clever compositions. With titles like “New Best Friend”, “Darth Inside of Me”, and “Totally Brand-New Cantina”, the challenge was often not just to sing, but to do it with a straight face. The cast managed to do that – mostly.
It helps to know the canon of Star Wars, as there are plenty of references and in-jokes that mighty fly over the heads of the unaware. No matter, as there are plenty of other things at which to laugh. Comedic props to Adriano Brown for managing to be more than a sight gag with his BB8. Kot Takahashi’s overplaying (appropriately) as Poe is balanced out by Isiah Carter’s underplaying as Finn. Together, you might say they’re ham and wry. Brett Mollard and Alex Jimenez play Han and Chewie like the space equivalent of Laurel and Hardy (though I don’t expect many of their generation to get that reference.)
Look, we’re not talking Shakespeare or Arthur Miller or even Ken Ludwig here. What we have is a group of talented young performers having fun with something that’s a pop cultural reference point for them. I may not be a member of the cult of Star Wars, but I find this company’s energy and enthusiasm for what they are doing infectious. I found myself smiling frequently at the silliness happening on-stage. The all-ages audience was certainly with them. They were there to have a good time.
They got it.
The Farce Awakens plays at the Redwood Theatre Company in Healdsburg through August 13th
Fri & Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2pm
* Admission is free but space is limited and donations are appreciated. *
For more information, go to redwoodtheatrecompany.com
Wed, 09 Aug 2017 - 4min - 154 - 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 and friends to fill a good portion of the house. They require a certain amount of space and a certain level of talent. Directors often cast for singing talent and cross their fingers that acting-wise their choices will be sufficient or that their audiences will be somewhat forgiving.
No such worries with the Sonoma Arts Live production of Gypsy, running now through July 30. Director Michael Ross utilizes every inch of space on the Rotary Stage (and beyond) and has cast veteran performer Daniela Innocenti Beem as Momma Rose, the biggest stage mother of them all in the Arthur Laurents – Jule Styne – Stephen Sondheim classic based on famed striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee’s memoir.
It follows Madame Rose and her two daughters from their beginnings as an out-of-town vaudeville kiddie act. Through fortuitous circumstances, Rose meets Herbie (Tim Setzer), a former agent who agrees to take them on and get them a dreamed-for New York booking. Herbie falls deeply in love with Rose, but Rose won’t return the affection until she’s made her daughter June (Amanda Pedersen) a star. When June branches out on her own, she turns her plans to her heretofore neglected older daughter Louise (Danielle DeBow). Louise does become a star but at oh, what a cost.
Beem is terrific and her ferocity as Rose is matched by Setzer’s heart as the put-upon Herbie. Both have played these roles before and should the opportunity present itself they should not hesitate to play them again. Their relationship is the bedrock of this production and it’s a true pleasure to watch two pros at the top of their game.
Amanda Pedersen and Danielle DeBow do fine work as sisters June and Louise with their relationship neatly summed up in the entertaining and wistful number “If Momma Was Married”.
Other more familiar tunes from “Let Me Entertain You’ to “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” were all delivered with vocal gusto by the cast. Honorable mention goes to Julia Holsworth, Jaime Love and Karen Pinomaki for their work as a trio of past-their-prime strippers whose job advice to Louise is "You Gotta Get a Gimmick". Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the musical accompaniment. Musical director John Partridge and his six-piece band sounded timid, unprepared, and under-rehearsed from the beginning of the overture through the musical conclusion. Musical entrances were missed and exits were haphazard. It was a major disappointment to have such a talented cast provided such lackluster musical support. That the cast powered through and delivered the performances they did is a tribute to their sense of professionalism.
I’ve been impressed with the advances seen and improved quality of lighting, sound, and set design in Sonoma Arts Live’s relatively short life as a stand-alone production company. If they want to be given serious consideration as a go-to venue for musical theatre, both by audiences and artists, then improvements must be made in the quality of the music they produce. Their casts deserve it.
Their audience should demand it.
Gypsy plays Thursdays through Sundays at the Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma through July 30th.
For more information, go to sonomaartslive.org.Wed, 19 Jul 2017 - 4min - 153 - 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 hundreds of songs, today he’s mostly known as the answer to the trivia question “Whose statue can be found opposite Times Square between 45th and 47th Street?” He is considered by many to be the father of the American musical, which is why he deserves a better show about him than the one written by Michael Stewart and John & Francine Pascal.
George M!, running now at 6th Street Playhouse in a production directed by Patrick Nims, debuted on Broadway in 1968 and closed a year later. It starred Joel Grey in his follow up role to his Tony-winning work in Cabaret. George M! managed two Tony nominations, one for Grey and one for choreographer Joe Layton with Layton winning. It has never been revived and is rarely performed these days.
There’s a reason for that.
The book written around Cohan’s songs is a stock show biz story with paper-thin characters and little in the way of plot. It’s the story of Cohan’s rise and fall as the toast of Broadway, beginning with small town vaudeville days as part of a family act to becoming one of Broadway’s biggest producers. Most dialogue exists as a way to introduce one of Cohan’s songs, and once you get past the most well-known of those (“Give My Regards to Broadway”, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”) there’s little left of interest.
Cohan’s jingoistic, flag waving style may have led to big hits around the time of World War I, but it had to feel out-of-step by the 1960’s and fifty years has not made it more palatable.
The title role is played by Joseph Favalora, a terrific dancer who has brightened Sonoma County stages before with his talent. Unfortunately, the character gives him little to do as it seems to have been written in only two shades – Cohan as cocky, self-assured artist, and Cohan as angry bastard. Favalora is believable as the former, but simply not credible as the latter. Thankfully, the rest of the time he’s dancing, which is Mr. Favaloras’ forte.
Dancing is this show’s strong suit, and choreographers Marilyn and Melinda Murray pull off what many thought would be a difficult task- taking a large cast of mostly untrained dancers and turning them into a credible tap-dancing troupe. The show really comes alive during the large ensemble numbers when there are 30+ tap-dancing feet on the stage.
Other moments of life are provided by some of the supporting actors. Jacinta Gorringe has fun as boarding house owner Mrs. Grimaldi and Jill K. Wagoner makes for a fine diva as Faye Templeton. The ensemble is strong as they switch between multiple characters as scenes from several Cohan shows are recreated. For example, Jake Druzgala has some nice moments as Cohan’s partner Sam Harris and also shows up as a carnival fire eater.
Cohan’s music is well handled by Music Director Justin Pyne and a thirteen-piece orchestra. There are thirty-some musical numbers in this show which can be exhausting for a musician but Pyne and Company provided musical consistency from start to finish. That only five (a generous estimate) of the songs will ring a bell to some (and not many) theatre-goers is a problem.
On a technical note, the opening night performance had numerous sound issues which should be resolved quickly. Costume Designer Tracy Hinman must have bought up every inch of red, white and blue fabric in the state to colorfully dress the cast.
Theatre people love to put on shows about theatre people, hence the regularity of productions like Noises Off and the canon of Ken Ludwig. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. 6th Street Playhouse dipped into that well earlier in the season with Stage Kiss and in prior seasons with shows like Crazy for You, Funny Girl, and The Producers. Maybe it’s time to give theatre-themed shows a rest.
And George M! should be put to sleep.
George M! plays through July 9 at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa.Wed, 28 Jun 2017 - 4min - 152 - 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 runs through June 25.
Becky Foster has reached the “Is that all there is?” stage in her life. She’s got a job that overworks her, co-workers that don’t appreciate her and a grown, psychology-majoring son living in her basement. On the plus side, she has a loving, doting husband who’s willing to work roofing jobs hours away to keep his family in comfort. Becky seems destined to live her life out in quiet desperation when a gentleman walks into the car dealership at which she works. He’s wealthy, widowed and in a very short period of time, interested in Becky. Through a series of misunderstandings, he thinks Becky’s widowed too. Does she correct him, or will she see this as her way out? Well, good people sometimes make bad choices and Becky is soon looking for a way out of her way out.
Lest you think this all sounds a bit bleak and/or depressing, fear not as it’s actually a pretty funny show. Director Carl Jordan has gathered a winning cast who find the humor in each character’s foibles and flaws while retaining their humanity. Melissa Claire does a great job in helping the audience understand why Becky makes the choices she does and gains their empathy. Dietz has the character “break the fourth wall” and directly interact with the audience throughout the show which can be awkward but Claire handles it with aplomb.
Mike Pavone as Walter Flood makes for a charming gentleman suitor who stumbles upon Becky and maybe a way out of his funk at the loss of his wife. It’s easy to see why Becky could risk everything for him. Matt Witthaus does very well as the good-hearted husband Joe whose obliging manner turns a bit a dark by show’s end. Michael Temple does a good job as the basement-dwelling, pizza swilling Chris who pontificates on the psychological state of all and drives his mother nuts.
Katie Kelly has some nice moments as Kenni Flood, Walter’s daughter, particularly when dealing with a potential gold-digging neighbor (a boozy and biting Serena Elize Flores). The show’s single funniest moment comes courtesy of Stephen Dietz (no relation to the playwright) as Becky’s co-worker Steve in a monologue that involves a mother, a child, a puppy, and a cliff.
It’s not giving anything away to say that all these characters cross paths and while the specific circumstances strain credulity sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Claire’s and Pavone’s performances are the initial hooks that make you willing to go along for the ride.
Set Designer Bruce Lackovic manages to fit four distinct settings onto the small Rotary Stage, with Becky scurrying between her living room, her office, her car, and Walter’s home. The backdrop is a series of lit, colorful spheres that double as projection screens. Combined it makes for a very eye-catching set.
Becky’s New Car is a welcome respite from some of the darker, more mean-spirited plays that have been produced locally of late. It’s nice to see a lighter touch applied to the dramatization of the journeys we often take in life.
Director Carl Jordan and cast have mapped out a pretty amusing outing. Consider jumping into Becky’s New Car and joining them for the ride.
Becky’s New Car plays at the Sonoma Community Center Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm through June 25.
For more information, go to sonomaartslive.org
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 - 4min - 151 - 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 familiarity with and affection for the classic board game upon which it is based
and
2.) Your familiarity with and affection for the performing artists involved.
Both of those will go a long way in getting you through the show which, though cast with top comedic talent, suffers from a weak script and unimaginative score.
First produced in Baltimore in 1995, it opened off-Broadway in 1997 and closed after a scant 29 performances. Despite its lack of success, the show has become a staple of community theatre, no doubt playing off the goodwill and sense of nostalgia that many people have for childhood amusements. That goodwill is tested.
It is, in essence, an evening of murder mystery dinner theatre, albeit without the dinner. You get fourteen songs instead. The show opens with Mr. Boddy (a jaunty Barry Martin) gleefully admitting to his eventual murder and facilitating the audience’s selection of perpetrator, location and weapon. Clues are revealed throughout the evening and audience members who wish to “play” are given clue sheets with which to deduce the answers to the mystery. There are apparently 216 possible solutions to the crime which no doubt created an interesting challenge for the cast.
And what a cast it is that director Taylor Bartolucci has gathered. The suspects are of course Mrs. Peacock (Daniela Innocenti Beem), Professor Plum (Tim Setzer), Miss Scarlett (Danielle Debow), Colonel Mustard (Larry Williams), Mrs. White (Phillip Percy Williams), and Mr. Green (Michael Scott Wells). They’re joined by the aforementioned Mr. Boddy and a second-act detective (Heather Buck). It’s a shame that a cast this talented and who are proven laugh-getters aren’t given much with which to work.
Not that they don’t try. What laughs there are in the script and songs (and there are a couple) are amplified by the terrific comedic skills of the cast. Beem’s cabaret experience pays off as Mrs. Peacock works the audience from her grand entrance to exit. Her big number, “Once a Widow”, may be the show’s musical highlight. Williams is fun as the festooned Colonel Mustard. Setzer’s constipated Professor Plum is almost over-shadowed by his pomegranate pants. Philip Percy Williams also works the audience – both vocally and physically - as Mrs. White but his choice of accent sometimes made his song lyrics unintelligible. Wells’ shady Mr. Green and Daniel Debow’s lounge lizard-ette Miss Scarlett play well off of (and with) each other.
Credit should be given to Staci Arriaga for some creative choreography and for managing to make pretty effective use of the limited stage space. Musical Director Craig Burdette and his band did what they could with a lackluster score. The set/prop design (also by Bartolucci) and costuming (Liz Martin and Liesl Seitz Buchbinder) do evoke the original game elements.
Clue: The Musical isn’t terrible - it couldn’t be with all the talent involved – but it isn’t very good either. The term “middling” comes to mind. People who attend expecting something like the 1985 cult film starring Tim Curry are likely to be disappointed. (Interestingly, there is a new non-musical theatrical adaptation of the film which just premiered last month.)
So, if it’s not the cast and it’s not the directors and it’s not the designers at fault, who’s responsible for this theatrical misdemeanor? In the vernacular of the game:
The writers. In the theater. With this script.
Clue: The Musical plays Thursdays through Sundays through June 18 at Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center. For more information, go to luckypennynapa.com
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 - 4min - 150 - 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 production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to the Cushing Memorial Amphitheater atop Mt. Tamalpais and while it’s a trek to get there, it’s a trek worth taking.
Based on a French fairytale (which is the source of innumerable film, television, and stage adaptations) and adapted by Disney into a highly successful animated film in 1991, it premiered on Broadway in 1994 to great commercial - if not critical - success and was the first of what now seems to be an endless stream of Disney musicals.
The tale as old as time is of a romantic triangle consisting of Belle (Chelsea Holifield), an unwanted suitor and local him-bo (Jeff Weisen) and a reclusive prince/beast (Daniel Barrington Rubio). The prince, cursed to be a beast until he learns to love and be loved in return, lives a solitary life in his castle with his only companions being his staff who, apparently also cursed, happen to be transmogrifying into various inanimate household objects. Circumstances bring the lovely Belle to him and it becomes a race against time to beat the curse’s final outcome – permanent beastliness.
If you know the film, you know the show. All the characters are here albeit with some slight modifications. The eight songs from the film by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman are joined by six additional numbers by Menken and Tim Rice. The action takes place in either the castle or a small village with a three-part revolving stage facilitating a quick change between the two.
We’re talking a stage adaptation of a cartoon here, folks, so there isn’t a lot of depth to be found. The leads, as written, are pretty bland but Holifield and Barrington Rubio’s strong vocal performances make up for what their characters lack. Disney villains often provide actors with the most memorable roles and Jeff Weisen is a lot of fun as the strutting blowhard Gaston. You almost, almost feel bad for him at his ‘exit’.
The show’s most entertaining moments are provided by the supporting cast with an assist by costumer Michelle Navarre-Huff. Buzz Halsing’s ‘Cogsworth’, Zachary Isen’s ‘Lumiere’, Samantha Cooper’s ‘Babbette’, Jennifer Boesing’s ‘Mrs. Potts’ and Jenny Matteucci’s ‘Madame de la Grande Bouche’ bring color, energy and humor to every scene they’re in, culminating in the terrific ensemble number “Be Our Guest”.
Director Jay Manley meets most of the challenges provided with staging a large-scale musical in the cavernous 4,000 seat amphitheater. The nuance and color that the element of lighting can provide is sorely missed from this production but what are you going to do when your only source is the sun? David Möschler directs a 22-piece orchestra who deliver but no amount of amplification can reproduce the sound and sense of an orchestra filling a theater. These sacrifices are somewhat offset by the magnificent surroundings of Mt. Tamalpais State Park
Attending The Mountain Play production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast requires a commitment of time and effort well in excess of a usual theatre-going venture. It can involve a bus trip, hiking, picnicking, and the risk of sunburn and poison oak. The reward is a pleasant afternoon of joyous, family-friendly theatre.
Be their guest.
The Mountain Play’s Disney’s Beauty and the Beast plays at Mt. Tamalpais State Park’s Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre Sunday afternoons through June 18.
For important information about parking, transportation and the venue, go to mountainplay.org
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 - 4min - 149 - 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 Hollywood that closes out the 2016/2017 season at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre. LaBute, who’s written such harsh but interesting plays as In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things, has also spent time as a writer and director in Hollywood. If this play is any indication, he has not enjoyed his time there.
It’s set at the Hollywood Hills house of Karen (Laurie Gaugin), an actress past her prime, and Bev (Sandra Ish), her partner. They’re being joined for dinner by Steve (Dodds Delzell) an over-the-hill action star and his trophy wife Missy (Heather Gordon). It seems that the European director of Karen and Steve’s latest film has some ideas on how to really “spice up” the film. Because they both need a hit, they’re willing to do anything – anything – as long as it’s ok with their respective partners. What follows is two hours of funny, if empty, conversation and argumentation which culminates in the play’s own ‘money shot’ – a wrestling match.
LaBute, who’s been accused of being a misanthrope and misogynist, doesn’t allay those concerns with this script. I’d say he leans more heavily to the misanthropic side with this one as no one come off very well. To be fair, I’d say he’s taking his shots at very specific Hollywood “types” but still, there isn’t a likeable person to be found on stage. It’s the type of show designed with characters for you to laugh “at” rather than to laugh “with”.
And you will laugh.
Dodds Delzell, who hasn’t been seen on a Sonoma County Stage for a while, is very funny as the vain and doltish action star – think Bruce Willis or Nicolas Cage (with whom LaBute made a terrible film). Just when you think he can’t saying anything stupider, he outdoes himself. Heather Gordon earns the show’s biggest laughs (to me) with a simple warning about a specific “situation” and a cheerleader’s take on The Crucible. Sandra Ish, who is also the show’s co-director with Kimberly Kalember, does solid work as Karen’s put-upon partner whose blood pressure must spike fifty points with each of Steve’s incredible utterances. Her character seems the most grounded till you start to wonder how she ever ended up with Karen. As Karen, Laurie Gaugin seems to be the least “seasoned” of the cast as I felt there was a lot more to be mined from the Gwyneth Paltrow-like character who’s willing to endorse anything and everything to keep her image out there.
The show is funny, but it is also caustic and crude and mean-spirited with some pretty graphic dialogue which really should be no surprise if you understand the meaning of the title - Google it if you don’t. There’s no great meaning to be found in The Money Shot. Some have labeled it satire. I see it more as farce. It’s two hours of unbelievable, exaggerated characters saying and doing ridiculous things. I say exaggerated because nobody could be as boorish, thoughtless, self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic, and stupid as the characters in this play.
Right?
The Money Shot runs at Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts through June 4. For more information, go to leftedgetheatre.com
Wed, 31 May 2017 - 4min - 148 - 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 fame and fortune on the left coast. He’s rented a suite in one of Arizona’s finest hotels where he and Charlie Bascher, his assistant, await the arrival of Broadway wunderkind playwright Danny “Nebraska” Jones. Things aren’t going well as there are slight temperature control issues with their rooms and things don’t get much better when Jones arrives. Seems that he is in a bit of a funk. He’s experienced a painful loss and his best idea for a comedy begins with a child being devoured by wolves. What lengths will producer Cobb, assistant Bascher and a surprise visitor go to in getting the script they want?
That’s the premise behind Robert Caisley’s A Masterpiece of Comic … Timing, making its Bay Area premiere at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse. Caisley has a history at the Playhouse, where at least five other of his works have been produced. For his latest, director Craig Miller has gathered a cast of experienced farceurs – Chris Schloemp, Benjamin Stowe, Devin McConnell, and Rose Roberts - and has them running (and jumping, and crawling) around the Studio Theatre’s nicely appointed Royal Palms Hotel set.
They all play standard character types. Schloemp is fun as the dogged producer, willing to say whatever needs to be said to get what he wants. Stowe does what he can with a stock role as the nebbish assistant who’s incapable of “toughening up” to the level of his producer boss - but gee whiz he’ll try! McConnell seems to be channeling John Turturro’s Barton Fink character from the same-named Coen Brothers film. Character similarities aside, he is involved in some of the show’s best sight gags. Rose Roberts is a comedic dynamo in her politically incorrect role as a blonde bombshell who gained her success the old-fashioned way.
The show seemed a bit long, with Act I leaning heavy on exposition and set-up and Act II, while moving quicker (with a major assist from Roberts), let a few things run on too long before the ultimate payoff. Characters in farce are often one-dimensional, as they certainly are here, but I would have liked to see more variety in the delivery and level of those characters. If a character’s energy level runs from A to Z, it can be exhausting for an audience if they all start at X.
In an early scene, producer Cobb explains that “Comedy doesn’t necessarily have to ‘mean’ anything. You take a hundred jokes and put it in two acts, there’s your plot.” - which is pretty much what Caisley has done here. Some of them work, some of them don’t. Some are original, some seem awfully derivative. They’re all delivered with bombast and the cast does wring a fair amount of laughs out of the material, which is nothing less than what I’d expect from a cast of this caliber.
A Masterpiece of Comic… Timing isn’t that by a longshot, but it does make for an amusing night of theatre. Comedy may not have to have a meaning, but it sure as hell better have laughs, and Miller and company mine the script for every laugh they can. It may not be a Comstock lode of laughs, but there’s more than enough silliness to cover the price of a ticket.
A Masterpiece of Comic… Timing plays at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse through May 28.
For more information, go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 24 May 2017 - 4min - 147 - 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 assigned the lowliest duty at the lowliest post. They are stationed at the outside gate and forbidden to look in. Humayun dreams of being reassigned to the Emperor’s harem. Babur dreams of bigger things. Babur can’t help but to steal a gaze at the magnificent edifice, and soon their dreams turn to nightmares.
So goes the tale of playwright Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj, running now at the Marin Theatre Company. A curious mixture of comedy and horrific drama, director Jasson Minadakis helms what is easily the most polarizing production currently playing in the bay area. While set in ancient India, it’s told in the vernacular of modern American youth. What starts out with light, amusing interplay between Humayun (Jason Kapoor) and Babur (Rushi Kota) as they deal with the monotony and tedium of ‘work’ soon turns very dark and blood red as Humayun’s desire for advancement leads to them both taking on an unenviable duty. Sha Jahan has decreed that nothing more beautiful than the Taj Mahal shall ever be built, and to ensure that has ordered that the 20,000 craftsmen involved shall have their hands removed. Seeing this as an opportunity to prove themselves to their superiors, Humayun and Babur undertake the task. In the end, neither ends up where they expected.
MTC has issued plenty of notice to its patrons that this production features simulated violence and even discounts its front row seats since they are in a sort of a “splash” (though more like “splatter”) zone. Ponchos are also offered to guests seated in the area. In fact, there is little violence actually portrayed on-stage but the results of the unseen violence can be unsettling to some. I suspect the closer you are to the stage, the more unsettling it is.
Lost in all the talk of the gallons of blood occupying the Boyer Theatre stage are the performances of Kapoor and Kota. They have terrific chemistry and immediately charm the audience as two old friends. One is practical, responsible, somewhat level-headed. The other is goofy, impetuous, more artistic in his thinking. That friendship is, to say the least, tested. Their happy-go-lucky banter and the genuine affection portrayed for each other in the first half makes the second half resolution that much more difficult to stomach.
Joseph packs a lot into this 85 minute, no intermission play. Issues of class and power, duty and responsibility are at the forefront, but ultimately it comes down to what an individual is willing to do to advance in the world and what one does when faced with a difficult choice. Whether these issues are overshadowed by the staging is a fair question, and one that requires significant post-show thought.
As the audience exited, I sat in the theatre trying to come up with some way to describe the mixture of styles and tones within this one show. The best I can come up with is this – what starts out as a sort of Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” movie (The Road to Agra?) soon dissolves into a Herschell Gordon Lewis splatter film by way of My Dinner with Andre.
Each genre has its fans. I’m not sure they cross over.
Guards at the Taj plays through May 21 at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley.
For more information, go to marintheatre.org
Wed, 17 May 2017 - 4min - 146 - 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 the Titanic, or in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. Currently, you’ll find yourself in an African jungle as the Spreckels Theatre Company presents Disney’s Musical Tarzan, running now through May 21.
It’s a stage adaptation of the 2009 animated film and follows the “origin” story pretty closely. Stranded in the African jungle and soon orphaned, a young boy is taken into the care of a mother gorilla and raised as one of her own. After growing up into a strapping young (ape)man, the boy named Tarzan comes face-to-face with other humans. It’s a science expedition led by Professor Porter and his daughter Jane. They’ve come just to observe and study gorillas but their nefarious guide Clayton has other plans.
The film had five songs written by Phil Collins, including the Oscar-winning “You’ll Be in My Heart”, and for the stage show he added nine additional numbers. Like in the film, most musical numbers serve as narration. Tarzan didn’t sing in the film, but he sure does in the stage show and yes, he yells, too. The songs aren’t particularly memorable but they serve the play and they’re well delivered by the cast.
The show is well cast with the role of Tarzan split between two actors, Walker Brinskele and Michael Lumb, each taking the role in alternating performances. At the show I attended Tarzan was played by Lumb, who has the athleticism and voice to tackle the role. The always delightful Abbey Lee makes for a fun Jane and plays well off of Lumb and Kit Grimm as her father. Jeremy Berrick adds another villain to his Spreckels résumé with his over-the-top take on the role of the evil guide Clayton. He’s a lot of fun to watch, even if the character choice seems a bit out of place, especially in comparison to others.
The array of character choices and acting styles is quite substantial, ranging from the almost method-like performances of Brian Watson and Shawna Eiermann as Kerchak and Kala, Tarzan’s ape “parents” to Berrick’s cartoonish, self-aware Clayton. Everyone else falls somewhere in between. This may be the result of having the directorial reins shared between Gene Abravaya and David L. Yen. It’s not that any of the choices or styles seem wrong individually, I’m just not sure they gelled.
That being said, Watson and Eiermann are quite good, both in their characters’ physical beings and in their vocal delivery. It takes some time to adjust to the very human voices emanating from Pamela Enz’s inventive costumes (no gorilla suits here) but once you suspend belief you realize their performances are quite magnetic. Scottie Woodard amusingly fills the sidekick role as Tarzan’s buddy Terk.
The shows best moments were when the elements of costume, lighting, choreography and music came together, best exemplified by Act I’s almost hallucinogenic “Waiting for this Moment” number when Lee’s Jane sings of the joy of finally living a life she only dreamed about while the local flora and fauna dance, float and fly around her. The ensemble also opens Act II energetically with “Trashin’ the Camp”.
Disney’s Musical Tarzan may have been intended as a young male-attracting counterpoint to The Little Mermaid, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing many kids arriving at the theatre in little loincloths. While definitely one of the lower-rung entries in the Disney theatrical canon, it’s still a well-produced and entertaining family show with an imaginative set and the aforementioned costumes making it a visual feast for the eyes. Between a band of gorillas, a man-eating plant, a marauding leopard, a hiss-worthy, rifle-toting villain and a vine-swinging ape-boy and man, there’s plenty to keep the younger tykes’ attention.
Disney’s Musical Tarzan plays through May 21 at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center.
For more information, go to spreckelsonline.comWed, 10 May 2017 - 4min - 145 - 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 classic fare like The Odd Couple, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Children’s Hour to more modern shows like Race or The Birds. If you’re looking for something completely original, you tend to have to travel a bit which brings us to the FaultLine Theater Company of San Francisco.
They’re a group of young theatre artists committed to the development and production of new works. They’ve impressed me in the past with the passion and energy they put into their work and with the quality of production they’ve been able to stage. They are always interesting and frequently outrageous. How outrageous? Well, the co-leads of their latest production are hamsters.
One wouldn’t think that there’s a lot to learn from hamsters on the subjects of commitment and parenting (seeing as how they tend to knock each other off and devour most of their young) but that didn’t stop playwright Dan Giles from using a couple of anthropomorphic rodents to broach the issues in his comedy Breeders, running now at Faultline Theater in San Francisco.
It’s the tale of Mikey and Dean, a same sex couple in a long-term, committed relationship who are days away from the arrival and adoption of an infant. It’s also the tale of Tyson and Jason, two cohabitating hamsters being cared for by Mikey and Dean who, to both of their surprise, turn out to be of the opposite sex. Soon, the pressures of impending parenthood strain both pairs of relationships, though only one ends in the loss of first an eye and then, well...
Though labeled as a “queer comedy”, the heart of the situation presented by Giles knows no gender or orientation. The excitement, the challenges, the dreams and the doubts that come with parenthood are pretty universal and apparently even cross species. The same goes for the issues of commitment and monogamy, which are hilariously addressed in several vignettes.
First-time director Adam Odsess-Rubin is up to the challenge of staging the parallel storylines in the confined space of PianoFight’s 40-seat second stage. He’s got a nicely-matched cast with Ryan Hayes and Sam Bertken as the huggy and occasionally histrionic humans. Hayes’s rock-solid Mikey plays in nice contrast to Bertken’s anxiety-ridden Dean. Both make for a believable couple as they navigate through Dean’s insecurities.
Nikki Meñez and Neil Higgins are the voracious vermin. Meñez is a force to be reckoned with as Tyson, the tough-as-nails alpha-female. Higgins is absolutely adorable as Jason, the ceaselessly amiable and affectionate proud papa to be. They romp on a clever set designed by Max Chanowitz and beneath a colorful lighting design by Maxx Kurzunski that go a long way in setting the show’s playful tone.
For a show with a couple of hamsters as co-leads, there’s an awful lot of humanity on stage in Breeders. Giles strikes just the right balance of absurdity and reality in his examination of the impact of procreation on an individual and on a relationship. Director Odsess-Rubin and cast have created a show that’s funny, thought-provoking, often sweet and occasionally biting – in every sense of the word.
Breeders runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights through April 29 in San Francisco at the very interesting PianoFight venue.
For more information, go to faultinetheater.comWed, 26 Apr 2017 - 4min - 144 - 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 end. There are no characters to follow from Act I to Act II. There are no lavish production numbers and set and costuming are minimal.
“Songs…” is exactly what it says it is – a collection of stories told through song. They are by composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years, Honeymoon in Vegas) and were apparently written over several years for several different projects while he performed in New York City nightclubs and piano bars. Brown has linked the 16 songs in the piece by the barest of threads. As Brown himself says, “It’s about one moment. It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice, or take a stand, or turn around and go back.” It’s about the choices we all make in life.
The production is a labor of love for producer Lucas Sherman, best known to the local theatre community for his work as musical director and pianist on numerous projects for a variety of companies. Sherman retains that role in this production as well as taking the reins of stage direction and performer. Joining Mr. Sherman for vocal duty are Robert Finney, Daniela Innocenti-Beem and Kat Ray. Mr. Sherman also retains piano-playing duty and is joined by Abe Newman on bass, Quinten Cohen on drums, and Erica Bergeron on percussion.
The songs are written and performed in a variety of styles ranging from pop and rock to gospel and jazz. Half are solos, the rest are duets or ensemble numbers. Some are comedic, some are dramatic, some are inspiring, some are downbeat. Regardless of tone or design, they all have the feel of musical theatre, so much so that you almost wish there were entire shows written around some of them.
For such a variety of style and themes, a versatile cast is required and Sherman provides one (including himself.) While experience does tell, each performer is given his or her own moment to shine. For Finney, it’s telling the story of a youth overcoming the hardships in life and pressing on in “The Steam Train.” Kat Ray’s moment came with “Just One Step” the darkly comedic tale of a woman’s futile attempt to get the attention of her husband from the ledge of their high-rise apartment building. Sherman acquits himself quite nicely with his earnest delivery of “She Cries”. Dani Beem, clearly the most experienced performer and most comfortable in a musical revue-type show, showed her versatility with her regret-filled woman looking back at what money couldn’t buy in “Stars and the Moon” and as a frustrated Mrs. Claus in the show-stopping “Surabaya Santa”. Beem also nicely duets with Sherman in “I’d Give It All for You”, a song about lovers reuniting after realizing they can’t be apart.
The aforementioned musicians provide these performers with excellent accompaniment which is no small feat due to the variety of styles at play. Being it’s really more of a staged concert than a full-fledged musical production and it’s staged in the Spreckels’ small Condiotti space, errors or missed notes would not be easily masked. No such concerns with these talented musicians. The musicians were just as much a pleasure to listen to as the singers.
Songs for A New World is a difficult show to review as it is actually 16 different shows in one. Rather than subject you to 16 mini reviews I’ll just say that, like in most shows, some songs hit better than others – both in form and delivery – but that collectively it’s a very appealing night of song and theatre. Because of its unfamiliarity, it’s the type of show that demands an audience’s attention. As with any good storytelling, there are rewards to be had from careful listening. You may not know the songs, but you’ll be glad you heard them.
Songs… can be heard Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons through May 7.
For more information, go to spreckelsonline.comWed, 03 May 2017 - 4min - 143 - 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 is not a stage adaptation of the Alfred Hitchcock film. It’s not set in Bodega Bay, there is no schoolhouse full of screaming children, and no one is trapped in a phone booth by marauding sea gulls. Nor is it a straightforward adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s original 1952 novella. It’s not set in post WWII England. It’s not about a war veteran working on a farm with his family. It’s not a metaphor for the aerial bombardment endured by England during the Second World War. The only thing the three have in common is the premise of nature turning on man in the form of indiscriminate and deadly attacks of the avian variety. McPherson takes that premise and wraps a human story around it with elements whose genesis may be found in… well, we’ll get to that.
It begins with a man and a woman, Nat (Nick Sholley) and Diane (Liz Jahren), taking refuge from the birds in an abandoned New England Farm House. Nat is in the throes of some illness, so Diane nurses Nat back to health. Together they map out a plan for survival. Not knowing if there’s a world to return to, they begin to settle into sort of a domestic arrangement when the balance of that arrangement is set askew by the arrival of Julia (Rae Quintana) and a visit from a “neighbor” (Anthony Abaté). Soon, the birds may become the least of their problems when it comes to their survival.
The Birds is a challenging mixture of horror, thriller and character study. It’s an oddly constructed piece with some scenes lasting only seconds and others seeming to jump in time past significant action. The play’s structure works against it as a sense of dread or danger was often dissipated by the requirement of having the cast rearrange the set or move prop pieces. Still, it does manage to have a couple of nice jolts in it.
What The Birds has going for it is an excellent cast and MSW’s naturally claustrophobic setting. Nick Sholley (last seen at MSW in A Steady Rain) brings another seriously flawed, slightly unhinged character to vivid life. Liz Jahren is very good in the role of Diane, effectively playing a character who starts out as bedrock of sense and purpose but who eventually crumbles under the pressure, both real and imagined. Rae Quintana’s Julia is a character of many shades and quite possibly shady. Anthony Abaté has the least amount of stage time, but that time is memorable.
Director Elizabeth Craven doubles as Set Designer and, as I have come to expect from Main Stage West, she packs a lot of set into its relatively small space. While the interior of the house takes up the complete stage, a sense of depth and the outside world is achieved through lighting and especially by Doug Faxon’s sound design. Nary a feather is seen on stage, but the birds – aurally - are omnipresent.
McPherson’s plays (Shining City, The Seafarer) often have a supernatural or spiritual component to them. One might assume that the use of du Maurier’s original concept of the destruction of the human race by birds would fit that bill but, as I alluded to in the opening paragraph, I think it actually goes a bit deeper.
At its core, what McPherson presents in his adaptation is the story of a man and woman, possibly the only humans on earth. Their (relatively) idyllic existence is challenged by temptation in the form of Julia. The seeds of mistrust are sown by the appearance of a Mephistophelian neighbor. That mistrust leads to actions that result in their leaving (or self-banishment from) the comfort and safety of their surroundings.
Could it be that Conor McPherson’s The Birds is a very twisted retelling of the Book of Genesis and Adam and Eve?
The Birds runs through April 23rd. Visit mainstagewest.com.Wed, 19 Apr 2017 - 4min - 142 - 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 playwright. One of my most vivid college memories is of a member of the Theatre Arts faculty nearly having a stroke at the mention of the possibility of scheduling a Neil Simon play in the season. These artists often measure success by how badly attended their productions are, reveling in the confirmation of how unique and right they are about what is art and how wrong everybody else is.
Director Jennifer King graciously admits to prescribing to some of these thoughts, till an actor who she greatly respects prodded her into taking a look at Simon’s The Odd Couple. The next thing she knew she was directing a production of it, now running at Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater.
The Odd Couple may be the most post popular American play ever written. From its premier on Broadway over fifty years ago to the classic Jack Lemmon – Walter Matthau film to its current third incarnation as a prime-time television sitcom, The Odd Couple, with slight modifications (including a Saturday morning cartoon) endures. Why? Because it’s funny.
The premise is simple – mismatched roommates. There’s a whole lot more than that, of course, but it’s with that now-classic premise to which most people can relate. Who hasn’t roomed with a Felix and/or Oscar at some point in their life? Who hasn’t been driven up a wall by a compadre’s peccadilloes? Who hasn’t reached out to help a friend and then turn around and want to kill him?
Friendship is at the heart of The Odd Couple, male friendship in particular and King has cast the show with a group of guys who you can actually believe are friends. Nathan Cummings brings a gruff charm to Oscar and Aaron Wilton nails both the prissiness and heart of Felix. Both manage to avoid comparisons to Matthau/Lemmon & Klugman/Randall, with Wilton’s Felix wound a bit tighter than usual. Wilton may come off as a tad young to be playing the middle-aged Felix, but his character choices get you past that. They’re both fun to watch.
A lot of the humor in the play comes from Felix and Oscar’s poker playing buddies, and King has cast these supporting roles as well as her leads. Tim Kniffin is very dry as accountant Roy. Tim Setzer, usually seem locally in musicals, is amusing as henpecked Vinnie. Zachary Stockton as the cigar-chewing, wise-cracking Speed is a man after my own heart with his laser-like focus on the game. Chad Yarish’s Murray the cop is the heart and soul of the group, managing to be funny and kind of sweet when it comes to caring about his friend Felix. Laughs also come via the Pigeon sisters (nicely played by Samantha Dakin and Morgan Harrington), a couple of British expatriates who are the source of the final conflict (and resolution) between Oscar and Felix.
In a pre-show presentation, director King addressed the personal challenge of putting on a straight forward production and resisting the temptation to add any avant-garde elements. I can’t imagine this show done with a minimalist set instead of Joseph Elwick’s nicely designed NY apartment or everyone dressed in black instead of Skipper Skeoch’s nicely understated period dress. King met the challenge by simply sticking to the script and trusting her actors.
While there are individual lines that seem dated ($280 a month for an eight room, New York City apartment?!) the show itself does not come off that way. Rooted in real relationships, it’s a funny look at the American male-psyche, still gloriously flawed after fifty years.
\Cinnabar Theater’s The Odd Couple is an extremely enjoyable production of an American comedy classic.
It plays weekends through April 23rd.
For more information, go to cinnabartheater.org
Mon, 17 Apr 2017 - 4min - 141 - 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, forgiveness and tears. Perhaps it invokes memories of the female singing groups of by-gone days like the Andrews Sisters
Wrong.
Faye Clementine and Willie Mae Nettles are living out their lives in their ramshackle family home in swamp-side Sugar Bean, Florida. Once a happy family of five, they’re down to two after Mama’s passing, Papa’s hanging (by mob after accidentally poisoning 14 beauty pageant contestants,) and third sister Robinelle’s unfortunate consumption by ‘gator. Willie Mae pines for the local Mormon Bishop and the bright lights of Salt Lake City. Faye longs for the return of an alien spaceship that landed in their corn field twenty-five years ago, and hopes it will whisk her away to some distant planet. Their mundane existence is interrupted by the arrival of Miss Videllia Sparks, a “dancer” out of New Orleans stranded by car trouble. Then things start to get weird.
A hidden grapefruit fortune, Eva Gabor wigs, sandwiches, Jack Daniels, snakes, the Weekly World News, voodoo curses, Disney World, ghosts, a Reptile Woman and spontaneous human combustion all come to play over this bizarre play’s two hour running time. Need I say this show has some twists and turns to it?
Director Denise Elia-Yen has gathered a tight ensemble of performers, including Lydia Revelos, Larry Williams and Sharon Griffith, but make no bones about it, Mesdames Mary Gannon Graham and mollie boice rule the Sugar Bean roost as the strangest pair of sisters since Blanche and ‘Baby’ Jane Hudson from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? The humor, as that reference may indicate, is often macabre as the show begins by taking you one on one journey and by intermission veers to another. The humor, though plentiful, gets darker and darker as the evening progresses.
All this weirdness takes place on finely detailed, over-stuffed, multi-level set by Eddy Hansen and Elizabeth Bazzano that is as much a character in this piece as any of the performers. It may be the most interesting set I’ve seen in the Condiotti space. Adding to the swampy ambience are some nice projections by Patrick Taber and a terrific sound design by Jessica Johnson.
It’s tough to categorize the Spreckels Theatre Company’s production of The Sugar Bean Sisters. Nathan Sanders’s script is a southern gothic theatrical stew - part family drama, part jet-black comedy, and part supernatural fantasy. At heart, it’s a comedy of desperation. It’s the oddest play I’ve seen in while, and I just saw a play about Jeffrey Dahmer. It’s campy, creepy and often very funny. There’s certainly nothing else like it on stage right now in this area.
By all means, head on out to the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, if ya like.
But DON’T sit in Momma’s chair. It just ain’t done…
The Sugar Bean Sisters plays at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park through April 9.
For more information, go to spreckelsonline.com
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 - 4min - 140 - Visitng 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 a little over 20 years. In those twenty-plus years, it’s been translated into 23 languages and been produced all over the world to the tune of about 500 productions. Just this year, it’s played or is currently playing in such far-away places as Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, and Romania. Which brings us back to Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, California, where Visiting Mr. Green is running through April 2.
It’s a two-person show - part Odd Couple, part I’m Not Rappaport – set in the New York City apartment of Mr. Green (Al Kaplan,) an elderly Jewish widower recovering from a recent close-call with a motor vehicle. His solitude is interrupted by Ross Gardiner (Kevin Kieta,) the Wall Street-employed driver of the vehicle, who stops by to announce that he’ll be making weekly visits to assist Mr. Green as part of the community service portion of his sentence. Mr. Green doesn’t want him, and Gardiner would be more than happy to have the judge relieve him of the duty, but then there wouldn’t be a play, would there? Green and Gardiner go from butting heads, to grudging acceptance, to perhaps the formation of a real friendship when an issue is raised that changes everything. What started as a comedy of opposites takes a decidedly dramatic turn.
It works. Playwright Jeff Baron has taken a stock situation with stock characters and managed to make them feel somewhat fresh. It’s not the most well-written script and it has some elements that absolutely strain credulity (A present day, 29-year-old corporate executive that doesn’t carry a cell phone?) but my annoyance with those was overcome by the fine performances of the co-leads.
Director David L. Yen started on third base with the casting of Al Kaplan as Mr. Green. Kaplan has been knocking around Sonoma County stages for a bit doing yeoman’s work in supporting roles. Where did he get the chutzpah to take on the lead role of a loud, opinionated, demanding, set-in-his-ways senior citizen? (Full disclosure – I’ve worked with Al.) Kaplan was made for this role - which is more layered than I let on - and I’m not sure I can think of any other actor in the area who could do it as well. The consistency of his physical work with the character should also be noted.
The greater challenge for Yen must have been the casting of Gardiner, and Yen did well with his choice of Kevin Kieta. There’s a lot going on with Ross, and Kieta does a good balancing act throughout his character’s arc. Kaplan and Kieta work well together, and I completely bought into their characters and their relationship.
The scenic design by Sam Transleau does a pretty good job of recreating a New York City apartment, though there are a few anachronisms. I particularly like the sense of depth provided by a nicely designed window and backdrop. Sound designer Craig Miller nicely bridges the scenes with appropriate music that reinforces the cultural component of the show.
6th Street Playhouse’s Visiting Mr. Green is a small show with big aspirations. It packs a lot of humor and emotion into its 105 minutes, touching on such issues as family, responsibility, religious orthodoxy, acceptance, regret, the devastating consequences of one’s actions, atonement and forgiveness. These issues are universal, which may explain why this particular piece seems to be in constant play around the world.
Grounded in two fine, funny and heartfelt performances by its leads, Visiting Mr. Green kind of took me by surprise. Some of the issues presented hit close to home and I found myself a bit emotional by the end. That’s not an easy thing to admit, and while I see a lot of theatre, it doesn’t happen that often.
Nice work, gentlemen.
Visiting Mr. Green plays at the 6th Street Playhouse through April 2. Visit 6thstreetplayhouse.comWed, 29 Mar 2017 - 4min - 139 - 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 talking about the pocket change that most theater artists earn for their work, or the mundane kinds of change - like ‘scenery changes’ and ‘quick changes in the dressing room.
The art form itself has changed over the centuries, from a single bard standing in the square reciting an epic poem, to Greek choruses expounding exposition, to men playing women, to women playing men, to men writing plays in which people drop F-bombs, to women writing plays in which women talk to each other about something other than men.
The audience changes too, mostly by turning gray, but sometimes by turning the tables on the theater establishment and demanding something new.
And, inevitably, those of us who give our opinions on the art of theater, we change too. And that’s good, because new voices and new ideas always serve to keep things interesting and fresh.
Which is a long, theatrical way of saying that after nearly ten years of contributing my thoughts - and my voice - to this weekly ‘Second Row Center’ radio segment, it’s time for me to make a change, and as such, this will be my last time appearing on the radio in this particular format.
Why the change? Main reason – I’ve taken a position as the Community Editor with the Petaluma Argus Courier, and the new gig will be taking up a great deal of my time.
I will continue as the theater reviewer of the North Bay Bohemian, however, so I will stay in the role of North Bay theater critic, in print, if not on KRCB.
Which brings me to Harry Duke, who will be taking over this segment, beginning . . . well, beginning right now.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Harry Duke.
HARRY: Thank you, David. We’ll now take a short pause while the listeners say “Who?” Well, I am Harry Duke. I’m a twenty-five-year resident of Sonoma County, a graduate of Sonoma State University’s Theatre Arts program, an actor, a director, an educator, one of the founders of the Marquee Theatre Journalists Awards, the Chief Information Officer of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. I’ve been performing on North Bay stages since the last century and reviewing theatre as far back as my days on my New Jersey high school newspaper.
I love theatre. Whether onstage or in the audience, theatre has always been the place I have been most content. We are fortunate to have an abundance of it in this area. With so many choices and limited time or resources, how does one go about deciding what to see? That’s where a critic can be of assistance. I’ll share my thoughts and opinions with you about productions in the North Bay and beyond. The foundation of those thoughts will be my education, my experience, and my love of the art of theatre. I’d rather give you a reason to go see something than to not go see something but, like a baseball umpire, I just call ‘em like I see ‘em.
Thanks to my colleague David Templeton and to the folks at KRCB for allowing me to add my voice to the Radio 91 airwaves. So, until next week, I’m Harry Duke…
DAVID: And I WAS David Templeton, Second Row Center . . .
HARRY: … for KRCB.Wed, 22 Mar 2017 - 4min - 138 - "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, consciously or unconsciously, are benefiting from that racism, or any system of inequality in which they have it better, more or less, than everyone else.
Clearly aware of the arguments, pro and con, playwright David Mamet – a white guy – and never one to shy away from taboos or controversy - has stepped into the conversation with his 2009 drama ‘Race,’ currently running at Left Edge Theater, at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.
Sensitively and entertainingly directed by Carl Jordan, ‘Race’ aggressively tackles subjects of bigotry, black rage, white guilt, white privilege, cultural suspicion, and workplace sexism. Mamet’s script is a surgical, often humorous exploration of the lies so many Americans tell each other, and themselves, about matters of race.
The play first appeared eight years ago, when many were claiming that Barack Obama’s presidency had ushered in a post-racial America. Bringing things up to the moment, director Jordan opens the play with a video montage showing current race-themed political confrontations in the streets and on the airwaves, all cut to the recognizable strains of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Goin’ On?’
Then the play begins.
In Mamet’s Ze-Koan-like story, Henry is a brilliant African-American lawyer, played superbly by Dorian Lockett, who is alternately funny and furious. From the opening moments, Henry is facing off against a potential new client, the cocky millionaire Charles, played by a nicely layered Chris Ginesi. Charles has been accused of raping a black woman.
He insists he’s innocent, but one law-firm has already sent him packing, so he comes to Henry, and Henry’s law partner Jack, who aren’t immediately sure they want to take the case.
Mike Pavone plays Jack as a blunt-and-befuddled, ever-moving force of nature, verbally bulldozing his way through everyone in this path - including Susan, the law firm’s cautiously watchful new hire. Played with intense focus by Jazmine Pierce. She does what she can with the role, though it frequently requires her to stand around silently and observe the men plotting their defense of Charles. Thankfully, her character does become increasingly pivotal as the plot-twists stack up.
It’s hard to say anything more without spoiling the intricately composed story.
Race is certainly an ambitious undertaking, though the script bears one or two irritating David Mamet-sized flaws, a typically under-written female part, being one. That said, Mamet’s best trick is to ask a lot of very hard questions - and then barely attempt to answer them.
That’s smart.
He knows that to offer any actual answers about such subjects could be cloying at best and deeply offensive at worst. Instead, Mamet simply presents a number of juicy, interesting, uncomfortable things to think about, then tosses in a few last-minute surprises and sends us away wondering what-the-hell it was that just happened.
It’s no shock that Mamet, ever the master of profane conversation, peppers his play with four-letter-words, racial epithets, and effectively hammer-hard dialogue. Ultimately, Race is as much about sexism as it is about racism.
Intelligent and raw, probing and disturbing, Left Edge Theater’s bold production might offer no real answers, but the questions it asks couldn’t come at a better time, or be more important.
'Race’ runs Friday–Sunday, through March 26 at Left Edge Theater.
www.leftedgetheater.org
Thu, 16 Mar 2017 - 4min - 137 - "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 brutal and brilliant drama, it’s not a line full of anger or recrimination, or witty humor, or caustic observation.
As such, it stands out like a whisper in a rainstorm.
It is uttered by an extremely inebriated young woman named Honey, curled up on a couch after a period of extreme alcohol-fueled nausea, making her barely-conscious remark in response to her host, George, telling a deeply personal story, which Honey’s own husband, Nick, told George less than an hour before, while Honey was indisposed in the upstairs bathroom.
As it so happens, it’s a story about Honey.
“This story sounds familiar,” she murmurs softly, unexpectedly adding, “Familiar stories are the best.”
Sometimes, that’s true, isn’t it? Sometimes, familiar stories are the best.
That’s why classics like “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” keep cycling through our culture every so often. They might have been written 55-years-ago, like “Virginia Woolf,” but the good ones – like “Virginia Woolf” – always seem to have something to say.
Whatever familiarity you might have with Albee’s masterpiece, or with George and Martha and Honey and Nick – that furious foursome of funny-and-ferocious married academics whose relationships all unravel spectacularly over the course of single evening - you’d be well advised to leave your expectations - and perhaps your past disappointments - at the door of Main Stage West, where director David Lear and his first rate cast are serving up a dry and dirty, perfectly poured presentation of Albee’s caustic excoriation of modern marriage and the deadly addictiveness of illusion and deceit.
If I seem to be using a lot of words, I am. After nearly three hours with these loquacious, word-wielding folks, you too might find yourself luxuriating in the rich highlights and lowlights of the English language.
In the play, George — a sensational Peter Downey — is a middling history professor at a small university, and his wife Martha — Sandra Ish, also marvelous — obviously resents him for his lack of academic ambition. Early one morning, after a lengthy faculty dinner, George and Martha have invited another couple over for drinks. Nick—John Browning, quite strong in a difficult role—is the school’s new biology professor, and his wife, Honey—a remarkable Rose Roberts—well, um, Honey has a habit it throwing up a lot when things become too “intense.”
So, you know, woe is them.
Director Lear keeps the tone masterfully light, recognizing that the escalating intensity of all those words works best when they’re delivered as if it’s all pretty hilarious – which, amazingly, it often is. The production’s best moments include Ish’s priceless expression when a potted Venus flytrap is placed in her hand as a “hostess gift.” Or Downey’s hilariously multi-layered response to Nick’s saying, “Well, you know women.” And words cannot describe Robert’s jaw-dropping brilliance when Honey launches an improvised dance that includes elements of ballet, hand-jive and a mime stuck in a box.
The brilliance of Albee’s script, of course, and this razor-sharp interpretation, lies in the awareness that beautiful truths can be found even amongst people as vile and ruthless as these. Yes, they are, to varying degrees, swine, but they are remarkably believable swine. And as George so memorably puts it, late in the show, “You have to have a swine to show you where the truffles are.”
'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ runs Thursday–Sunday through March 19 at Main Stage West www.mainstagewest.com
Wed, 08 Mar 2017 - 4min - 136 - "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 —the majority of them playing for the next nine months in Ashland, Oregon. The First Four include a frisky stage adaptation of the film ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ and two plays by William Shakespeare – a bloody and visceral staging of ‘Julius Caesar’ and a highly entertaining take on the father-son history ‘Richard IV, Part One.’
Taken together, they make for a strong opening salvo at OSF.
For me, the most impressive of the bunch, however is the play ‘Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles,’ by the prolific L.A.-born writer Luis Alfaro, presented with remarkable power and passion by director Juliette Carrillo.
Alfaro has adapted a number of classic Greek tragedies over the years, putting a Latino-spin on such influential myths at Elektra and Oedipus Rex — and now Medea. In ‘Mojada’ – the Spanish word for ‘wet,’ as in ‘wetback’ — Medea is an undocumented Mexican seamstress, living in L.A. with her husband Jason, her son Acan, and her talkative, Greek Chorus-like storyteller Tita. They are all survivors of a brutal crossing from Mexico, which, we eventually learn, has cost Medea much more than mere money or blood.
Frail and fearful, she now confines herself to her small yard in L.A.s Boyle Heights barrio, avoiding her neighbors, helping to make beautiful dresses she could never afford to buy with the meager wages she earns.
Played with ferocious fragility by a superb Sabina Zuniga Varela, Medea carries some very dark secrets—and a desperate fear of losing Jason (an excellent Lakin Valdez), a construction worker whose American dreams of money and influence have placed him in an uneasy alliance with the wealthy widow Armida (Vilma Silva, wonderful). Also an immigrant – though with a very different story of making her way to the States – Armida employs Jason as a contractor in her construction company, and may have her eye on more than just his house-building talents.
Medea’s neighbor, the over-effusive Josefina (Nancy Rodriguez), is yet another version of the immigrant story. She’s a hard-working baker who rises early to make the bread she sells from a cart on the streets. Providing some easy comic relief, Josefina’s resourceful acceptance of America’s love-hate relationship with its immigrant population is a stark reminder of what Medea could become, if she could somehow find a sense of power and strength in her life, all of which this strange new land seems to want to deny her.
Anyone familiar with the Medea story, of course, will know where all of this headed, and the machete occasionally wielded by Tita (wonderfully played by VIVIS) just serves as a constant reminder of what’s to come.
Alfaro does much more with this marvelous, gorgeously constructed drama than just parrot the bloody plot turns of the original Medea myth. In retelling it through the eyes of a Mexican immigrant in America – with one stunning bit of beautifully queasy magical realism – the playwright reveals what happens when any human being is denied a sense of humanity, dignity, and control over their own lives.
I should add that the set by Christopher Acebo is a little marvel of architectural beauty and poetry - a circle of chain link and concrete, a garden grown in old tires and tin cans, and a tiny house that appears to almost float above the yard, with vast roots angling beneath it - as if to suggest the sense of ‘uprootedness’ and ‘in-between-ness’ that constantly threatens to define Medea, as it does, tragically, an entire generation of disenfranchised American dreamers.
For the full schedule of shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, visit OSFashland.org.
Thu, 02 Mar 2017 - 4min - 135 - "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 … dropping F-bombs, describing sex acts, saying things that puppets don’t normally get to say. Maybe that’s because, over the last seventy-five years or so — beginning with Kukla Fran and Ollie and Howdy Doody, all the way to Sesame Street and Mister Rogers — television has enforced the idea that puppets are for kids.
That’s not true.
Consider Punch and Judy, who in medieval times were anything but kid-friendly.
That’s just the tip of a dark and dirty iceberg of puppet-powered adult-oriented entertainment.
Well, in recent years, puppets have been regaining their adult voice through such inappropriate inanimate objects as Greg the bunny, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, those murderous marionettes from “Team America: World Police,” and good old Trekkie Monster - and all the other foul-mouthed porn-surfing residents of “Avenue Q,” the hit Broadway show that gave the world the songs, ‘The Internet is for Porn’ and ‘Everyone’s a little bit racist.’
To that list of celebrated, envelope-pushing puppets, we may now add Tyrone, the hilariously devilish sock puppet who rules over playwright Robert Askin’s remarkable new stage play, ‘Hand to God’ (now running at Berkeley Repertory Theater). Blending clever one-liners, expert slapstick and shocking (but funny) acts of violence, with outrageously pointed observations about faith, guilt, parenthood, and the notions of good and evil, “Hand to God” is extraordinary.
It’s obviously not the first show to feature puppets saying and doing bad things.
But as written by Robert Askins – who was nominated for a 2015 Tony award for this play— “Hand to God’ is always feels fresh and inventive, even a bit transgressive in its willingness to go places very few puppet-shows have ever dared to go.
Directed with spot-on precision by David Ivers, “Hand to God” is set in a small-town Texas church, where a troubled, sweet-spirited teenager named Jason—brilliantly played by Michael Doherty—has just created Tyrone.
Innocent-looking enough, at first, Tyrone was made of socks and yarn – and eventually, teeth - part of the youth puppet ministry run by his recently-widowed mother Margery. Also in the club is the gentle-but-resourceful Jessica, and Timothy, a confrontational teen punk with a serious case of the hots for Jason’s recently widowed mother.
Hoping that a church project might help snap Margery out of her grief, the church’s painfully lonely pastor Greg has basically forced the puppet club on her. It’s not a great fit. All hell breaks loose, literally, when Tyrone begins exhibiting strong anti-social behavior, dropping those aforementioned F-bombs alongside some brutally escalating observations about Jason, his mother, and the other basement-dwelling “Christ-keteers.”
These puppety outbursts begin gradually, with Tyrone tagging inappropriately sexual comments onto a performance of the famous “Who’s on first?” routine, occasionally reciting vaguely threatening facts: “The smallest of cuts to the Achilles tendon will cripple a man for life!”
Before long, though, Jason has to accept the fact that his Id-driven puppet just might be … Lucifer himself. It’s very funny, but also genuinely scary, a testament to Askins’ skill as a writer, and the actors skills as a tight, energetic ensemble.
As Jason/Tyrone, Doherty is a marvel, pivoting between characters with breathtaking speed and precision. The play does go to some very dark places, but the show never loses its inherent sense of humor and heart, or the story’s staunch commitment to the idea that those things out there that we loathe and fear the most, might be closer to home than we prefer to imagine.
‘Hand to God’ runs Tuesday–Sunday through March 19 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, www.berkeleyrep.org
Wed, 22 Feb 2017 - 4min - 134 - "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 subjects of two shows currently being performed by a pair of prominent Sonoma County theater companies. One’s a classic, rarely performed due to the monumental size of its cast, The other is brand new, notable for the minimalism of its scope, in the face of the gargantuan themes it dares to tackle.
Let’s start with the classic - Spreckels Theater Company’s grand staging of Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards historical musical ‘1776,’ first produced in 1968. Telling the surprise-laden story of how America’s Declaration of Independence came to be signed, the production, under the direction of Larry Williams, combines a cast of nearly 30 actors, along with clever projections and elaborate, gorgeously detailed costumes. Not surprisingly, the show looks magnificent, and the somewhat longish tale — clocking in at just under three hours, with one intermission — only rarely loses its momentum. That’s really saying something for a show boasting just thirteen songs, only two or three dance numbers, and a “plot” - if that’s the word - in which impassioned political debate carries the bulk of the “action.”
The story, fortunately, includes a Who’s Who of American historical figures. Jeff Coté plays John Adams, who – in May of 1776, is desperate to convince his fellow Continental Congress-members to separate from Great Britain. Coté is wonderful, fiery and fun, even if the singing does sometimes get away from him, pitch-wise.
Adam’s chief supporters in seeking Independence are Benjamin Franklin, played by a thoroughly delightful Gene Abravaya, and the darkly moping Thomas Jefferson, David Strock. Then there’s the genial Richard Henry Lee, played by Steven Kent Barker, who shines in one of the show’s most rambunctious songs, ‘The Lees of Old Virginia’. It’s thorough-lee infectious, and if you think that joke is bad, wait till you hear the ‘Lee puns’ layered through the song itself.
‘1776’ is a massive undertaking, and Spreckels pulls it off with only a few bumps.
Assisted by a large orchestra under the fine guidance of Lucas Sherman, Spreckels accomplishes a very difficult task with, as audiences will clearly see, far more grace and polish than the founding fathers showed in bringing our still struggling nation to life.
On to another big idea.
At Cinnabar Theater, Trevor Allen’s delightful ‘One Stone’ takes on Albert Einstein’s development of the Theory of Relativity — but approaches it on a much smaller scale than that with which Spreckels tackles 1776. Under the inventive direction of Elizabeth Craven, working on a simple stage suggesting a cluttered office, a single actor, Eric Thompson, represents Einstein’s Brain, his various discoveries and observations brought to life by a balletic puppeteer (Sheila Devitt) and an often-present violinist (Jennifer Cho).
Elevators fall through space, bicycles scoot along at the speed of light, and much more.
The miraculous thing about ‘One Stone’ is how emotionally powerful it is. With little in the way of actual plot, Allen’s words, plus Thompson’s exuberant performance, and the rich, magical puppetry of Devitt, all create a poetic space where Einstein’s ideas scamper about like curious children in a playground. ‘One Stone’ is consistently lovely, excitingly unconventional, and thoroughly extraordinary.
‘One Stone’ runs through February 19 at Cinnabar Theater, www.cinnabartheater.org. '1776' runs Friday–Sunday through Feb. 26 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center. www.sp[reckelsonline.com
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 - 4min - 133 - "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 affection for damaged people, is finally getting her shot in the North Bay, where Left Edge Theater has just opened the West Coast premiere of her oddball play ‘You Got Older.’
Skillfully directed by Argo Thompson, ‘You Got Older’ follows a struggling, twenty-something lawyer named Rae, who’s recently lost her job, her apartment, her boyfriend, and her self-esteem, at the very same moment that her father is diagnosed with a mysterious, possibly fatal throat cancer. She’s also got a truly terrible-sounding rash.
Rae is played with meticulous sensitivity by Paige Picard, a first-rate performance in a play full of them, and Joe Winkler, as Rae’s kind but befuddled father, is frequently astonishing, particularly so in a key scene at the end where his steady bravado suddenly crumbles.
Barron’s writerly kookiness manifests itself mainly through the stunningly candid dialogue between her characters. The awkward but believable way that Rae converses with Mac, a rash-loving stranger she meets in a bar. He’s played nicely by Jared Wright. There’s sexy-but-menacing Cowboy (played by Chris Ginesi) who Rae conjures up in a series of increasingly disturbing sex fantasies. Then there’s the way Rae makes wobbly plans for the future with her loving, easily distracted siblings, all while waiting at the hospital bedside of their post-surgery dad. The convincingly familiar siblings are played by Sandra Ish, Devin McConeell, Victoria Saitz, all good, though the apparently twenty year spread in ages seems a bit unrealistic, given other details of the script putting them closer together than that.
That one weirdness aside, there is a palpable honesty and “realness” to the story that sneaks up on you, and delivers a surprising impact. As hinted in the title, You Got Older is actually a play about growing up, about the ways that facing our losses, disappointments and the eccentric irritations of life, in time make us all older - and sometimes, a little wiser, too.
Meanwhile, 6th Street Playhouse’s Buyer & Cellar, which also opened last weekend, is a one-actor exploration of the affluent eccentricities of singer-actor Barbra Streisand. Written by Jonathan Tolins, directed with energetic simplicity by Sarah Muirhead, Buyer & Cellar takes a well-documented fact about Streisand—that she built a miniature shopping mall in her cellar to hold the costumes and kitsch acquired over the years—and uses it to launch a flight of fancy about an unemployed actor named Alex who is hired as a make-believe storekeeper in Bab’s bizarre basement playground.
The enjoyable, joke-packed script contains a truly effective play-ending twist, but its insights into Streisand’s psyche mostly tend toward the obvious—her mother never told her she was pretty, she grew up in poverty so she now likes to flaunt her wealth. And the story itself, while definitely funny and affectionate, sometimes strains for purpose and relevance.
It doesn’t matter.
The real reason to see Buyer & Cellar is Patrick Varner’s outstanding performance as Alex. Jaw-droppingly good, Varner’s inventive characterizations and clear emotional arc carry this kooky comedy along on a wave of energy and sweetness, with only occasional lapses of momentum.
Taken together, both new shows show extraordinary humanity and compassion for their messy, identifiable characters, and at a time when its sometimes hard to recognize the commonalities between us, a bit if humanity and compassion are exactly what the world needs more of.
'You Got Older’ runs Friday–Sunday, through Feb. 3 – Feb. 19 at Left Edge Theater, www.leftedgetheater.com. 'Buyer & Cellar’ runs Thursday–Sunday through Feb. 19 at 6th Street Playhouse. www.6thstreetplayhouse.com
Wed, 08 Feb 2017 - 4min - 132 - "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 Son—considered one of the most important and powerful American novels ever published— is one great example.
A bestseller upon publication, the novel has been alternately praised and condemned over the years since, often drawing kudos and criticism for the very same things—mainly, the brutal honesty, stark realism, and shocking violence of Wright’s supremely crafted work, a stark depiction of life as a poor, under-educated black man in America in the early 1940s.
And yet, as written from within the conflicted mind of one such man, it’s also a beautiful piece of writing, insightful and raw and full of gorgeously well-written passages.
Which brings us to ‘Native Son,’ the play.
Powered by a poetic, elegant script by Nambi E. Kelley, Marin Theatre Company, in Mill Valley, has finally brought Wright’s explosive novel to the stage. Under the steady guidance of director Seret Scott, an extraordinary cast gives perfectly tuned performances, resulting in a remarkable theatrical experience that is at once astonishing, beautiful, visceral, vibrant and, because of the reality it describes, often inescapably ugly.
Kelley, succeeding where countless adapters have fallen short, strips Wright’s epic-length novel to its bones, dressing it back up again with brilliant theatrical ideas, enhancing, rather than diminishing the power of Wright’s ingeniously built, emotionally rich ethical puzzle box of a story.
The conflicted protagonist is Bigger Thomas — played superbly by Jerod Haynes. Bigger is barely scraping by, living in a rat-infested Chicago slum with his mother (C. Kelley Wright), sister Vera (Ryan Nicole Austin) and borderline criminal brother Buddy (Dane Troy). Bigger, for understandable reasons, is a combustible blend of anger, hopelessness and fear. He dreams of flying airplanes, but knows the system will never give him the opportunity.
Bigger’s violent internal struggles are brilliantly illustrated through his conversations with The Black Rat (played by William Hartfield), the playwright’s nattily dressed depiction of Bigger’s conflicted inner battles. The Rat represents Bigger’s claim that the way society sees him is often in opposition to how he sees himself.
Which one is which is never made clear, adding extra meat to chew on in already chewy storyline.
For Bigger, even the possibility of a decent job, chauffeuring for a wealthy, liberal white woman (Courtney Walsh), is rife with danger. Her daughter Mary (Rosie Hallett) and Mary’s communist boyfriend Jan (Adam Magill) attempt to show Bigger how open-minded they are, but are cluelessly indifferent as to how their public shows of “equality” and familiarity with Bigger actually put him in danger.
When disaster strikes early on, Bigger ends up on the run, his clumsy act of accidental violence leading quickly to another, less defensible one.
As the story plummets ahead with ferocious speed—told in a single, 90-minute act—Bigger literally steps back and forth from his present to his past, vivid flashbacks underscoring his rising fear and fury with heartbreaking power.
The story may be set in the 1940s, but that so little has changed since then is abundantly clear. That — along with the graceful energy of his storytelling — is why Wright’s brutal masterpiece continues to have such resonance after more than 75 years, and why Marin Theatre Company’s gorgeously ugly adaptation is the first must see of 2017.
‘Native Son’ runs Tuesday–Sunday through February 12 at Marin Theatre Company. www.marintheatre.org
Wed, 01 Feb 2017 - 4min - 131 - "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 points for musicality, invention and sheer guts, emphasizing the politically ominous rags-to-riches story of its heroine by removing the massive cast and the elaborate dance numbers for which the beloved stage show first became known.
On the medium-sized stage at Andrews Hall - in the historic Sonoma Community Center, just off the Sonoma plaza - wooden planks, scaffolding and a brilliantly employed piece of moving machinery take the place of the ornate sets usually employed for musicals of this scale.
Originally announced as a “staged concert,” the show, as directed by Lauren Miller, exists somewhere in between a concert and a full-production. Though the blocking of the tight nine-actor cast tends a bit to often towards the static - with several people standing in a line, striking slightly stiff poses while singing straight out to the audience - what this approach lacks in dynamism and visual energy it more than makes up for in helping tell its story simply and clearly.
Ellen Toscano, a ten-year-veteran of San Francisco’s Beach Blanket Babylon, deploys her stellar singing voice as Eva Peron, who started out as a middle class dreamer from the outskirts of Argentina, became an actress and screen celebrity, and worked her way up to become the first lady of her country, the wife of the dictator Juan Peron. Though a bit physically rigid at times, her face is constantly alive with emotion, ranging from resolve to disdain to love to anger to pain, and sometimes all at once.
As her politically ambitious husband, Juan, Michael Conte strikes the perfect tone of austere authority, and his voice is magnificent. As the narrator Che, who steps in and out of the story - frequently offering challenging perspectives in the form of wry commentary - Robert Dornaus is also quite strong, climbing up and down the set pieces, leaping to the audience floor, even operating the man-lift at a crucial moment, easily giving the shows most varied and animated performance.
In the small part of Peron’s kicked-to-the-curb mistress, Fiorella Garcia delivers one of the show’s most powerful moments, singing the lovely “Where do we go from here,” and as Eva’s lounge-singing first conquest, Tod Mostero is appropriately smarmy, smitten and entertainingly surprised at being less in control of his hungry paramour than he assumed.
The ensemble is in fine voice throughout, though at times they seem to be wishing they has more to do then file onstage, sing beautifully, and file off again, though perhaps this is the remaining vestiges of the original “staged concert” concept.
All in all, the miraculous thing about this production is how well the parts that work, work, especially the marvelous moment when Toscano sings the show’s most famous number, “Don’t Cry for me Argentina.” I won’t spoil the surprise of how the song is staged, but it’s truly delightful and inventive.
Perhaps most surprising of all is how pertinent and powerful this story feels today, as it traces the way that politicians often take advantage of the people they claim to be wanting to help, using them to gain the power they need to take control—then convincing them that they’ve delivered what they promised, even when they have done the exact opposite.
‘Evita’ runs Thursday through Sunday through Feb. 5 at Sonoma Arts Live, at the Sonoma Community Center. www.sonomaartslive.orgThu, 26 Jan 2017 - 4min
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