People hide things. We bury our sins, secrets and hidden thoughts down deep, or we simply disguise them behind a mask of pretense. Theater is the ultimate exercise in pretense as art, and in two first-rate plays, those secrets are uncovered in very different ways. Click ‘Here‘ to read the full review in the North…
I am, in a moment, going to talk about spelling, as in spelling bees, as in ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,’ a musical that is currently running in two different productions in the North Bay. But first, let me delve further into the disciplines of vocabulary with a few stage-related definitions. I’d like…
“Better than the Super Bowl.” That hyperbolic declaration appeared the morning of February 28, on the Facebook page of local film fan, actor and blogger Peter Warden. It was the morning of the Oscars, and after a “friend” noted that for Warden, the Oscars were very likely as exciting as the Super Bowl, Warden affirmed that,…
Forget what you know about daylight savings time. Marin Theatre Company is springing back. Which may be a shrewd move forward. Beginning last January, all evening shows at Marin Theatre Company are starting at 7:30 p.m. (instead of 8:00, as has been the tradition since, well, forever). This makes MTC the first theater in Marin County to…
Please spell “serendipity.” As fate would have it, not one, but two productions of the engaging musical ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ are both opening in the North Bay this weekend, but the two shows – one in San Rafael, one in Sonoma – couldn’t be more different. While Marin Onstage opens its Belrose…
Sonoma County actor Chris Ginesi (co-founder of Narrow Way Stage Company), has just crossed one very big item off his theatrical bucket list. He’s just performed a play written by William Shakespeare, while standing on the stage of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. Yeah, the one built to replace the original Globe, which is where…
As the 2016 Oregon Shakespeare Festival kicks off its season with four shows (and seven more to open between now and late summer), the trend this year seems to be shows that challenge up the norm, fiddle with audience comfort-levels, and defy tradition. But that’s not true for every show, and frankly, that’s kind of nice.…
Ultimately, despite the talent, craft, and ingenious artistic contributions of the cast and crew, and regardless of the boldness, beauty or flat-out genius of a show’s concept, whether or not the thing works is ultimately a matter of taste. What you think is brilliant I might find to be a well-intentioned mess, and what your neighbor…
Two North Bay Theater Companies announce details of next season March 10, 2016 —It’s a little like Christmas, this time of year, when one-by-one the majority of theater companies release details about their upcoming. And like Christmas, when lists of gifts become a focus of attention (whether it’s a child’s list of toys hoped for from…
In Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s boldly beautiful fantasy-drama ‘The River Bride,’ projections are used to dazzling effect, creating sunrises and sunsets, starry skies, and rain-soaked jungles. Projections play also a significant part in Christopher Liam Moore’s equally bold – but far less consistently satisfying — staging of Shakespeare’s gender-bendy Twelfth Night. Amongst Shakespeare’s most popular and…
North Bay Stage and Screen 