KSRO Interview: Directors of “The Super Trio”

My guests on the Thursday, July 26 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon were playwright/composer/co-director/actor Brett Mollard and co-director/actor Ezra Hernandez from the Redwood Theatre Company’s original production of The Super Trio. Click below to hear that interview. *** For more information, go to redwoodtheatrecompany.com

Nancy Hayashibara to present evening of music and comedy

It’s been a while since pianist Nancy Hayashibara – of the Santa Rosa Junior College – has appeared on stage in one of her semi-legendary stage shows, in which she alternates between stellar renditions of classical masterpieces and hilarious comedy bits, often playing over-the-top characters, including (sometimes) her own mother. On Saturday, July 28, she…

Review: “Always… Patsy Cline” in Sonoma

Jukebox musicals have become the bread and butter for a lot of community theatres. Minimal casts, simple sets and the built-in audience that comes with a show about a popular singer or musical group are tough for an artistic director to resist. In 1988, playwright Ted Swindley took 27 songs recorded by Patsy Cline and…

Film Review: ‘Three Identical Strangers’

An eerie sense of discomfort and anxiety begins to arise roughly halfway through the remarkable, entertaining, gripping, and disturbing new documentary ‘Three Identical Strangers.’ Once it starts, it only builds, continuing till long after the credits roll. Directed by Tim Wardle (“One Killer Punch”), this surprise hit (from CNN Films and England’s Channel 4) related…

‘Levity,’ a touring circus-themed show, comes to Petaluma

High-flying aerial acts. Breathtaking acrobatics. Gorgeous, ethereal music. Mesmerizing dance. A woman walking on glass bottles. And a whole lot of outrageous stuff with chairs. That’s “Levity,” a weirdly wondrous, tough-to-explain live touring show from LadyBeast Productions, of New Orleans. The company was formed five years ago, with the intention of putting a contemporary, highly…

Review: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in San Francisco

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was originally scheduled last season at the Spreckels Theatre Company. The musical, whose development started in Germany and ended in New Jersey (having never made it to Broadway), is an atypical Disney production. More Les Misérables than Little Mermaid, it’s an interesting amalgam of Victor Hugo’s gothic novel and music from…

KSRO Interview: Director & Cast Members from “Shakespeare in Love”

Guests on my Thursday, July 5 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon included director David Lear and actors John Browning and Sydney McNulty from the Shakespeare in the Cannery’s closing production of Shakespeare in Love. The interview begins at the 2:15 mark. Click below to hear that interview. *** For more information, go to http://www.shakespeareinthecannery.com

Review: “School of Rock” in San Francisco

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