Review: “The Wizard of Oz” in Healdsburg

Healdsburg’s Raven Players is one of the few local companies to wear the phrase “community theater” as a badge of honor.  Absent a delusion of grandeur and pretenses of ‘Broadway quality’, the Players simply make the commitment to be a place that all are welcome, both on and off the stage. Their casts are frequently…

North Bay Theatre Companies Snag 59 SFBATCC Award Nominations

The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle announced the nominations for their 47th Excellence in Theatre Awards and North Bay theatre companies received 59 nominations over 18 categories. Active since 1976, the Circle rewards excellence in all phases of theatrical production through the Circle’s annual awards. The Circle eliminated gender distinction in their performance…

Review: “Spring Awakening” in Napa

If live theatre, which is in crisis, ends up in a doom spiral, it won’t be for a lack of talent and energy from the current generation of performing artists. The stages at College of Marin and Santa Rosa Junior College recently hosted productions featuring some very good work by their youthful casts. Napa Valley…

Review: “Orlando” in Santa Rosa

Gender fluidity flows like the Russian River after a torrential rain in the Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts Department production of Orlando. Laura Downing-Lee directs the Sarah Ruhl-penned adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel. The show runs in the Frank Chong Studio Theatre in the Burbank Auditorium on the SRJC Santa Rosa campus through…