Musicals seem to be the season openers of choice for North Bay theatre companies with two more joining the Spreckels Theatre Company run of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. 6th Street Playhouse is hosting 4 Guys Named José… And Una Mujer Named María! in their GK Hardt Theatre while Sonoma Arts Live brings Young Frankenstein to the Rotary Stage at the Sonoma Community Center. Both shows run through September 22.
4 Guys… is a jukebox musical, which means a whole lot of music broken up by a sub-micro-millimeter paper-thin plot. The whisper of a plot concerns four young men (Maick Poroj, Jonathen Blue, Sergio Diaz, Ismael Armando Ramos) who share the name José who come together to present a musical review of Latin music to share with their fellow residents of Omaha, Nebraska. They’re joined by one of the guy’s roommates named María, who actually can’t show up and sends another woman named María (Jackie Diaz) in her place. She’s on the rebound from a breakup and her availability has the guys interest piqued.
See what I mean about plot?
Forget the forgettable plot (it’s easy) and focus on the music. The show incorporates 47 different songs with bits of songs like “La Bamba” and “Guantanamera” surrounding fully-produced numbers like “Bésame Mucho” and “Es Mentiroso”.
The four guys are fine. They all possess good voices and their group work was great, but individually they were often tough to hear. Diaz has stage presence to spare and stood out by really working the audience.
Jackie Diaz played María at the performance I attended and will play the role again on September 19. You’d never know it was her debut performance in the show (the role is usually performed by Reilly Milton) as she completely owned the stage, so much so that the show is really about una mujer named María, and four guys named José.
Nate Riebli led “El Trio Los Omahaenos” with occasional percussive support from the cast. The costumes (Adriana Gutierrez) were colorful and the choreography (director Erin Rose Solario) mostly solid and better than you might expect from a show being performed at the Omaha VFW Hall.
Now about the sound…
‘4 Guys Named José… And Una Mujer Named María!’ runs through Sept. 22 in the GK Hardt Theatre at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. Sixth Street, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sat., 7:30pm; Sat-Sun, 2pm. $29–$45. 707.523.4185. 6thstreeetplayhouse.com
Photos by Eric Chazankin
North Bay Stage and Screen 