The holiday season will soon be upon us and with it a plethora of live theatre choices with which to escape pushy crowds, long lines, traffic, overbearing relatives, and the thought of what January 20, 2025 holds in store for our nation.

There’s a conspicuous absence of productions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol this year, but that may be because the thought of a cold-hearted, bitter, and selfish man seeing the error of his ways and undergoing a transformation would require a suspension of belief currently beyond human capability. 

Instead, North Bay theatre companies are providing a variety of options for theatre goers looking for some holiday cheer or just a reason to get out of the house.

The holiday theatre season kicks off in Healdsburg this year with the Raven Players production of Cinderella – A Family Holiday Panto. Panto is short for pantomime, but banish thoughts of silent, white-face clowns annoying you at Fisherman’s Wharf. British “pantos” are raucous entertainments featuring jokes, slapstick, cross-dressing performers, music, dance, and audience interaction. The fun kicks off Nov.  15 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg. (raventheater.org) 

For those seeking a more traditional Broadway-style musical, Santa Rosa’s 6^th Street Playhouse will be presenting Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical. Based on the 1954 film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, this stage adaptation features 17 Irving Berlin songs including, or course, the title tune. The snow starts falling on 6^th Street’s GK Hardt stage on Nov. 22. (6thstreetplayhouse.com)

Audiences old enough to remember a time when Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life seemed to be playing on every TV station for two months straight (before it was pulled from public domain) may get a sense of déjà vu with two productions of different adaptations of the story running in Sonoma County.

Rohnert Park’s Spreckels Theatre Company is presenting It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. The show is performed as a 1940s live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience. Five actors perform dozens of characters as well as produce the sound effects.  The show goes on-air in Spreckels Condiotti Black Box Theatre on Nov. 22 (spreckelsonline.com)

6^th Street Playhouse will be presenting two workshop performances of local composer Janis Dunson Wilson’s musical adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, featuring over two dozen original songs which will be performed with a live orchestra. There will be two performances only – Dec. 17 & 18. (6thstreetplayhouse.com)  

Spreckels is also doing three performances of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. This dramatic retelling of a true event weaves together firsthand accounts of World War I soldiers with patriotic tunes, trench songs, and Christmas carols performed by an all-male, acapella chorale. Three performances only on the Codding Theater stage Dec. 13 – Dec. 15. (spreckelsonline.com)

Sonoma Arts Live is going with Little Women. Based on the Louisa May Alcott novel, this musical adaptation follows the adventures of sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March over a decade. While not a holiday musical per se, many of the scenes are set at Christmas time.  The Rotary Stage at the Sonoma Community Center hosts the show beginning Dec. 6. (sonomartslive.com)

Sonoma’s Sebastiani Theatre will be hosting three performances of Transcendence Theatre Company’s annual Broadway Holiday production on Dec. 18 & 19. This all-new production features festive musical favorites, hit tunes and other on-stage antics by Broadway performers from such hit shows as Frozen, Mrs. Doubtfire and Wicked. (bestnightever.org)

Outside of the holiday theme, Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre will present the depressingly timely POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive starting Dec. 6 (leftedgetheatre.com), while Monte Rio’s Curtain Call Theatre will be presenting The Orchard, a replanting of Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard to Sonoma County starting Nov. 15. (russianriverhall.com)

Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions opened the Lucky Penny Community Arts center almost ten years ago with a production of Oliver! They now are wondering “Who Will Buy?” a ticket to one of the performances of their remounting of Lionel Bart’s classic musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.  I’ll be “Reviewing the Situation” myself.  “Consider Yourself” welcome to join them starting Nov. 29.  (luckypennynapa.com)

In Marin, the College of Marin Performing Arts Drama Program will be presenting Stuart Paterson’s musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. This fairytale with music will be performed in the Studio Theatre on the College’s Kentfield Campus from Nov. 22 through Dec. 15. Tickets are free with an online reservation (pa.marin.edu)

Marin Theatre in Mill Valley will also be hosting five performances of Transcendence Theatre Company’s annual Broadway Holiday production from Dec. 12 through Dec. 15. (marintheatre.org)

The Marin Shakespeare Company enters the holiday fray with a late season run of The Winter Wonderettes. This jukebox musical is a sequel to Roger Bean’s The Marvelous Wonderettes. The original was about a high school Songleader squad performing at their prom and a 10-year reunion. The sequel finds the ladies toiling at a hardware store and pressed into entertainment action when the Santa Claus scheduled for their company Christmas party goes missing. It features 1960’s versions of holiday classics including “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “Winter Wonderland”. The show runs in Marin Shakes’ indoor theater in downtown San Rafael from Dec. 20 through Jan. 5. (marinshakespeare.org)

For those missing the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, the Ross Valley Players are offering a couple of substitute ghosts via their production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit. The three-act farce features a London socialite and his new wife being harassed by the medium-summoned, temperamental ghost of his first wife. The Barn Theater at the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross will be haunted starting Nov. 15. (rossvalleyplayers.com)

Solano County audiences can attend The Last Night of Ballyhoo in Vallejo starting Dec. 6 at Bay Area Stage (bayareastage.org), or visit The Visit at Solano Community College Theatre through Nov. 24 (solanocollegetheatre.org).

As always, North Bay theatre companies would appreciate your consideration of gifting season tickets to your arts-minded family and/or friends.  Support live local theatre… while we can.

Photos by Ray Mabry

This preview originally appeared in edited versions in the North Bay Bohemian and Pacific Sun.