When I see a show late in its run, or the run itself is short, I’ll take some time and provide a short take on the production…

Bootycandy – Left Edge Theatre, Santa Rosa

Pluses: script, performances

Minuses: a bit disjointed, a bit long

Playwright Robert O’Hara claims that every character in Bootycandy crossed his path at some point in his life. No doubt he’s taken a wee bit of artistic license in writing them as characters in his semi-autobiographical look at growing up black and gay. Left Edge Theatre has a production directed by Serena Elize Flores running at The California in Santa Rosa through November 23.

Bootycandy is a series of short scenes (that often play as late night TV comedy sketches) from childhood to present day, from home life to church, from bars to motel rooms, and even a nursing home. Tajai Britten plays Sutter (O’Hara’s stand-in) while Lexus Fletcher, Shanay Howell, Jonathen Blue, and Dana Hunt handle all the other characters.

Like SNL, some of the scenes hit, some of them miss, and some of them go on too long. There are, however, more hits than misses. Unlike SNL, it gets really graphic and raunchy at points (beginning with the meaning of the show’s title.) It even goes a bit meta at one point.

Though mostly a comedy, it veers into the dramatic occasionally, which may knock the audience back a bit. So be it. The cast does a good job handling both.

See it before it closes? If you were a fan of the Wayans brothers’ TV series In Living Color, it’s kind of like that (if it ran on Cinemax.) See it to support artists of color, see it support diversity in local theatre, and see it because it’s funny.

‘Bootycandy’ runs through November 23 at The California, 528 7th Street, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 1pm. $44. 707.664.PLAY. leftedgetheatre.com

Ride the Cyclone: The Musical – SRJC Theatre Arts, Santa Rosa

Pluses – everything

Minuses – nothing

College and University students in a theatre program rarely get to do shows that are legitimately in their age range or deal with subjects relevant to their generation. So when they do, they usually give it their all.

Case in point, the SRJC Theatre Arts production of Ride the Cyclone: The Musical, running now in the Burbank Auditorium on the SRJC Santa Rosa Campus through November 23. The Canadian (!) musical had a brief Off-Broadway run in 2016 and has become something of a cult show. It deserves better, and it gets it at the JC.

Students from a small Canadian town’s high school chamber choir perish in a freak roller coaster accident. They find themselves in a sort of purgatory where the carnival’s fortune telling machine tells them she has the power to let one of them return to life. Cue the individual musical numbers as each student pleads their case.

I loved everything about this show including the script and its knowing humor, the performances (by Aliya Webb, Scarlett Sanders, Chase Thompson, Jaden “Moose” Frank, Addison Brown, Reilly Trainor, Maya Tuchband, and a large ensemble), the music, the stage craft, its innate weirdness, and its ability to tell a complete musical story with affection, humor and genuine emotion in 95 minutes.

It’s former JC student and current JC Theatre Arts instructor Sarah Wintermeyer’s first directorial production there, and it’s one helluva debut. She’s got a great cast with superlative voices, some incredibly talented student designers, and a great live band under the direction of Nate Reibli working together to put on a terrifically entertaining, absolutely invigorating show.

See it before it closes? Without a doubt. No other theatre in this area can produce a show like this at this level. Granted, a thirty million dollar renovation helps…

‘Ride the Cyclone: The Musical’ runs through Sunday, November 23, in the Burbank Theatre at Santa Rosa Junior College, 1501 Mendicino Ave, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $15–$25. 707.527.4307. srjc.universitytickets.com