Review: “Legally Blonde: the Musical” in Novato

The chances of Legally Blonde showing up on anyone’s list of ‘great American musicals’ are as likely as the chances of a UCLA sorority President with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Merchandising really being admitted to Harvard Law School.   Based on the 2001 novel by Amanda Brown and film starring Reese Witherspoon, it’s the…

Review: “My Fair Lady” in Sonoma

Sonoma Arts Live concludes their “toast to the classics” with a production of My Fair Lady, running now through July 28. Lerner and Loewe’s musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion was a smash hit when it premiered on Broadway in 1956 but modern sensibilities have taken a toll on the tale of a Cockney…

Review: “Bonnie & Clyde” in Santa Rosa

After a one-year hiatus forced upon them by the renovation of Santa Rosa Junior College’s Burbank Auditorium, the Summer Repertory Theatre program returns with a full schedule of three musicals and two plays running in “rep”. The plays will continue to be performed in Newman Auditorium while the musicals are being done in the SRT…

Review: “Measure for Measure” in San Rafael

  The Marin Shakespeare Company opens its 30th season with Measure for Measure. The Bard’s take on justice and mercy would seem to be a perfect fit for a company that brings their Shakespeare for Social Justice program to eight California State Prisons. Officially labeled as a comedy, it’s considered by some to be one…

Review: “Young Frankenstein” in Healdsburg

After filmmaker Mel Brooks took Broadway by storm with his musical adaptation of The Producers, he hoped lightning would strike twice with the same approach to Young Frankenstein. It didn’t. Young Frankenstein ran for about 2,000 performances less than its predecessor and while The Producers rang up a total of fifteen Tony nominations (winning a…

Review: “Wink” in Mill Valley

“Where is my cat?” So begins the saga of Wink, playwright Jen Silverman’s long gestating play whose title character is said cat. Written in 2013, it’s had several staged readings across the country (including one in 2014 at San Francisco’s Cutting Ball Theater) and is now in its fully-produced world premiere run at the Marin…

Review: “Drumming with Anubis” in Santa Rosa

Two world premiere works by North Bay theatre artists are about to conclude their runs on local stages. Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre is presenting the comedy Drumming with Anubis, while Sebastopol’s Main Stage West is hosting the musical Half Life – A Love Story. Both shows end their runs on June 30. Middle-aged male…