by Cari Lynn Pace If you expect this rock music show to be loud and in-your-face, you are correct. What you may not expect is how Alanis Morissette’s emotional songs resonate in today’s angry world. Drug use? Sexual predators? Political privilege? Color bias? Lover infidelity? They’re all here, exploding from the intimate Novato Theater Company…
by Barry Willis In the early 1970s, in the wake of the phenomenal success of the groundbreaking musical “Hair” came a spate of hippie-era religious-themed productions—“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” and “Godspell” among them. This last-mentioned show is enjoying a revival with some contemporary updates at Lucky Penny Productions in Napa.…
by Barry Willis Teenage angst gets a full workout in ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| at American Conservatory Theater’s Strand Theater on Market Street in San Francisco, through April 19. Set in the East Bay, the story is about four girls in a summer music program, preparing for a final concert before they…
by Cari Lynn Pace If you are a fan of Stephen Sondheim, you will be delighted with this Throckmorton Theatre production of Company. If you don’t care for Sondheim’s repetitive musical style, you will still be delighted with this production. It’s a show filled with non-stop energy. Company focuses on bachelor Bobby’s 35th birthday and…
Berkeley Rep’s Uneven “All My Sons” by Barry Willis A week has passed since the press opener of Berkeley Rep’s revamp of Arthur Miller’s enduring family drama All My Sons. Presumably some of the hysteria around this production has faded a bit, but during opening week there was plenty of it among the critical community.…
By Beulah F. Vega Napa Valley College has opened it’s two weekend (02/27- 03/08) run of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. The almost three-hour-long show tells the story of a baker (Gabriel Logan Reyes) and his wife (Lindsay Stark) who must go into the woods to gather the ingredients needed to lift a curse their…
by Beulah F. Vega Napa County’s Valley Players presents the Jones Hope Wooten comedy The Savannah Sipping Society at the Rutherford Grange through March 15. Directed by Debbie Baumann, this look at women of a certain age brings a perspective often missing from the stages around our area. Middle-aged Randa Covington (Christina Julian) finds herself…
by Cari Lynn Pace A Parisian bachelor, armed with only an airline flight schedule and a disapproving maid, successfully juggles simultaneous romances with three gorgeous flight attendants. It’s a setup for international disaster when an American buddy visits and endeavors to learn relationships from the master. Marc Camoletti’s Boeing Boeing, directed by Justin Smith, is…
by Cari Lynn Pace Ten contestants vie for a shiny red pickup, a publicity gimmick by a car dealership in Longview, Texas. Whoever can keep a hand on the truck the longest wins the keys to drive off with it. Hands on a Hardbody keeps you guessing how long the contestants will last and who…
by Cari Lynn Pace A middle-aged housewife tosses her worn apron aside and packs a silk kimono for the Greek Islands. Meet Shirley Valentine, a charming woman in Liverpool, England who does everything for everyone, including her spoiled daughter and demeaning husband. Shirley doesn’t complain as she talks aloud, examining her life and the choices…
North Bay Stage and Screen 