by Cari Lynn Pace * Santa Rosa Junior College’s Theatre Arts Department is the first out of the gate of what is sure to be a plethora of productions throughout the Bay Area of Disney’s Frozen, The Broadway Musical. It’s a grand scale production capturing the best of fantasy and fine singing. The smash Broadway…
by Cari Lynn Pace * I was a teenager when two “monster comedy” shows aired on network TV in 30-minute black and white episodes from 1964 to 1966 (and in reruns ever since.) The Munsters and The Addams Family delighted us with their weird antics and bizarre proclivities which contrasted with and confused the outside…
by Woody Weingarten * Harold Pinter sure packs a brainload into his plays. Take Betrayal, which is on stage at Marin Theatre through Nov. 15, for example. • It’s tautly dramatic, with its pinpoint focus on a seven-year affair, predominantly in the ‘70s, between Emma, an art gallery owner played by Liz Sklar, one of…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Harold Pinter penned 29 plays on his way to becoming a major dramatist of the 20th century and earning the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. Marin Theatre has taken on the British playwright’s challenging Betrayal. Carey Perloff directs the production running in Mill Valley through Nov. 15. Perloff has a…
by Barry Willis * An old Napa Valley legend morphs into an outrageous musical comedy at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa through November 8. The decades-old story purports that the hills surrounding the valley are home to hybrid critters—part ape, part bat, and with the aid of a mad scientist in the…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s powerful drama about a man spiraling into oblivion, is the latest triumph for Ross Valley Players at The Barn Theater above the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross. Director Adrian Elfenbaum notes that nearly 100 actors auditioned for roles, an amazing turnout yet…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Spreckels Theatre Company opens their 2026/27 season with the North Bay premiere of the contemporary musical Dear Evan Hansen. Written by Steven Levenson, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, this multi-Tony-Award-winning show exposes the teen angst so prevelant today. It runs in the Nellie W. Codding…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Welcome to Putnam County, where a middle school spelling bee championship takes place with a ragtag collection of juveniles and two clearly biased judges. William Finn wrote the clever words and music to two dozen numbers based on Rachel Sheinkin’s book presented onstage at the Novato Theater Company. Adults play…
by Barry Willis * Theatergoers have a few more days to see CenterREP’s bold reimagining of the Tennessee Williams classic The Glass Menagerie. Performed by an all-Equity cast on a shabby-elegant multi-tiered set by Yi-Chien Lee, the show closes Sunday September 27 at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. Directed by Matt M. Morrow…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Cinnabar Theater opens its 54th season with the nostalgia-filled musical Bye Bye Birdie, now running in the Warren Auditorium at Sonoma State University through Oct. 4. The Broadway musical (with book by Michael Stewart, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Lee Adams) won several Tony Awards in 1961 including…
