by Cari Lynn Pace Playwright Robert O’Hara’s Bootcandy is a series of semi-autobiographical vignettes that take place on a bare stage (or a minimalist set), each delivering a biting and often hilarious look at supposedly real encounters throughout his life as a black gay person from childhood to present day. It’s definitely outrageous, often quite…
by Cari Lynn Pace In a departure from their typical productions, Ross Valley Players delivers the complex and tense thriller Wait Until Dark. Based on the 1966 Broadway cliffhanger which led to the famous Audrey Hepburn movie, this script has been adapted by Jerry Hatcher from Frederick Knott’s original play. Knott wrote spine-tingling plots, including…
by Cari Lynn Pace Sweeney Todd is the malevolent plot likely inspired by the campfire song “Dunderbeck’s Machine” which my Dad sang to us as youngsters. We boisterously sang along as mean old Dunderbeck turned critters into sausages, ultimately getting his just reward. Stephen Sondheim created an amped-up plot of human gruesomeness in this entertaining…
by Cari Lynn Pace Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks weaves historical facts with imagined emotions in this play-within-a-play about Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress Sally Hemmings. It’s a powerhouse story that digs deep into the consciousness of today’s sense of propriety. A present-day small theatre troupe rehearses and wrestles with their unfinished period play…
by Cari Lynn Pace Noises Off is a door-slamming winner from the curtain to backstage. Director Bill English must be an expert at herding cats, as this chaotic comedy written by Michael Frayn is a three-ring circus. Frayn was inspired to write the farce while observing a frantic rehearsal in Britain and observing “What went…
by Cari Lynn Pace You won’t need any coffee to get fired up for this outrageous office comedy. With music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, and direction by Larry Williams, this show is an overtime winner. Novato Theater Company put in long hours to hire three female leads with confident voices and pencil-sharp acting skills.…
by Cari Lynn Pace Ross Valley Players now rehearse a play that’s spoken all in verse. Moliere’s ‘Tartuffe’ is a sensation; French to English script translation. Richard Wilbur uses rhyme to set the play in 60’s time. Tartuffe the hypocrite has power. He will take and all devour. Manipulating son and mother, They are warned…
by Cari Lynn Pace Lucky Penny Productions always seems to have such fun shows, with non-stop energy and over-the-top characters. This one is a real zinger! La Cage aux Folles is a madcap romp with zippy dancers in trippy costumes. It’s a drag nightclub, where genders are blurred by shiny costumes and lots of mascara.…
by Cari Lynn Pace The sleepy little wine tasting hamlet of Sonoma has a real rockin’ blues concert with Sonoma Arts Live’s latest production. A Night with Janis Joplin, originally produced on Broadway in 2013, is a stage full of classic blues re-enacted by powerhouse singers. They’re backed up with a 7-piece band raising the…
by Cari Lynn Pace Every star has a story to tell as she worked her way to the Broadway stage. Transcendence Theatre Company, the Sonoma home for stage and screen luminaries, realized these stories are fascinating for their fun and failures. They built a show around seven women who spanned seven decades of singing and…
North Bay Stage and Screen 