‘Tis the time for “Best of …” lists, so in the spirit of my illustrious predecessor and with a nod to the substantial differences in mounting a musical versus a play, here are my top torn tickets of 2018 – Part One, the Plays (in alphabetical order): Blackbird – (Main Stage West) – As dark subject…
North Bay theatre companies did well at the 2018 Theatre Bay Area Awards. This year’s TBA Awards ceremony was held Monday evening at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The TBA Awards are designed to honor excellence in professionally oriented theatre through a peer-based, Bay Area-wide adjudication process of artists and productions from companies who are…
San Francisco North Bay theater artists gathered Monday night at the Juncture Taproom and Lounge in Santa Rosa for the Third Annual Marquee Theater Journalists Association Awards. Seventeen awards were given to local theatre artists and productions whose nominations were culled from the sixty-six Sonoma County productions attended by members from September 1, 2017 through…
Theatre Bay Area has announced the nominees for their 5th Annual TBA Awards and North Bay companies have snagged 43 nominations. The awards will be presented on Monday, November 5th at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. The TBA Awards are designed to honor excellence in professionally oriented theatre through a peer-based, Bay Area-wide adjudication process…
The Marquee Theater Journalists Association has released the list of nominees for its 3rd Annual MTJA Awards. The Association recognized the exemplary work of Sonoma County theater artists with nominations in seventeen categories that were culled from the sixty-six productions attended by MTJA members. Recipients will be announced at the 2018 MTJA Awards – A Celebration of Sonoma…
September marks the opening of the new artistic season for many North Bay theatre companies. Here’s some of what they have in store for local audiences: Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater (cinnabartheater.org) transforms itself into Berlin’s Kit Kat Club and bids you willkommen, bienvenue, and welcome to the classic Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. Broadway veteran Michael…
So, what’s former Spreckels Performing Arts Center Manager Gene Abravaya been doing since his retirement to the Arizona desert? “I’ve been enjoying my retirement and developing style and techniques for the abstract sculptures I am interested in designing,” he says. “Oh, and I’ve been working on a new play.” That play, The Trial of John…
Popular Broadway musicals are often inspired by classic books. For example, next month’s Spreckels Theater Company production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” written by Mark Haddon and adapted for the stage by Simon Stephens. Kander and Ebb’s ‘Cabaret,’ opening August 31 at Cinnabar Theater, is based on John Van Druten’s…
It’s been a while since pianist Nancy Hayashibara – of the Santa Rosa Junior College – has appeared on stage in one of her semi-legendary stage shows, in which she alternates between stellar renditions of classical masterpieces and hilarious comedy bits, often playing over-the-top characters, including (sometimes) her own mother. On Saturday, July 28, she…
On Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14, Novato Theater Company will host the popular Sonoma County-based touring show Cash & King, featuring singer-actor Steven Kent and a band of local musicians putting a highly personal spin on the traditional tribute show. During the two-act production – which has been playing to sold-out houses in…
North Bay Stage and Screen 