KSRO Interview – “Sweat”
My guests on the Thursday, August 27 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon were director Argo Thompson and actor Mike Pavone from the Left Edge Theatre production of Sweat. Click below to listen: **********
Review: “Lungs”
A young couple debates the merits of bringing a child into this environmentally-challenged world and then deal with the ramifications of their decision in Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs, the latest offering from Zoom Theatre. There’s one final performance scheduled for Sunday, May 10 at 5:00 pm PDT. Zoom Theatre is the brainchild of director Patrick Nims.…
Review: “Bad Education”
As a retired school administrator, I knew the story of disgraced New York School Superintendent Frank Tassone, who, along with his Chief Business Officer Pam Gluckin, was found guilty of the largest public school embezzlement in American history. However, as I got set to watch Bad Education on HBO, I groaned when I saw that…
Review: “Unorthodox”, the mini-series
After finishing Netflix’s powerful four part mini series Unorthodox, I waited a few days to gather my thoughts and impressions on both the overwhelming strengths of this series, as well as a few troubling undercurrents. Unorthodox told the story of 19 year old Jewish Esty Shapiro (Shira Haas) and her flight from her arranged marriage…
Review: “The Plot Against America”, the complete series
It would be ideal if prior to viewing HBO’s six part adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 alternate history The Plot Against America, viewers had read the best selling novel. However, given our current political reality, some may say that the possibility of a hypothetical take over of the American presidency by a menacing anti democratic…
Review: “Reunion” & “Dark Pony”
With the shelter-in-place order estimated to be in effect for quite some time, many theatre companies have turned to streaming archival footage of shows previously produced to maintain a connection with their audiences. Bay Area director Patrick Nims has come up with a new entity that’s diving headfirst into the pandemic-necessitated world of on-line theatre.…
Review: “Anne with an E”, the complete series
The ongoing television challenge in our house is: What show can my wife and I enjoy together? This is especially critical question during this unprecedented Corona Virus mandate that has forced all of us to shelter-in-place for an extended undefined period of time. Admittedly, when left to my own devices, I often gravitate to shows…
KSRO Interview – “Mary Page Marlowe”
My guests on the Thursday, March 12 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon were Clark Lewis, Sheila Licherie, and Giovi Andreassi from the Roustabout Theater production of Mary Page Marlowe. Click below to listen: **********
Review: “The Cripple of Inishmaan” in Santa Rosa
The renovation and remodeling of Santa Rosa Junior College’s 80-year old Burbank Auditorium is now complete. The venerable 600-seat theatre has been reconfigured into two performance venues; a 400-seat proscenium arch space and a 200-seat 3/4 thrust studio theatre. The JC’s Theatre Arts Department, which has had to take their shows “on the road” for…
Review: “The Glass Menagerie” in Ross
In the pantheon of great American plays, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is surely in the upper tier. Perhaps the most personal of Williams’ works, its name recognition, small cast, simple setting, and straight-forward storytelling have made it a staple of community theatres. Its ease of staging, however, belies its complexity and the quality of…
