Top Torn Tix of 2022 – Part II

Between health-related closures, dwindling audiences, casting challenges, and a couple of big changes in company leadership, there was almost as much drama off-stage as on in the North Bay theatre community in the past year. There was an assumption by some that pandemic-weary audiences (and theatre companies) would seek relief in comedies and small-scale musicals…

Top Torn Tix of 2022 – Part I

Live theatre continued its steady march to some semblance of normalcy in 2022, but health related-closures continue to take their toll on the North Bay theatre community. After a promising start to the year evidenced by an increase in the number and scale of productions presented by local companies, the end of the year brought…

Three North Bay Shows Shuttered by Illness

North Bay theatre companies continue to take illness-related hits with announced cancellations at three different companies. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West lost this weekend’s performances of Ham for the Holidays to an undisclosed illness. The company hopes to reopen the show on Thursday, December 22 and close with a final performance on Friday, December 30. Rohnert…

Review: “Gypsy, A Musical Fable” in Ross

About once a year now, The Mountain Play comes down from atop Mt. Tam’s 3,750-seat Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre and joins forces with the Ross Valley Players to present a classic Broadway musical in the 99-seat Barn Theater at the Marin Art and Garden Center. This year it’s Gypsy, A Musical Fable, the Arthur Laurents/Jule Styne/Stephen…

KSRO Interview – “Gypsy”

My guest on a special “Theatre Wednesday” segment on the November 23 broadcast of The Drive with Steve Jaxon & Harry Duke on KSRO was Dyan McBride from the Mountain Play/Ross Valley Players production of Gypsy. Click below to listen: ********** Click the graphic below for more info:

Marin Theatre Company’s AD to depart after 17 years

The Marin Theatre Company (MTC) Board of Directors and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Meredith Suttles announced today that Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis will depart the North Bay theatre company after 17 seasons at the helm. “I am honored to have served as the artistic leader of this organization for 17 incredible seasons,” said Minadakis. “It has been…

Review: “Circle Mirror Transformation” in Novato

If you’ve ever glanced at a flyer hanging from a community center bulletin board that offers an acting   course and worried about the time commitment required, playwright Annie Baker’s got you covered. In Circle Mirror Transformation, now running at the Novato Theater Company through September 25, Baker covers in two hours what most courses do…

Review: “The Realistic Joneses” in San Anselmo

Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses is a difficult play to categorize. Is it a drama or a comedy? Realistic or surrealistic? Life-affirming or death-obsessed?  The answer to all these questions is “yes”. You can decide for yourself by attending the Jolee & Too Soon Old production that’s running at the Playhouse in San Anselmo through…

Review: “Two Gentlemen of Verona” in Mill Valley

Marin County’s venerable Curtain Theatre returns to the Old Mill Park Amphitheatre in Mill Valley for their more-or-less annual offering of Shakespeare al fresco. This year it’s Two Gentlemen of Verona, what many consider the Bard’s first (but still lesser-known) play. If you find Shakespeare difficult to follow, fear not! The plot is fairly simple…