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…
My guests on the 11/05/26 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 were Danielle Schmidt and Reilly Trainor from the SRJC Theatre Arts production of Disney’s Frozen the Musical. The Broadway adaptation of the hit 2013 animated film runs in the Santa Rosa Junior College’s Burbank Auditorium through November 22. Click below to listen:…
by Harry Duke* Local audiences seeking a solid presentation of an American theatrical classic actually have two very diverse choices right now. The Raven Performing Arts Theater hosts the Raven Players’ production of Stephen Sondheim’s massive macabre musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street while The 222 offers Sam Shepard’s more intimate fraternal…
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…
My guests on the 10/29/25 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 were Jared Emerson-Johnson and Sergio Diaz from the Mercury Theater production of The Black Rider. The theatrical collaboration between musician Tom Waits and novelist William S. Burroughs runs in Mercury’s Petaluma theater through November 15. Click below to listen: ********** Click HERE…
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…
My guests on the 10/22/25 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 were Garet Waterhouse and Katie Watts-Whitaker from the Raven Players production of the Stephen Sondheim classic Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The macabre musical runs at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg through November 8. Click below to…
by Harry Duke * When I see a show late in its run, or the run itself is short, I’ll take some time and provide a short take on the production… Dear Evan Hansen – Spreckels Theatre Company, Rohnert Park Pluses: excellent performances by veterans and new talent, technical elements Minuses: a wretchedly irresponsible book…
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…
