Review: “Theater Camp”

Dear Evan Hansen‘s Ben Platt plays a 14-year-old middle schooler who… Just kidding. I never went to theater camp, but I was involved in enough theater from elementary through high school that I recognized a lot of the characters and situations in this film. It’s an affectionate look at the world of youth theatre, best…

Review: “The Full Monty” in Glen Ellen

There was a period of time when musical theatre creators temporarily averted their gaze from Hollywood as a prime source for material and looked to the British film industry instead. Films like Billy Elliot and Kinky Boots had very successful musical adaptations on Broadway, but the trend started with The Full Monty. Transcendence Theatre Company…

Review: “Guys and Dolls” in Sonoma

The name Damon Runyon probably means little to most today, but in the early to mid-twentieth century he was a celebrated journalist, sports columnist, and author. His short stories about New York and Broadway contained such colorful characters that the term “Runyonesque” was coined to describe the type of gamblers, gangsters, hoods, and show people…

Review: “Something Rotten!” in Santa Rosa

The Venn diagram that displays the relationship between lovers of the works of William Shakespeare and musical theatre probably shows very little overlap. Nevertheless, if you’re in either category – and especially if you’re in that overlap – you should head to Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse and catch one of their remaining performances of…

Review: “Kinky Boots the Musical” in Mill Valley

Watch it, Mill Valley! Your quiet little burg is currently under siege from what may be (according to some pundits and politicians) the greatest threat our nation faces in these troubled times. Lock your windows and bolt your doors because attendees of the latest show at the Throckmorton Theatre have reported multiple sightings of… drag…

Review: “Tuck Everlasting” in Rohnert Park

Large-scale, family-friendly musical theatre returns to the North Bay with the Spreckels Theatre Company’s production of Tuck Everlasting. The stage adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 children’s novel about immortality had a very brief life on Broadway in 2016. If the Spreckels production – running in Rohnert Park through May 21 – is any indication, the…