by Cari Lynn Pace Ride the Cyclone: The Musical is a dazzling theatrical event directed by Sarah Wintermeyer. The Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts program impresses with this professional quality show. Enter the lobby and be surrounded with clowns, sequined dancers, tarot readers, costumed dancers, and hanging streamers. Take a cushy seat in the…
My guests on the 11/13/25 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 FM were Laura Downing-Lee, Waylon Hessler, and Nora Summers from the 6th Street Playhouse production of A Christmas Story: The Musical. This show runs in 6th Street’s GK Hardt Theatre from November 21 through December 21. Click below to listen: ********** Click…
by Cari Lynn Pace Sweeney Todd is the malevolent plot likely inspired by the campfire song “Dunderbeck’s Machine” which my Dad sang to us as youngsters. We boisterously sang along as mean old Dunderbeck turned critters into sausages, ultimately getting his just reward. Stephen Sondheim created an amped-up plot of human gruesomeness in this entertaining…
If there’s one word to describe North Bay theatre companies’ choices for their 2025 holiday productions, it’s “familiar”. One company is repeating their selections from last year while two others bring back chestnuts whose memories still linger from their successful mounting on other local stages. Rohnert Park’s Spreckels Theatre Company is the company with two…
My guests on the 11/06/25 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 FM were Sarah Wintermeyer and Chase Thompson from the Santa Rosa Junior College Theater Arts production of Ride the Cyclone: The Musical. This rollercoaster of a show runs in the Burbank Auditorium on the SRJC campus from November 14 through November 23.…
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… Into the Woods – Spreckels Theatre Company Pluses: cast, live orchestra, costumes, puppetry work Minuses: show length, repetiveness, audio issues Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe started to…
by Harry Duke If there’s one thing this divided nation can agree on, it’s this: Dolly Parton is a national treasure. Consequently, anything affiliated with Ms. Parton automatically starts out with a heap of goodwill. So it is with 9 to 5: the Musical. The Novato Theater Company has a production running through October 12.…
by Cari Lynn Pace You won’t need any coffee to get fired up for this outrageous office comedy. With music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, and direction by Larry Williams, this show is an overtime winner. Novato Theater Company put in long hours to hire three female leads with confident voices and pencil-sharp acting skills.…
by Harry Duke It’s been 50 years since Michael Bennett’s A Chorus Line took Broadway by storm. The musical tale of the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of those who seek a life in the theatre won nine Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize and held the record for longest running Broadway musical for 14 years.…
by Harry Duke Jukebox musicals, with few exceptions, are not known for their intricate plots or dramatic surprises. They exist to provide their audiences with musical comfort food. Case in point, the Sonoma Arts Live production of A Night with Janis Joplin. The show is heading into its closing weekend on the Rotary Stage in…
North Bay Stage and Screen 