If you’re trying to avoid attending the umpteenth production of The Nutcracker in your lifetime, Marin theatre companies are providing several other entertainment options for this holiday season. Last year, the Marin Theatre Company (marintheatre.org) was one of the participants in the rolling world premiere of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at…
‘Tis the season for family-friendly musicals and the SRJC Theatre Arts folks are first out of the gate with their production of Shrek, the Musical, running through December 2 at the Maria Carrillo High School Theatre. Yes, it just ran in July in Healdsburg and yes, a youth rep production is running simultaneously in Petaluma,…
My guests on the Thursday, November 15 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon were director Laura Downing-Lee and actors Isiah Carter and Samantha Bohlke-Slater from the SRJC Theatre Arts production of Shrek, the Musical. Click below to hear that interview: **********
San Francisco North Bay theater artists gathered Monday night at the Juncture Taproom and Lounge in Santa Rosa for the Third Annual Marquee Theater Journalists Association Awards. Seventeen awards were given to local theatre artists and productions whose nominations were culled from the sixty-six Sonoma County productions attended by members from September 1, 2017 through…
When reviewing theatre, the technical elements involved in a production often take a back seat to a discussion of the story and the performances. People don’t go to a show because of the lights, right? There are times, however, when the poor execution of those elements so overwhelms the other components on stage that it…
If you’re a theatregoer who missed having Summer Repertory Theatre around this year, 6th Street Playhouse’s current production of Guys and Dolls may hold you until SRT returns in 2019. It’s SRT Artistic Director James Newman who helms this production of the 1950 musical about colorful New York gamblers trying to avoid the police, a…
The Marquee Theater Journalists Association has released the list of nominees for its 3rd Annual MTJA Awards. The Association recognized the exemplary work of Sonoma County theater artists with nominations in seventeen categories that were culled from the sixty-six productions attended by MTJA members. Recipients will be announced at the 2018 MTJA Awards – A Celebration of Sonoma…
A Chorus Line really isn’t done much by community theatres these days. The 1976 multi-award-winning musical requires about two dozen experienced dancer/singers to fill out the cast; a requirement that’s tough to fulfill. If you’re gonna do it, best to start with a director with over four decades of experience in dance and choreography and…
In his ‘Director’s Notes’ for the Lucky Penny Production of Into the Woods, James D. Sasser discusses why directors often try to bring different approaches to popular works beginning with the old axiom that ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’ For someone who, in the role of theater critic, sees upwards of sixty shows a year, it’s a…
Theatregoers with a hankering for a classic or the desire to see something new have two productions running that fit the bill. Cinnabar Theater presents the 50-year-old classic Cabaret. The Kander and Ebb musical, which has gone through significant changes via numerous revivals since its 1966 debut, is the tale of two couples whose lives…
North Bay Stage and Screen 