Now that Ralphie got his BB gun, Scrooge became a better person, and George Bailey decided he really did have a wonderful life, it’s time for North Bay theatre companies to get their 2026 shows on the road. Petaluma’s Mercury Theater is first out of the gate with Woody Guthrie’s American Song. It’s a musical…
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…
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… Bad Seed – 6th Street Playhouse Pluses: performances, technical work Minuses: dated storyline often plays as camp To truly appreciate just how shocking William March’s The Bad Seed…
On September 28, 2025, the Sonoma and Napa County theatre communities gathered at The California in Santa Rosa to celebrate outstanding work in local theatre for the 2024 – 2025 season with the MTJA Norbay Theater Awards. Photos by Eric Chazankin
Over 150 members of the North Bay theater community gathered on Sunday night at The California in Santa Rosa for the 2025 Norbay Theater Awards. The Awards, a reboot of the Marquee Theater Journalist Association Awards of 2015-2020, recognized outstanding work in 16 categories. Sonoma and Napa County productions in the 2024-2025 season that were…
The Marquee Theater Journalists Association has announced the nominees for their 2025 MTJA Norbay Theater Awards. The Association, originally formed by a group of Sonoma County-based theater journalists in 2015 but dormant since the COVID pandemic in 2020, has reformed and restarted their awards program in affiliation with the North Bay Bohemian. There are 16…
The Marquee Theater Journalists Association, a North Bay-based critics group originally formed in 2015 but dormant since the pandemic, has announced their “rebooting” and the resumption of their annual theater awards program. The following message was emailed on September 1 to the leaders of the North Bay theatre community from MTJA member Harry Duke: Back…
Having never subjected myself to watching an episode of any of the hundred-or-so different entries in the “Real Housewives” franchise, I can’t speak as to the source material from which Barry Martin and Rob Broadhurst have derived their musical parody of the genre. I know enough based on the occasional clips that flow through my…
The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle announced the nominations for their 48th Excellence in Theatre Awards and North Bay theatre productions received 58 nominations over 15 categories. The recipients will be announced at the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle’s 48th Excellence in Theatre Awards Gala. The Gala returns to San Francisco’s…
Napa’s Lucky Penny Community Arts Center opened just about ten years ago with a production of Lionel Barts’ classic musical Oliver! The musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist has long been an audience favorite since its debut at a Southwest London theater in 1960. It’s a big show, in many ways, and not the…
North Bay Stage and Screen 