by Harry Duke * With summer drawing to close, North Bay theatre companies are prepping their houses for a robust 2026 – 2027 season. Live theatre productions in Sonoma and Napa counties will include the usual mixture of the tried and true along with a sprinkling of North Bay premieres to keep things interesting for…
by Barry Willis * A hardcore theater fan treats the audience to a fantastical retelling of his favorite early-20th century musical in The Drowsy Chaperone, now running in Napa at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center through June 14. DC Scarpelli stars as the narrator (“Man in Chair”) who describes every aspect of a cast…
by Barry Willis * A corrupt businessman lands in Washington DC, intent on buying a Senator as part of an effort to get legislation passed to improve his fortune. Currying favor among the ruling class is one of humanity’s oldest tales, one that will never go away. The stage play of Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday…
by Barry Willis * In the early 1970s, in the wake of the phenomenal success of the groundbreaking musical “Hair” came a spate of hippie-era religious-themed productions—“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” and “Godspell” among them. This last-mentioned show is enjoying a revival with some contemporary updates at Lucky Penny Productions in…
by Beulah F. Vega * Napa County’s Valley Players presents the Jones Hope Wooten comedy The Savannah Sipping Society at the Rutherford Grange through March 15. Directed by Debbie Baumann, this look at women of a certain age brings a perspective often missing from the stages around our area. Middle-aged Randa Covington (Christina Julian) finds…
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…
North Bay Stage and Screen 