Review: “Clybourne Park” in Healdsburg

The roots of racism run deep in the American housing market. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry addressed the issue in 1959 with A Raisin in the Sun, the first play written by an African-American woman performed on Broadway and the first to have an African-American director. Playwright Bruce Norris took Hansberry’s story and in 2010 wrote a…

Review: “Sweeney Todd” in Napa

Within the last year we’ve lost Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim and each passing brought to mind their most successful collaboration – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The original Broadway production nabbed eight of the nine Tonys for which it was nominated and has become a Halloween-season staple of community theatres. After…

Review: “Misery” in Petaluma

Adaptations of the works of Stephen King for film and television have been hit or miss over the years. For every The Shining or ‘Salem’s Lot, there’s a Firestarter or The Langoliers. Mainstream theatrical adaptations have been limited to a 2018 musical version of Carrie (a major Broadway flop but cult hit) and Misery, which…

KSRO Interview – “Misery”

My guest on the October 20 “Theatre Thursday” segment of The Drive with Steve Jaxon & Harry Duke on KSRO was Tim Kniffin, director of the Cinnabar Theater production of Stephen King’s Misery. Click below to listen: ********** Click the graphic below for more info:

Review: “The Music Man” in Rohnert Park

American musical theatre doesn’t get any more old-fashioned than it does with The Music Man. Broadway is currently hosting a revival of Meredith Willson’s melodic tale of con man Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian but North Bay audiences looking to travel back to turn-of-the-century River City, Iowa need only head to Rohnert Park. The…

KSRO Interview – “Stand and Deliver”

My guests on the September 22 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive with Steve Jaxon & Harry Duke on KSRO were Elizabeth Dale and Miriam Valencia from the SRJC Theatre Arts production of Stand and Deliver. Miriam’s dad Carlos joined in the conversation to tell of his experience meeting Jaime Escalante. Click below to listen:…

Review: “Circle Mirror Transformation” in Novato

If you’ve ever glanced at a flyer hanging from a community center bulletin board that offers an acting   course and worried about the time commitment required, playwright Annie Baker’s got you covered. In Circle Mirror Transformation, now running at the Novato Theater Company through September 25, Baker covers in two hours what most courses do…

COVID outbreaks leading to show cancellations

Sonoma County theatre is taking a beating at the hands of the continuing COVID pandemic. The Cloverdale Performing Arts Center/Raven Players presentation of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was cancelled before it opened and the Left Edge Theatre run of Fun Home was cut short. Both had cast members come down with COVID.…