Review: “The Naked Truth” in Santa Rosa

If you’re only going to see one “five British women of varying ages, socio-economic statuses and body types bonding over pole dancing” play in your lifetime, might as well make it Dave Simpson’s The Naked Truth. A big hit in England, director Argo Thompson imports it to the North Bay for its U.S. premiere at…

Review: “A Chorus Line” in Novato

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…

KSRO Interview: Steven David Martin, Priscilla Locke, Caitlin Strom-Martin, Maureen O’Neill

Guests on the Thursday, September 13 theatre segment on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon  included artists from Healdsburg’s Raven Players “Mini-Rep” productions including director Steven David Martin and Priscilla Locke from Church & State and director Caitlin Strom-Martin and Maureen O’Neill from Time Stands Still. Click below to hear that interview: **********

Review: “Into the Woods” in Napa

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…

Review: “The Comedy of Errors” in Santa Rosa

Like an Elizabethan game of whack-a-mole, as soon as North Bay theatre companies knock out one outdoor summer Shakespeare production, another one seems to pop up. Marin Shakespeare brought us Pericles at Dominican University’s Forest Meadows amphitheater, the Raven did A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Healdsburg’s Seghesio Winery, and Shakespeare in the Cannery did Shakespeare…