by Harry Duke Jukebox musicals, with few exceptions, are not known for their intricate plots or dramatic surprises. They exist to provide their audiences with musical comfort food. Case in point, the Sonoma Arts Live production of A Night with Janis Joplin. The show is heading into its closing weekend on the Rotary Stage in…
by Cari Lynn Pace Ross Valley Players now rehearse a play that’s spoken all in verse. Moliere’s ‘Tartuffe’ is a sensation; French to English script translation. Richard Wilbur uses rhyme to set the play in 60’s time. Tartuffe the hypocrite has power. He will take and all devour. Manipulating son and mother, They are warned…
My guests on the 09/11/25 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 were Nathan Cummings and Zane Walters from the Cinnabar Theater production of Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood. The show runs at Warren Auditorium in Ives Hall on the campus of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park through September 28. Click below…
by Cari Lynn Pace Lucky Penny Productions always seems to have such fun shows, with non-stop energy and over-the-top characters. This one is a real zinger! La Cage aux Folles is a madcap romp with zippy dancers in trippy costumes. It’s a drag nightclub, where genders are blurred by shiny costumes and lots of mascara.…
by Cari Lynn Pace The sleepy little wine tasting hamlet of Sonoma has a real rockin’ blues concert with Sonoma Arts Live’s latest production. A Night with Janis Joplin, originally produced on Broadway in 2013, is a stage full of classic blues re-enacted by powerhouse singers. They’re backed up with a 7-piece band raising the…
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…
by Cari Lynn Pace Every star has a story to tell as she worked her way to the Broadway stage. Transcendence Theatre Company, the Sonoma home for stage and screen luminaries, realized these stories are fascinating for their fun and failures. They built a show around seven women who spanned seven decades of singing and…
My guests on the second of two “Theatre Thursday” segments on 09/04/25 on The Drive on 95.5 were Steven David Martin and Chelsea Jennings Bell from the Raven Players production of Eureka Day. The audience will join the cast on stage at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg from September 5 through September 28.…
by Cari Lynn Pace In Eureka Day, a multiculturally sensitive school set in Berkeley, enlightenment is virtuous and facts are probably suspicious. A mirror could reveal other hamlets where this theme reigns supreme. Whether you put your trust in the CDC, where RFK Jr. is the chief mountebank selling snake oil, or the medical professionals…
by Harry Duke If a dearth of penises and flatulence on North Bay stages has kept you from returning to live theatre, Santa Rosa’s Left Edge Theatre has got a show for you. It’s Taylor Mac’s Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus and it’s currently covering the stage of The California with blood, guts, and…
North Bay Stage and Screen 