KRCB-FM: Second Row Center

At a time when the language of diplomacy has been reduced to a 140-character tweet transmitted at 3 am, it’s good to be reminded of the men and women for whom the quest for peace demanded actual thought and personal interaction. J. T. Rogers’ Oslo, now running in its West Coast premiere at the Marin Theatre Company through October 28, is a look at the circumstances and personalities responsible for the Oslo Accords. The 1993 Accords, considered to be a breakthrough in the search for Middle Eastern peace, brought about Israeli acceptance of the Palestinian Liberation Organization as official representatives of the Palestinian people and the PLO’s recognition of the state of Israel. Norwegians Terje Rod-Larsen (Mark Anderson Phillips) and Mona Juul (Erica Sullivan) are a well-connected husband and wife. He runs a think tank in Oslo; she is an official in the Foreign Ministry. They are the unlikely leaders of a plan to try a “gradualist” approach in middle east diplomacy. Issues would be dealt with one at a

The credits for the Spreckels Theater Company production of The Addams Family, running now through October 28, notes that the musical is “based on characters created by Charles Addams.” It is not a recreation of the beloved 1960’s sitcom. It is not an adaptation of the visually inventive films of the ‘90’s. At the insistence of the Charles Addams Foundation, who retain control of all things Addams, the source material for the musical had to be the cartoons Addams published for fifty years in the New Yorker. The 2010 Broadway musical by Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice and Andrew Lippa had a moderately successful run before becoming a theatrical Halloween season staple. It banks on the goodwill and fond memories of the generations raised with the reruns or the films and then goes in a very different direction. Uncle Fester (Erik Weiss) narrates the show and lets the audience know it’s gonna be a story about love. A teenage Wednesday Addams (Emma LaFever) is worried about bringing her “normal” boyfriend/fiancée

There’s an interesting style of theatre in which a piece of dramatic prose, usually a short story or selected chapters from a longer piece, is fully staged and performed. Usually referred to as a “word-for-word” or “page-to-stage” dramatization, it takes some getting used to as literally every word on the written page -every word- is spoken. It’s the approach director John Shillington and the SRJC Theatre Arts Department take to tell the story of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Two chapters are taken from the 1991 novel by Julia Alvarez and given the page-to-stage treatment. Alvarez’s novel is a collection of stories told from the perspectives of the four Garcia sisters about the challenges they faced as emigrants from the Dominican Republic. It covers thirty years in the family’s life, from their childhood on the Caribbean island to their adult lives as emigrants to the United States. Two of the chapters are performed. “Floor Show” tells the tale of the family’s big night out courtesy the la

If you’ve missed having Summer Repertory Theatre around this year, 6th Street Playhouse’s production of “Guys and Dolls” may hold you until SRT’s return in 2019. SRT Artistic Director James Newman helms this production of the 1950 musical about colorful New York gamblers trying to avoid the police, a persistent fiancé, and the goodly influence of local missionaries. Nathan Detroit (played by Ariel Zuckerman) runs the “oldest, established, permanent floating crap game in New York" but police pressure is making it difficult to find places to house it. The only willing host wants a thousand bucks, which Nathan ain’t got. When word gets out that big-time gambler Sky Masterson (played by Ezra Hernandez) is in town, Nathan figures he can finance his game by getting him to make a sucker-bet that Nathan can’t lose. Nathan bets Sky he’ll be unable to get Sarah Brown, the leader of the newly-opened Save-a-Soul Mission, to go away with him for an evening. While Skye goes about winning the bet (and falling in love, of

Last year, Healdsburg’s Raven Players surprised this critic with a very interesting production of Quiara Alegría Hudes “Water by the Spoonful”. The play, which tells parallel stories of the tribulations of a returning Iraq war vet trying to assimilate back into civilian life and a group of recovering drug addicts trying to stay clean, was not what I expected from this theatre group whose home is located one block from the quaint wine country destination’s town square. It was a fascinating variation in the norm of this venerable community theatre. This year, they’re opening their season with not one, but two very interesting shows running in repertory – a serious comedy called “Church & State” and the intense drama “Time Stands Still”. With just 72 hours before election day, North Carolina Senator Charles Whitmore (played by Matt Farrell) is having a crisis of faith. A recent school shooting in his hometown has led him to question his belief in God and in his usual staunch defense of the Second Amendmen

Spreckels Theatre Company opens their season with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel about a boy with ‘behavioral difficulties’ took England and Broadway by storm and earned multiple awards on both continents. Christopher (Elijah Pinkham) is a 15-year-old boy with an unspecified cognitive condition (that some read as autism or Asperger’s) living with his father in Swindon, England. He discovers a neighbor’s dog has been killed and, to his father’s consternation, decides to undertake an investigation. That investigation leads to another mystery culminating in a journey of self-discovery and affirmation. Director Elizabeth Craven gets outstanding performances from her cast. Pinkham completely inhabits the incredibly difficult lead role. David L. Yen as Chris’s father and Bronwen Shears as a woman in their lives are also superlative and there’s a “who’s who” of quality North Bay performers filling out the ensemble. Excellent technical

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 in Love in the, well, Cannery. A few more weeks of summer means a few more weeks of North Bay Shakespeare al fresco. The Petaluma Shakespeare Company is presenting their Shakespeare by the River Festival with two shows – the bard’s All’s Well That Ends Well and an original production by Jacinta Gorringe entitled Speechless Shakespeare – through September 2. Marin’s Curtain Theatre is presenting Henry IV, Part 1 at the Old Mill Park in Mill Valley through September 9, and Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse closes out their season with The Comedy of Errors, one of Shakespeare’s earliest and mercifully shortest plays (merciful as it ge

With September come football games that actually matter, open season on California tree squirrels (daily limit of four) and the opening of the new artistic season for many North Bay theatre companies. Here’s some of what they have in store for local audiences: Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater (cinnabartheater.org) transforms itself into Berlin’s Kit Kat Club and bids you willkommen, bienvenue, and welcome to the classic Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. Broadway veteran Michael McGurk and Petaluma native Alia Beeton take on the roles that won Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli their Oscars. The Spreckels Theatre Company of Rohnert Park (spreckelsonline.com) opens its season with the multi-Tony-Award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Fans of the Mark Haddon novel about a young boy on the autism spectrum investigating the death of a neighborhood dog will find that it’s been somewhat reworked for the stage, but Tony voters liked it enough to name it 2015’s Best Play. Sebastopol’s Main Stage

Theatregoers hankering for a classic or the desire to see something new have two productions running now that fit the bill. Cinnabar Theater presents the 50-year-old classic Cabaret. The Kander and Ebb musical, which has gone through significant changes via numerous revivals since its 1966 debut, is the tale of two couples whose lives intersect via the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy pre-WWII Berlin cabaret. Cliff Bradshaw (Lucas Brandt) is an American traveling through Europe as he attempts to write the great American novel. His train mate Ernst Ludwig (Mark Robinson) sets him up at the boarding house of Fräulein Schneider (Mary Gannon Graham) whose other boarders include members of the chorus of the Kit Kat Club. Cliff meets Sally Bowles (Alia Beeton), the “headliner” at the club with whom he’s soon sharing his room. Fräulein Schneider, who’s becoming adept at looking the other way at certain situations, finds herself being courted by Herr Schultz (Michael Van Why), the local grocer. The future of these relation

So, what’s former Spreckels Performing Arts Center Manager Gene Abravaya been doing since his retirement to the Arizona desert? “Well”, he told me in a recent interview, “I’ve been enjoying my retirement and developing style and techniques for the abstract sculptures I am interested in designing.” “Oh”, he added, “and I’ve been working on a new play.” That play, The Trial of John Brown, will have a one-time staged reading at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park this Saturday, August 25th. In 1859, John Brown, an ardent abolitionist and a fanatically religious man, led his followers into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His objective: confiscate weapons from a rifle factory and an Armory, then sweep across the Southern United States, setting free every black slave he encountered. He was met with heavy resistance. After a three-day battle, during which all but five of his men were killed, Brown was finally captured. The trial that followed brought the issue of slavery to the attention of the natio

Relationships are front and center in two very different shows now running on the North Bay’s northernmost stages through August 19. The Cloverdale Performing Arts Center is presenting Heroes, playwright Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of a 2003 French play about three World War I vets in a retirement home. Gustave (Robert Bauer), Henri (Peter Immordino), and Philippe (Dale Harriman) pass their days sitting on a terrace, annoying each other, and plotting their escape from the veterans’ home. Convinced that the tyrannical nun in charge has it out for Philippe, their latest plan starts out with the goal of running to French Indo-China but ends on settling for a poplar grove within view of their terrace. Now if they can just figure a way to take a 200 lb. statue of a dog with them. An odd combination of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Waiting for Godot, and The Golden Girls (with Gustave as Dorothy, Henri as Blanche, and Philippe as Rose), Heroes is a slight piece with some amusing dialogue and geriatric slapstic

Transcendence Theatre Company’s seventh season of “Broadway Under the Stars” continues with a dance-centric production entitled, appropriately enough, Shall We Dance. The show runs through August 19 at the Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen. Transcendence imports Broadway and national touring professionals to populate their productions so the caliber of performance is always quite high. Director Leslie McDonel and choreographer Marc Kimelman guide a cast of seventeen talented artists through a program featuring songs from eighteen Broadway shows like The King and I and Hamilton as well as pop hits from artists like Madonna and Ed Sheeran. The show opened, as is tradition, with a passage from the writings of Jack London as introduced by a coterie of tap dancers. The audience was then welcomed by the full company with an amusing adaptation of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast that replaced banquet table staples with wine varietals, though I’m not quite sure what dancing strawberries were do

‘Tis the season for Shakespeare al fresco so pack a picnic, grab a blanket and check out these North Bay productions: Marin Shakespeare closes out its season under the stars with Pericles, a play whose authorship by Shakespeare has fostered many a debate. Plot points include incest, assassination, famine, a shipwreck, marriage, maternal death, familial separation, attempted murder, kidnapping, pirates, prostitution, and a seemingly dead person rising from a watery grave. Who knew Shakespeare wrote a zombie play? And this is a comedy. Director Lesley Currier and her design team have taken all these elements, dressed them up in modern garb, added a few topical references, and come up with the theatrical equivalent of a “B” movie. It’s entertaining and even moving at the end, but it evaporates quickly in the night air. Artist-in-residence Dameion Brown brings his commanding stage presence to the title role. Fine supporting work is done by Cathleen Ridley as the loving Queen Simonedes and the treacherous Dion

Jukebox musicals have become the bread and butter for a lot of community theatre groups. Minimal casts, simple sets and the built-in audience that comes with a popular singer or musical group is tough for an artistic director to resist. Around since the 1970’s, the genre really exploded onto the scene with the success of the ABBA-themed “Mamma Mia!” and continues with the recent Broadway opening of the Go-Go’s-themed “Head Over Heels”. Back in 1988, playwright Ted Swindley took 27 songs recorded by Patsy Cline and created “Always… Patsy Cline”, which is running now at Sonoma Arts Live through July 29. It’s not so much a musical biography as a snippet of Cline’s career as seen through the eyes of one of her biggest fans. It covers the six years from her appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s television program till her untimely death at age 30 in an aviation accident. Louise Seger (Karen Pinomaki) fell in love with Cline’s music the moment she heard it on a Texas radio station. When she hears that Patsy (Daniel

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was originally scheduled as the closing production of the Spreckels Theatre Company’s 2017-2018 season. The musical, whose development by Walt Disney’s theatrical arm started in Germany and ended in New Jersey (having never made it to Broadway), is an atypical Disney production. More Les Miserables than The Little Mermaid, it’s an interesting amalgam of Victor Hugo’s original gothic novel with music and elements from Disney’s 1996 animated adaptation. Far darker than one would expect from a production with the Disney named semi-attached, Spreckels’ decision to replace it in their season with a more ‘family-friendly’ production of the classic Peter Pan is understandable. It’s also regrettable, because as the production running now in San Francisco produced by Bay Area Musicals reveals, it’s a very good show. Hugo’s 15th century-set tale of Quasimodo (Alex Rodriguez), the bell ringer at Paris’s Cathedral of Notre Dame, his guardian (and uncle) Archdeacon Frollo (Clay David), and a

One might think that the talents behind Downtown Abbey and Phantom of the Opera would be odd choices to make a Broadway musical out of a 2003 comedy starring Jack Black. One would be correct. School of Rock, now on the San Francisco stop of its National Tour, is Julian Fellowes and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s overblown take on that modest film whose charm relied mostly on one’s appreciation of its star. Dewey Finn (Rob Colletti, doing Jack Black-light) has been kicked out of his band, has no visible means of support and is months behind on the rent due his best friend Ned (Matt Bittner). After receiving an ultimatum from Ned’s girlfriend (a shrewish Emily Borromeo) to raise the money or get out, he answers a phone call seeking Ned’s services as a substitute teacher. Since subbing obviously requires no skills at all, Dewey decides he can impersonate Ned and make some quick money. Soon it’s off to the toney Horace Green Academy where Dewey takes charge of an elementary class whose students have one thing in

In a world of theatre based on movies and television shows, why not Shakespeare? Such is Illyria, a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night first produced Off-Broadway in 2002 and now running at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse. Don’t let the words ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘musical’ chase you away. Peter Mills has written a book and score that takes the plotline of the Bard’s 17th century comedy, modernizes it a bit in speech and time period, sets it to music and comes up with a terrifically entertaining piece of theatre. Shakespeare’s tale involves shipwrecked and separated twins Viola and Sebastian (played by Carmen Mitchell and Lorenzo Alviso), Duke Orsino, the lovelorn leader of the isle of Illyria (played by Burton Thomas), and Olivia, the in-mourning object of his affection (as played by Tracy Hinman.) There’s also Andrew Aguecheek, a silly suitor for Olivia’s hand, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s soused uncle, Malvolio, a stuffed-shirt steward, Maria, a servant with eyes on Sir Toby, and Feste, a fool who narrates

Sonoma’s Transcendence Theatre Company opened its seventh season of “Broadway Under the Stars” in Jack London State Park with Stairway to Paradise, the first of four staged concert events scheduled this year. The company takes performers with Broadway, touring company, film and television experience and creates an original themed musical revue around them. This year’s theme is ‘Every Moment Counts’ and director/choreographer Tony Gonzalez has designed 20+ production numbers full of memorable moments. Along with Broadway show tunes, the Transcendence play list includes a mix of recent and past pop hits, classic rock, and specialty numbers. They’re all done ‘Broadway style’ and occasionally with a twist. It often works well, but sometimes it doesn’t. The first act ran the gamut from numbers from Sunday in the Park with George, South Pacific, The Wiz, and Victor/Victoria to “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and “Feelin’ Groovy” by Paul Simon. Highlights included a recreation of the famous Judy Garland/Barb

Two community theatre workhorses have galloped onto North Bay stages. Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater is presenting The Fantasticks, the 1960 musical that ran for a record 42 years Off-Broadway and then had a revival in 2006 that ran for another eleven years. It’s a modest production with a sweet score and engaging performances. It’s a simple tale of two neighboring families. Mrs. Hucklebee (Krista Wigle) and Mr. Bellomy (Michael van Why) each have a child they wish to fall in love with the other. They figure the best way to achieve that is to start a pseudo-feud between the families and make it clear to them they don’t want them to see each other. When Luisa (Carolyn Bacon) and Matt (Lucas Brandt) do fall in love, how do they end the “feud” so all may live happily ever after? Well, they hire a mysterious stranger who goes by the name “El Gallo” (Sergey Khalikulov) and some players (James Pelican, Brandon Wilson) to stage a phony abduction of Luisa to allow Matt to rescue her so all may be forgiven between

“Everyone’s a little bit racist” sing the puppets in the musical Avenue Q. Playwright Greg Kalleres takes that thought and runs with it in Honky, running now at Left Edge Theatre. It opens up with a commercial for Skymax 16’s, the latest craze in athletic footwear. It ends with the tag line “S’up now?” which we soon learn is the last thing said to a black teen before he’s killed for the shoes. Lights up on the office of Davis Tallison (Mike Pavone), the white president of a company that makes footwear “by black people for black people.” Thomas Hodge (Trey G. Riley) is there to unveil his latest design and is aghast to learn that sales of the 16’s have exploded in the white youth community since the shooting. Tallison announces the new 17’s will now be marketed to them. Hodge is furious that something he created for “his people” has become bastardized and seeks some sort of retribution on the creator of the commercial he thinks is responsible. Enter Peter Trammel (Mark Bradbury), whose issues about the co