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Theatre Review: Hedda Gabler
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Great plays live on because they contain memorable, complicated characters, and Hedda Gabler is one of the great female roles. Capital Stage is presenting this classic show, which even a century after it was written still packs a timely punch.
Theatre Review: A Little Princess
Monday, May 6, 2013
This show at the Sacramento Theatre Company is about the desperate poor and the moneyed elite living in London a century ago. It might sound somewhat Dickensian, but this show is actually a new musical getting its premiere production this month.
Theatre Review: Master Harold... And The Boys
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The bitter racial division of South Africa under apartheid inspired several plays, including one by playwright Athol Fugard now at the Sacramento Theatre Company. It depicts how state-sanctioned segregation damaged relationships and degraded society.
Theatre Review: Widowers' Houses
Friday, April 5, 2013
George Bernard Shaw is often rated as one of the great dramatists in the English language, but productions of his plays in Sacramento are rare. This month, California Stage is doing one of Shaw's early comedies.
Theatre Review: Mountaintop
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Playwright Katori Hall grew up in Memphis, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Hall’s play imagines a conversation King might have had the night before he died. An award-winner in London, it's now playing at Capital Stage.
Theatre Review: Robyn Is Happy
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Edgy humor is very big on stages around Sacramento these days. But what strikes one person as bold, biting comedy could rub others the wrong way. Critic Jeff Hudson says one prime example is the current show at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre.
Theatre Review: Two Takes On A Midsummer Night's Dream
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Two local theatre companies are mounting competing versions of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” They started with the same script, but each made different choices along the way, finding humor and drama in different places.
Theatre Review: The North Plan
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Conspiracy theories involving the Department of Homeland Security abound in this dark comedy now playing at Sacramento’s Capital Stage. Beyond the outrageous plot, one over-the-top performance supplies the bulk of the show's plentiful laughs.
Theatre Review: Carapace
Monday, February 4, 2013
It’s February, and at theaters all over town, the feel-good holiday plays have given way to cautionary tales about temptation, mistakes, and bad choices leading to tragic outcomes. The current show at the B Street Theatre is a prime example.
Get Your Museum Fix For Free
Friday, February 1, 2013
Record numbers of people are expected to visit Sacramento-area museums Saturday. More than two dozen institutions are offering free admission as part of “Museum Day.”
Cowboy Poetry Gathering Begins
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Elko, Nevada welcomes thousands of participants and fans to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering this week. Five Northern Californians received invitations to perform.
Theatre Review: Bark! and Anastasia Krupnik
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Live theatre often takes place in cozy venues of 100 seats or less. And these shows often fall in one of two categories: family-oriented plays designed for kids or cabaret-like revues aimed at adults. And titles don't always tell you which is which.
Theatre Review: Two December Traditions
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Sacramento Theater Company and the B Street Theater have divergent December traditions. One offers original plays unrelated to the holidays. The other regularly rolls out its popular version of “A Christmas Carol." This year they share a commonality.
Exhibit Offers Historical Highlights of Golden State Gastronomy
Monday, December 17, 2012
Some people read books about history in bed. Some people take cookbooks to bed and read them like history. At the State Library in Sacramento, you’ll be reading standing up -- about food AND history.
Overcoming the Nutcracker Fear Factor
Monday, December 10, 2012
Hundreds of kids take part in the Sacramento Ballet’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.” The youngest, just six-years-old, can easily become disoriented by stage lights or frightened by dancers dressed as giant mice. The Ballet has a solution.
Review: The Mystery of Irma Vep and Mistakes Were Made
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
After several winters of staging December comedies with holiday themes, local theater companies have swung the other way. Two current shows feature motor-mouthed actors in frantic comedies that make no referernce to the holiday season.
We Are Where We Eat: "WWOOFERS" Get Taste of Organic Farming
Thursday, November 29, 2012
As part of our series "We Are Where We Eat," food reporter Elaine Corn takes us to an organic farm west of Galt. The owners allow international travelers to work in their fields. The visitors don't get paid, but they do get valuable experience.
Theatre Review: The Gift of the Magi
Monday, November 26, 2012
O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” is a classic American story. Written in 1906, it’s been adapted to the stage several times, but there’s never been a version quite like the one currently playing on the B Street Theatre’s Family Series.
Theatre Review: The Year of Magical Thinking
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sacramento native Joan Didion wrote her Pulitzer-winning memoir “The Year of Magical Thinking” as she dealt with the devastating loss of her husband and her daughter. In this California Stage adaptation, actress Janis Stevens is rivoting as Didion.
Theatre Review: Memphis
Friday, November 2, 2012
The touring production of the Tony Award-winning musical “Memphis” has come to Sacramento for the first time. Critic Jeff Hudson says the show has lots of energetic dancing, wrapped around material that might remind you of some other shows.
Conductor Trades Baton for Bow To Perform As Soloist with Modesto Symphony
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
During the Modesto Symphony Orchestra's next concert, conductor David Lockington won't be standing at the podium facing his musicians. He'll be seated with his back to them, premiering a new cello concerto composed by fellow Brit Philip Sawyers.
Theatre Review: The Price
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Arthur Miller’s drama “The Price” was a Broadway success when it premiered in 1968. But then it faded away – most people nowadays have never seen it. Sacramento’s B Street Theatre is staging a revival and it’s one of the company’s best productions.