Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

In their production of Thorton Wilder’s Our Town, there are hardly any flaws for me to write of. Well, perhaps, I well divulge on the pleasantries on my first attendance to RSVP, which stands as one of Northern California’s oldest community theatre. The theatre is a charming old barn house that has gone through a [...]

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June Reif wears three hats for the Dreamweaver’s production of Vera Caspary mystery drama “Laura”:director, set designer, and painter. Laura is based on a novel by Vera Caspary. It was adapted in to a film under the direction of Otto Preminger in 1944. June strives to respect the time of the film’s genre in her [...]

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Jennifer King, the head of the drama department of Napa Valley College, directed their spring production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. The musical had been first produced on Broadway in 1947. Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan had adapted the book and lyrics from the Pulitzer Prizewinning Novel by James A. Michner, which entails [...]

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It was with a sense of irony that I took my seat in the campus auditorium at Solano College to view their latest musical offering Batboy. Ironic because two live bats were busily flying around inside the theatre. Were these creatures brought in to add ambience to the up-coming musical? Was [...]

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photos by s.n. jacobson

With unforgettable hits like “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Satin Doll,” and “Take the A Train,” Duke Ellington made an indelible mark on American music as both a composer and big bandleader. The musical revue Sophisticated Ladies, which celebrates the great jazzman’s swinging repertoire, inspired Vallejo Music Theatre (VMT) to stage [...]

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photos by s.n. jacobson

The Mira Theatre Guild has resurfaced with an inspiring production of Richard Caulfeild Goodman’s “Resistance.” Mira has fittingly presented “Resistance” in honor of Black History Month. The play dramatically chronicles events that occurred in Christina, Pennsylvania. It details the legendary plight of William Parker, who escaped from slavery from the South, only [...]

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Solano College Theatre serves up another play directed by Hector Correa. This time he is at the helm of The House of Ramon Iglesia, by Academy award nominated writer, Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Dairies). The play seems to strike a chord within the Hispanic community, but, while the story should be universal [...]

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Ever considered throwing all of the Great Books into a blender just to see what would happen? How about attempting to speed-read and reenact every issue of Cliffs Notes ever published? Me either, but then Im not a mad comic genius like Reduced Shakespeare Company performers and co-playwrights Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor. [...]

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Hairspray, The Producers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Wedding Singer, and now Legally Blonde. Broadway has seen a rash of movie-turned-musical entries in recent years, apparently banking on the success of the Hollywood formula, or perhaps hoping that audiences will go see anything as long as it�s familiar. Before this latest movie adaptation tests [...]

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It�s tough to keep up all of those New Year�s resolutions, but I have a few that you can use as a reward for hanging in there. While you keep up with commitments to stay healthy, treat yourself to nights out as often as possible. What better place to indulge than decadent but [...]

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When is a nervous breakdown a laughing matter? In Neil Simon�s The Prisoner of Second Avenue, the title character isn�t the only one who�s cracking up. Dreamweavers Theatre in Napa wrings a fair amount of laughs out of the prolific playwright�s urban comedy for their 2007 season opener.
Mel Edison (Trevor Wright) is a [...]

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In the spirit of the season, I began drafting some personal resolutions when something occurred to me. Good things happened in Bay Area theatre this past year, but there�s definitely room for improvement, even in our own backyard. Here are some suggested resolutions to help our performing arts community grow and thrive in [...]

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Remember that purple dinosaur who was all the rage in children�s television not so long ago? Adults would cringe at the sickly sweetness while kids sang �I Love You� at the top of their lungs. Vallejo Music Theatre�s (VMT) Young Audiences production of Sleeping Beauty is a little like that, but thankfully less [...]

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Jeanne Tinker, Bambi Jones, Deborah Del Mastro (top),
Carrie Keskinen, Susan Goeppinger (bottom)

The Willows Theatre�s 30th Anniversary season featuring popular shows from the company�s history would not have been complete without a visit from the singing, dancing Little Sisters of Hoboken. The nuns of New Jersey once again strut their stuff in Nunsensations: The Las [...]

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Part storytelling, part improv, part acoustic concert and all entertainment, Impact Theatre�s highly original Jukebox Stories features a talented pair of artists who draw inspiration from their own lives. Their wit and candor results in the dynamic world premiere production now playing at La Val�s Subterranean Theatre in Berkeley.
Comic monologist Prince Gomolvilas and soulfully [...]

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