photographs by Barry Wisdom / Go ahead and Google “Hansel and Gretel,” and nearly 200,000 results will pop up – results that feature such headlines as: “a tale of childhood terror”; “maternal cannibalism”; “gruesome fairy tales”; and “a tale dark and Grimm.” Nothing like a soothing, happy-go-lucky story before bedtime. Happily, in adapting Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s 1812 classic about a runaway brother and sister and their wicked encounter with a wand-wielding witch, B Street Theatre Associate Producer-Resident Playwright Jerry R. Montoya (and young son Malachi) have given the two-dimensional story a hilarious and heartfelt makeover. In replacing the Grimms’ original series of nightmare

  It’s a common bedtime plea: “Just one story!” Usually, it’s a child making the request of his or her mother or father. But when Jerry R. Montoya, associate producer and contributing playwright for the B Street Theatre, came down with a major case of writer’s block, it was his son, Malachi, who was getting the “Pretty-please-tell-me-a-story” treatment. “I was working on a stage adaptation of ‘Hansel & Gretel,’” began Montoya. “Like many of the Grimm fairytales, it’s very short with not a lot of backstory, told in a straight line with a clear message.” “One night, I was re-outlining the plot and waiting for inspiration,” Montoya continued. “I was kind of moving forward, but without a

Capital Stage continues to turn up the heat with its latest production, “True West,” one of actor/playwright Sam Shepard’s best known and most popular works. On the surface Shepard’s story is a pretty simple and straightforward one. The story is set in an older home in a Southern California suburb 40 miles east of Los Angles. Think Rancho Cucamonga, Lancaster or even Riverside County. Mom is off to Alaska and has asked dutiful son Austin to house sit the modest childhood home he grew up in, primarily to keep her beloved plants alive. In walks bad brother Lee, who stirs things up only as a Sam Shepard bad boy character can. Shepard is very much an actor’s playwright and Capital Stage is v

Ah, the child actor. So much competition, so much drive, so many stage mothers and many others, as we shall see, pushing. Oh, and then having to survive the bad reviews. But when a child actor makes it big, there is lots of money and other perks to go around. They say for a child actor to succeed, they and everyone supporting them need to be ruthless. But ruthless to the point of killing a rival? For the lead role in the third-grade play? The center of attention in “Ruthless! The Musical” which is just ending its first week of sold-out and nearly sold-out shows at the Sacramento Theatre Company’s Pollock Stage is Tina Denmark. Right behind Tina is Sylvia St. Croix, child talent represent

The B Street Family Series opened, “The Giver,” an eyes wide open look at how “Utopia” can become “Dystopia.” For an excellent introduction to the show see Barry Wisdom’s Sacramento Press preview of “The Giver.” Long time B Street Company members Elizabeth Nunziato and Jason Kuykendall are Father and Mother, the adult component of the mandatory two adult two children family unit. They are so good at creating this feeling that under the veneer of happiness is a pervasive fear of the consequences of differing at all from the norm which flares up anytime the children question something. Nunziato also plays the elder that announces the role that has been selected for each child as they cease

Photos by Barry Wisdom For many people there are certain holiday traditions that if they don’t get to experience them during the holiday season, it just doesn’t feel like the holidays. Capital Stage has started its own little holiday tradition of more than five years of presenting “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some!)” which skewers all those wonderful holiday traditions. Eric steps up to the podium, opens a large book and begins to read, “Marley is dead!” Before he even starts to read there are titters that are growing into laughter in the audience. It is those who have made “Every Christmas Story...” at Capital Stage their holiday tradition. This Capital Stage production i

Photos by Barry Wisdom “Watching Wynter” is the title of this season’s B Street Theater mainstage production for the holidays. As always, the play is written and directed by B Street producing artistic director Buck Busfield. While Busfield’s shows have some sort of connection to the holidays, however tenuous, with this show the connection is even more minimal than past shows. This year’s production is about how family members relate to each other and to those around them, and how the holiday season can impact those relationships, making them more than a little crazy. As a playwright, Busfield is a master at making family craziness very funny. At the center of the play are Lonny, an onl

Torture, questioning the effectiveness of torture, secret renditions, religious factions, assassinations, government falsehoods for the greater good, heavy loss of civilian lives for the greater good… Sound familiar in the beginning of this century? This is not just the Middle East and North Africa, but also our own country. “Equivocation,” the title of the current offering at B Street Theatre’s B3 stage, has several definitions. All are about some form of evasion of the truth. In this case, it is about a lie not being a mortal sin if the lie results in a greater good. “Equivocation” is not set in the beginning of the 21st century, but in the London of 1606. James I is now King of Englan

She welcomes you in. Shyly at first, but before long she starts treating you like an old friend - sharing recipes, gossip and the important events in her life. This is Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Mass. At least, this is the Emily Dickinson of William Luce’s 1976 play “The Belle of Amherst.” Luce spent two years doing extensive research into Dickinson’s life, reading several biographies, diaries, letters and Dickinson’s extensive collection of poetry. In writing “The Belle of Amherst” Luce changed some of the facts in a manner that would probably be described as “for dramatic reasons.” When “The Belle of Amherst” premiered on Broadway in '76, it starr

B Street Theatre opened its latest mainstage production Sunday night. “Circle Mirror Transformation” is a quirky one-act play by Annie Baker, a fast-rising star in American theater. Once the audience got used to the fractured structure and started to know the characters, they started laughing — a lot. Baker is young (29), award-winning, talented and funny. “Circle Mirror Transformation” amazingly  tied with another Baker-penned play, “The Aliens,” for a 2010 Obie award. The plot is straightforward. James, the director of a small New England town community center, is very excited that the center is offering a six-week creative drama class as one of summer programs. James’ wife, Marty, who

“The Young Abe Lincoln” by B Street Theatre associate producer Jerry Montoya is premering at the B Street Family Series.   Montoya took the fact that 22-year-old Abraham Lincoln was hired by a New Salem, Ill., businessman to take a flatboat of goods for sale to New Orleans and wrote the historical fiction play for children. Montoya has created a fun play for kids that lets them test what they have learned in school or learn a few new facts about Mr. Lincoln. However, not everything is factual here. It very doubtful that Alice Offut, daughter of businessman Denton Offut (also spelled Offutt), would have stowed away on Lincoln’s flatboat. The historical fiction here speaks to Lincoln’s cha

"reasons to be pretty" at Capital Stage is the third in a trilogy of plays by provocative contemporary American playwright, screenwriter and director Neil LaBute. Capital Stage previously staged "The Shape of Things" (2006) and "Fat Pig" (2007). These three plays are LaBute's examination of the modern day obsession with physical beauty. The play opens with a bang. As LaBute describes the scene in his script: "Lights burst on. At home. Two people in their bedroom, already in the middle of it. A nice little fight. Wham!" We don't know what Greg said. Greg doesn't seem to know what he said. Steph seems quite clear what Greg said -or at least what her best friend Carly couldn't wait to tell

All photos: Ron Nabity A femme fatale invites herself home for the night. She tells wild stories of spies and military espionage in her heavily accented english. She is dead in the morning with a knife in her back. This sends Richard Hannay in a race across England and Scotland in search of a mysterious man missing a fingertip, figuring out what the 39 Steps are and, hopefully, to clear his name. This is the basic plot of a 1915 spy novel by Scottish writer John Buchan titled “The 39 Steps.” Buchan used the Richard Hannay character in four more action-spy novels. The novel, given its action/thriller qualities, was adapted into several radio plays. The first was by Orson Welles and his M

Ah, the Christmas season for live theatre. The time to pull out the old chestnuts, the audience favorites that pay the bills for the rest of the year. For Capitol Stage, this is “Every Christmas Story Ever Told [And Then Some!].” The irony here is that this play is about cast member rebellion over having to perform the same play year after year. The stage lights go up. Cast member Eric opens the book, blows the dust off and begins reading: “Marley was dead, to begin with.” Cast member Gary enters as Marley’s ghost. It is painfully obvious that Gary is not happy. “Eric ... I can’t do this.” Eric continues to try to keep the play going, but to no avail. Soon Eric and Gary are joined by cas

The theater is filling up. The excitement is palpable. The audience is mostly grade schoolers or younger. Lots of the kids are dressed in their party going best. They can barely contain themselves waiting for the curtain to go up on “Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.” “Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” is the kickoff show for B Street Theatre’s Family Series seventh season. The play is based on Barbara Park’s very popular Junie B. Jones children’s book series. Veteran children's playwright Allison Gregory adapted the book for the stage. B Street Family Series also produced Gregory’s adaptation of “Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business” in 2007, as well as

"Well" is an autobiographical play by Lisa Kron. “Well” has earned Kron critical acclaim for its run on Broadway and at A.C.T. in San Francisco. In "Well" A young actress/playwright wants to say something profound about those who get sick and stay that way – her mother and those who get sick and get well – herself. This is in spite of her protests to her mother that the play is not about her mother or her.  This is the play within the play "Well" This is the first play in which Kron has had characters other than herself. In “Well,” this includes her mother and the actors in the play that her character "Lisa Kron" is trying to stage.  Much to the dismay of the actress/playwright characte

 B Street Theatre has opened it’s B3 Series 2010-2011season with “Neat,” a one-woman show written by playwright/actress Charlayne Woodard. B Street Theatre’s B3 Series features more intimate, complex, adult stories in a smaller theater setting. “Neat” perfectly fits the bill for what the B3 Series is about. Charlayne Woodward is a master storyteller. “Neat” is the second of Woodward’s one-woman plays. Like “Pretty Fire” before it, the play centers around her autobiographical character Charlayne and the numerous characters involved in her life. Charlayne Woodard The play opens at her grandparents’ home outside Savanna, Ga, a place she visits with her family as a child. The action move