Image 1: Composer John Bucchino works with actor Nanci Zoppi and Musical Director Graham Sobelman at the It's Only Life masterclass Image 2: John Bucchino explains his process of writing and composing during the It's Only Life masterclass Image 3: New Helvetia Founder and Artistic Director Connor Mickiewicz sings "Playbill", accompanied by composer John Bucchino at the It's Only Life masterclass   It's Only Life After an amazing first year, which included the critically praised productions of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and also Tick, Tick...BOOM (so good they had to bring it back), New Helvetia Theater hosts a unique musical event tonight at the Crest Theatre.  Tonight's one-night p

The second Amber's Sweets Repo! The Genetic Opera shadowcast performance took place Saturday at Sacramento’s historic Colonial Theater. The film was projected onto the stage while actors re-enacted the film using special effects, audience interaction and aerial acrobatics.   However, it was not for the faint of heart or stomach. The movie features scenes of disembowelment, sexual innuendo and nudity, so likewise the shadowcast performance had skimpy clothing, swearing, and blood and guts.   There was also a special performance by the film’s co-creator Darren Smith at the beginning of the set. Smith took the stage with his wife, Nancy, who plays Dead Marni in the film, and sang a medley.

The Sacramento Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata to a full house Friday night at the Community Center Theater. From the opening number, the audience was captivated by lead Karen Slack (soprano), who played Violetta Valery, and Alexander Boyer (tenor), who played Alfredo Germont. Conducted by Timm Rolek, the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied the cast in the two-and-a-half-hour performance. Slack and Boyer's voices complemented each other, bringing the dramatic storyline to life. La Traviata follows Valery, a courtesan, and Germont, a respectable young man, as they fall in love and later feel the pain of being torn apart by Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont, played

The Sacramento Opera will present the famous, heart-wrenching opera La Traviata at the Sacramento Community Center Theater Friday. The popular opera was written in the mid-1800s by Giuseppe Verdi, who based his tale off the widely successful novel, La Dame Aux Camélias, by Alexandre Dumas. Though Dumas's book is written as a tragedy, adaptations of the novel, such as with La Traviata and recent films "Camille" and "Pretty Women," have been retold as a love story. La Traviata is a romantic play set in the 19th century following the relationship of well-born gentlemen Alfredo Germont, played by Tenor Alexander Boyer, who is in love with a beautiful courtesan named Violetta Valéry, played

  FICTION by Steven Dietz at Capital Stage There’s an old adage in theatre that audiences attend with ‘a willing suspension of disbelief’. That is to say that they willingly set aside the truth and accept the fact that Peter Pan can fly even though the wires holding him up are plainly seen. That applies to theatre, film, and especially literature. But what if we believe every word we read? Can fiction become fact? Is something true simply because we believe it? In 2003 author James Frey wrote a memoir of his struggle with addiction called ‘A Million Little Pieces’. He was lauded as a troubled genius with a brilliant future, and America loved him. When the truth came out that a portion of

Graduating Master of Fine Arts candidates are performing two new choreographed pieces at the Vanderhoef Studio Theater in the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis.   Nina Galin’s three-part dance/theater/musical piece, “Jointedness,” is composed of two solo performances and a quartet. According to Galin’s program notes, it explores different senses of “joint” through her “long-term engagement with two literary texts: Shakespeare’s ‘To be, or not to be’ soliloquy from Hamlet, and Rilke’s poem ‘Sense of Something Coming,’ translated by Robert Bly.”   Jess Curtis’ excerpt from “Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies” is an hourlong piece featuring five talented performers, a variety

Trust and betrayal took the stage Friday with the opening of "Fiction" at the Capital Stage. The play by Steven Dietz, follows a dramatic love triangle that took the audience on a trip through the characters pasts. "Fiction" is about married writers Linda and Michael and how their lives were not what they seemed. Linda finds out she is dying and at her request, is allowed to read her husband's journals since he will read hers once she is gone. From there, the plot twists and turns, and as it moves between the past and the present their diaries reveal bits and pieces of their lives. The play keeps the audience guessing, unfolding the truth with each scene. I was expecting a more serious

Capital Stage is testing the boundaries of trust and suspicion in its new provocative drama "Fiction" by Steven Dietz. The theater's description of the play tells of two married writers, Michael and Linda, who decide to read each others' diaries and find that their relationship is not as open as it seems.As a woman emerges from the pages, the realization that trust and betrayal both exist begins to change the way they understand the past and the present. Production designer Jonathan Williams describes the twists and turns of "Fiction" best with a line from the play: "The lies begin when we lift the pen." Dietz has written over 20 original plays since the 80's, many of which revolve arou

When answering a personal ad promising ‘a night that will change the course of mankind’, expect a few disappointments. When Jo and Jules hook up in B Street Theatre’s current production of ‘Boom’, written by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, their disappointment in each other is the highlight of their evening. Jo, played with an angry intensity by Sarah Aili, wants the human connection she’s never had…or, rather, she wants to have had a human connection; best get it over with! Jules, played by Peter Story, has a bit loftier goal. He wants to be the savior of all mankind and the father of all future generations! One small problem though; he can’t really…um…perform. “ But”, he’s quick to point out, “it’

STC Presents a special staged reading of  one of the country's most cherished playwrights. Battling themes of immigration and discrimination while in search for a lasting and true identity, the characters of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" cross paths at a Pittsburgh boarding house where their journies are exposed and questioned as they embrace their deeper ancestral connections and work to transcend the trials of slavery and exploitation in an evolving America. "Set in 1911, and the second in the series of Mr. Wilson’s 10-play cycle of the African-American journey through the 20th century, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” is about nothing less than the migration and dispersal of a race and

It wasn't long ago that we were all hankering about in excitement (chaos, really) about bringing back, once again, our notorious production of "Cinderella"... and now here we are, days before Christmas, selling out shows and reaching out more than ever to gain a new audience of eager faces, young and old, to play along with us in the magic that is our beloved spin on the classic fairytale. Added performances are: Sunday, December 27th - 7 PM Tuesday, December 29th - 7 PM Sunday, January 3rd - 7 PM Call the box office now for the best seats available. 443-6722. And don't miss this holiday romp at the Sacramento Theatre Company Featured Above: Brian Rodda, William Elsman, Michael RJ 

Saturday was opening night for Sacramento Theater Company's holiday hit, "Cinderella” Imagine British pantomime, a vaudeville act and musical comedy with a little Beach Blanket Babylon thrown in. The show is definitely interactive. Director Peggy Shannon started things off by having the audience do a warm-up by yelling back at the characters. And the characters don't just address the fourth wall, they blast through it. The plot is well known, but in this version a lot of topical humor and inside jokes are thrown in. The acting is excellent; many of the actors have appeared in previous STC productions of "Cinderella." This includes Michael RJ Campbell as Goneril and Brian Rodda as Regan, t

"I'm a 30-year-old man applying for a job as an elf," said the man in the gray hooded sweatshirt, looking less than thrilled about his new position. It was Gary Alan Wright, telling the story of his elf alter ego, Crumpet, and the mischief he got into during his time in Santaland, the mall's winter wonderland. The stage looked the part, with a beautiful Christmas tree, toys and Santa's throne. The lone cast member of "Santaland Diaries" kept the people at the Capital Stage aboard the Riverboat Delta King laughing out loud at the play by humorist David Sedaris. Wright transformed into Crumpet on stage, stripping down to his green knickers and candy-cane stockings. He accomplished this whi

The Sacramento Theatre Company's most popular show ever, Cinderella, is back and better than ever! Artistic director Peggy Shannon describes the show: "This version of the story draws on the traditions of British Pantomime, vaudeville and musical comedy. In England every year at Christmas, you can usually find a British production of a fairy tale that is produced for kids and adults. Usually men play many of the women’s roles and often women play the male leads. The production operates on many levels, just as our production of Cinderella does. There is the fairy tale for the children – often played with lots of physical humor and sometimes accompanied by an orchestra – and there is th

You might have heard of Sacramento's dinner theaters: Suspects Dinner Theatre aboard the Delta King, Tommy T's Comedy and Dinner Theatre and the recently closed Garbeau's Dinner Theatre. So after attending dinner theater, why not stop by Sacramento's only dessert theater? "As far as I know, we're the only one in the world," said Thomas Kelly, Thistle Dew Dessert Theatre owner, founder and artistic director. Kelly, now a retired copy/printshop owner, was a playwright for about 20 years before he opened the theater in 1996. In 1992, he and his wife Eleanor Lediard purchased the 1894 Victorian, 1901 P St., where the theatre is housed. "It had been a drug house before we got it, totally tr

Rehearsal photos by Paul Le and Tony Sheppard – taken at the Artisan, 1901 Del Paso Blvd.   “Tick, Tick…BOOM” Book, Music, and Lyrics: Jonathan Larson Script Consultant: David Auburn Directed by Connor Mickiewicz and Erin island New Helvetia Theatre officially opens its second full production on Saturday, with previews starting Wednesday, of “Tick, Tick…BOOM.” The show is by Jonathan Larson, who won three posthumous Tony awards and a Pulitzer for “RENT.” I had the opportunity to sit in on a recent rehearsal and it literally had me both laughing and crying uncontrollably (not at the same time). The timing was also interesting after the recent movie release of Jane Campion’s beautiful “

Emotions ran high on stage keeping the audience at the edge of their seats during the dramatic showing of Suddenly, Last Summer, a play by Tennessee Williams, which opened Oct. 2 at the Lambda Players new theater home on 21st Street. As the audience entered the newly designed, intimate theater space, which seats approximately 40 patrons, a social experiment ensued. The seats, which have yet to be properly numbered and ordered, left patrons roaming through the four aisles trying to figure out an order or pattern to the seating chart. Eventually the groups would simply situate themselves in an open section. However, those who had already figured out the disorder were entertained by the new

The Six Women actresses proclaim, "You have to laugh and scream and blow off steam so you don't expire," and that is exactly what the audience did at Friday's showing of the revival of Sacramento's cult classic Six Women with Brain Death (or Expiring Minds Want to Know). As the show begins, six frazzled, women parade across the stage in a grocery check-out line, reading the outrageous headlines of The Expirerer, a spoof of today's tabloid magazines. The women quickly transition from their comedic sketch into a full-energy musical number introducing the audience to the "World of Expiring Minds." The first act consists of a series of life and pop culture scenarios from the viewpoint of ove

Graham-a-Rama, a weekly cabaret show put on by local music director and pianist Graham Sobelman, was only planned to run a few weeks. But after the success of the first few shows in February, Sobelman has continued the show nearly every week since then, has guest appearances confirmed as far out as January and will continue the show until it "runs its course." It has gained somewhat of a cult following, selling out nearly every show. Most of the audience has been to multiple shows, Sobelman said. Graham-a-Rama, one of the few cabaret shows in the grid, is a mix of original music, standup comedy, musical theatre and rock 'n' roll covers. The instrumentation consists of Sobelman on a grand

The Green Room - the College Musical opened on Friday, August 7th at The California Stage to rave reviews!  If audience reactions are any indication, The Green Room is going to be a hit musical in Sacramento this summer.  Audiences on Friday and Saturday night gave the cast standing ovations and gave accolades to both cast and crew about how much they enjoyed the production. Special guests for the opening night performance included Chuck Pelletier (Lyrics & Music), C. Stephen Foster & Rod Damer (Book) and Dion Hunter who is producing a short run of the show in Orange County later this year.  Chuck, Stephen and Rod arrived a day earlier than their scheduled appearance of August 8th when t