Page 49 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2020

Live Performing Arts... when they can’t be Live...
Love: Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley - marintheatre.org
The Glass Menagerie: Ross Valley Players - everything cancelled until The Government Inspector opens June 5. - rossvalleyplayers.com
The Flick: Left Edge Theatre, Santa Rosa - leftedgetheatre.com
The Cripple of Inishmaan: SRJC Theater Arts, Santa Rosa- theatrearts.
Daddy Long Legs: Sonoma Arts Live, Sonoma - sonomaartslive.org
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa - 6thstreetplayhouse.com
Accidental Death of an Anarchist: -Main Stage West, Sebastopol - mainstagewest.com
The Addams Family Musical: Napa Valley College, Napa -napavalley.edu Talley’s Folly: Cloverdale Performing Arts Center, Cloverdale - https://
Mama Mia: Raven Players, Healdsburg - raventheater.org, June 19 - July 5
The Beauty Queen of Leenane: Curtain Call Theater Company, Monte Rio - russianriverhall.com
The Who’s Tommy: Novato Theater Co., Novato - novatotheatercompany.org
As noted in an earlier article (“Keep Calm But Cancel,” 3/13/20), all the live theatre productions I know of in our three counties have been cancelled until further notice. Some companies are postponing, if they can, usually until June; others will not be able to re-mount their cancelled shows; others may reschedule a show in their 2020-2021 season. A veritable avalanche has slammed down on the theatre community, closing venues for a month or more.
cloverdaleperformingarts.com
Those that can weather the loss of revenue will reopen when the crisis passes, although likely with slimmer budgets. I’m crossing fingers for our smaller creative outlets who often operate on shoestrings even in the best of times. Calls for donations are on every theater website now; do what you can to help out your favorite local venues.
Some theatre companies are managing to offer videos of
either cancelled or past productions.
Cancelled Productions – As of 3/21/20
(in some cases, productions are postponed - check websites)
Sonoma, Napa & Marin Counties:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Lucky Penny
Productions, Napa - luckypennynapa.com
santarosa.edu
The Left Edge Theatre in Santa Rosa, for example, is offering videotaped performances for small fees of both Drumming With Anubis, a big hit from last season, and The Flick, the show they had to close after opening weekend. www.leftedgetheatre.com and they will be LiveStreaming events soon!
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has videotape
of their closed hit show, They Promised Her the Moon, available for a basic ticket purchase. Check websites for details. www.theatreworks.org
Other companies may not have the resources or legal permission to post videos— licensing typically doesn’t include video rights, that
are often not available or expensive. So many variables— don’t hold it against the theater that isn’t providing a video option now.
Drumming With Anubis ideo available soon on Left Edge Theatre website; Ray (Richard Pallaziol), Neil (Nick Sholley) and Charlie (Chris Schloemp) Photo by Katie Kelley.
Creativity is still alive & well
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and other social platforms are suddenly teeming with new channels and links to videos showcasing singers, actors performing in their living rooms, improvisation sessions on Zoom.
You can’t keep an artist down for long.
Browsing some home-grown entertainment proves a thoroughly productive and enjoyable use of your SIP time.
Shakespeare wrote some of his best plays during plague.
The Flick, video available soon on Left Edge Theatre website. Isiah Carter, Paige Picard, Kevin Bordi.
Photo by Chris Ginesi.
And who knows what this rare experience
might spawn, creatively speaking? Shakespeare, after all, wrote King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony & Cleopatra when he was sidelined due to plague. Inspiration plus “down time” can be potent and invigorating.
Here’s to staying safe, healthy, and sane during these challenging times. And here’s to renewed artistic vitality when all those doors reopen.
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