Courtney Symes - Page 9

Tucked into the beauty of Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park is a stage set against what is, arguably, one of the most exquisite views in the country. The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival calls this stage home, and I was fortunate to experience the wonder of their offerings last weekend.

The best part of summer is Broadway at Music Circus and, as we pass the halfway mark in the season, we are treated to the Tony Award-winning noir piece from Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd. It transports us back in time to a forgotten world of silent films, glamour, and a certain elegance that has been slowly eroded by progress. The allure of old Hollywood is mesmerizing in director Glenn Casale’s triumph of the 2024 season, where he weaves a spellbinding orb of madness, desperation, and ambition.

Tradition. How do we know when to let go and embrace the future? That’s the question at the heart of the latest triumph at Broadway at Music Circus. Beloved classic Fiddler on the Roof has itself become a tradition for theatre lovers worldwide. It was a favorite of mine as a child, and continues to be many years later. Fiddler on the Roof was an instant hit when it opened on Broadway sixty years ago, winning nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It has inspired parodies, television shows, movies, and music. It opened in Sacramento on Tuesday night to an enthusiastic audience eager for its themes of love, family, and resilience.

Too hot outside? Come cool off with some of your favorite characters in Bikini Bottom. Broadway at Music Circus has transformed into the whimsical town under the sea for a limited time. The Spongebob Musical opened on Broadway in 2017 and its lovable characters have captured the hearts of the young and young at heart ever since. From zany Spongebob to studious Sandy, all of the residents of Bikini Bottom rock out to a score written by a wide array of artists. Songs by talents such as Cyndi Lauper, Panic! at the Disco, and John Legend keep the energy up in this hilarious, exhilarating, and thoughtful show about the world’s most popular sponge.

Summer means Shakespeare and, luckily, there are a variety of offerings to choose from in our area. Arguably, though, none are in a more beautiful location than that of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. What began in 1972 on the lawn of the Ehrman Mansion at Sugar Pine Point State Park has now evolved to a permanent, state-of-the-art stage housed in the picturesque Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park. This season the Festival is featuring two exciting shows: The Merry Wives of Windsor and Always…Patsy Cline. BroadwayWorld spoke with Director/Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee about this summer’s offerings, the evolution of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, and what it takes to produce theatre in one of the most enchanting places in the world.

Capital Stage is closing out its nineteenth season with a charming story of healing and self-discovery. Now Circa Then by Carly Mensch is a clever blend of worlds: past and present, immigrant and citizen, passion and apathy. In this show, life imitates art and the lines between those worlds blur, encouraging us to delve inward and examine our own motivations.

A veterinarian, a figure skater, and the Phantom of the Opera all walk into a room…but it’s not a joke. They are all gathering in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on June 29th for the 75th Anniversary Gala celebrating the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. This event will raise money supporting scholarships for our future veterinarians and scientists.

Celebration Arts’ season of Black Girl Magic continues with its production of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work in 2002. In 2023 it won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

On June 17, 2021, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was signed into law, effectively making June 19tha federally recognized holiday. It commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and the June 19, 1865 enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. In honor of the holiday, two local theatres are having a celebration at each of their venues before leading a walk to the state capitol to join others observing the day. I was honored to speak with Lyndsay Burch, Executive Director and CEO of the B St. Theatre, and Elizabeth Baidoo, Marketing and Community Development Manager of Celebration Arts, about what they have planned for the community this Wednesday.

I’m old enough to remember when “The Newlywed Game” was live on television…before reruns. It was fascinating to discover how well couples knew each other; so, when the B St. Theatre announced their production of The Newlywed Game, the winner of the 2023 New Comedies Festival, I knew it was going to be a must-see.

‘Tis the season for Shakespeare! Big Idea Theatre is now showing their gender-bending version of Much Ado About Nothing, just in time to celebrate Pride. This modernized take is playing through June 29th.

Glamour, glitz, and gams galore! You’ll get this and more with 42nd Street, which opens up the 72nd Broadway at Music Circus season. This love letter to Broadway actually didn’t start there. It took over forty years after the film was released to be made into a Broadway musical. It made its debut at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1980 and won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Artistic mastermind and unparalleled choreographer Jacob Gutierrez-Montoya is having a summer to remember. He is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his philanthropic dance company, Sacramento Contemporary Dance Theatre, while also being recognized by Comstock’s Magazine as one of their 2024 Young Professionals. While juggling multiple other projects, he took the time to speak to BWW about SCDT’s anniversary performance, his new Fringe entry, and all of the exciting things still to come in 2024.

Long before Walt Disney, Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio entertained children in a weekly Italian magazine. In 1883 it was turned into a novel and has since inspired many adaptations, including the play currently running at Freefall Stage. The True Adventures of Pinocchio, adapted by Louis Lippa, is showing through June 16th.

Edward Albee, whose odd middle-aged characters have fascinated American theatre-goers since 1962’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, explores what is perhaps his most interesting family dynamic in the 2002 Tony Award-winning play The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? The play is, as you might imagine, about a goat. This is not just any goat, though; this is a home-wrecking goat. Now, you might wonder how a farm animal could possibly drive a wedge in a solid family unit. Well, I’m here to tell you that it does so in a provocative and gut-busting script of genius and absolute hilarity.

Take a quick trip to Las Vegas and you’ll be flooded with Elvis sightings. Impersonators walking the strip, tribute artists, and even a wedding chapel pay homage to the man many know as the King of Rock and Roll. Elvis’s appeal goes even further than that, reaching millions worldwide and sparking lookalike contests all over the globe. How does one stand out in a veritable sea of Elvis? BroadwayWorld spoke to Matt Stone, a talented tribute artist who is performing at The Sofia this weekend. He and the Graceland Band will grace the stage on their first visit to Sacramento with their nationally acclaimed concert on June 9th.

Death becomes her…I think. Or maybe it becomes him. Someone might be dead. Or not. Florian Zeller’s The Height of the Storm leaves many unanswered questions at the Black Point Theatre, ones that I’m not sure I will ever understand. I suppose that’s the point, as Zeller said, “…For me the theatre is, above all, the place for questions, not answers. For doubt more than certainty or conviction.”  

Just in time for Mother’s Day, Capital Stage has revealed a play that is perfect for celebrating mothers. It also happens to be my favorite of their offerings to date. Cry it Out, by Molly Smith Metzler, tackles an important conversation that often gets overlooked, and does it with insight, grace, and a whole lot of humor.

September 11, 2001, is a date that is seared into the consciousness of everyone old enough to remember the events of that day. While the tragedy was overwhelming, the courage and solidarity that emerged was overflowing. Come From Away shows some of the best of humanity and leaves us with hope that human kindness will always prevail. The public agrees, as its 2017 Broadway premiere garnered seven Tony Award nominations.

When we hear The Odd Couple, most people imagine the 1970s television series starring Walter Matthau and Art Carney. What some might not know was that it originated as a Neil Simon play on Broadway in 1965. After the success of the film and television versions, Simon adapted the play in 1985 to feature two female roommates, Florence Ungar and Olive Madison. Women’s Theatre Collective brings this play, The Odd Couple – Female Version, to the Ooley Theatre through May 5th.