Mountain Community Theater serves up Neil Simon’s “Rumors” at full comic speed, with a tight ensemble, precise direction by MarNae Taylor and standout comic turns from the cast. It’s a cocktail party gone spectacularly wrong, and great fun to watch.
Theater reviews
Reviews of productions by theater and drama companies around Santa Cruz County.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘The Last Five Years’ at Santa Cruz Shakespeare: A beautiful production of a frustrating musical
Santa Cruz Shakespeare gives Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years” a thoughtful production, with terrific performances and wonderful live musicianship leading the way. But this musical autopsy of a failed marriage ultimately leaves us with one lingering question: What have we learned from the wreckage?
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s ‘Private Lives’ is deliciously funny — and gloriously toxic
Santa Cruz Shakespeare opens its fall season in delicious style with Noël Coward’s “Private Lives.” Charles Pasternak and Paige Lindsey White are marvelous as the spectacularly combustible couple who can’t seem to stay together or apart, bringing sparkling chemistry and impeccable comic timing to Laura Gordon’s stylish, laugh-out-loud production.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Puccini, poker and profanity: ‘The Girl of the Golden West’ takes an unexpectedly funny ride
Puccini heads to the California Gold Rush in “The Girl of the Golden West,” where a contemporary English translation adds profanity, camp and plenty of unexpected laughs. The emotional depth sometimes gets lost along the way, but three terrific lead voices, particularly Jordan Best’s Minnie, make the production.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Plugged in, yet all alone: All About Theatre connects with ‘Dear Evan Hansen’
All About Theatre takes on the emotionally complicated “Dear Evan Hansen” with strong vocals and a spectacular technical design that brings its story of loneliness, belonging and our digitally connected lives vividly to the stage.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Existential crisis has never been this funny: SH Theatrical takes on Stoppard
New Santa Cruz company SH Theatrical makes an impressive debut with Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” a smart, well-acted and laugh-out-loud production led by Zed Warner, Chris Salem and Ward Willats.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The stories we inherit: SC Shakespeare builds a remarkable ‘Fences’
August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece “Fences” receives a powerfully acted and deeply moving production from Santa Cruz Shakespeare, led by a remarkable Derrick Lee Weeden and an outstanding ensemble.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Pure joy: Renegade’s ‘Rocky Horror’ is one hell of a party
Renegade Theater Company throws one unforgettable party with “The Rocky Horror Show,” Jana Marcus writes, delivering a wildly entertaining production filled with fearless performances, a terrific live band and the kind of audience participation that reminds us why live theater is unlike anything else.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The price of power: Santa Cruz Shakespeare delivers a spellbinding ‘Macbeth’
Paul Mullins masterfully directs Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy, pairing exceptional performances with vivid stagecraft and making Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” a must-see centerpiece of the summer season.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Much Ado About Everything Right’: SC Shakespeare’s perfect summer comedy
Filled with infectious comedy, colorful design, inspired music and superb performances, Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is a joyful season opener, Jana Marcus writes, that proves Shakespeare can still leave audiences laughing four centuries later.
