Sidle up to CTC’s ‘Savannah Sipping’
Clayton Theatre Company celebrates two 2018 Shellie Award winners for their outstanding work in Contra Costa theater. Heidi Cross won the Shellie for Special Contribution to the Performing Arts, and lighting designer Don Stone took home the award for his work in “Lend Me a Tenor.” Up next for the company is the hysterical comedy “The Savannah Sipping Society,” March 28-April 13. Tickets at claytontheatrecompany.com or 925-222-9106.
B-8 artistic director JanLee Marshall stars in David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Fuddy Meers,” playing through March 2. Directed by Max Minton, the comedy is about a woman suffering from a rare form of psychogenic amnesia who encounters a host of hysterical characters as she attempts to recall everything she has forgotten. This is the company’s last show in the downtown Concord location, 2292 Concord Blvd., as it will uproot for the rest of its season. Tickets at 925-890-8877 or b8theatre.org.
Randall Nott stars in the one-man show “I Am My Own Wife,” Doug Wright’s innovative work about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The cross-dressing antique collector’s “museum” served as a key meeting place for LGBT citizens during WWII. Onstage Theatre founder Helen Means directs Nott, portraying more than 40 characters in the story of a survivor of Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin. The show runs March 15-24 at the Martinez Campbell Theatre, 636 Ward St. Tickets at 925- 350-9770 or campbelltheater.com.
The Other Other Theatre Company presents Sarah Ruhl’s “Stage Kiss,” a romantic comedy that blurs the line between onstage, offstage, truth and farce. It’s a classic love story. Actor meets actor. Actor loses actor. When the actors are forced to work together again as romantic leads, is art imitating life of life imitating art? Lexie Lazear directs, with performances Feb. 17-25 at the Vukasin Theatre, Lesher Center, Walnut Creek. Tickets at 925-943-SHOW or leshercenter.org.
Take a bumpy ride with some hard truths about racism in Women of Words (WOW) production of “The White Guy on the Bus.” Avi Jacobson and Chelsea Bearce star in this exploration of the seen and unseen, spoken and hushed sides of white and black America. The play by Bruce Graham runs through March 3 at the Martinez Campbell Theatre. Tickets at womenofwords.brownpapertickets.com or 925-350-9770.
Pittsburg Community Theatre production of Michael Frayn’s comedy “Noises Off” is an hysterical, play-within-a-play look at the follies of theater folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss and passionate affairs turn every performance into a high-risk adventure. It is a delightful backstage farce, brimming with slapstick and complete with slamming doors, falling trousers and sardines. It plays through Feb. 24 at the California Theatre, 351 Railroad Ave, Pittsburg. Tickets at 925-427-1611 or pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com.
The Los Medanos College Equity Series is producing “La Vida Loca,” an apolitical, in-your-face odyssey of Mexican immigrant Carlos Manuel. The one-man show is a highly kinetic monologue that crosses physical and psychological borders as Manuel challenges the assumptions of ethnic and sexual identity. Performances are March 15 and 16 at the California Theatre, 351 Railroad Ave, Pittsburg. Tickets at 925-427-1611 or pittsburgcaliforniatheatre.com.
“A Grand Night for Singing,” a Role Players Ensemble fundraiser, features music from legendary Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein classics. Co-directed by Sharon Sprecher and Tielle Baker with music direction by Greg Zema, the show includes a special appearance by Danville resident Gary DeAtley. It runs March 15 and 16 at the Village Theatre, 233 Front St., Danville. Tickets at roleplayersensemble.com.
Charming Emma Curtin plays a 10-year-old latchkey kid searching her brownstone neighborhood for a pen, a story and a community to write a school report in “Brooklyn Bridge.” This California premiere, penned by Melissa James Gibson, also stars Tom Reilly, Emma Curtin, Terrance Smith and Leticia Duarte. It runs Feb. 28-March 23 at Town Hall Theatre, 3535 School. St., Lafayette. Tickets at 925-283-1557 or townhalltheatre.com.
Kathryn G. McCarty is well-known around the Bay Area as an educator, playwright and journalist. Send comments by email to KGMcCarty@gmail.com.
