Urinetown is a silly, overacted, melodramatic, musical political satire that is pure excessive hilarity. The talented cast of North Coast Repertory Theatre’s incarnation of the show understands the assignment and creates an entirely entertaining evening of must-see theater. The surface of this production is stupid, stereotypical theater complete with puns, gags, terrible writing and an onslaught of […]
David Powell
Posted inArts + Scene
Patrons in the Arts
As Leo Tolstoy once said, “All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Every member of the MacTwatt Clan’s 10-year family reunion reveals unique unhappiness as they meet again after years apart in the Logger Legends, Liars and Lookers, the third in the Logger Bar-located series of plays written and directed […]
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Music Tonight: Friday, Dec. 6
Bay Area rap superstar and former collaborator and friend of the late, great Mac Dre, Andre Nickatina is back in town for an evening at the Arcata Theatre Lounge. As he is a man who needs little introduction in these parts, I’ll just add that doors are at 7 p.m., and tickets are going for […]
Posted inMusic
Chariots of Fire
The rains have broken for the moment and we are in the season of low sun, when the horizon can be a blinding thing to behold at the edges of the day, particularly in the hours leading to sunset. That December sun is really something, particularly if you are driving, riding a bike or trying […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Sunday, Nov. 24
The Humboldt Committee for Peace and Justice is putting on a walk and vigil for the victims of the ongoing collective punishment, ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine. People of conscience are encouraged to gather at the foot of D street at 11 a.m., where they will then peacefully walk to the Old Town Gazebo […]
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Under the Milky Way
When I was a boy, I had a recurring dream about a vast, white expanse, possibly snow, possibly fine sand, probably something entirely different. Across this ethereal tundra walked a procession of animals, creatures of all kinds from across the world. Giraffes, kangaroos, lions and cheetahs mingled with penguins, bright green frogs, tortoises, ostriches, butterflies […]
Posted inMusic
Party Safe
Last week I made a sly appeal to the Fates, suggesting we could all use a little break from the chaos of the front page and the never-ending news cycle of battery and degradation. It’s tricky putting out overtures like that because the sincerity of desire and the hope of fulfillment is usually tempered with […]
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Rocky Horror Revival Rises in Ferndale
I wish I’d brought my Erotica red lip stain to Ferndale Repertory Theatre to mark the first-time audience members’ foreheads with a large V to anoint them into the cult that is the The Rocky Horror Show, first mounted in 1973 with music and lyrics by Richard O’Brien, and adapted for the screen as The […]
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Noises Off! Hits the Mark
For the first show since shuttering its doors two years ago due to COVID-19, Ferndale Repertory has staged playwright Michael Frayn’s popular farce Noise Off. It’s an ambitious choice — the plot is complicated, the dialogue is demanding; missed lines or uneven timing could easily derail the comedy of errors. Fortunately, the cast, under the […]
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Space Force
As a Brit, I’m a sucker for a good pantomime and this year’s offering at the Arcata Playhouse is up there with the best. Robin Hood – Knight of the Stars: A Space-Capade is a space-capade of the highest comedic order. It has everything a good panto should — a ludicrously over-costumed and over-made up […]
Posted inMusic
Animal Instincts
I am writing this in my living room on my couch with a large Italian mastiff snoring like a Sardinian sow pig behind me. She doesn’t mean any offense and, in fact, Grinza is a sweet dog, stinkiness notwithstanding. She’s better company than most people, if I am being honest. I mention her because she […]