Come dressed in pajamas! Top three audience favorites win a prize from Secrets Boutique.
It’s burlesque (hetero and genderqueer), sketch comedy, song&dance, improv and more.
Join Cheryl and her guests Magic Moe, Velvet Thorn, Blue, Serena Elize, Alia Beeton, Shan Free and Noah Sternhill for this sexy, smart vaudeville show.
OUT of Site: Sylvester, The Mighty Real — a collaboration between Eye Zen and our community partner SF Heritage.
WHEN
Previews begin Friday June 23rd; Opening July 1st
Fridays @ 12pm
Saturdays & Sundays @ 12pm & 4pm
WHERE
Beginning on the East Side of Buena Vista Park
@ intersection of Haight St & Baker St
Approx. 1 MILE loop
Written by the beloved writer and public theologian Marvin K. White & Directed by Michael French.
We’re finally going to get to tell the hidden history of queer ancestor, Sylvester in the Haight!
From July to September of 2023, Eye Zen will be performing the most ambitious and important project in our almost two-decade history, about Sylvester, a gay, Black, gender-fluid San Franciscan singer who gained international celebrity status for his gold records that soared to the top of the Billboard charts.
Out of Site: Sylvester, The Mighty Real will take place in the Haight where Sylvester first lived and later performed, elevating the hidden history of San Francisco’s very own international disco diva Sylvester who brought an uncompromising vision to his music and gender-non-conforming persona. The show will look at racial equity within the queer liberation movement in San Francisco’s Haight neighborhood of the 60’s and 70’s against the backdrop of the civil rights and anti-war movements, student uprisings, feminism, and gay liberation.
The commission and production of this premiere is made possible in part by the Gerbode Foundation Special Award in the Arts program, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the The MAP Fund. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
The June 14 show is a special PRIDE event. Host Cheryl King brings back some of your favorite Forbidden Kiss players performing their specialties. The event is a benefit for Positive Images.
Transcendence Theatre Company is proud to present their first ever Pride Night on Saturday, July 1. In partnership with Sonoma County nonprofits Positive Images and Face to Face, Transcendence will present an evening for the LGBTQIA+ community and allies to come together in a safe space to enjoy a night of Broadway Under The Stars. The evening will include a pre-show picnic with delicious fare from LGBTQIA+ owned and operated vendors such as Corner 103 and Noble Folk, signature cocktails, special pre-show performances, and more. A portion of all wine and beverage sales from the evening will be donated to participating nonprofits.
“The LGBTQIA+ community has always been a wonderful supporter of the arts here in Sonoma County, and we are happy to celebrate Pride at Transcendence by creating an environment that is affirming and enjoyable for all.” added Miller.
Transcendence Theatre Company, California Wine Country’s award-winning, premiere entertainment experience, has announced casting for The Beat Goes On, the company’s first show in their Broadway Under the Stars 2023 season of original outdoor musical revues. The Beat Goes On runs June 16 through July 2 on the breathtaking grounds of Belos Cavalos in Kenwood.
Tickets for The Beat Goes On start at $35 and are on sale now. Groups of ten or more save up to 20%. Visit BestNightEver.org or call 877-424-1414 for more information.
Transcendence brings talented musical theatre artists from all over the country – many from the stages of Broadway – to perform for Bay Area audiences. The cast of The Beat Goes On features veteran Transcendence Theatre Company members Carl Draper (Spamalot – National Tour), David R. Gordon (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – National Tour), Aaron LaVigne (Broadway’s Spiderman), Cory Lingner (Broadway’s An American in Paris), Courtney Kristen Liu (Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera), Kelly MacMillan (The MUNY’s Footloose), and Erin Maya (The Hangar Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors). Making their Transcendence debuts are Juli Biagi (Anderson Symphony Orchestra’s South Pacific), Elise Frances Daniells (Harmony – Off Broadway), Joseph Lee (North Texas Performing Arts Repertory Theatre’s Songs For A New World), Ariel Neydavoud (The Secret Garden – National Tour), Jenna Lea Rosen (Goodspeed’s Anne of Green Gables), Macy Watts (Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s May We All), and Tray Wright (Argyle Theatre’s Footloose).
“We are so excited to work with this incredible group of performers, and to delight the Sonoma Valley audience with their talents,” said Amy Miller, Transcendence Theatre Company’s artistic director.
Conceived and directed by beloved Transcendence veteran Susan Draus (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), The Beat Goes On celebrates the grooviest, hippest, and most rockin’ hits from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. Originally slated to be a part of the 2020 season lineup before the pandemic shutdown, this musical time-traveling show marks Draus’ Transcendence directorial debut.
“I am delighted that we get to open the season with a show that honors all the throwback hits that so many generations love and grew up listening to,” shared Draus. “Music has the ability to bring joy and spark memories, and it’s my hope that the audience will feel that same joy they felt the very first time they heard their favorite songs.”
Joining Draus on the creative team are Sierra Lai Barnett (Associate Director/Choreographer), Cory Lingner (Associate Choreographer – ’70s), Alex Hartman (Associate Choreographer – ’80s), Eryn Allen (Music Director), and Matthew Zweibel (Associate Music Director).
Production team includes Alisha Ramos-Epps (Production Manager), Jeffrey Porter (Technical Director), Paul Hudson (Lighting Designer), Brett Rothstein (Sound Designer), Jenny Foldenauer (Costume Supervisor), Rachel Anderson (Props Coordinator), Sarah E. T. Jackson (Production Stage Manager), and Lily Archambault (Assistant Stage Manager).
Jam to the music of The Beatles and the Stones, the Mamas and the Papas, Donna Summer, Prince, Madonna, and more. And if the music moves you, break out the bell bottoms, miniskirts, leggings, and scrunchies. Whether this cool collection of song and dance brings back memories or creates new ones, you’re sure to love every beat!
The 2023 season also includes:
THE FULL MONTY
Broadway’s hit musical comedy
July 28 – August 20, 2023
Jack London State Historic Park
AN ENCHANTED EVENING
A magical night of Broadway and beyond
September 8 – 17, 2023
Jack London State Historic Park
TRANSCENDENCE’S BROADWAY HOLIDAY
An intimate celebration of cozy holiday cheer
December 1 – 10, 2023
Hanna Boys Center
AUDITIONS May 21 & 22 for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical – Bohemian Style! Occidental Center for the Arts is proud to present this 60’s’ take on Shakespeare’s classic tale, featuring songs by The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and more! This exciting all ages (8 years and up) community theater production, directed by Starr Hergenrather with musical direction by Miles McKenzie, will be presented in the outdoor amphitheater on July 29 & 30 and August 5 & 6. Auditions on Sunday May 21: Kids 1-2:30 pm; Teens/Adults 3-6 pm. Monday May 22: Kids 4-5:30 pm; T/A 6:30-9 pm.
Rehearsals begin in June for teens/adults. Kids rehearse in KIDS THEATRE CAMP July 10-13 and 7-20, 9am to Noon. All experience levels welcome! Audition: 1 minute monologue, 1 minute song; any acrobatic, juggling skills, musical instrument if you play, dance skills, etc. Details/ Sign up for audition at www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. Send any questions to [email protected]. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465; 707-874-9392.
| NCAC Presents Juke Joint Jukebox!!! |
| A Cabaret Benefiting 6th Street Playhouse |
| 6th Street Playhouse is honored and excited to host the North California Arts Collective (NCAC) as they take you on a musical journey through the history of American juke joints and jukeboxes in this highly entertaining and educational cabaret! |
| You’ll get 90-minutes of iconic music, historical narrative, and a talented cast of theatrical singers. You’ll learn about the “jook’s” inception during slavery and how it transformed through the late 1960s. You’ll experience the juke joint lifestyle through the artists and sounds that created it. You’ll hear more than 25 songs like, “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” “Minnie the Moocher,” and “Dancing in the Streets.” You’ll feel moved, elated and inspired. Creator/Director Gary Stanford Jr. leads a phenomenal team of Bay Area performers, including Sumi Cardinale, Sharon Griffiths, Parker Jones, Daniel Marchbanks, Annabelle Terry, Monica Airo, J. Demetrius Olivier, David Lee Hall and Aja Gianola-Norris, who will also play harp. Benjamin Sakaguchi will accompany the performance on piano, and Joe Hudelson will play the drums. NCAC is a Bay Area theater company dedicated to bringing new stories, cultures, and opportunities to the arts community and beyond. The organization is proud to support the 6th Street Playhouse through this performance. |
Juke Joint Jukeboxcreated and directed by Gary Stanford Jr. May 21, 20237:30 pm (Doors Open at 6:30 pm) One NIght ONLY!Get Tickets Now! |
The BBC reports:
Australian entertainer Barry Humphries, best known for his comic character Dame Edna Everage, has died aged 89. The star had been in hospital in Sydney after suffering complications following hip surgery in March. He had a fall in February.
Humphries’ most famous creation became a hit in the UK in the 1970s and landed her own TV chat show, the Dame Edna Everage Experience, in the late 1980s.
Melbourne-born Humphries moved to London in 1959, appearing in West End shows such as Maggie May and Oliver! Inspired by the absurdist, avant-garde art movement dada, he became a leading figure of the British comedy scene alongside contemporaries like Alan Bennett, Dudley Moore and Spike Milligan.
Sky News reports:
The self-described giga-star was known for her extravagant spectacles, rapier wit, rich source of double entendres, fondness for gladioli flowers and the famous greeting “Hello possums!”. Humphries also played Sir Les Patterson, an unkempt, lecherous, uncouth, drunken character who held multiple fictional diplomatic positions, including cultural attaché to the Far East and minister for the yartz (arts).
Paying tribute, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said: “For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone. But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry.” A statement from Humphries’ family said: “He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit.”
Pink News reports:
In 2016, Humphries defended the philosopher and writer Germaine Greer, who described transgender women as “men who believe that they are women and have themselves castrated”. Humphries said he agreed with Greer, and mentioned Caitlyn Jenner as part of the discussion.
“I agree with Germaine! You’re a mutilated man, that’s all. Self-mutilation, what’s all this carry on?” he told The Telegraph. Three years later, Humphries claimed his position had been “grotesquely interpreted” – but didn’t not offer further clarification.
In a 2018 interview with The Spectator he also claimed that being trans is a fashion, adding: “How many different kinds of lavatory can you have? And it’s pretty evil when it’s preached to children by crazy teachers.”
The Guardian reports:
Over his career, Humphries appeared in films playing characters such as the Great Goblin in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Bruce the great white shark inFinding Nemo.
He also appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Showsequel Shock Treatment; the Spice Girls film Spice World; and had a small role in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
Humphries was married four times, and had four children. His last marriage, to the actor Lizzie Spender in 1990, lasted to his death. “Why has this last marriage endured? Oh, because I’m a bit smarter now,” he once said. “The truth is I’m not a very easy person to be married to.”
| Two black men stand on an American street corner, passing the time. Woven into the familiar patterns of their small talk are their fears, dreams, and hopes for a future promised land. When their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of two strangers, everything they’ve discussed is suddenly thrown into question. With a deliberate nod to ‘Waiting for Godot,’ PASS OVER is both a joyful celebration and a powerful lament for the experience of the black man in America.Directed by Serena Elize-Flores Written by Antoinette Nwandu |
| In the cut-throat world of high finance, making the next billion is the name of the game – and whatever you need your PR team to do to spin it. But what is the human cost of getting the deal done? DRY POWDER is a razor-sharp, dark comedy about ruthlessness and greed and how the decisions made in America’s corporate boardrooms can impact us all.Directed by Jenny Hollingworth Written by Sarah Burgess |
| Tensions run high in this groundbreaking drama by Lorraine Hansberry. Set in the 1950’s, three generations of a Black working-class family fail to thrive in a cramped apartment on Chicago’s Southside. A widow and her two grown children eagerly await an insurance payout they see as a means to escape their plight and achieve the American dream.Only each has their own idea of what that is and how to use the money to achieve it. Lorraine Hansberry wrote this Pulitzer Prize-winning play, her first, at age 27. Her’s was the first play by a Black female to be produced on Broadway.She was also the first Black playwright to receive both the Drama Desk Award and the Critics’ Circle award for Best Play. A Raisin in the Sun is a character driven play that, for the first time on Broadway, depicted Black Americans as realistic, complex individuals. This is a play for everyone. It is an important part of our history, and…it is theatre at its best. You’ll leave 6th Street Playhouse enriched by this classic American play. |
| A Raisin in the Sun The American Classic of a Family’s ‘Dream Deferred.’written by Lorraine Hansberrydirected by Leontyne Mbele-Mbong March 2-19, 2023 Opening Night features a champagne reception to celebrate the show with your friends, the cast and artistic team. Post-show Discussions Friday, Mar 10, Thursday Mar 16 & Sunday Mar 19 where you can learn more and discuss your thoughts with the cast and director. |
| BOOK your tickets today for this enduring play! |
