Singer-songwriter Carlos Varela has acquired the rather offbeat title of "Cuba's Bob Dylan." That means that, like Dylan, he writes protest songs. But there are both similarities and differences. Varela from a different era, as well as a different country. Varela was born in 1963, when Dylan was [...]
Just a last-minute reminder: Guitarists Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of the classic Little Feat band will perform twice in Sonoma County this weekend: -- 8 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at the Ramekins Event Center, 450 W Spain St., in Sonoma. $40. 933-0450, ramkekins,com. -- 8 p.m. Sunday, March 28, [...]
Sonoma finds it fitting and proper to stage a play by a great Irish playwright, two days before St. Patrick's Day. And so, Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," directed by Kate Kennedy and produced by Rose Murphy, will be presented at 7 p.m. Monday, March 15, [...]
You'll be able to find a little bit of Woodstock in Sonoma this spring. Crosby, Stills and Nash have been booked to open the sixth annual Sonoma Jazz + festival, with a concert on May 21. Tickets go on sale Thursday, Feb. 18, for Sonoma residents, and Friday, [...]
Sonoma County actor, teacher and author Jim Jarrett is proud that he learned about acting from one of the masters. But in the beginning, growing up in Santa Rosa, Jarrett didn't even know he was interested in theater. "I went to Cardinal Newman High School, and I had never acted [...]
When Antoinette Kuhry founded the Sonoma City Opera 25 years ago, one of her goals was to bring fine singing to a broader audience, especially young people. With that in mind, Sonoma City Opera will present "Joy to the World," a family Christmas concert, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, [...]
Reed Martin, above, and Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Co. are coming to the aid of the Santa Rosa Junior College theater department as it copes with statewide education budget cuts. Martin, who grew up in Sonoma and still lives there, and Tichenor, his longtime writing and acting partner [...]
Last spring, Jennifer King directed a production of “All the Great Books (Abridged)” at Sebastopol’s Sonoma County Repertory Theater that had audiences howling with laughter. If you missed it, don’t worry. You’re getting a second chance. Long a mainstay at the Rep, King is also artistic director at Napa Valley [...]
The San Francisco Mime Troupe actually talks -- a lot. The radical theater company has been speaking out since 1959, after performing only very briefly in silence at first. The troupe is on its 50th anniversary tour, and the current show is "Too Big to Fail," a contemporary satire framed [...]
What is art? Whether it’s oil on canvas or actors on stage, dancers on their toes or comedians doing stand-up, Press Democrat staff writer Dan Taylor covers the fine and lively arts in Northern California. Meet the people, go behind the scenes and get ahead on what’s coming up.