By Patti Roberts

Let’s do the “Time Warp” again! In the spirit of the spooky season, Green Valley Theatre Company is staging their annual rendition of “The Rocky Horror Show” — this time with a Shakespearean theme. It’s fun, campy, and has a devoted fan base that knows the lyrics and audience participation moments.  

Teatro Espejo’s nod to Dios de los Muertos in their staging of “The Language of Flowers,” described as a Chicanx/Latine adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” recognizes seasonal traditions.  

But this October is perhaps one of the scariest times in recent memory with the lead-up to the presidential election, and two theater companies are prepared with political-themed productions: B Street Theatre’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” and Big Idea Theatre’s “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” 

“The Rocky Horror Show”  

“The Rocky Horror Show” started out as a 1973 musical and was adapted to a 1975 movie that drew annual Halloween midnight showings where audience members would participate  in some of the scenes.  

Green Valley Theatre embraced the stage version titled “The Rocky Horror Show” in 2008 and has made it a yearly event complete with a live orchestra and “a stellar cast of Transylvanians.”  

Each year they change themes — in the past there have been pirates, steam punkers and hippies. This year it’s Elizabethan Shakespeare, incorporating the traditional Rocky Horror storyline of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and finding refuge in the strange home of a mad scientist. Mayhem ensues, though unlike the midnight movie showings, there will be no rice or bread tossing by the audience. 

Venue: Cosumnes River College Recital Hall

Address: 8401 Center Parkway, Sacramento 

Dates: Oct. 11 – Nov. 2 

Cost: $25 

Tickets: greenvalleytheatre.com 

“The Language of Flowers” 

Teatro Espejo is staging “The Language of Flowers” by Edit Villarreal as its first play of their 50th anniversary season. It’s described as an adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” set in Los Angeles during Dia de los Muerto, which results in an unexpected twist to the plot. The production includes “live musicians, an ensemble of calaveras, and a love story as old as time.” 

Venue: West Sacramento Black Box Theatre 

Address: 1075 W Capitol Ave., Sacramento

Dates: Oct. 10 – Oct. 20 

Cost: $25 

Tickets: teatroespejo.com 

“What the Constitution Means to Me” 

Constitution is a word we’re hearing more than usual lately.

“What the Constitution Means to Me” by Heidi Schreck, now showing at the B Street Theatre, dips into many pertinent issues including women’s rights, immigration, the Supreme Court and the history of the United States as seen through 15-year-old Heidi — who wins a Constitutional debate competition — and Heidi again as an adult reflecting on her previous understanding of the founding document. 

B Street Artistic Director Lyndsay Burch says they chose the play because “the play sparks important conversations about the Constitution, our rights and how these ideas affect our everyday lives. We hope it encourages our audiences to think about their role in shaping our democracy and inspires them to get engaged in the process.” 

On Oct.20, B Street Theatre is celebrating  20 years of producing their Family Series with a special event.  

Venue: B Street Theatre

Address: 2700 Capitol Ave., Sacramento

Dates: Oct. 2 – Nov.10 

Cost: $15 – $25 

Tickets: bstreettheatre.org 

“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” 

Big Idea Theatre took into consideration the timing of presenting a play that looks upon politics and gender during the election season, according to Co-Managing Director David Fox.  

“We made a conscious choice almost a year ago to produce a political farce about women working for the president during a presidential election. We knew that the election would be a trying time for everyone, and we wanted to make people laugh while also not ignoring the world around us.” 

“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” opened on Broadway in 2022 and is described as a comedy about “a PR nightmare for the White House as seven women try to keep the President out of trouble.” 

Venue: Big Idea Theatre  

Address: 1616 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento

Dates: Oct. 18 – Nov. 9 

Cost: $15 – $20 

Tickets: bigideatheatre.org 

“Crumbs From the Table of Joy” 

Celebration Arts continues its Black Girl Magic season with “Crumbs From the Table of Joy,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage.  

The play follows 17-year-old Ernestine Crump as she adjusts to a new life in Brooklyn after her mother dies. Celebration Arts says they chose the play because it corresponds with their season by highlighting the interior world of a young Black girl coming of age in the 1950s.  

“It’s a powerful story of family, resilience, and self-discovery. It features black girl magic in the play, which, uncommonly, focuses on the interior world of a young black girl.”  

Venue: Celebration Arts

Address: 2727 B St., Sacramento

Dates: Oct. 11 – Nov. 3 

Cost: $15 – $25 

Tickets: celebrationarts.net 

“The Heart Sellers” 

Hitting another divisive subject matter in the news, Capital Stage is presenting a play about immigrants.   

“The Heart Sellers,” by 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist Lloyd Suh, looks at the 1965 Hart-Celler Act that removed immigration and citizenship restrictions for Asians. It’s set in 1973 and introduces us to two Asian women navigating their first American Thanksgiving. The two — one from the Philippines and the other from South Korea — meet in a grocery store and find they have lots in common, including both the joys and challenges of navigating life in America. There are the pangs of trying to figure out a new country and humor as they try and figure out frozen turkey, disco dancing and Disneyland. 

Turns out three theaters in Northern California were eager to produce the play. In a unique partnership, Capital Stage, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre Company decided they would rotate their openings rather than compete against each other. Capital Stage is the first to stage the play, with the other two producing it next year.  

Venue: Capital Stage 

Address: 2215 J St., Sacramento

Dates: Oct. 16 – Nov. 17 

Cost: $30 – $50 

Tickets: capstage.org 

“Mrs. Doubtfire” 

Does the premise and plot of “Mrs. Doubtfire” make any sense whatsoever? Not really, but if you put logic aside, it’s considered a pretty fun musical romp.  

“Mrs. Doubtfire” was made famous by the 1993 Robin Williams movie about an actor-dad going through a nasty divorce, but still wanting to maintain contact with his kids. So, he creates a Scottish nanny alter ego that fools everyone including his wife and kids. With a big suspension of disbelief, he becomes an integral member of his family in their own home, creating a campy comedy.  

“Mrs. Doubtfire” the musical opened on Broadway in 2021, and has been touring since 2023, finally reaching Sacramento this month. 

Venue: Broadway Sacramento, SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center 

Address: 1301 L St., Sacramento

Dates: Oct. 8 – Oct. 13 

Cost: $42-$134 

Tickets: broadwaysacramento.com 

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.