By Dave Kempa
As the 2024 theater season comes to a close here in the Sacramento region, now is a great moment to reflect on the diverse array of productions we’ve had the joy of viewing this year. For many of us, this was our first feeling of normalcy in live theater since early 2020.
Unfortunately for aficionados, November is also a time in which most local companies are wrapping up their final productions of the season, or preparing for their holiday specials.
That means fewer shows opening in the Thanksgiving season. And the few that are playing find themselves in high demand. The Ooley Theatre’s production of “Heathers the Musical,” for instance, is already completely sold out, despite the company adding an extra weekend to the schedule!
But there are still a few great opportunities for theater openings this month. So buy your tickets, bundle up and enjoy:
This timeless comedic classic marked by a séance and a temperamental former wife, first opened in London’s iconic West End in 1941 and ran for 1,997 shows (an all-time record at the time). The company putting on this Sacramento production is a bit younger than that — Hummingbird Theatre Company debuted in 2017 — but they are poised to bring the fun at the unique and intimate Cal Cap Black Box Theatre.
Written by Noël Coward, the late British playwright once described this play as “an improbable farce in three acts.” Looking to mine material for a new book, the socialite novelist Charles Condomine invites a clairvoyant to his home to host a séance. Things go awry, however, when his deceased first wife comes back into his life with an eye to disrupt his second marriage. Farcical hijinks ensue.
Venue: Cal Cap Black Box Theatre, 9845 Horn Road, Suite 100, Sacramento
Dates: Nov. 1-16
Cost: $21.05
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blithe-spirit-tickets-1039386893177
It’s a bit different from your usual local theater production, but the Sacramento Ballet has a story to tell in celebration of its 70-year anniversary. The story, that is, of the most famous vampire in history.
When British choreographer Michael Pink cooked up his Dracula ballet concept in 1996, he wanted to stay as true to Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel as possible. For one weekend only, Sacramentans have the chance to be enthralled by this quirky season opener playing at downtown’s SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center.
When English solicitor John Harker is invited to Transylvania from one Count Dracula, he leaps at the chance to help this mysterious man purchase some property in London. But Harker quickly finds the error of his ways, as mysterious creatures punctuate his visit, and he learns that the count is not all that he seems.
Venue: SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, 1301 L St., Sacramento
Dates: Nov. 1-3
Cost: $103 – $239
Wouldn’t it be loverly to take your date on a jaunt to Yolo County for the Davis Musical Theatre Company’s production of the standard to which all modern musicals are held? You’ll both, no doubt, be speaking in London cockney for the rest of the weekend.
“My Fair Lady,” the rags-to-riches tale of flower girl Eliza Doolittle and phonetician ‘Enry ‘Iggins (Henry Higgins) debuted in 1956, and eventually went on to pass “Oklahoma!” as the longest running Broadway production in history (at the time). It’s always a good choice to experience this one in action, with classic numbers like “The Rain in Spain” and “With a Little Bit of Luck.”
Fun fact: Noël Coward, author of the comedy “Blithe Spirit” previewed above, was the first man to be offered the role of Henry Higgins in the play’s debut season, but he turned it down.
Venue: Davis Musical Theatre Company, 607 Pena Dr., Davis, CA
Dates: November 8 – December 1
Cost: $20
Tickets: https://dmtc.vbotickets.com/event/my_fair_lady_2024/131325
What better way to ease past Thanksgiving and into Sacramento’s rainy winter season (bah humbug!) than with the timeless redemption tale of Ebenezer Scrooge at The Sofia in Midtown?
It’s always fun when a company like B Street Theatre takes a classic story and makes it their own. In this “whimsical and poignant” adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” just three actors will take on the full cast of characters, with countless costume changes and plenty of songs.
Written by comedian/playwright/actor Sam Kebede, whose credits and productions span the nation, this one has promise to be an exciting interpretation of the holiday tale that most of us could recite by memory.
Venue: The Sofia, Home of B Street Theatre, 2700 Capitol Ave., Sacramento
Dates: November 20 – December 29
Cost: $23 – $40
Tickets: https://bstreettheatre.org/mainstage/christmas-carol/
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.
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