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Healdsburg
December 31, 2025

Laundry, liquor and loose lips

Drama on stage at The 222
There are some great production elements here. Director Emilie Talbot’s staging is clean and very effective for The 222’s unorthodox space. The costumes by Naomi Arnst are excellent. The choice of the yellow dress is especially perfect for clueing the audience into the setting of the show and the time period...

Interview with the Producer at 222

For the past four years there’s been a new stage in town: The 222. Located inside the Paul Mahder Gallery on Healdsburg Avenue, the risers and lights are used for many other kinds of performance art at The 222.. We spoke with Aldo Billingslea, the producer of the Theater series at The 222, to learn about the challenges and advantages of theater in Healdsburg.

Shakespeare in the Piazza, with pizza

'Two Gentlemen of Verona' at Bacchus Landing
'Two Gentlemen of Verona' is one of Shakespeare’s earlier works. I’ve always thought it was one of the Bard’s easier plays to follow, written before he got all “Shakespeare-y.” It’s the tale of besties Valentine and Proteus whose friendship is tested by, of course, a woman.

Raven Theater stages seasonal plays, concerts

On stage in open-air "Midsummer Night's Dream"
The Raven Players’ offerings begin as soon as Thursday, July 31, with the performance of one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," at the newest Raven venue, Bacchus Landing. While it’s technically not part of the Raven Players’ season, it fits the playbill nonetheless.

Swamp sisters in Southern Gothic play

'Sugar Bean Sisters' in Cloverdale
Reviewer Harry Duke last spent time with The Sugar Bean Sisters eight years ago at a production by the Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park. His general reaction at the time was that it was a very strange show. If anything, now it's stranger.

Summer’s school of hard rock

'School of Rock' on stage
Andrew Lloyd Webber bought the stage rights to the 2003 Richard Linklater/Mike White film starring Jack Black and joined with playwright Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey!) and lyricist Glen Slater (The Little Mermaid) to bring the tale of Dewey Finn’s transformation of a group of prep school students into rock stars to Broadway as a musical. It's now at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg.

The trouble with texting :)

Actors Brady Morales-Woolery and Lizzie Calogero
Who hasn't been tripped up by the slip of a finger while texting with family or been infuriated with ducking autocorrect? Who hasn’t mistakenly wished for the death of their grandfather in a text chain with a sibling and then found themselves exploring options for doing so? That's the premise of 'The Burdens,' the play now on stage at The 222...

Raven goes retro with ‘Home, I’m Darling’

Main actors in a scene from 'Home I'm Darling' at the Raven
Playwright Laura Wade’s "Home, I'm Honey" considers what happens to a contemporary young married couple when they embark on a lifestyle change that revolves around immersion into the world of 1950s Britain. See the Raven Players work it out on stage until May 25...

‘Bridges’ Over Black and White Waters

Actors Elliot Davis and Katie Watts-Whitaker
Even those who haven’t read the book or watched the movie probably know the plot: Francesca Johnson (Katie Watts-Whitaker) is a disillusioned Italian war bride now stuck in an Iowa farmhouse with a stereotypical American farmer (Matthew T. Witthaus) as a husband. Her husband and the kids have gone to the fair, leaving Francesca alone for four days... Entanglements ensue.

Madison County Replaces River City on Raven Stage

Director Joe Gellura watches rehearsals for 'Bridges of Madison County'
“We were down to 'Man of La Mancha' and this show,” director Joe Gellura said. “And Bridges of Madison County' was a show that I personally wanted to do since I saw it on Broadway 11 years ago, with the original cast.” That production won two Tony Awards, including for Best Original Score and Best Orchestration for the composer, Jason Robert Brown.
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Arts & Entertainment

Actors Elliot Davis and Katie Watts-Whitaker

Critics pick theaters’ top tix

It’s that time of year when critics look back and attempt to encapsulate an entire year’s worth of productions into one easy-to-read list of the “best of” the year. Why? Because ...
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