“A Bright New Boise” at Big Idea Theatre

One of my favorite things about Big Idea Theatre is that their production values are always top-notch. Excellent actors, beautiful sets, good lighting and sound. This leaves the audience the opportunity to really focus on the content of the work being presented.

This is very much the case with A Bright New Boise, which plays through  July 16. I’m still thinking about the arguments and implications of the play, days after seeing it, and mulling over the literary merit of this dark comedy.

“The Unfortunates” at ACT

In The Unfortunates, a prisoner of war journeys through a dream world (inspired by the classic blues tune “St. James Infirmary”) where he faces a number of enemies and risks everything to save the woman he loves. The characters’ quest for salvation is marked by willingness to make music in the face of loss, and searching for love in times of desperation. It’s as life-affirming as it is dark and imaginative.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the Crest

I have loved Big Bad Voodoo Daddy since middle school, and I went to a concert of theirs in Tahoe when I was… 14 years old? Maybe?

I so clearly recall BBVD’s superb music. How well they played together. Their fantastic stage presence and candor. How huge a crush I had on the bass player.

Nothing has changed. (Dirk, you’re as crush-worthy as ever!)

The band has been together for 22 years, still has all its original members, and is swinging like there’s no tomorrow.

“Next to Normal” at Runaway Stage Productions

Runaway Stage’s Next to Normal at the Black Box Theatre in West Sacramento is excellent. The show deals with a woman’s struggle with bipolar disorder and her family’s struggle to cope. Though there is humor in the piece, the content gets pretty hefty. Grief, drug abuse, suicide and complex relationships pile up on an already difficult subject matter. But it’s a nice change to see some theater with some weight in it every so often.

“Dogfight” at Green Valley Theatre

Dogfight, playing now through May 17 at Green Valley Theatre Company, definitely fits into the “Something Else” category of the company’s slogan: Classics. Comedy. And Something Else.

The story follows U.S. Marine Eddie Birdlace and the shy waitress Rose Fenny, whose relationship starts off on absolutely terrible footing. Eddie and his fellow Marines are participating in a dogfight — a cruel game with simple rules — each Marine puts $50 in the pot, and the man who brings the ugliest date to the party wins the money. Eddie asks Rose to come with him, not mentioning the dogfight, and things go downhill very fast when she finds out about it.

Until We Reach That Day

Monday, April 13, as this issue of the Express is going to press, reports are coming in about a shooting at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

At this time, it is reported that one person has been killed, and that the shooting is an isolated incident.

But even one death on campus is too many.

Finding Balance

According to “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014 Survey,” 9.5 percent of incoming college students frequently felt depressed during the past year. This figure has increased 6.1 percent over the past five years. Of the students surveyed, 34.6 percent felt overwhelmed. That is almost one in every three students feeling stressed out and overwhelmed.

College can make or break students when it comes to stress management. This skill isn’t listed on syllabi — it’s a consequence of the conditions of the educational system and the way the world works.

“In the Heights” at Green Valley Theatre Company

“In the Heights” Green Valley Theatre Company 2015. Photo by Meg Masterson

“In the Heights” Green Valley Theatre Company 2015. Photo by Meg Masterson

“In the Heights” Green Valley Theatre Company 2015. Photo by Meg Masterson

“In the Heights” Green Valley Theatre Company 2015. Photo by Meg Masterson

This is a first. Never before have I reviewed a show that was completely sold out.

I don’t mean the first performance being sold out. Or opening weekend being sold out. I mean the entire run of the show.

What’s even more remarkable is that the show was sold out before opening night.

Defending Freedom of Speech

In Copenhagen on Valentine’s Day, a man was shot and killed at a free speech event.

This came just over a month after “Charlie Hebdo,” the French satirical magazine, was attacked, leaving a dozen people dead, including renowned editor Stéphane Charbonnier.

Good Enough is Not Good Enough

Fifteen California community colleges were initially approved Jan. 20 to begin offering bachelor’s degrees by the Community College Board of Governors.

None of the Los Rios colleges were accepted into the pilot programs.

That’s because the Los Rios Community College District did not apply for a pilot program.