In Apartheid South Africa, Miss Helen's community expected her to do the "right" thing after her husband's death:  close the drapes to keep out the light.  Instead, Miss Helen has visions of the illuminated city of Mecca, which she recreates in a garden of concrete images.  Prejudice and misunderstanding face off against love and understanding in this beautifully layered examination of age and love, convention and individualism.

Our Composer in Residence has created a hauntingly lyrical Celtic score - soaring and melodic, yet richly layered - to convey the turmoil and joy of a Pennsylvania coal-mining village circa 1870.  The early struggle to unionize its labor force is the backdrop for a tender and dramatic look at the lives, loves and strife between miners, management and church.

The Wedding is underwritten in part by Community Foundation Sonoma County (www.sonomacf.org), and Meet the Composer, Inc. funding from Meet the Composer, Inc. is provided with the support of National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP and Virgil Thompson Foundation.

The artistic genius and outrageous life of Paul Gauguin is revealed through live performance, puppetry, video projection of his art, shadow magic, music, dance and texts taken from Gauguin's extraordinary writings.  Gauguin's Shadow is a wild theatrical adventure that pulls out all the stops to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Gauguin's death.

Also Theater Workshops with Fred Curchack,
November 22 & 29, 2003 (12:00-4:00 PM), One workshop - $60 / Two - $100
Internationally acclaimed theater artist Fred Curchack offers acting exercises and techniques aimed at releasing undiscovered sources of energy, liberating the voice, movement, and imagination, and creating original art.  Total beginners and professional artists alike are welcome, and you may join either of the two workshops.

The beloved film classic takes a musical turn in the hands of a most capable ensemble of teens.  George Bailey put his life on hold for the good of others, and now he faces utter ruin.  A trip into his past helps him to appreciate a life well lived.

Young pure voices will warm hearts with a multi-cultural holiday celebration.

Petaluma Women’s Chorus joins forces with the Cinnabar Chamber Singers to present a joyous holiday concert at St. Vincent’s Church in Petaluma.  The big event at this year's Petaluma Sings! Holiday Concert will be a performance of Ariel Ramirez' Navidad Nuestra, a folk drama of the Nativity based on the rhythms and traditions of Hispanic America, sung in Spanish and featuring special guest, tenor David Phillips.  Along with carols from Puerto Rico and Trinidad, a 16th century setting of "O Magnum Mysterium", and Russian songs by Cesar Cui and Pavel Chesnokov, the program also includes Johann Sebastien Bach's joyous motet, "Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden" (Praise the Lord, all ye Nations), and such holiday favorites as "I Wonder as I Wander" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

We understand the following was sent to the Editor of the Press Democrat by Betty Nudelman of Healdsburg:

Having just had a wonderful theater experience, I pinch myself to realize that we who live in Sonoma County are so lucky to have such talented artists living and performing here.
When Cinnabar Theater was denied rights to produce a play 3 weeks before opening, they created a wonderful cabaret- style review called Laughin' at the Ritz. The talented cast lead by Ellie Lichtenstein, with actors Laura Jorgensen, Liz Jahren and Nancy Preblich  and soprano Eileen Morris worked cooperatively, in the best theater style. They wove songs of Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill and Cole Porter, with a very witty story, and Laughin' at the Ritz was born!
Reminiscent of the old Judy Garland and Andy Rooney movies-"Let's make a show." these talented people did just that. Joined by a great Cinnabar Palm Court Orchestra, a trio of accordion, violin and cello, the cabaret lived.  In true cabaret style there even was a Dance Break with audience participation between Act I and II.
This was a charming evening. Thank you Cinnabar for making lemonade when the world threw you lemons.

Pridament, a rigid father stricken with remorse for having provoked his son to flee the family home, searches out the magician Aleandre in the hope that he will help him find out what happened to the wayward boy.  After several false starts, passionate reenactments, comic delusions and confusions, the truth is revealed, but what a journey!  All the fun, however, is in getting there, traversing the territory on which theater thrives:  fantasy, witchcraft, transcended place and time.

The King of Navarre and his three comrades take a vow:  no womanly distractions while they pursue their studies.  Ah, but did they reckon on the appearance of the queen of France, accompanied by three ladies-in-waiting?  How inconvenient!  Not for Shakespeare, of course, who sports with some of the loveliest paeans to the language of love, and leaves us with a sparkle and a smile.

The most beloved and performed of Verdi's works, La Traviata tells the timeless tale of forbidden love and noble sacrifice:  when a young man falls for a courtesan with a heart of gold his father intervenes to preserve the family's reputation, with tragic results.  With gorgeous melodies, at once soaring, opulent, and intimately heartbreaking, the opera is a romantic whirlwind - fast-paced, turbulent and powerful.

Celebrate life, nature and renewal with the two adult choruses at the United Church of Christ in Petaluma.

The fairies are not happy over the banishment of their sister Iolanthe for marrying a mortal and having a child. That child, Strephon, is now a young man, in love with Phyllis, a "Ward in Chancery" who is in turn highly sought after by a gaggle of peers in the House of Lords.  A delightful tale, perfectly matched to the wit and whimsy of G&S.