Arts DEVO

Ashland South? There will be a couple dozen different theater productions in Butte County this winter/spring, featuring more than 250 total performances plus rehearsals, set-building, costume-making and those grueling all-night wrap parties. That’s thousands of hours devoted to our local theater arts.

Though I certainly slobbered over the fun had at local theaters in 2009, the new year (the 35th for Theatre on the Ridge, and 10th for Chico Cabaret) promises even more excitement and variety:

January

• 14-31: Paint Your Wagon. Chico Theater Company.

• 14-Feb. 7: Lucky Stiff. Theatre on the Ridge.

• 14-Feb. 13: Nunsense. Chico Cabaret.

• 15-31: An Evening of One Acts. Birdcage Theatre.

• 25-Feb. 7: Babylon Heights. Ever wondered what the Munchkins thought of Dorothy and all those flying monkeys? Scottish playwright (and author of the Trainspotting novel) Irvine Welsh looks behind the scenes of the Wizard of Oz through the eyes of its littlest players. Blue Room Theatre.

February

• 7-20: What Corbin Knew. Rogue Theatre at 1078 Gallery.

• 13-March 7: Godspell. Chico Theater Company.

• 19-March 7: The House of Blue Leaves. Birdcage Theatre.

• 25-March 15: tick, tick… BOOM! A different musical by Rent’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning author/composer Jonathan Larson. This one is about one struggling artist, a composer who is about to turn 30 and has yet to make it in the world of theater. Blue Room Theatre.

March

• 3-7: Lysistrata. In America in 2010, it seems more than appropriate to dredge up a 2,500-year-old Greek comedy about women withholding sex from the menfolk until they call a truce to an ongoing war. School of the Arts, Harlen Adams Theatre, Chico State.

• 3-27: Loud. Chico Cabaret.

• 25-April 10: The Dice House. Blue Room Theatre.

• 25-April 10: Butterflies are Free. Theatre on the Ridge.

• 26-April 11: East Baltimore Street. Birdcage Theatre.

• 27-April 18: South Pacific. Chico Theater Company.

April

• 1-10: Frozen. A story about the aftermath of the disappearance of a 10-year-old told through three characters—the girl’s mother, the killer and the killer’s psychiatrist. Rogue Theatre at 1078 Gallery.

• 7-11: Anon(ymous): An Adaptation of the Odyssey. School of the Arts, Wismer Theatre, Chico State.

• 8-24: Keeper of Fury. A play based on a story by Bruce Lee and featuring live karate by actual black belts? How could you not go see this? Chico Cabaret.

• 23-May 9: The Cocktail Hour. Birdcage Theatre.

• 27-29: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Butte College’s annual Shakespeare outreach program does a series of matinees of the Bard’s popular comedy. Butte College’s black box theater.

May

• 2-15: Macbeth. Rogue Theatre at 1078 Gallery.

• 5-9: Rent. School of the Arts, Laxson Auditorium, Chico State.

• 6-22: Glengarry Glen Ross. Despite the fact that I was recently made aware that the infamous Alec Baldwin scene was written just for the film version (and won’t be part of the play), I am still stoked to see Mamet’s tense story about an office of shady real-estate agents performed on a local stage. Chico Cabaret.

• 8-23: Cinderella. Chico Theater Company.

• 19: Willy Wonka, Jr. Presented by The Playhouse and Chico Performances, Laxson, Chico State.