California Theatre - The Golden Bay Times

Footloose kicks up dust in a small town where dancing is not just frowned upon, it is forbidden, which is practically begging for a teenager with rhythm to show up and start trouble. Ren arrives from Chicago expecting an awkward adjustment, but he quickly finds himself in a place ruled by grief, fear, and strict local rules enforced by adults who think control is the same thing as protection. The clash is bigger than dancing. It is about young people wanting to breathe, parents trying to keep pain from repeating itself, and a community stuck between memory and movement. The show has all the fun of a rebellion with a beat, but underneath the music is a story about listening before judging and healing before hardening. With rock-driven energy, teenage sparks, and grown-up heartache simmering beneath the surface, Footloose turns a ban on dancing into a full-bodied argument for joy. It is lively, emotional, and practically dares the audience to keep both feet still.

A Christmas Carol 1939 gives the familiar Dickens ghost story a period-shifted glow, placing Ebenezer Scrooge’s hard heart against a world where Christmas spirit has to fight through cold rooms, colder manners, and the heavy shadow of a changing age. Scrooge begins as the classic miser, sealed tight against generosity, memory, and human need, but the night has other plans. The story sends him through encounters with Christmas Past, Present, and Future, each one peeling back another layer of bitterness and forcing him to face the cost of a life built around money instead of mercy. The 1939 framing adds a vintage atmosphere, giving the tale the feel of an old radio-era morality fable with candlelight, coats, carols, and ghosts moving through the dark. It is sentimental in the best old-fashioned way, but it still has teeth, because Scrooge’s problem is never just greed. It is loneliness turned into policy. The play remains a warm, spooky, redemptive reminder that compassion is not seasonal decoration.