It’s been a week shy of six years since I’ve written about one
of my Petaluma favorites. On June 15, 1999, I proclaimed, “Long live the
Cinnabar Theater and the spirit of Marvin Klebe.” Cinnabar’s
founder and constant inspiration had recently died after a yearlong battle with
cancer. Though I didn’t know the man, I had grown quite fond of his enterprise.
I was introduced to Cinnabar in 1989 by The Tailor of
Gloucester. Tailor was and remains typical of the Cinnabar’s home-grown
approach to stage entertainment. It was a children’s musical for the Christmas
season, a local adaptation of the Beatrix Potter book
with first-class original music and lyrics by North Bay residents Carol Caywood and Mark Lebold. The Tailor of Gloucester
is a sweet story, made sweeter by the choral contributions of Petaluma
children. My daughter Laurel’s love of singing began as one of the mice who
rescued the ailing Tailor. Like many alumni, she never went on to fame as a
performer, but her life has been enriched by her Cinnabar experience.
At Cinnabar, home-grown does not mean homely. I’ve enjoyed dozens
of finely crafted stage performances there—plays, musicals, and operas. In
their popular Summer Music Festival, I’ve listened to music ranging from Chamber
to Celtic to Klezmer. And Cinnabar is creating new local talent, with
theater and music classes for youth and adults.
I’ve seen plays of great power, to make you wonder, laugh
and weep. Last autumn my wife and I saw Christopher Durang’s
wacky satire “Laughing Wild.” When Cinnabar regular Laura Jorgensen finished her
hilarious stream-of-subconsciousness monologue,
punctuated by her own infectious maniacal laughter, I worried for stagemate John Craven’s ability to measure up. But he did
not disappoint, weaving a matching fabric of empathetic absurdity. His side-splitting
tirade against Puritanism morphed so quickly into a rage against the tragedy of
homophobia and AIDS that tears leaped from my eyes. Such is the quality of
Cinnabar’s drama. You leave the theater feeling more deeply human.
No discussion of Cinnabar is complete without praise for
their operas. Cinnabar’s Marriage of Figaro and Barber of Seville opened up that
world to my family. They were operas performed in *English*, with an eloquent
*and rhyming* translation. And honestly, I have never heard better singing. These
now-accessible Figaro stories proved wonderfully fun and entertaining. We
returned the following weekend with my 82 year-old mother-in-law and our hard-rockin’ sons, age 11 and 17. They, too, dug it.
The performances aren’t all that makes Cinnabar’s shows
accessible—there is location. It’s in Petaluma, not San Francisco or even Santa
Rosa, though it’s good enough to stand out and shine in either place. It’s on a
knoll overlooking town; during intermissions, you can grab a big cookie, step
out into the gravel parking lot and watch the moon rise over Sonoma Mountain,
or get that essential box of Kleenex from your car. And it’s intimate. During
Cabaret, if you took one of the cabaret seats down on the floor, you might have
wound up with a femme fatale singing to you… from your lap. Even the back row
is whispering distance from the stage.
Quite simply, Cinnabar is a treasure, rare and precious. And
like the anything else we love about our community, it depends on community
support. Here are three suggestions. One: buy tickets, attend shows, and enjoy
the wealth (check their calendar at cinnabartheater.org). Two: become a member
“Cinnabarbarian”. Three: Lobby the City Council. For
years, Cinnabar has been allocated a portion of the Transient Occupancy Tax,
which was established to support cultural activities and tourism. Last year, Cinnabar
took a stiff cut. This year, they stand to lose their *entire* promotion budget,
which they say could be a fatal blow. Loss of City support could trigger loss
of funding from other major sources.
The City Council needs to hear from Cinnabar supporters.
Write to the Mayor and Council (see cityofpetaluma.net/cclerk/council.html),
and attend their special budget meeting, June 16th, 6PM, City Hall. Join the Cinnabar supporters by wearing red. If
you are bold, sing out, “Long live the Cinnabar!”