As the North Bay continues to stay socially distant due to Covid-19, local theater companies are inventing new ways to perform, including Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater. This week, the acclaimed organization goes online and opens its virtual run of the one-woman play, The Lady With All the Answers.

“Despite the restrictions of COVID-19, we want to provide the community with a unique theater experience, the opportunity to enjoy streaming theater from the comfort of your home,” says Cinnabar Theater executive director Diane Dragone.

Filmed in Cinnabar’s playhouse in Petaluma with a small staff on hand, the show stars Cinnabar veteran Laura Jorgensen as beloved advice columnist Ann Landers, aka Eppie Lederer, the midwestern woman who took over the popular advice column after Ruth Crowley, the creator of the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ask Ann Landers, died in 1955. Lederer wrote the column for 47 years, and she addressed several taboo topics in that time; writing columns about infidelity, addiction, and even the proper way to hang toilet paper.

The Lady With All the Answers is set in 1975 as Lederer struggles to write a particularly personal column. While she tries to find the words to address her readers, Lederer flips through old newspaper clippings and shares them with the theater audience—essentially talking directly to the crowd throughout the show. At one point she even surveys the audience to get their opinion on the toilet paper topic.

That presents a particular challenge to Cinnabar’s new virtual theatrical experience, though the staff and crew–under longtime director Michael Fontaine–have been preparing all summer, and Jorgensen as Lederer learned to interact with the camera as if it was the audience.

Cinnabar Theater was actually one of the first North Bay theater groups to invest in digital video technology, as the Bohemian reported in July, and before working on The Lady With All the Answers, the theater company honed their video skills by presenting two 30-minute episodes of a new online production, “The CinnaTriv Theater Game Show.” Hosted by another Cinnabar veteran, Clark Sterling, the “Jeopardy”-style game, in which three contestants are tested on their knowledge of all things theater, is available to watch on YouTube now.

The Lady with All the Answers begins streaming online Friday, Sept. 18, and features online performances Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm and 7:30pm through Oct. 4. Tickets are $20 for one device or $40 for multiple devices. Ticket sales will offset ongoing expenses and will support the cast and crew, including set designers, lighting designers, stage managers and videographers involved in the production.

“During these uncertain times, it’s important to keep local theater and the arts alive,” Dragone says. “These virtual performances require the same production efforts and cost as their live counterparts. We hope our patrons and the community will discover the same value, joy and entertainment in our virtual productions that we do in creating them. Theater allows us to escape for a time and encourages us to laugh and listen and be connected, even if we can’t be together in person.”

‘The Lady With All the Answers’ streams online Fridays–Sundays, Sept. 18–Oct. 4. 2pm & 7:30pm. $20-$40. Cinnabartheater.org.

The first “Peanuts” comic strip was published in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950. In the 70 years since then, “Peanuts”–written and drawn by longtime Santa Rosa resident Charles M. Schulz–has become one of the most beloved comic strips ever, with it’s iconic characters appearing in thousands of newspapers as well as animated films, live stage shows and more.

Now, Santa Rosa’s renowned Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center celebrates the comic strip’s Platinum Anniversary and covers other timely topics with a fall season filled with public programs.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Schulz Museum will present the fall season entirely online, meaning “Peanuts” fans around the world will have the opportunity to join in the fun from the comfort of their own home.

Right now, the museum is already offering fall online classes for kids, running through October and featuring art and cartooning classes led by professionals.

This Wednesday, Sept. 16, cartoonist Joe Wos hosts an online class for ages seven and up on drawing endangered animals with simple step-by-step instruction. Also on Sept. 16, artist Barbara Golden begins a six-week class on Manga and anime art for students in grades seven to ten. A full list of classes can be found online now.

On Thursday, Sept. 17, the museum hosts a live event, ‘Telling Her Story: How Women are Changing Animation’ that will feature three women from Pixar Animation Studios’ Story Department–Aphton Corbin, Valerie LaPointe, and Louise Smythe–in conversation with Pixar Animation Studio’s Animation Department head Becki Tower. The conversation will examine how women are impacting the animation industry and how audiences experience animated films in the 21st century.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the museum offers an interactive crafting class based on the new book Peanuts Origami, in which participants can learn to fold paper to create characters like Charlie Brown and Snoopy while they learn a bunch of fun “Peanuts” trivia along the way.

The museum opens October, the comic strip’s anniversary month, with a live conversation between Charles Schulz’s widow, Jean Schulz, and cartoonist Stephan Pastis (“Pearls Before Swine”) on Saturday, Oct. 3. Schulz will share stories about her husband’s legacy in the world of cartooning as well as the strip’s ongoing popularity.

Next, presented in conjunction with the exhibition, “Lucy! Fussbudget to Feminist,” the museum hosts a live event, ‘Women Rising: Local Leaders Speak Out’ on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The live conversation features Camilla Gray-Nelson (owner of Dairydell Doggie Dude Ranch and Training Center), Jennifer Reichardt (owner and winemaker at Raft Wines), and Vivienne Wei (author of Labor Force) sharing the challenges and successes they’ve experienced in their careers.

Another anniversary party, ’70 Years with the Peanuts Gang,’ commences on Saturday, Oct. 17, when author Simon Beecroft presents his new book, The Peanuts Book: A Visual History of the Iconic Comic Strip. Charles M Schulz Museum curator Benjamin L Clark and archivist Sarah Breaux join Beecroft in conversation, charting the evolution and endurance of the “Peanuts” characters.

October wraps up at the museum with an online drawing party focusing on ‘How to Draw Peanuts Halloween.’ Learn how to depict Charlie Brown in his ghost costume, Lucy in her witch hat and mask, Snoopy as the WW1 Flying Ace and the Great Pumpkin with instruction from Atlanta-based cartoonist Robert W. Pope on Thursday, Oct. 29.

Fall 2020 at the Charles M Schulz Museum continues in November and December with more drawing classes and live conversations on topics such as the Black experience as told through graphic novels and comics. Advanced registration is required for all online events. Visit schulzmuseum.org to sign up for these events now.

As California and the West Coast continues to burn, air quality is forecast to be very unhealthy for the entire weekend throughout the Bay Area, and experts advise residents to stay indoors with windows and doors closed and to minimize outdoor activity.

By now, staying indoors is nothing new for locals who’ve remained socially distant due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and several organizations in the North Bay are offering virtual versions of events ranging from readings to art exhibits to online auctions.

One such group is Marin Open Studios. For 27 years, Marin Open Studios has increased awareness of local artists through annual self-guided tours of the artists’ studios and galleries. This year’s pandemic canceled the tours this past May, though MOS has kept busy with online versions of their art tours. This week, MOS hosts a live-streaming art reception for “The Human Spirit,” the premiere exhibition in its new virtual gallery. This show, curated on the theme of portraying different aspects of the human spirit, features several participating Marin Open Studios artists, many of whom share their art and their stories on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 5pm. Free. Marinopenstudios2020.org.

For theater lovers, Transcendence Theatre Company has spent the summer reliving the best moments from it’s annual “Broadway Under the Stars” festival by presenting online showcases of the family friendly performances and song-and-dance shows that have been captured on video. Now, the company is pulling out all the virtual stops for the season-ending Annual Gala Musical Fundraiser, featuring never-before-seen footage of Broadway stars from smash hits such as “School of Rock,” and “Frozen” from the last eight seasons of “Broadway Under the Stars” performances. The virtual Gala’s video compilation of “the best of the best” musical performances runs Friday through Sunday, Sept. 11–13. Times vary. Free to watch, donations welcome. Transcendencetheatre.org.

In Napa Valley, The long-running Festival for Brain Health has raised nearly $500 million to build awareness for brain-related disorders and to develop new therapies. The event normally gathers at Staglin Family Vineyard in the Napa Valley, though due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it won’t be possible this summer to hold the event in-person. Instead, the significant brain health event is occurring virtually this year, with a daylong program featuring an online scientific symposium and Q&A with leaders in brain health, followed by an exclusive, live-stream concert by 10-time Grammy Award–winning musician Arturo Sandoval and his ensemble band on Saturday, Sept. 12. Registration required. Music-festival.org.

There are several chances for local literature this weekend as well, as local figures go online to read from very different kinds of books. First, Book Passage co-owner Bill Petrocelli argues that the Electoral College has lost its way in his new political book, “Electoral Bait & Switch.” Petrocelli engages with Constitutional law professor Joel Paul online Saturday, Sept. 12, at 4pm (Bookpassage.com). The next day, award-winning poet and recently retired Santa Rosa Junior College professor and clinical social worker Donna Emerson reads from her new poetry collection, “Beside the Well,” in Occidental Center for the Arts’ first virtual book launch via Zoom on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 4pm (Occidentalcenterforthearts.org).

North Bay residents looking to give back to beloved local cultural purveyors have a few online auctions that they can turn to, with fine art and at-home experiences available for bidding. First, the Sausalito Art Festival, which was forced to cancel its live event earlier this month, decided to do something to help artists financially. With that in mind, the 2020 Sausalito Art Festival Silent Auction is open now, featuring art from over 80 participating artistic masters in varied mediums. That auction will end Sunday, September 13 (Sausalitoartfestival.org). That same day, another online auction opens, as the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County invites patrons to dream big in the “Time to Wonder” online auction, running Sept. 13 to Sept. 22. This newly virtual auction features over 45 locally-sourced items such as at-home adventures and experiences, food and collectible wines, books and gourmet baskets. Additionally, participants can support the Fund-A-Need, which will be used to refurbish existing beloved exhibits and build new gems at the Children’s Museum (cmosc.org).