Many opportunities to see drama, comedy, music this month and next

A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE LAST TIME I surveyed our area theater scene. Some premier companies have closed altogether, most notably Diablo Actors Ensemble of Walnut Creek and Dreamweavers of Napa (aka Napa Valley Playhouse). Both folded recently because of rising facilities costs that eventually became prohibitive. Butterfield 8 of Concord and Bay Area Stage of Vallejo were recently forced out of their regular performance spaces, also because of rising costs, and the Napa Valley Opera House no longer offers tiered theater seating but has been converted to a single-level, auditorium-style entertainment space.

Some better news: Onstage Repertory Theatre Company has filled a void left at the historic Campbell Theatre in Martinez after the Willows left there in 2012. Onstage Rep is now the resident theater company, and “we have been producing shows at the Campbell for almost a year,” says the facility’s managing director, Mark Hinds. “We’ve done everything from comedy to drama to improv, etc.” Onstage Rep recently staged Edwin Peabody’s new work “A Familiar Visage” at the Campbell, and the venue will host Bay Area Stage’s production of “The Addams Family: A New Musical” beginning Oct. 17. Details below.

Closing this weekend

This weekend will be the last chance to see Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” at the Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette. Confirmed bachelor Robert is celebrating his 35th birthday, surrounded by friends showing him the pros (and cons) of married life. $29 to $32. 3535 School Street, Lafayette. 925-283-1557 or www.townhalltheatre.com.

Also closing Saturday is Malcolm Cowler’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” at Orinda Starlight. Vampire Dracula attempts to move from Transylvania to England and battles ensue between a band of heroes and the monster. $16. Orinda Community Park, 28 Orinda Way, Orinda. 925-528-9225 or www.orsvp.org.

Other options for this weekend: Catch comic Maureen Langan and friends at the Empress in Vallejo on Friday, or hear our very own Benicia celebrity Peppino D’Agostino performing selections from his new CD, “Penumbra,” at the Empress Saturday. $17 to $30. 330 Virginia St., Vallejo. 707-552-2400 or www.empresstheatre.org.

Also Saturday: “1940s Battle of the Big Bands” (Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller) at the Lincoln in Healdsburg, shows at 2 and 7 p.m. $29 to $39. 707-944-9900 or www.lincolntheater.com.

Next weekend

Friday, Oct. 17 marks the opening of several shows within about a half-hour’s drive from Benicia. For starters, Benicia Old Town Theatre opens its 2014-15 season with Frederick Knott’s “Dial M for Murder.” A former British tennis pro knows his wife has been unfaithful to him, but while she regrets the affair and wants to make her marriage work, he isn’t so optimistic. At the B.D.E.S. Hall, 140 West J Street, Benicia through November 8. $20 to $25. 707-746-1269 or www.beniciaoldtowntheatregroup.com.

Just over the strait, Bay Area Stage opens “Addams Family: A New Musical” at the Campbell Theatre in Martinez. Grown-up Wednesday is bringing her boyfriend and his parents to dinner. Can everyone’s favorite creepy family act “normal” for their guests for just one night? Through Nov. 2 at the Campbell, 636 Ward St., Martinez; then Nov. 7-9 at the Empress Theatre, 330 Virginia St., Vallejo. $22 to $25. 707-649-1053 or www.bayareastage.com.

A little farther afield, Contra Costa Music Theatre opens “Bye Bye Birdie” Friday at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. It’s the late ’50s in Sweet Apple, Ohio and heart-throb Conrad Birdie arrives to give his biggest fan one last kiss before going into the army. Through Nov. 15 at 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. $45 to $60 plus applicable fees. 925-943-7469 or www.ccmt.org.

The Town of Danville will host the San Francisco hit, “Foodies! The Musical” Friday and Saturday only. Morris Bobrow, creator of “Shopping! The Musical,” serves up yet another tasty musical revue. This one’s all about food — with songs and sketches about eating habits and hangups, trendy restaurants and food trucks, cooking quirks, menu mania and more. At the Village Theatre, 233 Front Street, Danville. $24. 925-314-3400 or www.villagetheatreshows.com.

Later this month

On Oct. 24, Diablo Valley College Department of Drama opens its 2014-15 season with “The Wedding Singer.” It’s 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party — until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Enter Julia, about to be married to a Wall Street shark — and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Through Nov. 9. 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill. $21. 925-687-4445 or www.dvcdrama.net.

Also opening Oct. 24: “Death Trap.” Center Repertory Theatre presents Ira Levin’s thriller about a writer whose recent offerings have been flops, and who is prepared to go to any lengths to improve his fortunes. At the Lesher Arts Center, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek through Nov. 22. $33 to $54 plus applicable fees. 925-943-7469 or www.lesherartscenter.org.

On Halloween night, Friday, Oct. 31, Role Players Ensemble of Danville opens Joseph Kesserling’s “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Mortimer Brewster fears he may be going crazy. His uncle thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, his aunts have been comforting lonely old men by poisoning them, and his brother has a Boris Karloff complex. Through Nov. 16 at the Village Theatre, 233 Front St., Danville. $20 to $28. 925-820-1278 or www.roleplayersensemble.com.

Coming in November

Verismo Opera of Vallejo will open Puccini’s “Tosca” at the Bay Terrace Theatre, 51 Daniels Ave., Vallejo on Saturday, Nov. 15. Love, lust, jealousy, deception, torture, murder, suicide — “Tosca” has it all. Through Dec. 7 in Vallejo; earlier performances scheduled at the Mildred Owens Concert Hall in Pacifica (Oct. 25) and the Hillside Club in Berkeley (Nov. 2 and Nov. 8). $25. 707-552-0400 or www.verismoopera.org.

Beginning Nov. 6, Solano Repertory Theater presents “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Dale Wasserman’s adaptation from the novel by Ken Kesey. In Oregon in 1963, Randle Patrick McMurphy, a criminal who has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have himself declared insane so he’ll be transferred to a mental institution, where he expects to serve the rest of his term in comfort and luxury. Through Nov. 16 at the Missouri Street Theatre, 1035 Texas St., Fairfield. $17. Tickets are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com.

On Friday, Nov. 21, Contra Costa Civic Theatre will open “To Kill a Mockingbird,” adapted by Christopher Sergel from the novel by Harper Lee. A widowed lawyer with two young children must defend a black man falsely accused of a crime, while standing up to the bigoted minds of a small southern town. Through Dec. 14. 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. $24. 510-524-9132 or www.ccct.org.