Jenna Rubaii and Aaron LaVigne Photo by Rob Martel

LaVigne and Rubaii met during that tour, and when the pandemic suspended it, they got thinking about creating a show of their own. Several years–and lots of rehearsals–later, their show, Radio Recall, has made its way to Sonoma and Transcendence Theatre Company for its latest stop on a tour that will take the pair across the United States and around the world, as the show has been booked on several cruise ships.

Radio Recall, as the title suggests, is a sort of homage to the songs one hears on the radio that immediately grab your attention and become part of the "soundtrack of your life." Culled from the 1960s to the 2010s, the music was likely quite familiar to an audience composed of mostly white, mostly older North Bay residents, who–despite encouragement from LaVigne and Rubaii–did not generally sing along, or dance at their seats.

Despite not participating in sing-alongs, the packed audience–the show was sold out–seemed nonetheless to revel in the sounds of their youth (and middle age!), as evidenced by the smiles I saw all around me, and the standing ovation after the last strains of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" faded into the night air at Sonoma's Field of Dreams.

It would be all too easy to create a show like this consisting of nothing but number one hits, but LaVigne and Rubaii have taken much more care than that in their song selection. In addition to upbeat crowd pleasers such as "With a Little Help from My Friends," "Feels Like the First Time," and "You're No Good," this uber-talented pair included gorgeous songs with more emotional depth than most pop, including "Shallow" (from the Lady Gaga version of A Star is Born), Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love," and a gorgeous take on Mary Magdalene's "I Don't Know How To Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. (LaVigne also reprised one of his most powerful performances from that show, giving us a searing version of "Gethsemane.")

Unlike Transcendence's usual revues, there's no running theme here, nothing to tie the songs together other than the performers' love of, and connections to, the music. Here the focus is on the voices–and what a set of pipes each of these performers has. They easily have the strongest voices of any performers ever to grace a TTC stage. LaVigne has the appearance and onstage mien of an arena rockstar, with a true powerhouse voice that is equal to even the most challenging tunes in the rock/pop canon. His take on The Who's "Pinball Wizard" is just as awe-inspiring as Roger Daltrey's original version, and his final, soaring screams at the end of Aerosmith's "Dream On" would surely earn applause from Steven Tyler himself. Jenna Rubaii took on Linda Ronstadt's hit "You're No Good" and spewed the lyrics of triumph at coming out of a bad relationship with stunning veracity.

Of course, without a solid backing band the songs would sputter into nothingness. But thanks to Isaac Carter's powerful guitar riffs and solos spot-on to the originals (with a few personal variations), the quartet–including keyboardist Matt Smart, bassist Eric Price and drummer Juan Carreon–keep the proceedings rocking forward. (Though for the opening acoustic guitar riff in "Pinball Wizard," TTC uses a pre-recorded track.) Watching bassist Price keep the beat with his head seemingly always in motion, often leading with his chin, is a delightful distraction from the pair of stars on stage.

The set is simple: a black scrim backdrop suggesting an urban skyline, and four metal risers supporting each band member. But the focus here is on the music.

In the week leading up to this production, Transcendence Theatre also created a summer camp for theatre-loving kids, and 50 of them (though only six boys!) joined Rubaii and LaVigne on stage for "You've Got a Friend," "Dream On," and the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Though that last number was perfect for the kids, since the Stones had a children's choir sing the opening bars of the tune on their album "Let It Bleed," the choice of "Dream On" seemed a bit out of sync with a kids' choir. Lines like, "Every time that I look in the mirror–all these lines on my face gettin' clearer" feel like nothing a kid could identify with. But they seem to have a good time, even if they could have used a few more rehearsals to nail their choreography.

The show's penultimate tune is the Coldplay weeper "Fix You," which Lavigne and Rubaii perform with tremendous heartfelt emotion. (Side note: if you've never seen the movie Young@Heart, about a choir composed of the residents of a senior center, rent it, if only for the performance of "Fix You," featuring a solo by an 80+ year-old man on supplemental oxygen, who still slays the song–if not perfectly, but with tremendous emotion.)

As usual, Transcendence does a terrific job with the logistics of the show. Every production seems to bring new food and beverage options, and the crowd at the performance I attended packed every picnic table in the pre-show area, and ticketing and parking were handled with TTC's usual aplomb.

Transcendence Theatre Company's Radio Recall runs through July 12, 2026, at Field of Dreams, 151 First Street W, Sonoma CA. Performance time 7:30. Tickets range from $44-$165. "Gold Level" tickets include VIP parking, free drink tickets (wine, beer and water) and admission to the pre-show lounge area. For tickets and information, please visit www.TranscendenceTheatre.org.