BroadwayWorld.com Santa Barbara Stories

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre Presents THE KEYS TO THE HOTEL BARBARY, 6/10

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:52:35 PST

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre in Hayward has announced its second annual playwriting cagematch contest onMonday, June 10, 2013: THE KEYS TO THE HOTEL BARBARY. Five playwrights will enter but only one will emerge victorious! Last year's "Tales of the Hairless Raccoon" was a wild and wooly success, so this year we decided to make the contest an annual event. Join us as playwrights far and wide square off.

The only requirements for aspiring contributors were that the scenes had to be 20 minutes or less, have no more than four characters, and be set at the fictional Hotel Barbary, a ramshackle basement hotel room in the fictional "Hotel Barbary" of San Francisco. Playwrights were encouraged to come up with creative and elegant back-stories that incorporated the setting into their scenes; the time period, tone, theme or genre was up to their imaginations. All are welcome at the Hotel Barbary!

This year we've had entries from all over the U.S., and even two from abroad, and they are still coming in. The theatre's Artistic Director, Susan E. Evans, with some help from her team, will select the top five submissions, and each one will be allowed one rehearsal. The five scenes will be presented on June 10th at a live staged reading at the Morrisson Theatre, and the audience will decide the winner.Admission for the reading is free, and tokens to vote will be sold for $5.

The Lonesome Travelers Come to the Lobero Theatre, 5/27-28

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:14:51 PST

Celebrate Memorial Day next Monday at the Lobero Theatre with an evening of great American folk music, beginning at 7:30 p.m., preceded by a buffet from Woody's Bodacious BBQ at 5:30 p.m. in the tent behind the Lobero. There's a second performance on Tuesday evening, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. "The Lonesome Travelers in Concert" is a musical event that takes audiences on a journey down the rivers and streams of American Folk -- from the hills of Appalachia to the nightclubs of San Francisco and New York; from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Written and directed by third-generation Santa Barbara native James O'Neil (an Ovation and NAACP Award-winner), with Musical Direction by Tony nominee Dan Wheetman and Trevor Wheetman, the concert is by nine artists who create musical portraits inspired by folk immortals such as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Carter Family, Cisco Houston, The Almanac Singers, The Weavers, The Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary and others whose music and influence changed American music - and America itself - forever.

The company includes Jennifer Leigh Warren (Big River and Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway), L.A.-based singer/songwriters Justine Bennett and Brendan (B. Willing) James (both mainstays in the local music community and regular performers at Zoey's Café), Sylvie Davidson (a Seattle actress and singer whose credits include work at both ACT and Book-It), second-generation musicians James Webb and Trevor Wheetman, Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper (whose recent credits include South Coast Rep, North Coast Rep and Laguna Playhouse), and New York-based actor/musician Justin Flagg (who plays the title character). All of the artists play multiple instruments and sing.

A few of the well-known song titles include "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," "This Land is Your Land," "Deportee," "Talkin' Union," "Puff, the Magic Dragon," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "We Shall Overcome," "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" and "Maggie's Farm." New songs added for this engagement include "Turn, Turn, Turn," "The Wabash Cannonball" and others.

The concept for The Lonesome Travelers came from the imagination of James O'Neil, a Santa Barbara native. O'Neil is co-founder of Rubicon Theatre Company and accepted the L.A. Drama Critics' Circle Award in 2010 for "Sustained Excellence" on behalf of the company. He helmed Rubicon's Ovation Award-winning production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons, received the NAACP Award for Directing for Rubicon's production of Driving Miss Daisy with Michael Learned which was presented during the 50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, and has directed classics by Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams for the company, in addition to numerous new works.

For O'Neil, the development of "The Lonesome Travelers" was years - even decades - in the making.

"My relationship with this music goes back to when I was six or seven-years-old," O'Neil remarks. "My father was a child of the Great Depression. He grew up in Oklahoma and came to California during the Dust Bowl. He was a ranch hand in Goleta and later became the head of the local retail clerks' union and a union organizer. Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger were his heroes - my dad even played the guitar a little. As I was growing up in the late '50s and early '60s, our house was filled with the sounds of the folk revival.

"Even then I knew that the music was for me - and for all of us. Folk music is a declaration of a particular kind of humanity - one that perseveres through life's difficulties and respects and cares for others. The title comes from the idea that we all take a solitary journey through life - we come in and out of this world alone. But music is a great unifier - a great healer. It can help us feel a little less lost or alone."

O'Neil's thoughts are echoed by the original Musical Director Dan Wheetman: "This music was born out of hardscrabble living. However, it reflects the joy of life; no matter how many obstacles we face, the human spirit rises above and rejoices in being alive."

Wheetman was the first person O'Neil called once he began work on the concert. A member of the band Marley's Ghost, Wheetman was last at Rubicon as Musical Director for Back Home Again, for which he received an Ovation Award. He wrote the music for the stage version of The Cider House Rules, and has garnered several L.A. Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Musical Direction and a Tony nomination as a writer for It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues at Lincoln Center.

"The impetus to create "The Lonesome Travelers in Concert" has grown over the past few years," says O'Neil. "There has been a resurgence of interest in folk music, with a bumper crop of young musicians reinterpreting and re-popularizing some of the older songs. I suddenly realized I wanted to - needed to - help create a context for a new generation.

"Some of what we think of as American folk music came from other cultures as immigrants came to America: songs derived from traditional English or Scottish ballads, Irish reels, African spirituals or Bahamian lullabies, for example. These songs express universal feelings - love, regret, hunger, jealousy, humor, pain or pride. They were passed from generation to generation and then recorded in the South and Southeast in the mid-1920s by preservationists and opportunists.

"Other songs relate to the times in which they were written," says O'Neil. "Folk music is 'The People's Music' and these songs are the people's responses to societal ills - issues of oppression, religious persecution, unemployment, unsafe working conditions, poverty and war. These are often story songs.

"Still other American folk songs influence and change the times," continues O'Neil. "Many of these are songs of praise, solidarity and rebellion and include patriotic songs, union anthems, political commentary, etc. To me, "The Lonesome Travelers" are about 'the history that made the music, and the music that made history'."

"The Lonesome Travelers in Concert" is presented for two nights only, Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) at 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. On Monday evening, a backyard-style barbecue buffet is available beginning at 5:30 p.m. Regular ticket prices for the concert range from $29.50 to $49.50. Student tickets are $20. Preferred seats at $59.50, and premium tickets are $79.50 and include the pre-show meal. The buffet may also be purchased separately for $35 and is catered by Woody's Bodacious Barbecue. The menu includes oak-smoked chicken and tri-tip, tossed salad, potato salad, cowboy beans, garlic bread, Boston crème pie and non-alcoholic beverages.

Veterans save 50% on tickets, and groups of 12 or more save $10 per ticket. Performances and the dinner take place at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido (the corner of Anacapa and Canon Perdido) in Downtown Santa Barbara. For tickets, call (805) 963-0761 or purchase online at www.lobero.com.

Pictured: Justin Flagg as The Lonesome Traveler, Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper as The Preacher, Brendan Willing James as The Poet, Anthony Manough as The Man, Jennifer Leigh Warren as The Muse, Justine Bennett as The Activist, Sylvie Davidson as The Lady, James Webb, Musician, and Trevor Wheetman, Musician. Photo Credit: Jeanne Tanner.

Kelrik Productions to Stage SHREK THE MUSICAL, 7/12-21

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:17:41 PST

Kelrik Productions has announced the Central Coast Premier of SHREK THE MUSICAL to stage at the Spanos Theater, Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo. From July 12 - 21, 2013 audiences can fall in love with Shrek and his wise-ass sidekick, Donkey all over again.

Originally an Oscar-winning DreamWorks film with three successful sequels and two holiday specials, SHREK THE MUSICAL is based on the life-changing adventure Shrek endures trying to reclaim the deed to his land. Part romance, part twisted fairy tale and an unlikely hero makes for a show like no other show on the Central Coast.

Shrek's adventure begins in a kingdom far, far away where things become unsettled when an ogre replaces the handsome prince who, according to fairy tales should be the one to rescue the beautiful princess. But when Shrek steps in to save Princess Fiona from a mean fire-breathing dragon, things couldn't go more wrong. Their feisty relationship, a chatty donkey, a very short villain and other fairytale misfits keep the audience entertained.

Before Shrek was a musical, or even a movie, he was a storybook character created by New Yorker cartoonist and author William Steig in 1990. The production played on Broadway from 2008 to 2010 and revised versions continue to tour.

SHREK THE MUSICAL features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Good People), music by Olivier Award-winner Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline, or Change). SHREK THE MUSICAL is directed by Erik Austin with Musical Direction by Lacey McNamara and Choreography by New York Guest Artist Joe Ogren. The creative team also includes David Beals (Lighting Design), Kathleen Forster and Keith Wetzel (Costume Design), Ethereal FX (Dragon Design), Mark Hughes (Set Design) and Kenmark Inc. (Scenic backdrops).

SHREK THE MUSICAL performances are Friday and Saturday Evenings at 7 PM with Sunday Matinees at 2 PM. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online at www.pacslo.org, by phone (805) 756-4TIX or at the PAC Box Office 1 Grand Ave, San Luis Obispo.

SHREK THE MUSICAL is the final show of Kelrik's 2013 INSPIRE season. This production is made possible through the generous contributions of our Sponsors: Joan Sargen, Central Coast Family, Costume Capers, Sun N' Buns, Ethereal FX and Cheap Thrills. For more information on Kelrik Productions, visit our website: www.kelrikproductions.org.

Kelrik's mission is to provide the highest quality, innovative, participatory theatre, featuring local talent and first-rate production values. As a company, Kelrik is dedicated to the growth of our actors, theater-goers, and the artistic medium in which they all connect.

San Jose Stage Company Announces 30/20 Benefit , 6/21

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:35:39 PST

San Jose Stage Company is kicking off the 2013 Summer Solstice on June 21 by celebrating 30 Years of Award-Winning Excellence in Theatre, as well as 20 years of political satire in Monday Night Live. It's going to be Red Hot and Revelatory!

The Stage will host this star-studded benefit performance at the Silicon Valley Athletic Club's Corinthian Grand Ballroom on Friday evening, June 21 from 7 PM to midnight.

Kevin Pollak, film actor and comedian extraordinaire, headlines the event. Pollak, a Willow Glen native who began his career in the Bay Area as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, is a natural for this Hollywood-themed benefit for The Stage Company's anniversary.

San Jose Stage Founder and Artistic Director Randall King celebrates 30 years of artistic achievement by The Stage. Also being honored at the 30/20 Benefit -- Red Hot and Revelatory are Senator James T. Beall, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Nora Campos and Mayor Chuck Reed, as well as previous guest hosts and benefactors.

And in true Monday Night Live style, opening the show will be "Smokin' Hot" Joe Horwedel, Director of Planning for the City of San Jose, who is guaranteed to bring down the house. Be prepared for an evening laced with plans for The Stage's "building for the future" and a prelude to The Stage's summer musical Reefer Madness.

"Our guest hosts from the previous 20 years, as well as four recent San Jose mayors, will all be saluting the thirty-year history of San Jose Stage Company," said Jerry Strangis, Event Chair and President of the Board of Directors of The Stage. "This signature event has been instrumental in uniting politics and the arts in San Jose."

The party will include a cocktail reception, show, music and dancing in true Hollywood style, all in the elegant Corinthian Grand Ballroom of the Silicon Valley Athletic Club, located at 196 North Third Street, in downtown San Jose.

Sponsorships are available at the Platinum level for $10,000, the Gold level at $5,000 and the Silver level at $2,500. Individual guest reservations are available at $150. Visit www.thestage.org, call the box office at 408.283.7142 or email Jerry Strangis at 3020@thestage.org.

Now Playing Onstage in Santa Barbara - Week of 5/12/2013

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:00:00 PST

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SWEET 1700'S
Lobero Theatre
5/14-5/14/2013
The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra 2012-2013 season grand finale features music from the 18th century classical period, situated between the Baroque and Romantic eras. This period sought to emulate the ideals of Classical Greece. Classicism emphasized well-articulated formality, structural clarity and order, but included brighter contrasts and an element of simplicity. Alessio Bax, an audience favorite, will be joining the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra as the featured piano soloist. Mr. Bax is praised for creating "a ravishing listening experience" with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations and dazzling facility. "His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity," says Gramophone magazine, leading to "an out-of-body experience" (Dallas Morning News). Since taking first prizes at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, Bax has won audiences across the globe.
Click Here for More Information
OPAL'S HUSBAND
Santa Maria Civic Theatre
2/18-5/18/2013
Bent as usual on a good deed, Opal tries to round up a husband for her friend Rosie and answers a lonely hearts ad placed by "Mister Handsome" - who, when he shows up, proves to be a ninetly-five-year-old escapee from a nursing home. As expected, complications ensue, and when Rosie rejects her would-be suitor, Opal reluctantly agrees to marry him in order to keep the old man from the clutches of his scheming daughter. It seems that he is quite rich, and his desire is to spend his last days (and his fortune) with a nubile maiden on a South Pacific island while his daughter wants him to expire quickly, and quietly, in the old folk's home. Thereafter the plots and counter-plots multiply hilariously; enjoy another day with Opal.
Click Here for More Information
RETURN ENGAGEMENTS
Circle Bar B Dinner Theatre
4/12-5/19/2013
This ingenious comedy is by the author of Same Time Next Year, You Say Tomatoes and I Remember You; all previously performed at the Circle Bar B. The first act is comprised of three separate vignettes illustrating four couples in various states in their "relationship." In Act 2 we meet the couples 15, 20 and 30 years later and we learn much to our merriment how the couples ended up and how they have become linked together....in life and love.
Click Here for More Information
CELEBRATION OF STORIES
Center Stage Theater
5/19-5/20/2013
A literary stew, a blend of great tales including a spicy new story by T.C. Boyle
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UCSB Presents A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Now thru 5/19

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:30:00 PST

The Department of Theater & Dance at UCSB continues its 2012-2013 season of drama and dance with the production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, directed by Irwin Appel. A Streetcar Named Desire performs tonight, May 10 - 19, 2013 in the A Streetcar Named Desire performs in the Performing Arts Theater on the UCSB campus.

Tennessee Williams' towering drama, A Streetcar Named Desire, reveals to the very depths the character of Blanche du Bois, a woman whose life has been undermined by her romantic illusions, which lead her to reject the realities of life with which she is faced. The pressure brought to bear upon her by her sister, with whom she goes to live in New Orleans, is intensified by the earthy young husband of the latter, and leads to a revelation of her tragic self-delusion.

A Streetcar Named Desire marks the first Acting Up Front production from the Department of Theater and Dance. Acting Up Front produces a classical or contemporary play in an intimate setting. The costumes, scenery and lighting are designed to provide a "silhouette" of a world, rather than a fully realistic depiction of one. Acting Up Front allows for an intense focus on character, relationships and the actor's ability to create an imaginative world for an audience where the actors and the words are at the forefront of the production. This approach allows for tremendous freedom, creativity and engagement of the audience, and it allows us all to hear these great plays in a fresh, newly revealing way. The department is excited to present this play "in the round;" the action is surrounded by audience on all sides.

Tennessee Williams was an American writer from the South. Many of his characters were based on his own family and life. His first real success was the play The Glass Menagerie in 1944. His next work, A Streetcar Named Desire, won him a Pulitzer Prize. Later in life, he was insecure that he could not duplicate his early success and used sleeping pills and liquor to quiet his restless mind.

Playwright Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, the second of Cornelius and EdwIna Williams' three children. Raised predominantly by his mother, Williams had a complicated relationship with his father, a demanding salesman who preferred work instead of parenting.

When he was 28, Williams moved to New Orleans, where he changed his name (he landed on Tennessee because his father hailed from there) and revamped his lifestyle, soaking up the city life that would inspire his work, most notably the later play, A Streetcar Named Desire.

On March 31, 1945, a play he'd been working for some years, The Glass Menagerie, opened on Broadway. Critics and audiences alike lauded the play, about a declassed Southern family living in a tenement, forever changing Williams' life and fortunes. Two years later, A Streetcar Named Desire, opened, surpassing his previous success and cementing his status as one of the country's best playwrights. The play also earnEd Williams a Drama Critics' Award and his first Pulitzer Prize.

The 1960s were a difficult time for Williams. His work received poor reviews and increasingly the playwright turned to alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms. In 1969 his brother hospitalized him. Upon his release, Williams got right back to work. He churned out several new plays as well as Memoirs in 1975, which told the story of his life and his afflictions. But he never fully escaped his demons. Surrounded by bottles of wine and pills, Williams died in a New York City hotel room on February 25, 1983.

Irwin Appel (Director) is Professor of Theater and Director of the BFA Actor Training Program at UCSB. He is also a professional director, Equity actor and composer/sound designer, and has performed with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Shakespeare Festival/LA, the New York, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals, The Acting Company, Theatre For a New Audience, Hartford Stage, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and other prominent regional theaters. Acting roles include: Prospero in The Tempest, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Falstaff in Merry Wives of Windsor, Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Kent in King Lear, Macbeth in Kabuki Macbeth, , Matt in Talley's Folly and the Emperor in a world premiere of Emperor's New Clothes. Since arriving in Santa Barbara, he played the title role in Richard III, Stage Manager in Our Town, DeVere inThe Beard of Avon, Frank in Molly Sweeney, Duke Senior and Duke Frederick in As You Like It, and won Santa Barbara Independent Awards for his portrayals of Oscar Wilde inGross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and the title role in Theater Artists Group's Timon of Athens. Most recently, he played Aunt Chuck in the LAUNCH PAD production of Appoggiatura by James Still and directed by Department Chair Risa Brainin. He is also artistic director of Naked Shakes, producing award-winning Shakespearean productions at UCSB and traveling to downtown Santa Barbara and Los Angeles since 2006. Directing credits include: The Merchant of Venice, Anowa, Hamlet (SB Indy Award), Measure for Measure, Romeo and Juliet, Rabbit Hole, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale (SB Indy Award), Seagull, The Tempest, Angels in America, Three Sisters, Comedy of Errors, Pentecost, A View from the Bridge (SB Indy Award), The Cherry Orchard, Speed-the-Plow, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Crucible, The Countess, Madwoman of Chaillot, Sylvia, Much Ado About Nothing and the world premiere oF Brown Baby (SB Indy Award for his sound design). He also directed twice for The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He has also served as composer/sound designer for the Oregon and New Jersey Shakespeare Festivals, PCPA, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Ensemble Theatre, Pan Asian Rep, Indiana Rep, and other regional and local theaters. In 2014, he will compose and sound design for a co-production of Other Desert Cities at Arizona Theatre Company and Indiana Repertory Theatre. He is a graduate of Princeton University and the Juilliard School.

Tickets for A Streetcar Named Desire are currently available at the UCSB Theater & Dance Ticket Office located on the UCSB campus, over the phone and online at www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu. To purchase tickets over the phone, please call (805) 893-7221. Ticket prices are $17.00 for general admission and $13.00 for students, seniors, and UCSB faculty & staff. Visit the Theater & Dance website for more details:www.theaterdance.ucsb.ed u.

NEXT TO NORMAL Concludes Out of the Box Theatre's 3rd Season, Now thru 5/12

Sun, 05 May 2013 12:23:51 PST

Out of the Box Theatre Company is finishing off their third season with an intimate black box production of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Next to Normal. Directed by Samantha Eve, the limited engagement of this emotional powerhouse of a musical will run May 2 - May 12 (Thursday-Sunday) at Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara, CA.

Next to Normal has a Tony Award-winning score by Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics). The nearly sung-through rock musical is a heart-swelling, searingly painful dissection of a mother's mental illness and her suburban family trying to hold it all together. The cast features Deborah Bertling as Diana, Matthew Wiedle as Dan, Taylor Courtney as Natalie, Skyler Jones as Henry, Christopher Lee Short as Dr. Fine/Dr. Madden and Connor Gould as Gabe.

Other members of the creative team include music director John Douglas, technical director Brad Spaulding, and set and lighting designer Theodore Michael Dolas.

Tickets can be purchased by calling (805) 963-0408 or visiting outoftheboxtheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Phillip Van Nostrand

Now Playing Onstage in Santa Barbara - Week of 5/05/2013

Sun, 05 May 2013 10:00:00 PST

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MARIACHI VARGAS DE TECALITAN
Chumash Casino Resort
5/9-5/9/2013
The first incarnation of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan began in 1898. Over the decades they have become known as the definitive Mariachi ensemble and one of the most important groups in Mexican history, winning numerous awards and accolades. Come see them perform all their hits, live in concert!
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BECKY'S NEW CAR
Jurkowitz Theatre
4/24-5/11/2013
Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage-with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a recently widowed millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works and she is offered nothing short of a new life?and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun in a play that is as memorable as it is enthralling.
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BECKY'S NEW CAR
Jurkowitz Theater
4/24-5/11/2013
Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage-with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a recently widowed millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works and she is offered nothing short of a new life?and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun in a play that is as memorable as it is enthralling.
Click Here for More Information
NEXT TO NORMAL
OUT OF THE BOX THEATRE COMPANY
5/2-5/12/2013
NEXT TO NORMAL is the acclaimed, groundbreaking musical "that pushe[d] Broadway in new directions" (Rolling Stone). With a thrilling contemporary score, NEXT TO NORMAL is an emotional powerhouse of a musical about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other.
Click Here for More Information
NEXT TO NORMAL
Center Stage Theater
5/2-5/12/2013
Next to Normal is the acclaimed, groundbreaking musical "that pushe[d] Broadway in new directions" (Rolling Stone). With a thrilling contemporary score, this emotional powerhouse of a musical is a heart-swelling, searingly painful dissection of a mother's mental illness and her suburban family trying to hold it all together.
Click Here for More Information
SWEET 1700'S
Lobero Theatre
5/14-5/14/2013
The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra 2012-2013 season grand finale features music from the 18th century classical period, situated between the Baroque and Romantic eras. This period sought to emulate the ideals of Classical Greece. Classicism emphasized well-articulated formality, structural clarity and order, but included brighter contrasts and an element of simplicity. Alessio Bax, an audience favorite, will be joining the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra as the featured piano soloist. Mr. Bax is praised for creating "a ravishing listening experience" with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations and dazzling facility. "His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity," says Gramophone magazine, leading to "an out-of-body experience" (Dallas Morning News). Since taking first prizes at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, Bax has won audiences across the globe.
Click Here for More Information
OPAL'S HUSBAND
Santa Maria Civic Theatre
2/18-5/18/2013
Bent as usual on a good deed, Opal tries to round up a husband for her friend Rosie and answers a lonely hearts ad placed by "Mister Handsome" - who, when he shows up, proves to be a ninetly-five-year-old escapee from a nursing home. As expected, complications ensue, and when Rosie rejects her would-be suitor, Opal reluctantly agrees to marry him in order to keep the old man from the clutches of his scheming daughter. It seems that he is quite rich, and his desire is to spend his last days (and his fortune) with a nubile maiden on a South Pacific island while his daughter wants him to expire quickly, and quietly, in the old folk's home. Thereafter the plots and counter-plots multiply hilariously; enjoy another day with Opal.
Click Here for More Information
RETURN ENGAGEMENTS
Circle Bar B Dinner Theatre
4/12-5/19/2013
This ingenious comedy is by the author of Same Time Next Year, You Say Tomatoes and I Remember You; all previously performed at the Circle Bar B. The first act is comprised of three separate vignettes illustrating four couples in various states in their "relationship." In Act 2 we meet the couples 15, 20 and 30 years later and we learn much to our merriment how the couples ended up and how they have become linked together....in life and love.
Click Here for More Information

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Click Here to View BroadwayWorld.com Santa Barbara Calendar

Photo Flash: First Look at Kelrik Productions' THE LITTLE MERMAID

Sat, 04 May 2013 19:45:45 PST

Kelrik Productions has announced DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID swims into Unity, 1490 Southwood Drive in San Luis Obispo today, May 4 through the 26th. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

This classic Disney tale, based on one of Hans Christian Andersen's most beloved stories includes all of the songs from the animated feature film as well as three new songs from the Broadway show.

DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID takes place in a magical kingdom beneath the sea, where a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home for a life in the world above. But first, she must defy her father, the king of the sea; escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice. Featuring favorite songs such as "Under the Sea", "Part of Your World" and "Kiss The Girl", this show is sure to be a treat for the entire family.

DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID features CasSandra Johnson as Ariel, Theresa Riforgiate as Ursula, Landon Echols as Scuttle, Jeffery Larsen as Sebastian, Steaphenee Wittlieb as Jetsam, Casina Caradonna as Flotsam, Isabel carpender as Flounder , Christian Clarno as King Triton, Cody Pettit as Grimsby and Greggory C. Riforgiate as Prince Eric.

DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID is directed by Erik Austin with Music Direction by Lacey McNamara and Choreography by Danielle Mendoza. The rest of our creative team includes Kathleen Forester and Keith Wetzel (Costume Design), Erik Austin (Lighting Designer) and Lester Wilson (Props).

Tickets for DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID are on sale now and may be purchased online at kelrikproductions.org or in person at Cheap Thrills, 563 Higuera Street, downtown San Luis Obispo. Performances are Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2 PM. Ticket prices are $14 for children, $18 for Students/Seniors and $20 for Adults. DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID is the fifth show of Kelrik's 2013 INSPIRE Season. For more information on Kelrik Productions, visit the website at www.kelrikproductions.org.

Photo Credit: Sandra Cortez Photography

CasSandra Johnson as Ariel

Theresa Riforgiate as Ursula

The Cast of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID

SUNDAYS IN SUMMER CABARET Returns for 4th Season Today

Sun, 05 May 2013 00:30:00 PST

The acclaimed Sundays In Summer Cabaret Series at the Arthur Newman Theater in Palm Desert will be back for it's fourth season beginning today, May 5th. "Since it began, more than 90 different performers have brought praises from our audiences which have grown tremendously over the years", says Les Michaels of Life Is A Cabaret, who produces the shows. The theater, which is located at The Joslyn Center in Palm Desert, seats up to 180 people and is a perfect setting for these intimate cabaret style performances that you would normally see in a smaller New York style supper club.

Opening this year's season will be Broadway veteran Alix Korey in a sneak-peak premiere of her new one-woman show entitled "Alix Korey Celebrates Ethel Merman". It features show-stopping numbers from Merman's long and illustrious career in Broadway and Hollywood musicals, with special arrangements and accompaniment by noted musical director Chris Marlowe, plus stories from backstage and Merman's personal life.

Alix Korey, now a Valley resident, has a long list of Broadway credits including: "All Shook Up". "Chicago", "45 Seconds from Broadway", "Triumph of Love", "Ain't Broadway Grand", "Show Boat", "Is There Life After High School", "Pirates of Penzance", "Hello,Dolly ('78 revival), "An Evening with Jerry Herman" and many more.

"Alix Korey Celebrates Ethel Merman" will play one performance today, May 5, 2013 at 2 PM at the Arthur Newman Theater at The Joslyn Center, 73750 Catalina Way in Palm Desert. Tickets are $10 cash only at the door with open seating and the box office opening at 1 PM. For a complete schedule of all 26 shows, go to www.lesmichaels.com/joslyn.

WHO: "Alix Korey Celebrates Ethel Merman"

WHAT: A one-woman musical concert with Chris Marlowe on piano

WHERE: Arthur Newman Theater at The Joslyn Center,
73750 Catalina Way
Palm Desert, CA. 92260

WHEN: Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 2 PM

HOW: Tickets are $10 cash only at the box office, doors open at 1 PM