Shows for the Holidays Open on the California Central Coast!

OK ... the middle of November has come and gone ... the highs are projected to be in the 60s with the lows in the high 30s/low 40s, with "isolated showers possible" - could Fall weather patterns FINALLY be coming to the California Central Coast?  Well, regardless of what the weather does - the theatre offerings here on the Central Coast are goodly in number and warm in their welcome to their patrons!

The San Luis Obispo Little Theatre (www.slolittletheatre.org) proudly presents How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying through December 20.

From the authors of Guys and Dolls comes one of the most delightfully irreverent musicals of all time.  A satire of big business and all it holds sacred, this Pulitzer Prize winning play follows the rise of J. Pierrepont Finch, who uses a little handbook called "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" to climb the corporate ladder from lowly window washer to high-powered executive, tackling such familiar but potent dangers as the aggressively compliant "company man," the boss' whiny, nepotistic nephew, the office party, backstabbing co-workers, caffeine addiction and, of course, true love.

"How to Succeed ... stings mischievously and laughs uproariously ... It belongs to the blue chips among the best American musicals.  Let Wall Street and Madison Avenue tremble as the rest of us rejoice!"   The New York Times

Directed by Natalia Berryman

CAST

Joe Ogren - J. Pierrepont
Ariana Shakibnia - Rosemary
Cody Pettit - Bud Frump
Donn Clarius - Biggly
Caryn Hall - Smitty
Bryce Prunty - Twimble
Anna Romero - Miss Jones
Morgan Peters - Heddy
Christy Laschiver - Miss Krowholtz

Ensemble Boys

Cody White - Jenkins
Ayrton Parham - Gatch
James Green - Ovington
Theodore McDougal - Womper

Ensemble Girls

Michelle Hansen
Kayla Paracca
Katie Lee
Nora Doane
Alexis ... girl from the restaurant (sorry - no last name)

Swing/Understudies/Tech

Ayrton/J. Pierrepont
Bryce/Biggly
Nora/Rosemary
Michelle/Smitty
Katie/Heddy
Cassandra Elmer/Miss Krowholtz and Miss Jones/Tech
Nathalina/Swing/Tech
Sarah Neary/Swing/Tech
Cody W./Twimble

In Addition, SLOLT will have auditions on November 24 & 25 for their upcoming Legends Series Swingin' with Sinatra production.  They will also host a staged reading of The Devil's Chaplain, a new play about "the real Charles Darwin," by Alan Navarre on November 29.  And a children's theatre production of A Little Princess is scheduled for January 15-31 in 2010.

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com), also located in San Luis Obispo, recently completed a successful run of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning production of RENT at the Spanos Theatre on the Cal Poly campus.  Stay tuned for what Erik Austin & Co will be doing next!

The God Is Still Speaking Players (check them out on Facebook or at www.sloucc.org) just completed their readers' theatre production of Archibald MacLeish's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning J.B. - a poetic dramatization of the story of Job, at the San Luis Obispo United Church of Christ.  Stay tuned for auditions in January for a collaborative effort with Bent Angel Productions on a readers' theatre production of 12 Angry Men in February.

Providing a variety of live entertainment options, the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) is proud to present Zero to Infinity November 19-21, the Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona on November 23, and A Leahy Family Christmas on December 2.

The Studio Players at the Studio of Performing Arts (www.thestudioofperformingarts.com) in Arroyo Grande, presents The Miracle Worker through November 21.  SOPA's holiday production of A Night Before Christmas will be held December 18 & 19 at at the Spanos Theatre (www.pacslo.org) on Cal Poly campus in San Luis Obispo.

At the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org), also located in the Village of Arroyo Grande, a number of quality entertainment opportunities will be presented in the weeks ahead, including the Coastal Chamber Ballet's (www.coastaldanceandmusicacademy.com) Babes in Toyland on November 21, Everybody Can DANCE Ballet's The Nutcracker November 28 & 29, Nipomo High School's Anything Goes December 3-5, SLO Youth Symphony December 6, Pismo Beach Youth Theater's (www.pismobeachyouththeater.com) Annie December 11 & 12 (Black Box Theater) and Arroyo Grande High School's Footloose December 11 & 12 (Mainstage Theater).

In Oceano, The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville (www.americanmelodrama.com) presents their Holiday Extravaganza through December 31, including Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and Little Red Riding Hood - a Fractured Fairy-tale Opera by Marian Partee and JorDan Richardson, along with a holiday Vaudeville Revue filled with music of the season.

Across the line into Santa Barbara County, the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (www.pcpa.org), the Central Coast's Resident Professional Theatre Company, has opened their 2009/10 season with C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which runs through December 23 at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria.

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre (www.smct.org) is presenting the Alex Gottlieb comedy Wake Up, Darling through December 12.

The North County Dance and Performing Arts Foundation and Class Act Dance (www.classactdance.com/nutcracker) will be presenting The Nutcracker Ballet December 4-13 at the Templeton Performing Arts Center.

The Houselights Theatre (www.houselightstheatre.org) in Cambria completed a remount run of their popular summer musical Always ... Patsy Cline at the Spanos Theatre (www.pacslo.org) the end of August.  Stay tuned for details concerning their next show.

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org), also in Cambria, is currently showing Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap through November 22.

And in Paso Robles, the Pioneer Players (www.pioneerplayers.org) have held auditions for their next production, Oliver, scheduled to be presented January 15-30 of 2010.

So, as you make your plans for the beginning of the upcoming Holiday Season, with Thanksgiving just a little over a week away and the beginning of Advent just a couple of days beyond, I trust your plans will include taking in a number of the shows being produced by our numerous live entertainment theatre venues, while enjoying the various other amenities the beautiful Central Coast region has to offer!

Curt Miner ... your BroadwayWorld.com guy on the ground with the California Central Coast theatre "news & views"