Holiday Season Theatre Productions on the California Central Coast

As we come to the week leading up to Christmas (do you have YOUR shopping done yet?), I trust you will want to include attending a show (or two?) at one of the various theatre and live performance venues here on the beautiful California Central Coast as part of your holiday plans!

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org) in Cambria is proud to present Fascinating Gershwin! through December 31.

One of the Pewter Plough's most popular of its original musicals has been revived, running through the holidays to New Year's Eve.  The play is a musical memoir showcasing the extraordinary songs of America's favorite composing team, George and Ira Gershwin, told from the standpoint of a fictional club meeting of talented friends who make up the Gershwin Society, all getting together around the grand piano to sing and share entertaining anecdotes and humorous reminiscences from the Gershwin years!  Over 40 songs are featured, many beloved classics of the Great American Songbook, including Rhapsody In Blue, Summertime, A Foggy Day, Lady Be Good, Embraceable You, The Man I Love, Fascinating Rhythm, Our Love Is Here To Stay, They Can't Take That Away From Me, I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise, How Long Has This Been Goin' On?, the show-stopper duet from Porgy and Bess, plus so many more!

Presented to acclaim in 2005, the full original cast is returning, with Wayne Attoe, Laurelle Barnett, Jim Buckley, Jim Conroy, Viv Goff, David Manion at the piano (and vocals) and new cast member George Anderson.  The play is written and directed by Jim Buckley, Artistic Director and Founder of the PPP, who will be celebrating his 99th birthday during the show's run.  The Musical Director is David Manion and the Company Manager is Viv Goff.

Press comments from the 2005 show:

"...charming and tuneful...a fine mix of vocal talents and personalities...the Porgy and Bess centerpiece duet soars... [the Pewter Plough] is just right for this kind of intimate show" — Joan Crowder, The Cambrian and The Tribune

"[It] entertains and edifies...this is a show about memories we make over a lifetime and how the music of George and Ira Gershwin became a soundtrack for our lives" — Glen Starkey, New Times

* A Special New Year's Eve Gala — a unique, non-stop evening of entertainment in the theatre and Cafe Lounge!  It includes the final performance on stage of the show; an elegant buffet of hot and cold delectables (plus desserts); Tobin James Champagne generously served (not just a toast!); Dynamic Cabaret Jazz performing great pop, jazz and big band favorites; and party noisemakers, hats and all that fun!  All-inclusive, package price is $120 (the capacity of the Lounge and theatre are limited).

The Theatre at the OldGrammar Schoolin Cambria (TOGS) (http://artistsofcambria.com/cambriapac/id4.html) and Allied Arts Theatre's next production will be the romantic comedy Almost, Maine (performances January 27 - February 19).

SLO Little Theatre's (www.slolittletheatre.org) next theatrical offering will be ACT's (Academy of Creative Theatre) The Little Prince will be presented January 13-29.

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) is pleased to announce the first 2 productions of their 2012 BEYOND Season - a remount of the children's favorite Pinkalicious (matinee performances January 21 - February 5) and Avenue Q (evening performances January 13 - February 4).  The remainder of the 2012 Season will soon be announced!

The God Is Still Speaking Players' (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/92718528887) recently completed their “Celebration In Song” musical variety show to benefit GALA and PFLAG.  After the Holiday Season, they will be holding auditions for either a readers’ theatre production or gearing up for another musical revue in early/mid March - stay tuned!

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include Bob and Tom Comedy All-Stars Tour on December 30, W. Terrence Spiller Piano Recital on January 6, Transatlantic Landscapes – New Music by Craig Russell on January 7, and The MET Live in HD: Handel’s Rodelinda on January 8.      

Murder In Mind Productions (www.murderinmind.com) will present A Dickens of a Mystery, through January 29, at The Spyglass Inn inShellBeach (advance reservations required).

The Spot (https://www.facebook.com/#!/hit.the.spot) in Arroyo Grande will present All In One Music Productions' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Foreclosure December 29 & 30, along with Spinning the Globe and a simulcast of the ball dropping inTimes Square on December 31.

Sorcerer Productions (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sorcerer-Productions/105954829426281) will present I’ll Be Seeing You … WWII Through the Eyes of Radio, December 30 – January 15 at theClarkCenter in Arroyo Grande.

Other upcoming performances at the ClarkCenter (www.clarkcenter.org) include ABBA-Mania & Night Fever – A Tribute to The Bee Gees on January 12, Michael Kaeshammer on January 20, INCENDIO and Calmenco!: Evening of Guitars on January 21, The Peking Acrobats on January 25, and Forbidden Broadway 30th Anniversary on January 27.

The Great American Melodrama (www.americanmelodrama.com) is pleased to present The Holiday Extravaganza running through December 31.  

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre's (www.smct.org) next production, Rabbit Hole, will run February 2-25.   

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (www.pcpa.org), the Central Coast's Resident Professional Theatre Company, located on the Allan Hancock College Campus in Santa Maria, is proud to present Little Women, the Broadway Musical, February 16 – March 11.

The Lompoc Civic Theatre (www.lompoccivictheatre.com) has just finished presenting 2 holiday one act plays: The Cowhand's Christmas Carol and Not on This Night.  Next up is a workshop production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, January 6-8. 

So, whatever your plans may be in the next week or two, I hope you will want to include attending a production at one of our area live entertainment and theatre establishments as part of your seasonal celebrations!

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