BWW Blogs: Mid-Month Theatre Happenings on the California Central Coast

As we come to the middle of July, which by many is considered to be the midpoint of summer (ALREADY?!), many of our California Central Coast theatre and live performance venues have or are gearing up to provide you with some quality entertainment!  

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) presents Into the Woods [NOTE: Saw the Saturday evening performance and Erik & friends have REALLY outdone themselves this time.  So if you don't have plans for Sun afternoon at 2 PM, go see this show ... and if you do have plans - CHANGE THEM and go see it anyway!].

An ambivalent Cinderella?  A bloodthirsty Little Red Ridinghood ?  A Prince Charming with a roving eye?  A witch who ... raps?

They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale, Into the Woods, opening July 16 at the Spanos Theater PAC.  

When a baker (Matthew Ambrose) and his wife (Lacey McNamara) learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the witch (Kerry Mayling) next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying and stealing from Cinderella (Lauren Seidenberg), Little Red Ridinghood (Rachel Vasquez), Rapunzel (Danielle Dutro) and Jack (Joe Ogren), of beanstalk fame. 

Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results.  What begins as a lively, irreverent fantasy becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

Other members of the cast include: Debora Schwartz (Jack's Mother), Garrett Marshall (Cinderella's Prince), Erik Austin (Rapunzel's Prince), Olivia Richardson (Stepmother), Katie Ridge (Florinda), Ashlin Hatch (Lucinda), and Lester Wilson as the Wolf.  Members of the creative team include Stephen Tosh (Musical Direction), David Beals (Lighting Design), and Keith Wetzel of Costume Capers (Costume Design).  Professional backdrops are provided by Grosh, Inc. 

When Into The Woods first opened on Broadway in 1987, it was called "the most imaginative musical of the season, a major theatrical event" by Jeffrey Lyons, then a theatre critic for WCBS-TV.  The play's soaring melodies and witty dialogue caused it to become a Broadway blockbuster, running for 764 performances and then beginning a 17-month national tour.  Writers James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for Sunday in the Park with George.

Don't miss Kelrik's production of this intelligent musical comedy, a great choice to wrap up the Kelrik legacy as Artistic Director, Erik Austin, leaves the area and brings the curtain down on a successful 6 year run here in San Luis Obispo.  

INTO THE WOODS

July 16 - 18

Friday & Saturday @ 7PM, Sunday @ 2 PM

$22.50 - $27.50

Spanos Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA

805 756-ARTS or www.pacslo.org

PHOTOS CREDIT: TWO GUYS WITH CAMERAS - Kerry Mayling (Witch) 

The San Luis Obispo Little Theatre (www.slolittletheatre.org) presents Suzy Miller's summer theatre dance spectacular Shimmy Shake Shine! through July 31 [NOTE: attended the Saturday matinee opening weekend of this show and this group of 30 singers/dancers/actors, ranging in age from 15 to 54, ROCK the house!].  The Academy of Creative Theatre's summer youth production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Shelagh Garren, runs August 6-8 & 13-15.  And The Fantasticks will be presented August 27 - September 19 ... BUSY summer at the Little Theatre!   

The God Is Still Speaking Players (follow them on Facebook or at www.sloucc.org) will hold auditions for their next production, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, July 19 & 20, with performances scheduled for the first 2 weekends in September.

Over the Rainbow with Gale McNeeley and Betty Faas will be presented at Linnaea's Café (1110 Garden St) in SLO on July 24 at 8 PM, and at Café Noir (formerly Café Monet - 1555 S Broadway) in Santa Maria on July 31 at 7 PM.

Cabaret in Delilah's Universe, starring Delilah Shank, will be presented at the SLO County Art Museum (1010 Broad St) at 5 PM on July 25 (805-544-9251).

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include the Festival Mozaic Grand Finale on July 25, American Dance of SLO's Just Imagine August 1 (2 performances - 2 & 6 PM), Pacific Coast Dance Convergence's JUMPBRUSH, August 12-14, and (for those who REALLY like to plan ahead!) comedienne Paula Poundstone on October 7.

Murder in Mind Productions (http://murderinmind.com) presents Bewitched: De-Witched, a parody by John Logue and directed by Ron Kewish, at the Spyglass Inn, located at 2703 Spyglass Dr in Shell Beach, through September 5.  Reservations are required. 

Ryan Cordero (rccor385@gmail.com) and Sorcerer Productions (check them out on Facebook) recently closed a successful run of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Clark Center Studio Theatre.  What's next on the drawing board for what some are calling the most exciting and creative theatre company on the Central Coast?  A production of The Drowsy Chaperone will be presented September 17 - October 2 as part of their inaugural season of 4 shows.  In addition to Chaperone, Forever Plaid is scheduled for production in November, Urinetown is tentatively scheduled for Feb/March of 2011, and Crazy for You in August 2011.   

Upcoming performances at the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org) in Arroyo Grande, include Jim Messina of Loggins & Messina in concert on August 10, and the 9^th Annual Paul Wolff Accessibility Advocacy Awards with a benefit performance by comedian Josh Blue on August 28.

The Great American Melodrama (www.americanmelodrama.com) has kicked off its summer season with The Crock of Gold, which will alternate performances with their second summer show, The Tavern, running through September 19, along with "The Great Outdoors Vaudeville Review" following each performance.

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre (www.smct.org) presents this year's Summer Fairy Tale Doc, Doc ... Goose! through July 18.  Auditions for their next production, The White Liars and Black Comedy, will be held at 7 PM on July 19 & 20 (performances September 10 - October 2).

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, presents Sylvia through July 25 at the Solvang Festival Theater [NOTE: Saw a Saturday matinee of this production during its Marian Theatre run in Santa Maria and it is absolutely WONDERFUL!].  And then the classic 50s musical West Side Story will be presented at the Marian Theatre through July 25 (July 30 - August 22 at the Solvang Festival Theater).

The Brickyard Theatre (www.brickyardhteatre.com) is currently working on a production of Quilters, which will be presented September 2-25 in Atascadero.  Contact Bobbi Stoffel at stoffelfam@charter.net for reservations or more information.

The Theatre at the Old Grammar School (TOGS) in Cambria presents The Belle of Amherst through August 1.  Contact Emma Duncan at (805) 574-0073, or eduncan@gm.slc.edu for more information.

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org), also located in Cambria, closed their production of Finishing Touches on February 28.  The theatre will now be closed for a time while it installs a new fire sprinkler system - stay tuned for details on its reopening and next show!

The Houselights Theatre (www.houselightstheatre.org) completed a successful remount run of their popular summer musical Always ... Patsy Cline at the Spanos Theatre On the Cal Poly campus this past August.  Stay tuned for details concerning their next show (and where it will be held - they are looking for a new place to call home ... got any suggestions?).

Up Paso Robles way, the Pioneer Players (www.pioneerplayers.org) finished a successful run of Oliver at the Templeton Performing Arts Center in January.  Next up was supposed to be a summer musical production of Fiddler on the Roof, but performance rights were unavailable.  Then the plan was a production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  Now, I'm told they are working on a "special project" that has taken them in a different direction at this point, and they will hopefully be making an announcement soon ... stay tuned!

The Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation (http://pryaf.org) presents Twelfth Night, directed by Tabatha Skanes, assistant directed by Ayrton Parham, and stage managed by Danielle Lyons, in the Berg Auditorium at the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation (3201 Spring Street, Paso Robles), through July 18.

The Central Coast Shakespeare Festival (www.centralcoastshakespeare.org) is proud to present its summer productions of Twelfth Night and The Gamester through August 14 at the Outside Amphitheatre at the River Oaks Hot Springs in Paso Robles.

So ... looking for a taste of Shakespeare, or some high energy singing & dancing, or a classic musical, or a drama, or a comedy, or a dinner theatre spoof of a classic TV sitcom - with an ocean view to boot?  We've got all that and MUCH more here on the beautiful California Central Coast!

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

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