STEEL MAGNOLIAS & More Announced For La Mirada Theater's 2009-2010 Season

La Mirada Theater announces their 2009 - 2010 season of shows.This season, the company will offer its subscribers and audiences six unforgettable theatrical events: from the hilarious Southern gem, Steel Magnolias starring the inimitable Cathy Rigby; to the music and legacy of famed '50s legend Buddy Holly in Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story; you will drop in on the making of the classic movie epic, "Gone With The Wind" - that almost wasn't made in Moonlight and Magnolias; then test your spelling prowess in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; finally, enjoy a not so quiet Dinner with Friends and then get patriotic with Tony Orlando's tribute to the Stars and Stripes in "Let's Salute America!"

This not-to-be-missed season has absolutely something for everyone.

The 2009/2010 LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS season:
"Harling has given his women sharp, funny dialogue...The play builds to a conclusion that is deeply moving." -NY Daily News

Cathy Rigby stars in
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
October 2 - October 18, 2009 (Press Opening October 3)
Written by Robert Harling
Directed by Brian Kite

"If you can't find anything good to say about anybody, come sit by me." These words of wisdom sum up Robert Harling's 1987 off-Broadway sensation and subsequent smash film Steel Magnolias.

Set in a beauty parlor in Chinquapin, Louisiana, Steel Magnolias illustrates how the lives of six distinctly different women interweave via the small town gossip that shadows the unending cycle of birth, marriage and death. "I'm not crazy, I've just been in a bad mood for forty years!" Filled with hilarious Southern repartee and humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play draws on the town's underlying strength-and love-which gives the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and in bad.
"Frankly, my dear, this is one funny play...a rip-roaring farce...[with] witty, pointed dialogue and hilarious situations..." -NY Daily News

MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS
November 6 - 22, 2009 (Press Opening November 7)
Written by Ron Hutchinson
Directed by Andy Barnicle

Making movie history isn't easy! Just ask film producer David O. Selznick. Three weeks into production of his historical epic "Gone With The Wind," he realizes the script isn't working. Astoundingly, he halts production, fires the director and hires playwright Ben Hecht to rewrite the script in a record five days. There's just one problem. Hecht's never even read the novel. So, Selznick pulls famed director Victor Fleming off "The Wizard of Oz" and forces the three of them into a room until a new script is finished. Subsisting on a diet of bananas and peanuts, the three men spend five days crafting a screenplay that will become the blueprint for one of the most successful films of all time. This wildly funny and engaging tale illuminates the behind-the-scenes business of movie-making during the golden age of Hollywood. A Co-production with The Laguna Playhouse.

Two-Time Tony Award-Winning Musical Sensation!
"It's Spelled W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L." -The Washington Post
The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee
February 5 - 21, 2010 (Press Opening February 6)
Music and Lyrics by William Finn; Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Conception by Rebecca Feldman
Directed by Jeff Maynard

F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! - That's the only way to spell this smash-hit musical comedy! The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is the story of how six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser. This hilarious tale of overachievers' angst chronicles the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show's Tony Award-winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a roller coaster of music and fun.

"A great fun, feel good musical...If you love Rock and Roll you will love this show! Brilliant." -Magic 105.4FM

BUDDY - THE Buddy Holly STORY
April 16 - May 2, 2010 (Press Opening April 17)
Book by Alan James & Rob Bettinson
Directed by Glenn Casale

On February 3, 1959, the legend known as Buddy Holly died unexpectedly in a tragic plane crash at the age of twenty-two. It was known forever after as "the day the music died."

Now, Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story tells the incredible story of the three years in which Buddy Holly became the world's top recording artist with a show that features over 20 of Buddy Holly's greatest hits including "Peggy Sue," "That'll Be The Day," "Oh Boy," "Not Fade Away," "Everyday," "Rave On," "Maybe Baby," "Raining In My Heart," Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," and the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace." Over 20 million people from around the globe have come to see Buddy and experienced the magical talents of the young man with glasses named Charles Hardin ‘Buddy' Holly, whose musical career spanned an all-too-brief period in our history. Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story is a celebration of that legend and catches that unique mixture of innocence, determination, humor and charm that truly deserves the billing: "The World's Most Successful Rock & Roll Musical."

The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play!

"Margulies writes about relationships with such intelligence and spiky humor that his comedy-drama--acted and directed with perfect pitch, becomes something quite wonderful." - Time

DINNER WITH FRIENDS
June 4 - 20, 2010 (Press Opening June 5)
Written by Donald Margulies
Directed by Brian Kite

Playwright Donald Margulies has been quoted as calling his 2000 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner With Friends, "a rueful comedy." The story is not just a thoughtful study on divorce, but a turbulent meditation on the minefield of middle age. Gabe and Karen, a happily married couple, have been friends with married couple Tom and Beth for many years. While having dinner at Gabe and Karen's home one night, Beth tearfully reveals that she is getting a divorce from Tom, who has been unfaithful.

The unfolding story is not the divorce, but the shockwaves it causes in its wake. Over the course of the play, we witness the effects of Tom and Beth's breakup on Gabe and Karen, who first feel compelled to choose sides, and then begin to question the strength of their own seemingly tranquil marriage. The play exposes the same, universal insecurities that people face every time there are shattering changes in their lives. Margulies' characters are real. They are normal. They are family, friends, and the people next door. They are people facing their fears.

Two Performances Only!

Tony Orlando
"Let's Salute America!"
May 15, 2010 - 2pm & 8pm

Tony Orlando's new show "Let's Salute America" is inspired by America's love of the Yellow Ribbon as a symbol of freedom, hope, homecomings and of course, Tony's number one recording of 1973, "Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round The Ole Oak Tree." It was number one for that year, became Orlando's theme song and grew into an American anthem of hope, homecoming, reunion and renewal. The yellow ribbon has welcomed home POWs from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, the hostages from Iran and the troops from Desert Storm. Veterans are honored each Veterans Day, November 11, in Branson with the Tony Orlando Yellow Ribbon Salute to Veterans. Tony, one of America's enduring and beloved performers, has put together a powerful show that stands up for our country. It's a guaranteed crowd pleaser. The salute includes "Yellow Ribbon,"; a tribute to George M. Cohan's "Yankee Doodle Dandy," a rendition of Toby Keith's "American (Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue)," Neil Diamond's "America" and Ray Charles' "America The Beautiful." Tony also performs his other big hits such as "Candida," "Knock Three Times" and "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose."

Subscriptions to this extraordinary season are now available! Single tickets go on sale beginning June 1st! Subscription Season tickets are available by calling the Box Office at 562-944-9801 or 714-994-6310 or online at www.lamiradatheatre.com.
LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is located at 14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue where the 91 and 5 freeways meet. Parking is free.

Photo: Cathy Rigby and James M. Nederlander

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