Erik Stein News

PCPA closes its season with one of the sharpest, funniest, cleverest comedies written in the English language--Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Fans of this Victorian confection of drawing-room comedy will not be disappointed. A beautiful set, designed by Jason Bolen, and sumptuous Victorian costuming, designed by Sara Curran Ice, transport us to a fashionable London flat and a smart country mansion.

Before the first line of PCPA's The Addams Family had left the mouth of Gomez Addams (George Walker), my seatmate was already chuckling. And the laughs kept coming until the players took their bows to a standing audience. The cast's comic timing synchronized perfectly with Erik Stein's fluid staging for a frightfully fun evening.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which took the 2014 Tony Awards by storm with 10 nominations - winning four, including Best Musical, will play in the Marian Theatre April 25 through May 12 and in the Solvang Festival Theater June 13 - 30.

PCPA's current production, Shakespeare in Love, imagines Will Shakespeare's (Yusef Seevers) madcap adventures in London early in his career. Because historians truly do not know much about the personal life of the greatest writer of the English language, his life is a blank page upon which almost anything may be written. In this play, Shakespeare falls in love (at first sight) with Viola de Lesseps (Emily Trask). And, for our amusement, the course of true love does not run smooth.

A musical comedy set to the ebullient music of Swedish pop group, Abba, Mamma Mia! takes audiences on a toe-tapping journey to a wedding on a small island near Greece.

PCPA's production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A New Musical, now on stage in Solvang's Festival Theater, delights audiences with its overtly theatrical storytelling style. If you are only familiar with the Disney film based on Victor Hugo's epic novel, this Hunchback includes new music, deeper characterizations, and plot elements to suit the taste of today's theater audiences.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame A sweeping score and powerful story make The Hunchback of Notre Dame a truly unforgettable musical and an instant classic. It plays in the Marian Theatre April 26 - May 13 then June 14 - July 8 in the Solvang Festival Theatre.

Be afraid, be very afraid. In Miller's searing masterpiece, an invisible enemy unleashes a dangerous hysteria. As Artistic Director Mark Booher observed, From time to time, we human beings have periods of moral panic that overtakes us. The Crucible is one such timeless telling. While focused on literal witch hunts, it is also an allegory for any number of misguided crusades through the ages, including ominous opinions against select groups of people in our current state of the world.

Launching PCPA's 54th season on November 9, and playing through December 23, in the Marian Theatre is the new Disney musical Freaky Friday.

Launching PCPA's 54th season on November 9, and playing through December 23, in the Marian Theatre is the new Disney musical Freaky Friday.

Coming to the Marian Theatre August 16 and 19 and Solvang Festival Theater August 24 - September 10 is PCPA's production of Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night.

The uproarious farce, Lend Me A Tenor The Musical, plays in the Solvang Festival Theater July 6 - 23. The riotous tale of mistaken identities and unexpected romance explodes with delight in this brand new musical comedy by Peter Sham and PCPA's Brad Carroll, based on the play by Ken Ludwig.

Pacific Conservatory Theatre presents a tale as old as time, Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It plays November 3 - December 23 in Santa Maria's Marian Theatre, then under the stars in the Solvang Festival Theater June 15 - July 2.

The Teachers' Weekend - September 10 & 11 - is designed to give educators an up close and personal look into the PCPA Conservatory. They will see the immersive mentor-apprentice method of conservatory training in a professional environment. Teachers will spend two days working with professional actors in workshops and observing classes and then attend PCPA's productions of In The Heights, Gidion's Knot, and Trying.  A certificate of completion will be provided for participants and upper division units are available for those interested. 

Based on the Oscar-winning animation film, Shrek The Musical is the Tony Award-winning adventure-filled musical playing in the Marian Theatre June 22 - 25 then June 30 through July 31 in the Solvang Festival Theater.

Richard III, William Shakespeare's stunning portrait of Machiavellian genius and the murderous quest for absolute power, comes alive on PCPA's stage April 21 through May 8. In this original game of thrones we are engaged by a cunning, charismatic, and heartless tyrant who will stop at nothing to secure England's crown.

The classic musical Man of La Mancha, plays in Pacific Conservatory Theatre's Marian Theatre July 8 & 11, 2015, then under the unreachable stars in the Solvang Festival Theater July 17 - August 16. Check out rehearsal footage featuring David Studwell, Julie Garnye and more below!

This classic musical Man of La Mancha, plays in the Marian Theatre tonight, July 8, and July 11, 2015, then under the unreachable stars in the Solvang Festival Theater July 17 - August 16.

This classic musical Man of La Mancha, plays in the Marian Theatre July 8 & 11, 2015, then under the unreachable stars in the Solvang Festival Theater July 17 - August 16. Check out what Julie Garnye has to say on playing 'Aldonza' in the production below!

This classic musical Man of La Mancha, plays in the Marian Theatre July 8 & 11, 2015, then under the unreachable stars in the Solvang Festival Theater July 17 - August 16.