Marin Theatre Company Will Host Fall Benefit in November

Marin Theatre Company has announced that Broadway sensation and Seattle-based artist Sara Porkalob (1776) will be a featured performer along with internationally renowned Alpha Rhythm Kings and more at Marin Theatre Company’s Fall Benefit taking place on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at San Francisco’s esteemed Verdi Club. MTC’s benefit raises crucial funds for the development and production of groundbreaking new theatre, innovative community initiatives, and inspiring educational programming. At the benefit, all guests will enjoy delicious food, craft cocktails, and cabaret-style fun. The event will also feature a silent auction and raffle with live music by additional performers announced at a later date.

Tickets ($250-$650) and table purchases ($2,000-$5,000) for the Marin Theatre Company Fall Benefit are available online at MarinTheatre.org/productions/fall-benefit-23 and questions or additional information can be directed to development@marintheatre.org or 415.388.5200. VIP sponsorship perks (starting at $350) include a private reception, reserved seating, gift bags, raffle tickets, and a luxury shuttle service transportation from Mill Valley to the benefit and back.

“We have the privilege of creating professional theatre in the Bay Area that deeply connects to our community,” said MTC Managing Director Meredith Suttles. “The Fall Benefit will revitalize funding of MTC’s diverse programs and allow us to continue presenting stories that inspire and engage. We cannot wait for our guests to experience the special performances of the incredible roster of artists performing on November 5."

Sara Porkalob recently made her Broadway debut playing Edward Rutledge in the Broadway revival of the musical, 1776. Her awards and nominations include: 2021 Princess Grace Award Winner for Theater, 2020 nominee Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, Seattle Times 11 Movers and Shakers to Watch this Decade, 2019 nominee for Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities, Seattle Magazine’s 2018's Most Influential People , and 2017 City Art's Futures List. She is a co-founder of DeConstruct, an online journal of intersectional performance critique.

Alpha Rhythm Kings were established in 2017 and have crafted an exciting, King Size California sound, with what Roots Music Magazine No Depression calls "the badge of authenticity". The band's top quality musicians, with Robert Dehlinger's “exhilarating” trumpet and "magnetic" singing (Jazz Corner) leading the way, are a favorite with dancers, as well as with audiences in nightclubs, festivals and concert halls. The A.R.K.'s high-energy vintage swing vibe has whisked them all over the globe, from the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, to performances in Hungary, Austria, Germany, and back to the USA to play at the Grammy Awards Nominee San Francisco Chapter Celebration.

Later in the month, MTC will also present the Bay Area premiere of Sara Porkalob’s DRAGON LADY (November 24–December 17, 2023). This solo cabaret musical by Seattle-based storyteller and activist Sara Porkalob is the first in her trilogy of matrilineal musicals about her Filipino American gangster family; one play for each generation built around a central female protagonist—grandmother, mother, granddaughter—and her specific hero’s journey. Dragon Lady starts in the year of the Water Dragon on the eve of Grandma Maria’s 60th birthday, when Maria Porkalob Sr. must share the dark secrets of her fantastical life with her first-born grandbaby Sara “so they remember after you are dead.” Through laughter, shock, singing, and tears, the two women discover that it is never too late to atone for pain we inflict on our loved ones and forgive ourselves for past regrets. Guided by the beats of her grandmother’s new karaoke machine, Sara portrays dozens of characters through 50 years of Maria’s bittersweet memories and sensational adventures—from a Manilla nightclub to a Washington state trailer park. This funny and fearless tour-de-force piece in two acts, directed by Andrew Russell, features a live three-piece jazz ensemble on stage and a family tale replete with gangsters, murders and more that explores what it means to be a financially-strapped, immigrant single mom in America.