Laguna Playhouse's ALL SHOOK UP Opens in July

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham is thrilled to announce the first show in the Laguna Playhouse 2016-2017 season, the perfect family summertime, fun-time musical, ALL SHOOK UP, book by Joe DiPietro, musical direction by Jeff Biering, choreography by Paula Hammons Sloan and directed by Steve Steiner.

"There's no better way to open a season than with Elvis! Our subscribers and audiences can't help falling in love with this infectious, summertime confection that the whole family is going to jailhouse rock & roll to," says Wareham. ALL SHOOK UP will begin previews on Wednesday, July 6; will open on Sunday, July 10 and will run through Sunday, August 7, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

In ALL SHOOK UP, one girl's dream and a surprise visit from a mysterious leather-jacketed, guitar-playing stranger help a small town to discover the magic of romance and the power of rock & roll in this all Elvis musical, loosely based on William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

Joe DiPietro (Book) is a two-time Tony Award winner for Memphis, which also received 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Musical and a 2015 Olivier nomination. He is also a Drama Desk Award winner and Tony nominee for Nice Work if You Can Get It. Other Broadway credits include: Living On Love, and All Shook Up. Off-Broadway: The Toxic Avenger; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Over the River and Through the Woods, among others. In addition to Nice Work..., with a Gershwin score, his adaptations of vintage musicals include Rodgers & Hart's Babes in Arms, and Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro. Recent works include the plays Clever Little Lies, The Second Mrs. Wilson, and the musical Ernest Shackleton Loves Me.

Steve Steiner (Director) has had a long career in the performing arts, beginning nearly 50 years ago when his first paying job was as a bass player and singer in a rock and roll band. After many High School Rock Band jobs and school plays, Steve entered Webster University studying music. Following several years as a professional musician and avocational actor, Steve headed to NY at age 30 to give Broadway a try. Over the next 16 years he was fortunate to work almost nonstop in the theatre, including 3 Broadway, 3 Off-Broadway, 2 National Tours and dozens of Regional Productions. As he began to, the next step was an offer to become the Artistic Director of Surflight Theatre, at the time a semi-professional Summer Stock Theatre on Long Beach Island, NJ. During Steve's tenure there, Surflight's professional profile grew exponentially. Achieving an unprecedented attendance increase averaging over 10% per year for 12 seasons, Main Stage attendance increased more than 130%, Children's Theatre increased more than 35%, a concert series was created, a Touring Educational Theatre Company was created, a school with classes for young people was formed and the Intern/Apprentice program was revitalized to become one of the most sought after programs for theatre students on the east coast. Since 2004 Steve and his team have been working with Jersey Shore Entertainment, producing shows for Casino Venues across the country. Steve has directed 2 National Tours, 8 major Casino Productions and more than 50 Regional Productions in 17 states, Including Ring Of Fire and Buddy...The Buddy Holly Story for Laguna Playhouse.

In addition to his work in the theatre, Steve is on the boards of: The South Jersey Cultural Alliance (Past President), ArtPride New Jersey (Arts Advocacy), Ocean County Tourism Advisory Committee (Former Chair). He has also served twice on the Ocean County Arts Planning Task Force and served 10 years on the Council (Board) of Actors Equity Association. Steve is the proud recipient of The Cultural Access Task Force's Innovator Award for his forward thinking and hiring practices for Artists with Disabilities. In 2013 the Cultural and Heritage Commission awarded Steve a Special Recognition for the Advancement of the Arts in Ocean County, New Jersey.

PAULA HAMMONS SLOAN (Choreography) is pleased to be returning to Laguna Playhouse to choreograph this production of All Shook Up having served as Director/ Choreographer for the production of Footloose last summer. Her work as Director/Choreographer and Master Teacher has been recognized nationally for almost 40 years. Ms. Sloan has directed or choreographed numerous National Tours including: Music Man, Cabaret, Bye Bye Birdie, Little Women, Urban Cowboy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Copacabana, Funny Girl, George M, Singin' in the Rain, Titanic, My One and Only, Crazy for You and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Having mounted several productions at the Tropicana Resort and Casino and Resorts in Atlantic City she also directed and choreographed Miracle on 34th Street (Jersey Shore Entertainment) on the West Coast and at the Tropicana Resort and Casino. She was choreographer for Jekyll and Hyde and Singin' in the Rain for the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino Broadway Series in Atlantic City, which also played for an extended run at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood Florida. Ms. Sloan has directed and choreographed regionally including, Kansas City Starlight (The Producers, Anything Goes), Casa Manana (Oklahoma), West Virginia Public Theatre, Surflight Theatre (On Your Toes, Sisters of Swing, Lady Be Good, Ragtime, Joseph, Will Rogers, White Christmas, Ebenezer), Gateway Playhouse, Plan B Productions (The Producers, Footloose), Theatre Under the Stars (Houston) (110 in the Shade, Wonderful Life, Disney's When You Wish), the Houston Symphony, the Houston Thanksgiving Day Parade and opening ceremonies of the 100th Anniversary Convention of Girl Scouts. Her work is often seen in New Jersey at Ocean Professional Theatre Company where she also serves as the Director of the Apprentice Program.

JEFF BIERING (Musical Direction) is delighted to return to Laguna after last summer's Footloose, which he also music directed in Reno. Off-Broadway: Danny and Sylvia, Naked Boys Singing, Splendora, The Talk of the Town. National Tour: Sweet Charity. As musical director, arranger, orchestrator, composer and performer: An Evening with Danny Kaye -- Washington, DC and LA; Spamalot, Pump Boys & Dinettes and The Drowsy Chaperone at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina; many projects for TheatreWorks USA; lots of casino productions in Atlantic City, Reno, and some other unlikely places; three European tours of A Christmas Carol; many projects for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS; composed opening and closing numbers for Broadway Bares and the annual Cougar Ball (a benefit for the Actors Fund of America); solo concerts all over the country with Emily Skinner. Jeff has spent much of the last year setting shows for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, where he serves as associate music supervisor for Grease on the world's largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.

The cast of ALL SHOOK UP features in alphabetical order: Joseph Ambrosia, Gabrielle Beckford, Michelle Bendetti, Alexa Briana Crimson, Cole Fletcher, Lily Ganser, Christopher Hansell, Dwan Hayes, Clark Helman, Dereis Lambert, Stevie Ann Mack, Melissa Mangold, Jonathan D. Mesisca, Noah Pattillo, David Sasik, Alan Slabodkin, Jill Slyter and Siena Yusi.

ALL SHOOK UP has assembled the following design team. Lighting Design is by Alex Crocker-Lakness. Sound Design is by Juan Sanson. Costume Design is by Keith Lambert. The Stage Manager is Mercedes Aponte.

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING

ALL SHOOK UP will begin previews on Wednesday, July 6; will open on Sunday, July 10 at 5:30pm and will run through Sunday, August 7, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Performances will be Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm; Sundays at 1pm. There will be additional performances on Thursday, July 7; Thursday, July 21 & Thursday, August 4 at 2:00pm & Sunday, July 17 & Sunday, July 31 at 5:30.

Tickets range from $40 - $75 and can be purchased online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling (949) 497-ARTS (2787). Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229.

The box office is open Mondays - Saturdays: 12p.m. to 5 p.m. (open until showtime on performance days); Sundays: 11a.m. - 4p.m. For more information on all shows and programming visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

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