BWW Blog: Ringing In the New Year on the California Central Coast

BroadwayWorld.com brings you theater recommendations from San Luis Obispo's own Curt Miner.

Well, the week of New Years is upon us, and we have the possibility of a bit of rain, but for the most part we're still doing our typical winter highs in the 60s with plenty of sunshine here on the California Central Coast.  So as you contemplate celebrating New Years - why not include attending a show at one of our several area live theatre and entertainment establishments?

Performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include the New Year's Eve Comedy Bash with Judy Tenuta on December 31.  And then the legendary Motown group The Temptations will be in concert on January 11 - marking the 45th anniversary of their first #1 hit.

The San Luis Obispo Little Theatre (www.slolittletheatre.org) has just held auditions for a readers' theatre production of The Washing Place by Devin Wallace, who will also be directing, with a single performance scheduled on February 5.  Auditions for Taking Leave will be on January 4 and 5, with possible callbacks on January 6 (performances April 9 - May 2).  A children's theatre production of A Little Princess will be presented January 15-31.

The God Is Still Speaking Players (check them out on Facebook or at www.sloucc.org) recently completed their readers' theatre production of Archibald MacLeish's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning J.B. - a poetic dramatization of the story of Job, at the San Luis Obispo United Church of Christ.  Auditions for a collaborative effort with Bent Angel Productions on a readers' theatre production of 12 Angry Men will be held January 12 & 13, with performances February 19-21.

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com), also located in San Luis Obispo, recently completed a successful presentation of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning production of RENT at the Spanos Theatre on the Cal Poly campus.  Stay tuned for what Erik Austin & Co will be doing next (rumor has it that it could be a production of Seussical in February)!

In Oceano, The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville (www.americanmelodrama.com) presents their Holiday Extravaganza through December 31, including Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and Little Red Riding Hood - a fractured fairy-tale opera by Marian Partee and Jordan Richardson, along with a holiday Vaudeville Revue filled with music of the season.  We attended a performance on Monday evening - and this show is a MUST SEE before it closes ... IF you can get tickets!  And then, after a WELL deserved break - watch for I Hate Hamlet opening on January 21.

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org), located in Cambria, will present three special reprise performances of The Mousetrap December 31 (including a New Year's Eve champagne buffet in the Café Lounge) through January 2, and then open the New Year with a production of Jean Kerr's heartwarming comedy Finishing Touches that will run January 15 through February 28.   

At the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org) in Arroyo Grande, after a bit of a break following a very busy and full Holiday performance schedule, The Peking Acrobats will be performing on January 14, followed by Sophie Milman in concert on January 15, and Yesterday - A Tribute to the Beatles on January 30. 

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (www.pcpa.org) in Santa Maria, the Central Coast's Resident Professional Theatre Company, has just completed their run of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria.  We had an opportunity to see this show in the final weekend of its run and it was absolutely magical!  What's next?  Macbeth opens February 18.

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre's (www.smct.org) next production will be Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, with performances scheduled for February 5-27.

The Houselights Theatre (www.houselightstheatre.org) completed a remount run of their popular summer musical Always ... Patsy Cline at the Spanos Theatre on the Cal Poly campus the end of August.  Stay tuned for details concerning their next show (and where it will be held).

And in Paso Robles, the Pioneer Players (www.pioneerplayers.org) have held auditions and are in rehearsals for their next production, Oliver, scheduled to be presented January 15-30 of 2010.

So, whether you're hoping to catch a show to help you ring in the New Year, or attend a theatrical performance over the next week or so just for fun - our Central Coast theatres look forward to an opportunity to entertain you!

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

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