BWW Blogs: New Year's Theatre Happenings on the California Central Coast

As we move on into the New Year, I hope your list of resolutions includes taking in some theatre at one of our California Central Coast live performance venues!

Upcoming performances at the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org) include The Best of the ORIGINAL Legends Series through January 15.

Mary Meserve-Miller's Best of the ORIGINAL Legends Series features hits from Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles!

Written, Produced and Co-Directed by Mary Meserve-Miller, Executive Produced by Robyn Metchik, Co-directed by Bill McLaughlin and Choreographed by Emmy Award Winner Suzy Miller and Molly McKiernan, this musical extravaganza features a fantastic live band, brilliant singers and wonderful dancers with over 22 fantastic hits!

The Best of the ORIGINAL Legends Series stars Local Legends, such as Roy Henry, Cayce Clayton, Renee Rettler, Mike Kee, Anna Romero, Kelly Barrett, Mike Miller, Randy Hose, Cody Pettit, Lisa Spencer, Gailyn Wensloff, Elihja Lechuga, Madison Murphy-Sinclair, Holly Patterson, Bill Kirkpatrick and many, many more!

The show benefits the Nipomo High School Drama Scholarship Fund.

In addition, the Clark Center is proud to present the World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre on January 16, the Peking Acrobats January 21 & 22, and California Theatre Center's Alexander's Terribe, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on January 24.

Murder in Mind Productions (http://murderinmind.com) presents Golden Girls: Meet Blanche's Niece, at the Spyglass Inn, located at 2703 Spyglass Dr in Shell Beach, through January 30.  Reservations are required.

The Great American Melodrama (www.americanmelodrama.com) in Oceano has brought their annual Holiday Extravaganza to a close.  Their next production, Under the Boardwalk, will open on January 20 and run through March 6.  

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (www.pcpa.org), the Central Coast's Resident Professional Theatre Company, located on the Allan Hancock College Campus in Santa Maria, recently closed their high Flying Musical Peter Pan on December 23 at the Marian Theatre.  The next show of the season, The 39 Steps, opens February 10 and runs through March 6 (later to be reprised June 16 - July 3 at the Solvang Festival Theater).

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre's (www.smct.org) next production, Doubt, is in rehearsal and will run February 4-26.

Ryan Cordero (rccor385@gmail.com) and Sorcerer Productions (check them out on Facebook) recently closed their very successful production of Forever Plaid, at the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org) in Arroyo Grande as part of their inaugural season of shows.  Next up is Drowsy Chaperone, with performances scheduled for April 1-24.

SLO Little Theatre's (www.slolittletheatre.org) Academy of Creative Theatre's production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will run January 14-31, followed by a readers' theatre production of The Voysey Inheritance on February 4, and THIS IS ROCK n' ROLL! February 18 - March 20.

The God Is Still Speaking Players (follow them on Facebook), in collaboration with Bent Angel Productions, recently closed its run of a staged reading of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood.  What's next?  A readers' theatre production of The Diary of Anne Frank is planned for the first weekend in March, and Nunsense Jamboree in September.  Stay tuned for audition dates and details!

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include Verdi's Don Carlo Live from the MET in HD on January 2, and Puccini's La Finciulla del West Live from the MET in HD on January 8.

The Pioneer Players (www.pioneerplayers.org) presented a "special project."  Always ... Patsy Cline, at Centennial Park in Paso Robles for 2 performances in September.  Stay tuned for what they'll be doing next! 

The Houselights Theatre (www.houselightstheatre.org) is looking for a new place to call home ... got any suggestions?  Details concerning their next show are TBD (and where it will be held).

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org) in Cambria has announced that their next production will be The Glass Menagerie, directed by Nehemiah Persoff, with performances January 21 through March 5.

The Theatre at the Old Grammar School (TOGS), also located in Cambria, closed Rosann Balbontin's Bridging the Gap in September.  Contact Theatre Director, Jeff Mar, at KRKJFRZ@aol.com to find out what their next project will be.

So, whether it be a gift from a friend or family member, or just a treat for yourself - I hope you will take the opportunity to support the performing arts here on the beautiful (albeit somewhat soggy at present) California Central Coast!

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

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