Cabrillo Presents THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Opens Tonight

The hills will be alive in Thousand Oaks as Cabrillo Music Theatre proudly announces its brand-new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC. THE SOUND OF MUSIC opens on Friday, July 22nd, and plays until Sunday, July 31st, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC marked the final collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and boasted a book by playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
When a postulant, Maria, proves too high-spirited for religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval captain. Maria's growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain. THE SOUND OF MUSIC ran on Broadway for over 1,400 performances and won five Tony Awards. It spawned a movie that earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and has become a perennial favorite for generations. The show's memorable songs include, "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," and "The Sound of Music."

Cabrillo Music Theatre's brand new production features two songs written by Richard Rodgers for the movie, "I Have Confidence," and "Something Good."

Surrounding Cabrillo's THE SOUND OF MUSIC will be a variety of special events. In order to accommodate the demand for tickets, an additional performance has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 27th, at 11:00AM. This full performance will feature large discounts for seniors, plus free parking at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. In addition, Cabrillo will host sing-a-longs after all matinee performances by the fountain outside the Civic Arts Plaza, continuing the excitement of the show long after the curtain comes down.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC will be directed by Cabrillo Music Theatre's Artistic Director, Lewis Wilkenfeld. Darryl Archibald Musical Directs and conducts the Cabrillo Music Theatre Orchestra, and Heather Castillo provides the Choreography. The production stars Cabrillo favorite Shannon Warne (SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS and the 2010 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR) as Maria Rainer, while Tom Schmid (Broadway's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN) makes his Cabrillo debut as Captain Georg von Trapp. Also starring are Southern California theatre veteran Michael G. Hawkins (Cabrillo's 42ND STREET) as Max Detweiler, Laura Cable (National Tour of CATS) as the Baroness, and opera performer/director Marilyn Anderson as the Mother Abbess.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC performs July 22nd through the 31st at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Considered by many to be the perfect family musical, THE SOUND OF MUSIC is thoroughly appropriate for all ages.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Lewis Wilkenfeld (Director). The Sound of Music marks the start of Lewis' sixth season as Artistic Director of Cabrillo Music Theatre, and his 16th show as Director, dating back to 1996. Under Lewis' leadership, Cabrillo has received twenty-four Ovation Award nominations, and seven wins. Previous Cabrillo shows include Cinderella, Little Shop of Horrors, The King and I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and The Music Man, as well as the upcoming Annie. His production of Bye Bye Birdie! was named Ventura County's Production Of The Year.

Additionally, Lewis' work has won him a Drama Logue Award (The Wizard of Oz, starring Cathy Rigby), a Robby Award (Gypsy! at the Lawrence Welk Resort Theatre), and an AriZoni Award (Beauty and the Beast, Phoenix Theatre). Lewis has also directed seven productions for L.A.'s prestigious Musical Theatre Guild, including the recent Fade Out, Fade In. Lewis is member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and Actors' Equity Assn.

Darryl Archibald (Musical Director/Conductor): Dreamgirls national tour (Associate Conductor); Disney's The Lion King Broadway tour (Vocal Coach/Assistant Conductor); Wicked at the Pantages Theater (Substitute Conductor); Jonathan Dove's Innocence (Banff Centre) Nightmare Alley - workshop (The Geffen Playhouse); Loving Repeating (ICT); Swing! (Sacramento Music Circus); Smokey Joe's Café, Serrano - workshop directed by Joel Zwick (El Portal Theater); A Chorus Line, The King and I with Deborah Gibson (Cabrillo Music Theatre); The Buddy Holly Story (McCoy/Rigby); Merry Me A Little - revised version (Celebration Theater); Two By Two with Jason Alexander and Faith Prince, How To Succeed In Business... with John O'Hurley, Carousel with M. Emmet Walsh, The Fantasticks with Eric McCormack, Once On This Island with Ledisi, Li'l Abner with Cathy Rigby and Fred Willard, Merrily We Roll Along with Teri Hatcher, I Do! I Do! with Diana Canova and Harry Groener (Reprise); Great Expectations, My Fair Lady, 1776, Little Shop Of Horrors, Camelot, and Forever Plaid (Utah Shakespearean Festival); The Fix, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Lady In the Dark, and Sail Away (Musical Theatre Guild). Arrangement and orchestration credits include: the prime-time television special A Hollywood Holiday Celebration (ABC), The Fountain Show and Christmas Trolley Show (The Grove Los Angeles).

HEATHER CASTILLO (Choreographer). Previous Cabrillo choreography credits include Cinderella and The King and I, starring Deborah Gibson. She is also proud to be the Choreographer for the Kabrillo Kids. Other Choreography credits include 1940s Radio Hour, She Loves Me, Seussical, Street Scene, E-$cape, The Fix, Anything Goes, Urinetown, La Celestina, City of Angels, Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me Kate, and A Connecticut Yankee.

Her concert works Everyone Deserves a Happy Ending, Corporate Machine, and Disconnect have earned her critical acclaim. Future projects include Choreographer for Cabrillo's Annie. She has also performed for Buena Vista Special Events, Disney, Universal Studios, and Saban Entertainment. Her Documentary, "Nice Work If You Could Get It: Dancing Ensembles in the Golden Age of Movie Musicals, 1940-1965" is currently in production. Heather holds an MFA in dance from UC Irvine, where she is the dance consultant for the BFA program in Musical Theater.

ABOUT THE CAST

Shannon Warne (Maria Rainer) returns to Cabrillo Music Theatre for the third time, having starred in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the 2010 Holiday Spectacular. National Tour: "Nimue", "Guenevere*" u/s in Camelot starring Michael York (*6 Performances/Opening in Philadelphia). Recent: "Grace" in Annie (Musical Theatre West), "Guenevere" in David Lee's Camelot (Pasadena Playhouse), "Rachel" in the star-studded Two By Two (Reprise!), Critical acclaim for "Violet" in the Los Angeles premiere of Violet (MTG), "Polly" in The Threepenny Opera (ICT), "Estella" in Great Expectations (the Hudson), "Milly" in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Cabrillo Music Theatre). Other Credits: Ovation for Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme (Ahmanson). "Tzeitel" in Fiddler on the Roof and "Kate" in Pirates of Penzance (Sacramento Music Circus), "Chanel" in Bark! (Coast Playhouse), "Emily" in Empire (Hudson/Rich Forum), "Hope" in Anything Goes! (Ordway), "Meg" in Merrily We Roll Along (Guthrie), "Violet" in the Midwest premiere of Side Show (Park Square). AEA member since 2002.

Tom Schmid (Captain Georg von Trapp). This Brainerd, Minnesota native has numerous stage credits including Broadway's Annie Get Your Gun and the dual roles in Jekyll & Hyde. Some of his local performances include his playing opposite Alice Ripley in Tommy at the Ricardo Montalban, and at the Pasadena Playhouse in I Do, I Do and The Little Foxes. Tom has been in more than 40 television shows and films during the past 9 years; he has recurred on over 14 of them. You may have seen him on Medium, Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, and CSI (Vegas and Miami), to name a few.

Michael G. Hawkins (Max Detweiler) returns to Cabrillo Music Theatre, where he starred as Julian Marsh in 42nd Street. He has recently appeared as Captain Hook in the National tour of Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby, as Mervyn Kant in The Sisters Rosensweig for TheatreWorks in San Francisco, and as George Dillingham in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects Of Love at the Alex Theatre in Los Angeles. He has appeared as Georges in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles production of La Cage Aux Folles, as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd at the Music Circus in Sacramento and as Billy Flynn in Chicago in Las Vegas. He spent a summer portraying Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at Harrahs in Atlantic City and was proud to originate the role of Adam in the world premier of Dale Wasserman's new musicAl Western Star. Michael also had the joy of touring as Julian Marsh in the European Company of 42nd Street. His other theatrical credits include Franklin Shepard in the west coast premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, Michael in I Do! I Do! for the Music Theatre of Southern California, the Back Alley production of Jacques Brel Is..., and Roberto in Irma La Douce at the Music Center in Los Angeles. Michael has received Drama-Logue Awards for his performances of Alan in Baby, Bill Sykes in Oliver, Nick in Funny Girl, Sky in Guys and Dolls, Cliff in Cabaret, and Georges in La Cage Aux Folles. His television credits include guest appearances on "Eli Stone," "Frasier," "Charley Lawrence," "Murder She Wrote," "Wings," "Columbo Movie of the Week," "Cheers," "Newhart," "The Young & The Restless," and the HallMark Hall Of Fame presentation of "A Place For Annie." Michael is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Guild in Southern California.

Laura Cable (The Baroness Elsa Schrader) couldn't be happier to make her Cabrillo debut... and to play a human! For the past two years, she has danced around the US and Canada in a yellow unitard and tail as the lovable opera cat, Jellylorum, in the National Tour of CATS. Favorite shows include: Flat Stanley, Disney's Cinderella and The Jungle Book, Dancing at Lughnasa, King Henry VIII, The Bacchae, and Saved by the Bell: The Musical. She is so blessed to play dress up and make believe for a living. BFA: NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.

MARILYN ANDERSON (Mother Abbess) has long been an active force in the musical environment of Ventura and Los Angeles counties as a versatile performer, educator, and director. A graduate of California State University, Northridge with a Master's Degree in Vocal performance, she studied with the world-reknowned Elisabeth Parham, with further studies at the University of Southern California, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. she has coached with the famous soprano Licia Albanese, Metropolitan Opera's George Shirley, New York Opera's Nico Castel, and Curt Allen. A dramatic coloratura soprano, she has appeared in a wide variety of operatic and musical theatre roles, among them: The Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflte), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Mme. Silberklang (Impresario) as well as Fiona in "Brigadoon" and Marion Paroo in "The Music Man". On the concert stage she has been soprano soloist for the Mozart Requiem and Coronation Mass, Poulenc Gloria, Haydn Creation, Brahms Requiem, Handel Messiah both locally and in Europe. A former member of the professional singing group "The Young Americans", she has numerous film, recording, and television credits. A member of the Cal Lutheran University faculty since 1992, MS. Anderson teaches private voice lessons and classes in opera and Vocal Literature and Vocal Pedagogy. Also a member of the faculty of Moorpark College since 1975, she is founding director of their highly successful Opera/Music Theatre program, having directed over 40 different operas, operettas, and musicals in addition to programs of scenes, arias, and one-acts.

ABOUT THE PRICING AND SCHEDULE

THE SOUND OF MUSIC will open on Friday, July 22nd, 2011 and run through Sunday, July 31st. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm (note this new time), Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. An additional performance has been added on Wednesday, July 27th, at 11:00am. A post-show discussion with cast, staff and audience will follow the Saturday, July 23rd, 2:00pm performance. Post-show sing-a-longs will follow all matinee performances.

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Box Office located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks or through any Ticketmaster location or by phone (800) 745-3000. For groups of 10 or more, please call Group Sales, Cabrillo Music Theatre at (805) 497-8613. Ticket prices range from $30-$76. Discounts available for seniors on all performances, plus larger discounts for the July 27th performance. For ticket and theatre information, call (805) 449-ARTS (2787).

Season tickets are now on sale for CABRILLO MUSIC THEATRE's 2011-2012 season: ANNIE (October 2011); RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF Johnny Cash (February 2012); ONCE UPON A MATTRESS (April 2012); and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (July 2012).

CABRILLO MUSIC THEATRE performs exclusively at the Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Bank of America Performing Arts Center, at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

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