La Mirada Theatre Presents LIFE COULD BE A DREAM

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & MC COY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT are thrilled to present the second show of their 2011-2012 season with the LADCC, GARLAND and LA WEEKLY award-winning musical for Best Production, LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, written and directed by Roger Bean (The Marvelous Wonderettes), with musical direction by Michael Paternostro, choreography by Lee Martino and featuring the original cast who performed in both the Hudson Theatre and Laguna Playhouse productions! LIFE COULD BE A DREAM will open on Friday, October 28, 2011 (with a press opening on Saturday, October 29) and run through Sunday, November 20, 2011 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

SH-BOOM! From the "marvelous" mind of creator Roger Bean, comes another trip to Springfield where we meet the "Crooning Crabcakes," the boy group banned from the Springfield High School prom which made it possible for "The Marvelous Wonderettes" to perform there.Now in an era before "American Idol," and "Star Search," the guys get one more chance at fame and fortune as Denny and his friend Eugene form a singing group so they can enter and win the local radio contest on Big Whopper Radio and realize their dreams of making it to the big time! With the help of their best friend Wally and their new friend Skip, this is the best quartet of singers since, well, you know who! Trouble comes in the form of Lois, who arrives to help put some polish on the group but who also broke Eugene's heart many years before. As Eugene falls apart, Skip, Wally and Denny fall in love - and hilarity and heartaches ensue! Featuring such classic songs as "Stay" (Just a Little Bit Longer)," "Runaround Sue," "The Great Pretender," "Tears On My Pillow," "Unchained Melody," "Earth Angel," "The Glory of Love," and of course the title song, LIFE COULD BE A DREAM is another musical trip down memory lane that will leave you laughing, singing and cheering - let's hear it for the boys!

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Roger Bean (Writer/Director) created the long-running off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes, as well as the holiday sequel Winter Wonderettes. Original cast albums for both Wonderettes shows are available from PS Classics (The Marvelous Wonderettes) and LML Music (Winter Wonderettes)-look for both on iTunes. Other musicals created by MR. Bean include the cross-dressing ‘40s musical The Andrews Brothers, Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, Honky Tonk Laundry, That's Amoré, Beach Blanket Bash, Don't Touch That Dial! and the cross-country hit Route 66 (over 150 productions throughout the country). MR. Bean also created the long-running Los Angeles hit Life Could Be a Dream, which received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the LA Weekly Theatre Award and the Backstage Garland Award for Best/Outstanding Musical of 2010. MR. Bean's latest work is Summer of Love, a hippie, trippy musical featuring the powerful music of the late 1960s countercultural revolution.

Lee Martino (Choreography) works extensively as a choreographer and director in theatre, television, film and live events. Lee has received four Los Angeles Ovation Awards, three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, two Garland Awards and many more nominations for these awards including this year's LA Ovation nomination for Kiss Me Kate for Reprise Theatre Company. Currently, projects include Life Without Makeup starring legend Rita Moreno now running at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Hairspray for Musical Theatre West. Other current work includes: Shall We Dance, On Ice, a special for NBC combining Broadway Dancers with Olympic Ice Dancing Pairs, Warner Bros. animated feature Alpha Omega, Off Broadway in Falling For Eve at the York Theatre, a new show written by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro.

Lee has staged hundreds of musicals throughout the country, including shows for Musical Theatre West, Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities, Rubicon Theatre, The Pasadena Playhouse, and many more. Lee has served as the resident choreographer for The Reprise Theatre Company under the Artistic Direction of Jason Alexander. Choreography for Reprise includes: Brigadoon starring Marin Mazzie and Jason Daniely, Li'l Abner starring Cathy Rigby, On Your Toes, starring Jeffry Denman, Damn Yankees, On The Town, I Love My Wife, The Fantasticks, Carousel and Kiss Me Kate, to mention a few, and several of the summer events at The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. Most recently Lee directed and choreographed "A Grand Night For Dancing", a dance concert celebrating the work of Richard Rodgers, as part of the The Reprise Theatre Company's celebration of Richard Rodgers. Other recent credits include: Life Could Be A Dream (a year long run at the Hudson, The Laguna Playhouse) Kiss Of The Spider Woman (Havok Theatre Company). Television and film credits include: Bravo's series Step It Up and Dance, Commercials, including the dancing Jenny Craig commercial, What I Like About You, work for the Nickelodeon channel, Warner Bros. animated feature The King and I.

Michael Paternostro (Musical Direction) Broadway: Guys and Dolls (Rusty Charlie/dancer), Beauty and the Beast (L.A., Lumiere/LeFou), Saturday Night Fever (Monty). Original companies: Fosse, Sweet Smell of Success, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and A Chorus Line 2006 Revival (Greg). Tours: West Side Story (Action/Arab), The Producers (Carmen), Showboat (Frank Schultz). Music Circus' Funny Girl (Eddie Ryan). At MTW: The Producers (Carmen, Ovation Award), Annie (Rooster). Musical Director: MTW's Forbidden Broadway and Rent, Reprise's Kiss Me Kate, Havok's Kiss of the Spider Woman, Story of My Life, and Thrill Me, Cabrillo's Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Roger Bean's Life Could Be a Dream, Hudson Mainstage (LADCC and Garland Awards), Cosmopolitan Cabaret's Suds, and in NYC: Trouble in Tahiti, and Landscape of the Body. Composer: Scary Musical-A New Musical.

The cast of LIFE COULD BE A DREAM will feature the original cast from both the Hudson Theatre and Laguna Playhouse productions: Doug Carpenter as Skip, Ryan Castellino as Wally, Jim Holdridge as Eugene, Daniel Tatar as Denny and Jessica Keenan Wynn as Lois.

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM has assembled an award-winning design team. The Set Design is by Tom Buderwitz. The Lighting Design is by Luke Moyer. The Sound Design is by Joshua Bessom. The Costume Design is by Shon LeBlanc. The stage manager is Vernon Willett.

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM will begin performances on Friday, October 28, 2011 (with a press opening on Saturday, October 29) and runs for four weeks through Sunday, November 20.

Performances will be 7:30pm on Wednesdays & Thursdays; 8pm on Fridays; 2pm and 8pm on Saturdays; and 2pm on Sundays.

There will be no matinee performance on Saturday, October 29. There will be talk-back sessions following the performances on Wednesday, November 2 & Wednesday, November 16.
Tickets range from $35 - $50 and can be purchased at La Mirada Theatre's website, www.lamiradatheatre.com or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. Student, Senior, Children and group discounts are available.

THE SEASON CONTINUES WITH:

THE 39 STEPS - January 20, 2012 - February 12, 2012

MISS SAIGON- April 13, 2012 - May 6, 2012

PETER PAN - June 1, 2012 - June 24, 2012

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is located at 14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue where the 91 and 5 freeways meet. Parking is free.

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