Laguna Playhouse Presents GrooveLily Musical STRIKING 12, Beginning Tonight

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to present the third show of their 2014-2015 season and the perfect confection for the Holiday season, the Orange County Premiere of STRIKING 12, with book music and lyrics by Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin and Valerie Vigoda and directed by Janet Roston.

"A holiday musical twist on a wonderful Hans Christian Andersen classic for our subscribers and audiences who are going to simply fall in love with STRIKING 12," offers Wood. "The music of GrooveLily coupled with this delicious cast and the wonder of Janet Roston's work will provide a perfect show that will resonate throughout the season," adds Wareham.

STRIKING 12 will begin previews tonight, December 3 and will open on Saturday, December 6 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, December 28, 2014 at theLaguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Ring in the Holiday Season with STRIKING 12. This Bay Area Theatre Critic's Choice concert-with-a-story is quickly becoming a holiday classic. Combining pop-rock, musical comedy and an old-fashioned uplift with a 21st century sensibility, STRIKING 12 weaves Hans Christian Andersen's classic fable "The Little Match Girl" with a modern-day New Year's Eve twist and is a holiday treat suitable for audiences of all ages!

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST:

JANET ROSTON (Director) Most recent Credits include: Psyche, A Modern Rock Opera, Greenway Court Theater Los Angeles(choreographer) Tonya and Nancy, The Rock Opera, Director/ Choreographer (American Repertory Theater, Boston) Midsummer Night(Texas New Musical Workshop), CarnEvil (Sacred Fools Theater); Walk'n Thru the Fire (Hayworth Theater) Janet is Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Rock Opera Company: Productions include: shAme, (King King Nightclub), The Wanting (Highways) and Possession(Unknown Theater). The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre (Choreography Awards: Ovation Award, NAACP Award, LADCC Nomination);Justin Love, Celebration Theatre (LADCC Award); Once On this Island, International City Theater (NAACP Nomination); Avenue X,Odyssey Theater (Ovation Award Nomination). Janet has received two American Choreography Awards and is a proud alumni of the Directors Lab.

BRENDAN MILBURN (Book, Music and Lyrics) graduated from Pomona College and NYU's MFA program in Musical Theatre Writing. He does a lot of arranging for GrooveLily, and he's an accomplished record producer as well. He often yearns for his native San Francisco. Seth Rogovoy wrote: "Milburn was a deft pianist, his nimble fingerwork doing double-duty as the band's bassist and provider of its harmonic foundation, delivered with the jazzy sophistication of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and the rock and roll theatrics of Billy Joel." Brendan's music and/or lyrics have been/will be featured in a growing number of off/on-Broadway shows, and he's always on the lookout for new projects/productions which will add more slashes ("/") to his bio/credits. Along with his wife and longtime collaborator Valerie Vigoda, Brendan is a 2009 winner of the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, as well as a two-time winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for Excellence in Writing for the Theatre. The success of their first concert-musical, the critically-acclaimed holiday show STRIKING 12, has led them farther into the world of theater, where they have carved out a unique niche as a rock band writing and performing shows. After years on the indie touring circuit, they are delighted to be creating many projects with various collaborators: STRIKING 12 (Off-Broadway 2006, Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Musical, Bay Area Theatre Critic's Choice Award); Toy Story The Musical (Disney); Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Deaf West Theatre/Center Theatre Group/McCarter Theatre, two 2007 Ovation Awards, including World Premiere Musical); Wheelhouse GrooveLily's autobiographical concert-musical (in development); Long Story Short (City Theatre of Pittsburgh/TheatreWorks Palo Alto/San Diego Rep); A Midsummer Night's Dream(McCarter Theatre/Paper Mill Playhouse); and Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, a new 1-woman fever-dream musical (La Jolla Playhouse/TheatreWorks Palo Alto).

RACHEL SHEINKIN (Book, Music and Lyrics) Musical theatre collaborations include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee(Circle in the Square), for which she won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Book for a Musical; Blood Drive (O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference) and Serenade (Baryshnikov Arts Center). She has been a Manhattan Theatre Club playwriting fellow and is currently an adjunct faculty member at NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Future projects on the horizon include two more musicals with GrooveLily.

VALERIE VIGODA (Book, Music and Lyrics) is the founding member of GrooveLily. Originally from McLean, VA, Valerie is a classically-trained musician, honors graduate of Princeton University, and former Army lieutenant. She has toured the world with Cyndi Lauper (opening for Tina Turner and Cher), Joe Jackson and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She founded GrooveLily (originally "The Valerie Vigoda Band") in 1994, with a critically-acclaimed CD called "Inhabit My Heart." Dirty Linen Magazine wrote: "to call Valerie Vigoda talented barely seems to do her justice. She has a great voice, is an intelligent lyricist ... and an ace violinist. Methinks we'll hear more of her." Along with her husband and longtime collaborator Brendan Milburn, Valerie is a 2009 winner of the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, as well as a two-time winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for Excellence in Writing for the Theatre. After years on the indie touring circuit, they are delighted to be creating many projects with various collaborators: STRIKING 12(Off-Broadway 2006, Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Musical, Bay Area Theatre Critic's Choice Award); Toy Story The Musical(Disney); Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Deaf West Theatre/Center Theatre Group/McCarter Theatre, two 2007 Ovation Awards, including World Premiere Musical); Wheelhouse GrooveLily's autobiographical concert-musical (in development); Long Story Short (City Theatre of Pittsburgh/TheatreWorks Palo Alto/San Diego Rep); A Midsummer Night's Dream (McCarter Theatre/Paper Mill Playhouse); andErnest Shackleton Loves Me, a new 1-woman fever-dream musical (La Jolla Playhouse/TheatreWorks Palo Alto).

The cast of STRIKING 12 features: Brent Schindele, Marisa Duchowny, Matt Wolpe and Amberly Rosen.

STRIKING 12 has assembled an award-winning design team. The Set and Costume Design are by Jim Prodger. The Lighting Design is by D Martyn Bookwalter. Projection Design is by Joe LaRue. The Sound Design is by Juan Sanson. The Stage Manager is Jennifer Ellen Butler.

STRIKING 12 will preview on Wednesday, December 3 at 7:30pm; Thursday, December 4 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm and Friday, December 5 at 7:30pm and will open on Saturday, December 6 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, December 28, 2014 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach. Performances will be Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 7:30pm; Sundays at 1:00pm & 5:30pm. There will be additional performances on Tuesday, December 23 at 7:30pm; Wednesday, December 24 at 4:00pm.

Tickets range from $41 - $66 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 - Sundays: 12p.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 7:30pm on performance days). For more information on all shows and programming visit wwwlagunaplayhouse.com. LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road in LagunaBeach.

Founded in 1920, The Laguna Playhouse is one of the oldest continuously-operating not-for-profit theatres on the West Coast and is noted for its artistic excellence, wide-ranging theatrical programming, award-winning youth education offerings and community partnerships. A member of the League of Resident Theatres, The Laguna Playhouse is a valued part of the Laguna Beach arts community that serves all of Southern California with year-round, professional, high-quality productions in theatre, music and dance.

Because of its longstanding commitment to the arts, The Laguna Playhouse has been recognized for excellence by the LA Drama Critics Circle, NAACP, Backstage, ArtsOC, OC Weekly, Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce and more. Laguna Playhouse educational programming, which includes classes, productions by and for children and teens (Youth Theatre) and a school tour, has been honored by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Arts Orange County and the Orange County Department of Education.

Serving more than 100,000 patrons each season, The Laguna Playhouse has brought many talented performers to Southern California, including Leslie Caron, Val Kilmer, Davis Gaines, Donna McKechnie, Stephanie Zimbalist, Rita Rudner, Sally Struthers, Cloris Leachman, Julie Harris, Harrison Ford, Charles Durning, Marlo Thomas, Roddy McDowell and Bette Davis, who have performed in world, national and regional premieres, as well as national tours of The Belle of Amherst and Copenhagen.

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