'Long Beach Searches for The Greatest Storyteller' Returns for a Third Season

Long Beach Playhouse has announced Season Three of "Long Beach Searches for The Greatest Storyteller" which will kickoff on Sunday, April 28th at 7pm. The spring show is shaping up with several locals who care to share a true, five-minute story that happened to them. The top two storytellers move on to the finals that are held in December. A $100 prize is awarded to the overall winner of the evening. Winners are determined by audience vote and a panel of guest judges.

Some stories are pre-submitted to assure variety. The rest or the evening's storytellers are chosen "on the fly" straight from the audience. So if you have a story to tell come on down and put your name in the hat. Who knows? You might be the Greatest Storyteller in Long Beach.

The judges of the Spring Event are all Long Beach luminaries: Drama Teacher, Frederick Ponzlov; Editor of Grunion Gazette, Harry Saltzgaver; Past President of Naples Improvement Assoc., Jonathan Schnack; Novelist, Darlene Quinn; and Legendary Surfer/Ecology Activist, Jericho Popler. Each judge's vote counts for five points and each audience member's vote is good for one point. The votes are yallied up on the spot and the winner is announced to the excited audience.

Andrew Vonderschmitt, Producing Artistic Director of The Playhouse, remarked, "The Playhouse is for the community. We like to host a wide range of the arts and open our doors to the community any chance we get. The stage is not just for actors with scripts, but for storytellers of all kinds."

Producer Mariana Williams has broadened the event this year. Starting April 28th, each of the four shows will be televised on local TV. Edited to a 30-minute segment, every show will feature the winning five-minute story with bits of the evening's festivities including peices from all storytellers. Thebroadcast will capture the fun of the evening and the unpredictable outcome of who wins the $100 Prize and title, The Greatest Storyteller in Long Beach, for top story of the night. Charter Channel 32 and Verizon Channel 41 will run each show several times, so watch for listings.