NO FOOLIN' ... There's Some GREAT Theatre Happenin' Here on the California Central Coast!

BroadwayWorld.com brings you theater recommendations from San Luis Obispo's own Curt Miner.

As we come to Holy Week and the week of Passover in the Christian and Jewish faith traditions, a number of our California Central Coast live performance venues and theatres are putting the finishing touches on some new entertainment options for your viewing pleasure!

The San Luis Obispo Little Theatre (www.slolittletheatre.org) will present Nagle Jackson's funny, heartwarming, and powerful Taking Leave April 9 - May 2.

Eliot Pryne, a brilliant, dynamic Shakespearean scholar, finds his intellectual powers giving way to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.  Shadows of his favorite play, King Lear, are evoked as his three daughters argue over health care options and old family history.  As in Shakespeare's play, it is the young Cordelia who assumes responsibility for her father and leaves us with the bittersweet realization that, while all will not be well, Eliot's taking leave will be a gentle one.  Eliot's journey is often humorous, but our hearts are moved as we witness human consciousness being evicted from the soul.

 "A celebration of life! Wonderful!"

            -Anchorage Daily news

"A fantastic dramatic comedy!  The play provokes a huge amount of compassionate laughter... we walked out of the theatre with our spirits lifted and hearts full..."

                   -New York Daily news 

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) will hold auditions for Cabaret on April 7 & 8 (performances June 4-26).  Their next production will be Oliver May 1-16 at Unity in San Luis Obispo. 

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include Pacific Repertory Opera's La Boheme April 9 & 11, and Elvis Costello in his solo concert tour on April 12.

The God Is Still Speaking Players (follow them on Facebook or at www.sloucc.org) was pleased to work with Bent Angel Productions on a staged reading of 12 Angry Men, directed by Chrys Barnes, Feb 19-21.  Auditions will be held for their next production, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, July 19 & 20, with performances the first 2 weekends in September.

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org), located in Cambria, closed their production of Finishing Touches on February 28.  The theatre will now be closed for a time while it installs a new fire sprinkler system - stay tuned for details on its reopening and next show! 

The Houselights Theatre (www.houselightstheatre.org) completed a successful remount run of their popular summer musical Always ... Patsy Cline at the Spanos Theatre on the Cal Poly campus this past August.  Stay tuned for details concerning their next show (and where it will be held - they are looking for a new place to call home ... got any suggestions?).

Up Paso Robles way, the Pioneer Players (www.pioneerplayers.org) finished a successful run of Oliver at the Templeton Performing Arts Center in January.  Next up is a summer musical production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown [NOTE: this is a change from a previous announcement of a production of Fiddler on the Roof - but with the current National Tour, the performance rights were unavailable].  Auditions will be held some time in late April with performances in late June/early July - stay tuned for exact dates.

Also in Paso Robles, the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation have held auditions for its production of Twelfth Night for actors ages 8-18.  Performance dates are July 9-18.  For more information call (805) 238-5825.

The Central Coast Shakespeare Festival (www.centralcoastshakespeare.org) would like to give advance notice of auditions for its summer productions of Twelfth Night and The Gamester on April 11 & 12 (appointments are suggested).  Performances will be held July 9 - August 14.

Murder in Mind Productions (www.murderinmind.com) will present The Altos: Vendetta at the Spyglass Inn, located at 2703 Spyglass Dr in Shell Beach, April 11 - May 23.  Reservations are required. 

At the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org) in Arroyo Grande, Winter Dance Party - the official live and authentic recreation of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper's final tour, featuring the Big Bopper's son, J.P. Richardson, Jr., comes to town for one performance on April 10, and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra takes the stage on April 16.

Also coming to the Clark Center, in its Studio Theatre, Ryan Cordero (rccor385@gmail.com) and Sorcerer Productions (check them out on Facebook) proudly presents Dirty Rotten Scoundrels April 16 - May 2.

In Oceano, The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville (www.americanmelodrama.com) is currently showing the hilarious musical Lumberjacks in Love, along with a high energy 70s Las Vegas style vaudeville revue following each performance, through April 25.

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, presents the musical comedy whodunit Curtains in the Marian Theatre April 15 - May 9 (Solvang Festival Theater June 17 - July 3).

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre (www.smct.org) recently closed their production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.  Next up is Everybody Loves Opal, April 30 - May 22.

So whether you're theatre tastes are looking for an evening of looking into the realities of Alzheimer's, a touch of nostalgia, improv comedy, opera, a good ol' fashioned melodrama, or a fun whodunit mystery - that and MUCH more are all readily available here on our beautiful California Central Coast!

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

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