Sally Struthers to Star in Cabrillo Music Theatre's ANNIE

The sun will come out in Thousand Oaks as Cabrillo Music Theatre proudly announces its brand-new production of the hit musical, ANNIE. ANNIE also marks the return of Sally Struthers to the Cabrillo stage, having won an Ovation Award for her recent appearance as the Fairy Godmother in CINDERELLA. ANNIE opens on Friday, October 14th, and plays until Sunday, October 23rd, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

ANNIE boasts a Tony Award-winning score by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production ran for 2,377 performances, and spawned a sequel, two movies, and a Broadway revival. Cabrillo's production of ANNIE precedes yet another Broadway return, scheduled for 2012. It's Depression-era New York City, and a young orphan named Annie, armed only with a heart full of optimism and a stray dog named Sandy, begins a search for the family she never had. Her journey leads her to an equally lonely billionaire named Oliver Warbucks, a magical tour of New York City at night, and finally to the White House.

Hounding her at every turn is Miss Hannigan, the director of the orphanage. Will Annie find her real parents? Will Miss Hannigan make it to Easy Street? Will there be a New Deal for Christmas? ANNIE answers all of these, and more, in a delightful mix of music and comedy. Songs include "Tomorrow," "It's The Hard Knock Life," "N.Y.C.," and "Little Girls."

The role of Miss Hannigan proves a perfect fit for two-time Emmy winner Sally Struthers, who played the role on the national tour, and brings her irreverent comic stylings to Cabrillo's production. Joining her, in the memorable role of Annie's dog, "Sandy," is Oliver, trained by William Berloni Theatrical Animals. Bill Berloni has trained dogs for Broadway and tours since the original Broadway production of ANNIE. His four-footed friends have also appeared in LEGALLY BLONDE, Will Rogers FOLLIES, and many others. All of Berloni's trained pets are rescue animals, and he recently won an honorary Tony Award for his lifetime of excellence on the Broadway stage.

Cabrillo's Animal Rescue Program, initiated in 2009 during CATS, will be in full force with ANNIE. Rescue organizations will be in the lobby at all performances, with animals in need of loving homes. In addition, each performance will feature an appearance by one rescue animal (in the smaller role of "Dog caught by Dog Catcher"), and Cabrillo's mission is to find a home for that dog by the end of each performance.

ANNIE will be directed by Cabrillo Music Theatre's Artistic Director, Lewis Wilkenfeld. Ilana Eden serves as Music Director and conducts the Cabrillo Music Theatre Orchestra, while Heather Castillo provides the Choreography. Joining Sally Struthers in the cast are theatre veterans Norman Large (Oliver Warbucks) and Dink O'Neal (Rooster Hannigan), while Quinn Martin of Thousand Oaks plays Annie.

In conjunction with ANNIE, Cabrillo Music Theatre continues its Monday Night Concert Series of fundraisers by presenting an evening with "Sally Struthers: Off Script, and Off The Record." This event, held in the intimate and elegant Founders' Room of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, will feature a lifetime of stories, told as only Sally Struthers can, followed by a question-and-answer session and a post-performance reception. "Sally Struthers: Off Script, and Off The Record," will take place for one night only, Monday, October 17th, at 7:00PM.

In order to accommodate the demand for tickets for ANNIE, two additional performances have been scheduled; the first, on Wednesday, October 19th, at 11:00AM, will feature large discounts for seniors, plus free parking at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. The second added performance will take place on Sunday, October 23rd, at 7:00PM, and will be the final performance of Cabrillo's two-week run of ANNIE.

ANNIE performs October 14th through the 23rd at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Considered by many to be the perfect family musical, ANNIE 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.

ILANA EDEN (Music Director/Conductor) is again among old friends and new colleagues here at Cabrillo Music Theatre. Annie is a welcome opportunity to be involved with the impressive and innovative efforts to sustain musical theater and, in particular, this local resident company during these highly transitional times. Having been deeply involved in regional theater as both musician and music director for thirty-eight years (Yikes!), Ms. Eden is based in Santa Barbara. She was a charter orchestra member and Assistant Conductor of the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera, and has performed with numerous companies from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Shows she has Music Directed for Cabrillo Music Theatre here at the Civic Arts Plaza include: CATS, Ragtime, Carousel, Mame, The Will Rogers Follies, The Sound of Music, The Secret Garden, Fiddler on the Roof, Singin' In The Rain and for Gold Coast Plays in the Scherr Forum Theatre next door, Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

HEATHER CASTILLO (Choreographer). Previous Cabrillo choreography credits include The Sound of Music, 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.

William Berloni (Animal Trainer) Recipient of the 2011 Tony Honor for "Excellence in Theater", BDWY: Annie (original Sandy, 20TH and 30th and upcoming 35th Anniversary revivals), Legally Blonde, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Joe Turner's Come And Gone (LCT), Camelot, Frankenstein, The First, Alice In Wonderland, Oliver!, Anything Goes (LCT), Nick And Nora, The Wiz, (20th Anniversary revival and City Center 2009) The Wizard Of Oz, Dinner At Eight (LCT), Double Feature (NYCB), The Woman In White, Awake And Sing (LCT) and The Lieutenant Of Inishmore. Hundreds of Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions, tours, movies and television shows. His last film was Charlie Wilson's War and the current upcoming Disney film "Frenemies". Recent television shows include the last eight seasons of Sesame Street, Johnny And The Sprites, Between The Lions, Reading Rainbow, Oobi, Animal Planet's Wild On The Set, Dogs 101, Outrageous Animals as well as featured stories on the "Today Show", "CBS Evening News" and "CBS Sunday Morning" plus being a celebrity judge on MTV's reality show "Legally Blonde, The Search For Elle Woods". January 2010, Dog Fancy Magazine included him as one of the "Top 40 Dog People You've Gotta Know." Published author of Broadway Tails by Globe Pequot Press. Currently the Director of Animal Behavior at the Humane Society of New York. Visit us at www.theatricalanimals.com.

ABOUT THE CAST

Sally Struthers (Miss Hannigan) won the Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her previous appearance on the Cabrillo stage, as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. She is also a two-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner for her performance in the groundbreaking series, "All in the Family." She starred in the Fox television series, "9 to 5" and her own CBS series, "Gloria." Her recurring roles include the CBS comedy, "Still Standing," and the CW's highly acclaimed, "Gilmore Girls." Sally was "heard" as the voice of the teenage dinosaur Charlene Sinclair in the ABC prime-time series, "Dinosaurs." She is also the voice of Pebbles Flintstone on the, "Pebbles and Bam-Bam," cartoon series and the lead female character on the popular Disney cartoon, "Tailspin." Struthers' television movies include: "A Gun in the House," "And Your Name is Jonah," "The Great Houdinis," "Hey, I'm Alive," "In The Best Interest of the Children," "Deadly Silence," "My Husband is Missing," and, "Intimate Strangers." Sally co-starred in two legendary motion pictures in the 70's: "Five Easy Pieces," with Jack Nicholson and, "The Getaway," with Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. She was featured in two independent films: "Out of the Black," and, "A Month of Sundays" with Rod Steiger. Sally made a cameo appearance for actor/writer/producer Mario Van Peebles in the Sony feature, "Baadassss!" Sally's first two Broadway forays were in Wally's Café with Rita Moreno and Jimmy Coco and in Neil Simon's female version of The Odd Couple with Brenda Vaccaro. For three years she starred as Miss Mamie Lynch on Broadway and on tour in the Tommy Tune production of Grease. Sally previously played Miss Hannigan in the 20th Anniversary National Tour of Annie. Sally was named Best Actress by the Los Angeles Artistic Director Theatre Awards for her role as Louise Seger in the musical, Always, Patsy Cline, a true story based on the relationship between Seger and Cline. She also won the 2003 Ovation Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Agnes Gooch in the Los Angeles production of Mame. She has also starred in regional productions of Hello Dolly, Anything Goes, The Fifth of July, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, and The Full Monty. For thirty years, Struthers has worked tirelessly to help the hungry and uneducated children everywhere. She has visited these children in the United States and many Third World countries, and has filmed numerous public service announcements and documentaries on their behalf. Because of her devotion to children and animals, Sally has received numerous humanitarian awards. Her best reward, however, is her darling daughter Samantha.

Norman Large (Oliver Warbucks) is delighted to return to Thousand Oaks, having previously starred in Cinderella, The Sound of Music and Cabrillo's previous production of Annie. Norman starred in the original hit Broadway productions of Les Miserables and Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White. Other theatre: The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, My Fair Lady (Zoni Award), Sweeney Todd (Ovation nomination), La Cage Aux Folles (Ovation nomination), Phantom (Ovation nomination), H.M.S. Pinafore (Republic Award), Man of La Mancha, South Pacific, West Side Story, The King & I, Brigadoon, The Secret Garden, Sunday in the Park with George, Chess, etc. He is probably best known as the ruler of the Romulan Empire opposite Leonard Nimoy on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has sung with symphony orchestras worldwide under such noted conductors as Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein.

DINK O'NEAL (Rooster Hannigan) returns to CMT having played "Mr. Applegate" in Damn Yankees, "Henry Higgins" in My Fair Lady and the "Police Sergeant" in The Pirates of Penzance. National tours include Forever Plaid and The Johnny Mann Singers. He's worked regionally at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Utah Musical Theatre, Arizona Spectrum Theatre and Sacramento Music Circus and locally at The Colony Theatre, The Norris Center, Laguna Playhouse, Disneyland and CLOs in Downey, Long Beach, San Gabriel, Santa Barbara, Irvine and Mission Viejo. Favorites roles: "Harold Hill" in The Music Man, "Peron" in Evita, "John Adams" in 1776, "Curly" & "Jud" in Oklahoma!, "Cornelius Hackl" in Hello, Dolly!, "Dr. Carrasco" in Man of La Mancha, 9 productions of Oliver! as "Bill Sykes" or "Mr. Sowerberry" and the musical version of Gone With The Wind while working with Jack Jones, Ann Blyth, Dale Kristien, Jon Cypher, Eric McCormack, Shelley Berman, Tony Award winners Gary Beach and Kristen Chenowith and Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden. Broadcast credits: "Psych", "Monk" (with Tony Shalhoub), "Boston Legal" (with James Spader), Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh", Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place", HBO's "Lucky Louie", "General Hospital", "The Bold & The Beautiful", "Port Charles", "Days of Our Lives", "City Guys", "The Elf & The Magic Key" (with Jo Anne Worley), "The Girl in the Cadillac" (with Erika Eleniak) and Hallmark Channel's "Backyard Wedding" (with Markie Post, Frances Fisher and Diana Scarwid). Dink, who resides in Burbank with wife, Teri, and daughters Brenna, Gillian and Avery is a theatrical critic for Back Stage and The Glendale News Press/Burbank Leader.

ABOUT THE PRICING AND SCHEDULE

ANNIE will open on Friday, October 14th, 2011 and run through Sunday, October 23rd. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Additional performances have been added on Wednesday, October 19th, at 11:00am, and on Sunday, October 23rd, at 7:00PM. A post-show discussion with cast, staff and audience will follow the Saturday, October 15th, 2:00pm performance.

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 October 19th 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).

Sally Struthers: OFF SCRIPT AND OFF THE RECORD will perform on Monday evening, October 17th, 2011, 7:00PM, in the Founders Room of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Tickets are $100.00, with all proceeds to support Cabrillo Music Theatre and its OUTREACH programs. Tickets can be purchased online at www.cabrillomusictheatre.com, or by calling the Cabrillo Music Theatre office, 805-497-8613 X4.

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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