Theatre March Madness on the California Central Coast!

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

As we come to the last full week of March, several of our California Central Coast theatre and live performance venues are offering up some new and exciting entertainment options for your viewing pleasure!

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) returns to a simpler time in an all new production of the ultimate feel-good musical.  Winner of four 1961 Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, BYE BYE BIRDIE runs March 26 - April 3 for six performances only.  Tickets may be purchased at the PAC ticket office, by phone at 805-756-ARTS, and online at www.pacslo.org. 
 
BYE BYE BIRDIE is one of the most captivating musicals of our time.  The plot revolves around rock-and-roll superstar Conrad Birdie (Joe Ogren), loosely based on Elvis Presley, and his agent, Albert Peterson (Matt Ambrose).  Albert has gone deep into debt promoting Birdie's career.  Now that Birdie has become a superstar, however, all of Albert's work is about to pay off - or at least it would pay off if Birdie hadn't just been drafted into the army.  To make matters worse, Rosie (Heather Malcolm), Albert's long-time secretary and love interest, decides to resign.  She has waited eight years for Albert to give up the music business, become an English teacher, and settle down with her in a nice apartment somewhere.  She will wait no more!
 
Desperate not to lose Rosie, Albert promises to quit the music business as soon as he has earned enough cash to pay off his debts.  Rosie comes up with a plan: one lucky girl, chosen at random from the Conrad Birdie Fan Club, will get Birdie's good-bye kiss - his last as a civilian, during a live broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show.  The resulting publicity will make Birdie's new song "One Last Kiss" such a success that Albert will easily make back the money he has lost, enabling him to settle down with Rosie for their new life together.  The lucky girl chosen for Birdie's last kiss is Kim MacAfee (Ariana Shakibnia) of Sweet Apple, Ohio.  But Kim has just agreed to go steady with Hugo Peabody (Chris Dixon), who is not very happy at the thought of his steady kissing another man on national T.V.  Comic complications ensue when Birdie's arrival in Sweet Apple causes women of all ages to swoon and sends the quiet little town into a spin.
 
Directed by Erik Austin, the Kelrik production features a talented local cast of twenty-seven.  According to Austin, "Kelrik is always proud to showcase the immense talent in our community.  Because BYE BYE BIRDIE is mostly a story about teenagers, it's a particularly good show for younger performers.  We were thrilled to be able to cast so many talented teens in featured roles and in the ensemble.  It's gratifying to be able to offer such a great performance opportunity to up and coming local talent."
 
Other members of the creative team include Joe Ogren (Choreography), Lacey McNamara (Musical Direction), Sean Blauvelt (Stage Manager), David Beils (Lighting Design), and Keith Wetzel of Costume Capers (Costume Design).  Professional backdrops will be provided by Kenmark, Inc. 
 
Featuring a book by Michael Stewart, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Lee Adams, BYE BYE BIRDIE offers a comic look at a simpler time.  The upbeat score features audience favorites such as "How Lovely To Be a Woman," "The Telephone Hour," "Put On A Happy Face," "A Lot of Livin' To Do," and "One Last Kiss." 
 
According to Erik Austin, Kelrik's Artistic Director, BYE BYE BIRDIE is set in a simpler time, but "the themes of this musical are still remarkably relevant today, given our fascination with paparazzi and pop icons."   Come enjoy the toe-tapping music and high-energy dance numbers in this immensely enjoyable family musical. 

Other upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include Ballroom With a Twist on March 30, Los Lobos & Leo Kottke on April 1 (no foolin!), Whose Live Anyway? featuring alumni from TV's hit series Whose Line Is It Anyway? (including Ryan Stiles) on April 3, Pacific Repertory Opera's La Boheme April 9 & 11, and Elvis Costello in his solo concert tour on April 12.

The Vagina Monologues runs March 26-28 at the Cuesta College Performing Arts Center (www.cuesta.edu).

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

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. 

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 there you have it - from nostalgia to vaginas, Shakespeare to scoundrels, lumberjacks to murder mysteries, and a whole lot in between ... what's not to love about the variety of live theatre here on the Central Coast?!  

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

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