Evening Star Productions & Sol Children Theatre Set 2016-17 Seasons

Although Evening Star Productions and Sol Children Theatre are just a bit more than midway through their third and fourteenth seasons, both companies - under the direction of founder and Artistic Director Rosalie Grant are deep into preparation for next years' productions.

Evening Star Productions 2016-2017 season will begin with Gutenberg! The Musical! (September 15 - October 2, 2016), continue with See Rock City and Other Destinations (January 12 - 29, 2017), and conclude with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (April 20 - May 7, 2017).

Sol Children Theatre will present Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol (adapted from the classic by Brian Way) (December 2 - 18, 2016), Once on this Island (June 9 - 25, 2017), and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, adapted by Seth Trucks (August 11 - 27).

"With Evening Star entering its fourth season and Sol Children it's fifteenth, I found myself reevaluating who we are as a theatre company," Grant explains. "Who do we serve on stage and in our seats, and what sort of theatre should we continue and/or begin to dish out? I started by re-reading every critical review we've received to gather those opinions, and compare notes with our patrons' comments. I then took into consideration the very specific, not-easily-ignored logistics of our theatre, and finally added our Mission Statement as the umbrella everything must fall under. A concept formed, and from that concept our next season was born. Evening Star's 2016-17 season consists of two regional premieres, an absurdist classic, challenging roles, small casts and brave directors. Sol Children's season gets as many children and local adults on stage as possible in family-friendly beloved stories under skillful direction. Putting the two companies' seasons together we're giving local actors and our patrons an eclectic fair of three musicals and three straight plays - from contemporary to classic to absurd to fantasy. So my job as artistic director is done for now, and my wonderfully talented directors are waiting in the wings!"

Ben Sandomir will direct Gutenberg! The Musical! The show, about two aspiring playwrights who perform a backers' audition for their new musical was nominated for an Outer Circle Award and a Drama Desk Award in 2007:

"The first challenge is to find two versatile actors, as they will be singing all the songs and playing all the roles," says Sandomir. "The play is normally very barebones as these aspiring playwrights are not yet successful. This is where the fun of directing will come in. As a director and writer I've worked on many low and no budget productions. The smaller the budget the more creative you have to be. The juices are already flowing and I can't wait to fully figure out what this means for Gutenberg! at Evening Star!"

"Ever since seeing a college production of See Rock City and Other Destinations a few years ago, I've been fascinated with the notion this musical offers," the show's director Geoffrey Short explains. "Traveling and relationships have more in common than might meet the eye. Whether you're on a North Carolina highway or on a tour in Niagara Falls, exploration, discovery, getting lost and being found can happen on the road and in our personal lives too. See Rock City is a contemporary musical about connections missed and made at tourist destinations across America. When this show is presented in the intimate Evening Star theatre space I know it will create a very personal, funny and touching theatrical experience for our audiences."

Rosalie Grant will direct Waiting for Godot herself. "Godot is a comedic director's dream script," she says. "It's also the perfect vehicle for an ensemble experience. It's a challenging piece to say the least ... for actors, director and audience. Putting these three elements together guaranteed an exciting venture, and I'm excited to freshly imagine Beckett's word play to bring the poetry, dreamscapes and nonsense to life through a cast of what will have to be very skillful actors."

Sol Children Theatre's first production of the 2016-2017 The Christmas Carol is perfectly timed to fit the spirit of the holiday season:

"With it paying homage to both a cherished story and treasured holiday, I'm thrilled to be directing this production," director Christopher Mitchell explains. "Its eerie, spooky undertones and heartwarming ending will be great fun to play with next winter. Everyone loves a good ghost story and a great Christmas story. And with this show, you get both!

"Once On This Island is set in the Caribbean Sea one stormy night," director James Skiba explains. "It contains elements of both Romeo and Juliet and the fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The story concerns a young peasant girl, TiMoune who is saved from a deadly storm by the gods on a tropical island, and who uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes; it talks about society and the various classes and how we treat one another. In the end it is due to the young Ti Moune's heart and her dedication to this true love that others begin to change and a seed is sown to make the world a better place where we all Live Once On This Island of Mother Earth in the hope that someday all of us might be able to truly love who ever we so choose. And that is why we tell the story."

Evening Star Productions will continue its current season with the British Comedy Murdered to Death, which will run from April 14th through May 1st at Sol Theatre in Boca Raton. They are also teaming up with Infinite Abyss to present a 'steam punk' version of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show, which will run at the Abyss Theatre in Ft. Lauderdale from May 12 - 28. Rosalie Grant will direct both productions. From June 17 - 26 they will present The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised], and they'll close out their season with a ground-breaking project directed and adapted by Seth Trucks - William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream from August 6 - 21.

All Evening Star Productions and Sol Children Theatre performances (other than The Rocky Horror Show) will take place at Sol Theatre in Boca Raton. Ticket prices for all productions are listed below; group rates are available for all shows. Tickets to all Evening Star Productions and Sol Children Theatre 2016-2017 productions will be on sale soon; tickets for both companies remaining 2015-2016 productions are on sale now and can be purchased at the Sol Theatre box office at 561-447-8829 or on line at www.eveningstarproductions.org or www.solchildren.org Sol Theatre is located at 3333 North Federal Highway in Boca Raton (33431).

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