PCPA Sets 2016-17 Season

In what Artistic Director Mark Booher calls "A Season of Massive Humanity," PCPA's 53rd season begins with the family favorite Disney's Beauty and the Beast playing from November 3 - December 23 in the Marian Theatre. This musical fantasy will also play under the stars in the Solvang Festival Theater kicking off the 2017 summer season with a run from June 15 - July 2. The Broadway hit musical based on the classic fairy tale features an unforgettable score, including "Be Our Guest," "Belle," and the title song, "Beauty and the Beast." Children 4 and up are welcome for all Beauty and the Beast 1:30pm matinees; ages 5 and up for all other performances.

Kaufman and Hart's hilarious You Can't Take It With You, winner of the 1937 Pulitzer Prize, plays February 16 - March 5 in the Marian Theatre. Laugh heartily and sigh deeply at one of the funniest and most ageless American comedies, as it reflects on the madness of sanity in a money-mad world.

A drama about redemption and forgiveness, The Whipping Man plays in the Severson Theatre March 9 - 26. Plunge into the heart-wrenching chaos of war-torn Richmond at the end of the Civil War. A young Confederate officer returns home, severely wounded, to find it in ruins and abandoned, save for two former slaves, and the reality of a new world before them.

The uproarious farce, Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical, plays in the Marian Theatre April 20 - May 14 and then July 6 - 23 in the Solvang Festival Theater. The riotous tale of mistaken identities and unexpected romance explodes with delight in this brand new musical comedy.

Coming to the Marian Theatre July 19 - 22 and Solvang Festival Theater July 27 - August 20 is PCPA's production of Disney's Newsies, The Musical - the Tony Award-winning Broadway phenomenon that tells the true story of a band of underdogs who took on the most powerful names in New York in a fight for what's right.

Shakespeare's laugh-filled Twelfth Night plays first in Santa Maria from August 16 - 19, then under the stars in Solvang from August 24 - September 10. When Orsino engages the cross-dressed Viola to plead with Olivia on his behalf, a bittersweet chain of events follows. Twelfth Night combines low pranks with high comedy and the pangs of unrequited love with sublime poetry and exquisite songs.

Closing the 53rd season is Fences, August Wilson's gripping Pulitzer and Tony Award winning masterpiece that will swing onto the Marian Theatre stage from September 15 - October 1. Troy Maxson is a former star of the Negro baseball leagues who was excluded from the major leagues during his prime, which leads to conflicts within his family and his soul.

In looking ahead to the coming season, Artistic Director Mark Booher stated, "The size and quality of the circle that you've touched and that you've allowed to touch you - that's the measure of a life's significance. It's massive humanity that matters in the human experience. This season we'll touch the ties of family and faith that bind, the unifying polemics and world shaking words, the love for which we'll break our hearts and risk all to rejuvenate. We'll expand our circle and venture into deeper connections that we can rehearse in the theatre and play out in the world - seeing, knowing, loving. Massive humanity, that's what it's all about."

Get the latest information, sign up for the PCPA E-newsletter at pcpa.org and follow us on Facebook.com/pacificconservatorytheatre. Single tickets for PCPA's 53rd season go on sale early October. Box Office: (805) 922-8313

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