June Shows Are Bustin' Out All Over on the California Central Coast!

As we welcome the unofficial beginning of summer with the Memorial Day weekend and make our way on into June, I trust you will want to include attending a couple of the numerous shows currently playing (some of which will bring their run to a close THIS week!) at one or more of the many theatre and live performance establishments here on the California Central Coast!

SLO Little Theatre’s (www.slolittletheatre.org) current mainstage production, The House of Blue Leaves, directed by Jill Turnbow, will run through June 17 (NOTE: Saw the opening weekend Sunday matinee and this is a wonderful show with an amazing cast!).

The Pope's 1965 visit to New York City brings the hope of answered prayers and a few unexpected guests to an apartment in Sunnyside,Queens, where Artie Shaughnessy, a zookeeper, pines for a new life as a popular songwriter.

Called "enchantingly zany and original" by the New York Times, The House of Blue Leaves is a heartbreaking, hilarious human comedy that explores the lengths people will go in pursuit of the American Dream [PHOTO: David Norum and Suzy Newman].

And be sure to check out the Academy of Creative Theatre’s (http://www.slolittletheatre.org/pages/classes) children & youth theatre opportunities for this spring and summer!

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org) in Cambria is currently presenting Outward Bound through June 3.

The Theatre at the Cambria Center for the Arts (http://artistsofcambria.com/cambriapac/index.html) will present DRAMARAMA - Youth Acting Classes June 4-28.

Templeton Performing Arts Center of the North County Dance and Performing Arts Foundation (http://www.northcountyperformingarts.org/) in association with Class Act Dance will present SYNERGY, a summer dance recital, on June 23.

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) held auditions for their summer musical, Grease, on May 23 (performances June 23 – July 15), and on May 30 for their Grades 1-10 Summer Camp/Performance Class that will present Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr in early August.  Sweeney Todd will run through June 2 as part of their After Dark Series [NOTE: Saw both opening weekend performances and this cast does a WONDERFUL job of bringing this rather macabre dramedy to life], and in their Kelrik Family Series, Willy Wonka is currently playing through June 3 [NOTE: Caught the opening matinee - FUN show ... GREAT kid vocals!]. 

Next up for The God Is Still Speaking Players (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/92718528887), is a summer musical production of Snoopy – auditions July 16 & 17, performances August 31 - September 9.

Espressivo! Chamber Theatre (http://espressivotheatre.com/) will present The Botanical Engineers in June at various locations on the Central Coast – including June 2 at Sculpterra Winery in Paso Robles, June 3 TBA, and June 7 back at Poalillo Vineyards in Paso Robles.

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include Vanable Velocity Performance Group’s Inside Out on May 31 & June 2, Cal Poly Wind Bands Spring Concert – Winds of Change: Music of the 21^st Century on June 2, Martin Short on June 3 (Cohan Center), and The Academy of Dance and San Luis Jazz dancers’ Infusion on June 3 (Spanos Theatre).

Murder In Mind Productions (www.murderinmind.com) will present Pirates of Pirates Cove opening July 1.

The Spot (https://www.facebook.com/#!/hit.the.spot) will present the Poetic Justice Project’s Planet of Love June 8-17.

Exit Pursued By a Bear (https://www.facebook.com/events/405235212833014/) will present Much Ado About Nothing and Titus Andronicus, running in repertory in parks on the Central Coast 2 weekends in August - stay tuned for specific dates, times and locations.

Curt Miner received his degree in theatre from Northern Arizona University and has been involved in theatre, educationally and professionally, for nearly 40 years now. He is currently Pastor of the United Church of Christ in San Luis Obispo, CA (www.sloucc.org), where he founded a theatre outreach ministry known as The God Is Still Speaking Players (check them out on Facebook). Their first production was the West Coast Premiere of a new play by Gordon Greene (one of Curt's former theatre professors from back at NAU) entitled "The Scopes Monkey Trial: What Really Happened" in October of 2008. Curt and his wife of 35 years, Linda, worked together as Director and Music Director on a production of "Godspell" June 2009. The group presented a readers' theatre production of Archibald MacLeish's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play "J.B." November 2009, participated in a collaborative effort with Bent Angel Productions in a staged reading of "12 Angry Men" in February 2010, presented "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" the first 2 weekends of September 2010, embarked upon another collaborative effort with Bent Angel Productions of a staged reading of Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood" in November 2010, presented a readers' theatre production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" the first weekend this past March, mounted a production of "Sister Amnesia's Country Western Nunsense Jamboree" the first 2 weekends of September, and presented "Celebration In Song" - a musical variety show to benefit the work of GALA and PFLAG in November. A readers' theatre presentation (possibly "Our Town") or another musical revue will be presented this coming March, with "Snoopy" (sequel to YAGMCB) on the schedule for the first 2 weekends in September. When people ask him "Why a theatre outreach ministry?" Curt tells them "I have found that theatre is sometimes able to touch a person's heart and soul more deeply than the best crafted worship experience ... that's why."

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