March 2012 - Springtime Shows on the California Central Coast!

As we come to the official beginning of spring, I hope your plans include attending a couple of shows at some of the wonderful theatre and live performance establishments here on the beautiful California Central Coast!

The Templeton High School Drama Department (http://www.templetonhs.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1322654445549) will present Urinetown: The Musical through March 24 at the Templeton Performing Arts Center.

Urinetown: The Musical is set 20 years after The Stink Years, a time when the reservoirs have dried up and water must be tightly controlled.  Rather than focusing on the larger problems a waterless world would face such as agriculture, hydraulics, or even drinking water, the writers of Urinetown: The Musical focused their attentions on the elimination of private household toilets.  The government has granted a monopoly to one company, Urine Good Company (UGC), to operate all public pay-per-use toilets.  The citizens must use only these "public amenities for their private business.” no other options are allowed by law.  Break the law and off you go to Urinetown.  But be careful.  You can only push people so far [PHOTO L-R: Kody Cava, Sarah Frigon, Christina Malloy, Royce Cumming, Cooper Morrell, Alani Chavez, Greg Swank, Anna Johnson]. 

Coast Union High School Drama Department (www.cuhsdrama.com) will present The Wizard of Oz through April 1 at the CUHS Gymnasium in Cambria (call 927-3834 for more information).

The Theatre at the Cambria Center for the Arts (http://artistsofcambria.com/cambriapac/index.html) will present the Singing Hands children’s choir March 24 & 25, and a staged reading of Old Love with Judith Jesness and Paul Schecter April 14 & 15 and 21 & 22.

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org) in Cambria is proud to present Wait Until Dark through March 25.

Paso Robles High School Drama Department's (http://prhsdrama.com/index.html) Spring Musical will be Guys and Dolls (performances May 11-20).

AHS Greyhound Theatre (https://www.facebook.com/events/336683296349613/) will present South Pacific April 26 - May 6 at the Atascadero Junior High School.

SLO Little Theatre's (www.slolittletheatre.org) current mainstage theatrical offering is My Generation, running through March 25 [NOTE - Attended a Saturday matinee of this production, and this is one show you do NOT want to miss ... especially if you were a pat of the 60s!].  Next on the mainstage will be Dinner With Friends April 13 - May 6, followed by The House of Blue Leaves May 25 - June 17.  In SLOLT's Ubu's Other Shoe readers' theatre series, next up is Dollhouse, March 30 & 31.

Kelrik Productions' (www.kelrikproductions.com) Theatre After Dark Series will present The Rocky Horror Show March 30 - April 14.  Auditions for Sweeney Todd will be held on April 3 (performances May 18 - June 2).  Next up in their Family Theatre Series is Willy Wonka (performances May 12 – June 3).     

The God Is Still Speaking Players (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/92718528887), in collaboration with Bent Angel Productions, has just completed a readers’ theatre production of Our Town.  Next up is a summer musical production of Snoopy – auditions July 16 & 17, performances August 31 - September 9. 

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood: The Two Man Group on March 24, CORE Dance Company’s Love … Dance … Shine March 24 & 25, and Aquila Theatre's Macbeth on March 29.

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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