May 2012 - May Matinees and MUCH More on the Central Coast of California!

As we bid farewell to April showers and look forward to May flowers, I hope you are planning on including attending some shows at any number of the theatre and live performance establishments that can be found here on the idyllic California Central Coast!

Nipomo High School Drama (www.nhsdrama.org) will present The Laramie Project May 3-5 at NHS Olympic Hall. 

The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.  The murder was denounced as a hate crime motivated by homophobia and brought attention to the lack of hate crimes laws in various states, including Wyoming.

The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries, and published news reports.  Actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes.

Call (805) 474-3300 XT 6 for tickets.

Next up for Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) in their Family Series is Willy Wonka, May 12 - June 3.  Sweeney Todd will be presented May 18 - June 2 as part of their After Dark Series.  And be sure to check out their Acting ABC's (ages 4 1/2 - 2nd grade), Musical Theater (grades 3-9), and Improv (grades 3-9) classes starting April 25 & 26!

SLO Little Theatre’s (www.slolittletheatre.org) current mainstage production Dinner With Friends runs through May 6 [NOTE - caught the Friday, April 27 performance, and this is a WONDERFUL production WELL worth your time & money ... but leave the kids at home for this one!], followed by The House of Blue Leaves May 25 - June 17.  Ubu's Other Shoe readers' theatre series will hold auditions for Arcadia by Tom Stoppard on May 7 (performances June 22 & 23), and present BOOM! May 11 & 12.  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 God Is Still Speaking Players (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/92718528887), in collaboration with Bent Angel Productions, recently 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.

The Cuesta College Performing Arts Center (http://academic.cuesta.edu/performingarts/) will present their Spring Drama Production, Three Musketeers, through May 6.

Espressivo! Chamber Theatre (http://espressivotheatre.com/) will present The Botanical Engineers May 12 – June 10 at various locations on the Central Coast – stay tuned for locations & times.

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include SLO Symphony’s Season Finale Concert on May 5, the Catalyst Quartet on May 6, Cal Poly's Theatre & Dance Department's The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other May 10-19, and Cuesta Master Chorale's St Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach on May 12.

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

The Theatre at the Cambria Center for the Arts (http://artistsofcambria.com/cambriapac/index.html) will present the Singing Hands Choir May 5 & 6, and DRAMARAMA - Youth Acting Classes June 4-28.

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org) in Cambria will present Outward Bound through June 3.

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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