Sizzling Summer Shows on the Central Coast of California!

As we arrive at the OFFICIAL beginning of summer, and make our way into the "lazy hazy crazy days" that lie ahead, I hope you will want to plan on going to a couple of shows at some of the numerous live performance and theatre venues that can be found here on the Central Coast of California!

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) will present their summer musical, Grease, June 22 – July 8, and their Grades 1-10 Summer Camp/Performance Class production of Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr in early August.

Rydell High visits San Luis Obispo as Kelrik Productions presents the 1950's musical, Grease.  This gritty musical is packed with explosive energy, vibrant 1950's pop culture and all those unforgettable songs including Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted, Greased Lightnin', Beauty School Dropout, We Go Together and many more!  Come see the "Burger Palace Boys" and "Pink Ladies" sing and dance their way across way across the stage!  It's sure to be ELECTRIFYING!  Be there or be square!

After spending a hopelessly devoted summer with Sandy Dumbrowski (Ali Peters), the new girl in town, Danny Zuko's (Brady Beckstead) world is thrown upside down when Sandy appears at Rydell High on the first day of school.  What follows is a rock n' roll celebration of growin' up, cruisin' with friends and goin' steady.

Directed by Erik Austin and choreographed by Holly Patterson, Grease features costume design by Keith Wetzel, lighting design by Ryan Manus and musical direction by Lacey McNamara.  Grease features book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.  Everywhere it's opened, Grease has struck a universal chord with its irresistible mix of adolescent angst, vibrant physicality and 1950's pop culture.  Jim Jacobs and WarRen Casey created a perfect period piece - a pastiche of the 1950's, which is "fast, furious and thrilling, an injection of raw energy ... and fun, fun, fun" (Hilary Bonner - Daily Mirror).

Grease originated in Chicago and made its premiere at The Kingston Mines Theater in 1971 before making its New York premiere off-Broadway at the Eden Theatre on February 14, 1972.  After 128 sold-out performances, the show made the transition to Broadway, taking up residence at the Broadhurst Theatre on June 7, 1972.  Grease was nominated for seven Tony Awards in its spectacular initial run.  OnNovember 21, 1972, the show moved to the Royale Theatre before making its final transfer onJanuary 20, 1980 to the Majestic Theatre. It closed as the then longest running show in Broadway history after playing 3,388 performances.

In 1978, Grease became a hugely popular feature film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the lead roles.  A Broadway revival opened on May 11, 1994 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre where it played 1,503 performances and won three Tony Award nominations.  The new Broadway production of Grease opened onAugust 19, 2007 and was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

The film version of Grease produced one of the best-selling soundtracks in history and is the highest-grossing movie musical of all time.  The two Travolta/Newton-John duets, You're The One That I Want and Summer Nights were both #1 hits.  The song Hopelessly Devoted to You was nominated for an Academy Award (1979) for Best Music - Original Song, and the film's title song, Grease, was a #1 smash hit single for singer Frankie Valli.

Tickets to Grease can be purchased online at www.kelrikproductions.org, or at Cheap Thrills 563 Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo.  Grease will perform at Unity, 1490 Southwood Drive in San Luis Obispo, June 22 - July 8.  Please note the family-friendly performance schedule: Friday and Saturday evening performances at 7PM, and Sunday matinees at 2PM.  Ticket prices are $14 - $20.  Discounts are available for full-time students, seniors and groups of 15 or more [PHOTO by Danielle Dutro of Brady Beckstead as Danny Zuko and Ali Peters as Sandy Dumbrowski].

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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