ShowTime auditions for “Beauty and the Beast”
Laurie Farquhar
What is your favorite musical? ShowTime Productions is presenting one of Broadway’s most successful shows, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, next spring, and you are invited to audition to be part of the production.
Based on a classic French fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast is the story of a heartless prince, transformed into an ugly creature, who must learn to love another person to escape his bewitched fate. Through singing, dancing, and colorful, outrageous costumes, the musical portrays the beast’s transformation with the help of Belle, a young woman trapped in his enchanted castle.
The Disney production ran on Broadway for more than 13 years, but here in PebbleCreek, it will be performed only six nights from Monday, March 30 to Saturday, April 4. Auditions will be held next month in the Eagle’s Nest Ballroom on Thursday, Oct. 24, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 25, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.. Callbacks will be held Sunday, Oct. 27, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., in the Renaissance Theater.
Audition packets will be available starting Monday, Oct. 7 from Producer Patti Wegehaupt at 623-536-7233 or [email protected]. To book an audition time, contact Assistant Director MJ Fenoglio at 618-616-2653 or [email protected].
For questions about the show or auditions, contact Director Carole Palmer at [email protected].
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is an exuberant production with many fun and zany roles. You can Be Our Guest in the audience or you can join the villagers for all of the excitement on stage. Why not take a chance and see if there is “Something There” for you?
PebbleCreek Singers begin rehearsals
Diane Piehl
Rehearsals are well underway and once again Director Gail Kennedy has made entertaining and enjoyable selections for the holiday concert, “Mistletoe and Holly”. The chorus section leaders, sopranos Myra Saunders, second sopranos Nancy Gustafson, altos Mary Gangl, tenors and basses Bev Griggs, have begun meeting with their groups, learning their individual parts. Is it possible that it’s almost Christmas again, with silver bells and Christmas angels? Be sure to mark your calendars for one of the concert nights: December 4, 5, 6 or 7 in the Renaissance Theater
beginning at 7:00 p.m.
The chorus specialty groups are becoming acquainted with their selections and a sextet will make a debut. The chorus will be welcoming new faces to the risers.
If you’d like to sing with the chorus, there are still openings in each voice part consisting of first and second soprano; first and second alto; first and second tenor; baritone and bass. Simply pick up an application across from the Eagle’s Nest Pro Shop, complete and contact Nancy Gustafson at 623-215-3292. She will make arrangements to meet with you and find the suitable voice part for your singing pleasure.
Save the dates: September
Auditions
Our Town, a production of PC Players, September 16 and 18
Please contact Patti Wegehaupt, producer, at [email protected] or 623-536-7233 for location and exact time for an audition. You can also get advance audition scripts at that time. The cast also includes three children ages 8 to 12 for minor roles. If anyone has grandchildren in the area or just knows someone in that age group who might be interested in participating, please contact our director, Jon Lindstrom at [email protected] or 623-535-5495. Rehearsal requirements for the youngsters will be held to a minimum.
Ticket Sales
PC Players: The Kitchen Witches beginning September 24 both online at PebbleCreekHOA.org and in-person in the Renaissance Theater 8:00-10:00 a.m. For online purchase go to Things to Do, then Ticket Sales and follow the links. In person sales also continue in the theater lobby on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
ShowTime: The Music Man beginning October 19. Details in the October PebbleCreek Post and online next month.
Performances
The Kitchen Witches: PC Players
Wednesday through Saturday, October 23-26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theater.
The Music Man: Showtime
Monday through Saturday, November 18-23 at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theater.
Mistletoe and Holly: PC Singers
Wednesday through Saturday, December 4–7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theater.
There is more than just food heating up in the PC Players comedy, The Kitchen Witches. The cast from left to right: Sue Tearpak, John Gimon, Mike Schwartz, and Judi Blankenship.
“The Kitchen Witches” tickets on sale this month
Laurie Farquhar
It’s September and the cast and crew of PC Players’ fall production, The Kitchen Witches, are working full-speed ahead preparing for next month’s opening. This hilarious comedy may have a small cast of only four actors, but it needs a large crew to find and procure all of the necessary props, costumes, and accessories.
The Kitchen Witches is the story of two rival cooking show hostesses who are suddenly forced to work together on a low-budget cable access television program. It is a fiery recipe for a show, with insults the main ingredient. Director Sandra Hand says so many kitchen utensils are needed and so much food that it is more than one props person could manage, so she has three people handling this responsibility. And that is real food the actors are working with so it will have to be replaced after every performance.
The costumes are also creating another challenge. Maura Weddle and Nancy Muramoto have taken on the task of finding the many different outfits that the actors wear during the show. As Maura says, “Most cooking shows do not emphasize the chefs’ outfits. They let the food take center stage. That is not the case with our chefs!” From quirky aprons to some unexpected, outrageous get-ups, Maura and Nancy have a few surprises up their sleeves.
In the meantime, Ticketmaster Jon Lindstrom is preparing for ticket sales which begin on Tuesday, September 24, starting at 8:00 a.m., both online and in-person in the Renaissance Theater lobby. To purchase online, go to the HOA website at https://pebblecreekhoa.org/. Click on “Things to Do” and scroll down to “Ticket Sales”. About halfway down the page is the link to purchase tickets. No log in is necessary. VISA and Mastercard are accepted. In-person tickets will be available on Tuesday and Friday mornings, 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., in the theater lobby.
The Kitchen Witches runs only four nights from Wednesday, October 23 to Saturday, October 26. All tickets, whether purchased online or in-person, are $16.50.
From crazy costumes to flying food to unexpected story twists, The Kitchen Witches promises to be an evening of side-splitting laughter and mayhem. It is a recipe that both Jerry Springer and Martha Stewart would approve.
ShowTime fall production “The Music Man”
To quote the great Professor Harold Hill, Conservatory man, Gary, Indiana Gold Medal Class of ’05, “Can I have your attention please?”
Trust me, you want to mark your calendar now, to ensure you don’t miss your Showtime resident theater company’s fall production of The Music Man, which runs November 18-23 in the Renaissance Theater. Tickets go on sale October 19.
The Music Man arrived on Broadway in 1957 and was a hit, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, beating out its chief competition that season, West Side Story. The Music Man ran for 1,375 performances, nearly twice as long as West Side Story, due in part to the wonderfully entertaining story, music, and lyrics, all of which were written by Meredith Wilson.
No doubt many of you are familiar with the story, having seen the 1962 film starring Robert Preston as Harold Hill, and Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo, but for those not yet fortunate to know the story, it is one that embodies the values of country, community, and love. Set in the simpler days of 1912, The Music Man is an upbeat, at times corny, good old-fashioned piece of classic Americana. When the fast-talking “Professor” Harold Hill stops in River City, Iowa he plans to con the townspeople into buying instruments and uniforms with promises to form a boy’s band. The only problem is he doesn’t know a bass drum from a pipe organ. Couple that with a protective, uptight Marian the Librarian who happens to be the local music teacher out to expose him, and you have the makings for the fun that follows.
The show is chuck full of classic tunes, including 76 Trombones, Iowa Stubborn, Ya Got Trouble, Goodnight My Someone, Marian the Librarian and Till There Was You. The evening promises you a feel-good time as your neighbors bring The Music Man to you. “O-Ho, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a comin’ down the street” with ticket sales starting October 19! Jump aboard for the excitement and fun.