SANTA MARIA and SOLVANG, CALIF.: Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) has announced its 2017 summer season, which will feature five productions at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria, Calif., and the outdoor Solvang Festival Theater in Solvang, Calif.
“It’s massive humanity that matters in the human experience,” said artistic director Mark Booher in a statement. “This season we’ll touch the ties of family and faith that bind, the unifying polemics and world shaking words, the love for which we’ll break our hearts and risk all to rejuvenate. We’ll expand our circle and venture into deeper connections that we can rehearse in the theatre and play out in the world—seeing, knowing, loving. Massive humanity, that’s what it’s all about.”
The summer season will kick off with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (June 15-July 2), with book by Linda Woolverton, music by Alan Menken, and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, a fairytale about a prince that is put under a spell and turned into a beast until he can learn to love and be loved. Michael Jenkinson will choreograph, Brad Carroll will music direct, and Booher will direct.
Next up will be Lend Me A Tenor the Musical (July 6-23), with book and lyrics by Peter Sham, and music by Brad Carroll based on the play by Ken Ludwig, a musical comedy about an opera performance gone awry when the lead performer becomes incapacitated. Katie Wackowski will choreograph, Paul Marszalkowski will provide music direction, and Carroll will direct.
Following will be Disney’s Newsies (July 19-22 at Marian Theatre, July 27-Aug. 20 at Solvang Festival Theater), with book by Harvey Fierstein, music by Alan Menken, and lyrics by Jack Feldman, about a group of newspaper delivery boys who organize a strike in New York City in 1899. Marszalkowski will be the music director, and Wackowski will choreograph. Jenkinson will choreograph and direct.
The season will continue with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (Aug. 16-19 at Marian Theatre, Aug. 24-Sept. 10 at Solvang Festival Theater), a comedy about twins who are separated after a shipwreck. Associate artistic director Roger DeLaurier will direct.
The season will close out with August Wilson’s Fences (Sept. 15-Oct. 1 at Marian Theatre), about a former baseball star who works as a garbage man in Pittsburgh in 1957 to support his family. Timothy Bond will direct.
Founded in 1964, Pacific Conservatory Theatre is committed to reflecting the diversity of its community through live performance.
