SANTA MARIA and SOLVANG, CALIF.: Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) has announced its 2019-20 season, featuring 10 productions to be presented in three different venues on the California Central Coast.
The season will open with The Cake (Sept. 19-22) by Bekah Brunstetter, about a baker hesitant to prepare a lesbian couple’s wedding cake.
Next will be Mary Jane by Amy Herzog (Sept. 20-21), about a single mother struggling to care for her chronically ill son.
Following will be Jiehae Park’s Peerless (Sept. 21-22), about twins who go down a Macbeth–inspired path when one sister’s spot at a prestigious university is given to a different student.
Next up is Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Nov. 7-Dec. 22), co-produced with 2 Ring Circus. The musical follows Ariel the mermaid, who longs to leave the ocean. Melissa Rain Anderson will direct.
Continuing the season will be Brighton Beach Memoirs (Feb. 13-March 1, 2020) by Neil Simon, about a Polish Jewish American teenager growing up in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Associate artistic director Roger DeLaurier will direct.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (March 5-22) will play next, directed by artistic director Mark Booher.
Following will be Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music (April 23-May 10, and June 11-July 5 at Solvang Festival Theater). Kitty Balay will direct.
Next will be Little Shop of Horrors (June 25-July 3, and July 10-August 2 at Solvang Festival Theater), book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken. Based on the Roger Corman film, the musical concerns a boy’s bloodthirsty plant.
Following is Something Rotten! (July 23-Aug. 1, and Aug. 7-Sept. 6 at Solvang Festival Theater), book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, music and lyrics by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, about brothers in 1595 making the world’s first musical. Roger DeLaurier and Katie Fuchs-Wackowski will co-direct.
Rounding out the season will be Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Aug. 20-Sept. 6). The play, a continuation of Ibsen’s drama, follows Nora 15 years later as she returns to her family. Karin Hendricks will direct.
Founded in 1964, PCPA offers year-round programming of musicals and plays, as well as conservatory training.
