Photos from "Ella" at Laguna Playhouse!

The new musical about "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald!
February 17- March 22, 2009







See more photos on our press page at
http://www.lagunaplayhouse.com/press/photos/ELLAphotos.php
or on Facebook or Myspace

"Ella" at the Laguna Playhouse!

ORANGE COUNTY PREMIERE OF ELLA ARRIVES AT
THE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE FEBRUARY 17 – MARCH 22, 2009

Musical Biography of the First Lady of Song stars Tina Fabrique as Ella Fitzgerald and features a Live Jazz Combo and 20 Hit Songs


LAGUNA BEACH, CA – January 19, 2009 – It’s a life lived out loud in the Orange County Premiere of Ella, an exhilarating new musical about the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald, that runs February 17 – March 22 at The Laguna Playhouse. The play was conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison. Book is by Jeffrey Hatcher, with musical direction and arrangements by Danny Holgate. Ella is directed by Rob Ruggiero.

Starring Tina Fabrique as Ella, this theatrical event weaves myth, memory and music as it tells the uplifting and poignant story of one of the greatest jazz and pop vocalists of the 20th century.

It’s 1966 and the fabled songstress is preparing for one of the most important concerts of her career. As she jams with the musicians and gets ready to meet the audience, Ella reflects on her life, her secrets and the love of music that made her soar. Featuring more than 20 of her most famous hits, including “A Tisket, A Tasket,” “How High the Moon,” “That Old Black Magic,” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” this swinging new musical invites audiences to fall in love all over again with the magic and soul of Ella Fitzgerald.

“Ella is a dream come true for me,” said director Rob Ruggiero, who conceived the show along with Dyke Garrison. “I have always been a fan of jazz, and her amazing body of work seemed to cry out for a theatre piece celebrating the life of Ella Fitzgerald. Our journey has afforded me the greatest privilege taking a closer look at this brilliant musician, and really getting to know her past, her struggles, her dreams, her desires, her connection with her music, and her audience – her real story, so to speak.”

Performance & Ticket Information:
Ticket Prices: $30 to $70

Previews:
February 17 – 20

Regular Performances
February 22 – March 22, 2009

Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday matinees February 19 & March 5 at 2:00 p.m.
Sunday evening March 15 at 7:00 p.m.

Special Student Ticket Pricing:
$15-$20 All Performances except Friday/Saturday evenings

Special Half Price Tickets for Teachers and Military with ID:
All Performances except Friday/Saturday evenings

FOR INFORMATION & TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
CALL: 949.497.ARTS (2787)
GROUP SALES: 949.497.2787 ext. 229
VISIT: www.LagunaPlayhouse.com
MOULTON THEATRE: 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California

ELLA

An exhilarating new musical the D.C. Theatre Scene calls "an upbeat and sassy production the channels the energy and pizzaz of the legendary jezz singer, ELLA FITZGERALD."

Buy your tickets to day buy calling the Laguna Playhouse at 949-479-2787!

We’ve added clips of “Around the World in 80 Days” to YouTube!
There’s five scenes for you to view on our BRAND NEW YouTube page.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLagunaPlayhouse

There’s only a few more weeks left!
This is not a show you want to miss!


Find out more on the Laguna Playhouse website!

Around the World in 80 Days Takes Off!

STAGE ADAPTATION OF AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
TRAVELS TO THE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE
JANUARY 6 – FEBRUARY 8, 2009

Orange County Premiere combines Humor and Adventure in this
Theatrical Tour de Force as Five Actors play Three Dozen roles

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – December 5, 2008 – Get ready for a theatrical rollercoaster ride of epic proportions as The Laguna Playhouse presents an exciting stage adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days January 6 – February 8, 2009. This Orange County Premiere is a co-production with San Jose Repertory and is directed by Michael Butler, artistic director of Center Repertory Company of Walnut Creek.

Adapted by Mark Brown from the classic novel by science fiction pioneer Jules Verne, Around the World in 80 Days follows the tale of proper London gentleman Phileas Fogg, who strikes a wager with fellow members of the Reform Club that he can travel around the world in a mere 80 days—a mighty feat in 1872. With him goes his trusty French servant, Passepartout, while tenacious Detective Fix – who has mistaken Fogg for a fugitive bank robber – shadows him every step of the way. On his journey, Fogg encounters romance, adventure and a host of colorful characters who both help and hinder his progress. Will Fogg make it back in time to win the wager?

This fast-paced, clever comedy has been called “Jules Verne meets Monty Python… a flat-out frenetic farce" by the San Jose Mercury News, while Metro Silicon Valley says that it’s “a genuinely fun, ingenuously produced and witty show that can be enjoyed by all ages.” Aisle Say San Francisco calls Around the World in 80 Days “a rewarding evening of entertainment with lots of laughter.”

An interesting note: Director Michael Butler has laced the production’s ambiance with a playful nod to the “steampunk” genre of science fiction. As Metro Silicon Valley points out “one of the most extraordinary aspects of the production is how brilliantly the stage is utilized…the production is styled in the opulent esthetic of steampunk, a growing retro-futuristic movement that combines Victorian finery with modern technology. The set has the distinct feel of being located inside a giant ticking watch, complete with a huge manually revolving central stage that is sporadically set into motion by stagehands for fast, dramatic effect.”


Performance & Ticket Information:

Ticket Prices: $25 to $65

Previews:
January 6 – 9

Opening Night Gala:
Saturday, January 10: 7:30 p.m.
(By invitation only and press night)

Regular Performances
January 11 – February 8, 2009

Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday matinees January 8 & 22: 2:00 p.m.
Sunday evening, February 1: 7:00 p.m.

Special Child Ticket Pricing:
Ages 5 thru 18: $10 - $15 All Performances

Special College Student Ticket Pricing:
$10 - $15 All Performances except Friday/Saturday evenings

Special Half Price Tickets for Teachers and Military with ID:
All Performances except Friday/Saturday evenings

FOR INFORMATION & TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
CALL: 949.497.ARTS (2787) - GROUP SALES: 949.497.2787 ext. 229
VISIT: http://www.lagunaplayhouse.com/

Tis the Season!

Happy Holidays from the Laguna Playhouse!!

Check out our myspace and facebook pages for special ticket offers!



http://www.myspace.com/lagunaplayhouse

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1208355891&ref=name

Sneak Preview: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

It may still be December, but January is right around the corner, and so is an exciting new production of "Around the World in 80 Days." Co-produced with the San Jose Repertory Theater, this show is based on the Jules Verne novel and directed/designed with a steampunk twist. It's sure to be a treat for all ages, especially with five actors playing more than three dozen roles!

Proper London gentleman, Phileas Fogg, strikes a wager with fellow members of the Reform Club that he can travel around the world in a mere 80 days-- a mighty feat in the 1870s. With him goes his trusty French servant, Passepartout, while tenacious Detective Fix, who has mistaken Fogg for a fugitive bank robber, shadows him every step of the way. On his journey, Fogg encounters romance, adventure, and a host of colorful characters who both help and hinder his progress. Will Fogg make it back to win the wager?

"Jules Verne meets Monty Python... a flat-out frenetic farce, where the slapstick hits the fan."

-San Jose Mercury News

Runs JAN 6-FEB 8, 2009. Get your tickets now!

Enjoy some humor this Christmas with SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM

Everyone's favorite nun is back with a holiday show that will keep audiences laughing. This Christmas season, Sister will tackle the question that has been puzzling historians through the ages: Whatever happened to the Magi's gold? Think CSI: BETHLEHEM as Sister engages the audience to help solve the mystery through a forensic examination of the nativity scene. Sister hunts under the manger and over camel humps in her quest for clues.

Runs DEC 15-24, 2008! Get your tickets now!

Leaving Iowa Review from the OC Register

Leaving Iowa had a fascinating opening night last Saturday at the Laguna Playhouse. Here is the review from the OC Register.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/clue-manton-laguna-2230420-playhouse-don

'Leaving Iowa' will leave you with conflicted feelings
Review: Poignant play combines laughs, big issues at Laguna Playhouse.
By PAUL HODGINS
The Orange County Register
Comments 0 Recommend 5

Who among us has never experienced that special purgatory called the family vacation?
Ah, the memories: Long, tedious car trips to nowhere or, worse, the home of hated relatives; promising roadside attractions that fail to deliver; back-seat fights. "I'll give you something to cry about!" was a phrase coined during such times.

It's a wonder that nobody thought of turning this fertile field into theater before Tim Clue and Spike Manton seized upon it. The result, "Leaving Iowa," is a lightweight but funny and often poignant then-and-now tale, making its West Coast debut at the Laguna Playhouse after a successful life in the Midwest.

Don (Kevin Symons) is a Boston journalist who has returned to his childhood home in Winterset, Iowa facing a grim task. He didn't make it to his father's funeral, and now, three years later, he's come to dispose of dad's ashes. Getting sprinkled on the homestead where he grew up was the old man's only request, and it's a family embarrassment that the urn still resides in the basement. Don's sister (Erin Bennett) finds it only after hours of searching.

After receiving elaborate instructions from his mom (Jill Brennan) about how to drive dad's wheezy old car, Don makes the two-hour trip to his grandparents' home, only to discover their modest abode has been bulldozed; a big-box supermarket now stands in its place.
Don is floored. What should he do now with dad's remains?

Don's present-day journey is told in tandem with a series of flashback scenes. We witness the family's last trip together: a long and mishap-filled journey to Hannibal, Missouri, the birthplace of Mark Twain. Dad (Gregory North) is a schoolteacher with a passion for the minutiae of American history. No site marker is too insignificant for his lingering attention.

During the past and present trips' many unexpected detours, two busy and amusing supporting actors, JJ Rodgers and Roy Abramsohn, provide a strange gallery of characters: an overly enthusiastic Civil War re-enactor and his bored-to-death colleague; a couple of wacky mechanics; a near-mute busboy and his associate, the most talkative waitress in the world; a husband-and-wife team of lonely pig farmers whose only claim to fame is living in the geographic center of the continental U.S.

Clue and Manton have made part of their livings in standup comedy, and their script sometimes suffers as a result, as does this production, which is directed by Clue. There's an overly glib air and constantly frenetic dynamic in some scenes – qualities that can quickly wear out their welcome.

But this writing duo has a keen ear for the inherent comedy, subversive tactics and push-pull battles that characterize family relationships.

There are certain moments that had Saturday's audience nodding in recognition: a scene in which dad's passenger-seat instructions and interruptions drive mom into a seething fury behind the wheel; a wheedling episode in which Don and his sister manipulate their father into stopping at a dubious roadside attraction; dad fulminating over an elephantine RV blocking his way.
(The car scenes are presented with a big dollop of make-believe on John Berger's set, which gives us lots of atmospheric background but wisely lets the actors recreate the claustrophobic hell of automobile travel.)

And those of a certain age will sympathize with Don wanting to do right by his dad, now that it's too late for it to matter. Like so many men, Don is tortured by the knowledge that he never let his father know how much he loved and appreciated him. Don's attempt to assuage that guilt, and the journey of self-discovery that it takes him on, raise "Leaving Iowa" above the trivial.
This production features a comically gifted cast that mixes familiar with new faces.
Laguna Playhouse regular Symons nicely underplays Don. With his hangdog face and slouchy posture, Symons gives Don exactly the right mien – a middle-aged guy who's not particularly happy with the road travelled so far.

As Don's sister, Bennett has a field day projecting pre-teen hyperactivity. She's clearly an actress with vivid memories of the psychology and techniques of sibling teasing.
Brennan is the quintessential Midwestern mom, whose cautious nature and determined diplomacy tamp down some surprising passions. "She's an unstoppable helping machine," Don complains, not seeing as we do that if she didn't obsess over something her head would explode.
It's North's portrayal of the family patriarch, though, that will stay with you. He creates an instantly recognizable "regular dad" archetype: a penny pincher and schedule minder, a petty tyrant with a soft heart, a man who thinks he's in control but is often bested by his manipulative family.

North goes beyond what the role requires in the silent scenes, when dad hovers ghostlike on the margins as Don appeals to his ghost. North's gaze speaks volumes to anyone who has mid-life regrets about their departed parents. It says, "I know you loved me. Be happy. Move on with your life." That's a message worth taking home after the lights come up.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com

NOSTALGIC COMEDY LEAVING IOWA ARRIVES AT LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE

NOSTALGIC COMEDY LEAVING IOWA ARRIVES AT THE
LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE FOR ITS WEST COAST PREMIERE
NOVEMBER 11 – DECEMBER 14, 2008

New play by Tim Clue and Spike Manton is a Sentimental
and Humorous Ode to Families—and Family Vacations

Remember those childhood family vacations you tried to forget? Those memories will come flooding back when you come to The Laguna Playhouse for the West Coast Premiere of Leaving Iowa by Tim Clue and Spike Manton November 11 – December 14, 2008.

Told in flashback, this hilarious sentimental comedy about a journalist who returns home to Winterset, Iowa to find a final resting place for his father’s ashes is a nostalgic ode to days gone by. As the journalist searches for the perfect spot to scatter the ashes, he relives the summer vacations he spent as boy trapped in the family station wagon en route to uninteresting historical sites with well-meaning but naïve parents and a bickering sibling. With a generous dollop of humor and a heart as big as the Midwest, Leaving Iowa shows us that the journey really is as important as the destination.

“Comedy is a familiar companion, and so are memories,” says Clue. “Who hasn’t been in their car and heard a song on the radio, and all of a sudden you’re transported back to a specific time and place. That’s what I want this play to do. It’s a time capsule that needs to be captured both humorously and sincerely at the same time. Where the movie Vegas Vacation made mockery of vacations, I hope Leaving Iowa is more of a sentimental journey.”

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS

TIM CLUE

My first writing gig was – and still is – stand-up comedy. However, in 1991 I established Short Story Theater with Marco Benassi, a multimedia theatrical company that combined short fiction adaptations with documentary footage. Greek Streets was the theater’s inaugural work; using short stories by Chicago’s Greek scribe Harry Mark Petrakis. Other Definitions of Confinement premiered at the National Jewish Theater in 1993 and introduced the life and writings of Russian political prisoner Dmitry Stonov. In 1997, Coloring Potential, focused on the stories of Chicago’s inner-city youth. In 1999, Spike Manton and I wrote and directed a Chicago-based television sitcom pilot Tiny Pig that made into the ‘can’, but not on TV. Like all failed projects, it is currently being adapted into a comedy musical. Leaving Iowa is also being written as a screenplay. I grew up in Rochelle, IL, and I still live in Chicago with my wife, Kathryn Lake, and one cat, no kids, and no station wagon.

SPIKE MANTON
I was born on a farm in upstate New York, but my parents moved us to a bustling metropolis of almost two thousand people, where I grew up in your standard 1960’s family unit of four kids, two parents and one station wagon. As child number three, I am very familiar with the seating location known as “the way back.” After graduating Bradley University, I moved to Chicago, quit my cushy Procter & Gamble sales job, got married and began a career in standup comedy. Standup lead to some cable TV shows like Evening at the Improv, MTV and Comedy Central and more importantly, a career in radio. Over the past 10 years I have been on The Steve Dahl Show, ESPN Radio and the LOOP. Along the way, I have been trying to create, write and produce from right here in Chicago with my college friend, Tim Clue. Leaving Iowa is the best example of executing that plan to date. Finally, I need to credit my wife, Tami for the work she did with the production. It was way more than Group Sales, and while I’m still not sure I recommend working with your spouse, I am more than grateful.

Performance & Ticket Information:
Ticket Prices: $25 to $65

Previews:
November 11 – 14

Regular Performances
November 16 – December 14, 2008

Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday matinee November 13: 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday matinee November 26: 2:00 p.m.
Sunday evenings, November 30 & December 7: 7:00 p.m.
(no performances on Thanksgiving Day, November 27)

Special Half Price Tickets for Students, Teachers and Military with ID:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday Evenings / Saturday Matinees

FOR INFORMATION & TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
CALL: 949.497.ARTS (2787) - GROUP SALES: 949.497.2787 ext. 229
VISIT: www.LagunaPlayhouse.com
MOULTON THEATRE: 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California