California Central Coast Mid Month Matinees - and MORE!

As we come to the middle of January, I hope your recreational entertainment plans include attending some live entertainment at one of the several theatre and live performance establishments that make their home here on the idyllic Central Coast of California!

Kelrik Productions (www.kelrikproductions.com) is pleased to announce the first 2 productions of their 2012 BEYOND Season - a remount of the children's favorite Pinkalicious (matinee performances January 21 - February 5) and Avenue Q (evening performances through February 4) at Unity (1490 Southwood Dr in San Luis Obispo). 

The 2012 season opens when "Sesame Streetmeets SouthPark" in the smash-hit musical Avenue Q.  This delightful parody dares to ask the question, "What do you do with a B.A. in English?"  Avenue Q garnered three Tony Awards in 2004 for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book of a Musical.  This funny and irreverent show conveys life's tough lessons through the trials and tribulations ofPrinceton (Cody Pettit), a bright-eyed college graduate, who is anxious to discover his purpose in life. But first, he must find an apartment and a job, with no work experience - just like the other characters living on Avenue Q: Kate, the girl next door (Adrianna Leiby), Rod, the Republican (Michael Rogers), Trekkie, the internet sexpert (Lester Wilson), Lucy the slut (Veronica Surber).  The New York Times declared this toe-tapping, hilarious and often moving show to be "a breakthrough musical of a very different stripe ... savvy, sassy and delicious!"

Avenue Q is presented as part of Kelrik's After Dark series.  Due to the show's adult subject matter it is required that audience members under the age of 17 bring a parent or guardian with them to the performance.

Avenue Q has long been the darling of both Broadway and off-Broadway theatres, delighting audiences consistently since its inception.  The irreverent take on the joys and travails of making it on your own strikes a chord with audiences young and old. Don't miss this hilarious show that will have your sides splitting and your heads pondering your own purpose in life [NOTE: Caught an opening weekend performance - FUN show!].

SLO Little Theatre's (www.slolittletheatre.org) current theatrical offering is ACT's (Academy of Creative Theatre) The Little Prince, presented through January 29.

The God Is Still Speaking Players (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/92718528887) will be holding auditions soon for either a readers’ theatre production or gearing up for another musical revue in early/mid March - stay tuned!

Upcoming performances at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (www.pacslo.org) include The MET Live in HD: The Enchanted Island on January 21, State Street Ballet’s The Jungle Book on January 22, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific on January 25, Orchesis Dance Company’s Immersion January 27 – February 4, and Joan Rivers LIVE on January 28.      

The Spot (https://www.facebook.com/#!/hit.the.spot) in Arroyo Grande will present a Songwriters at Play Tim Jackson Showcase on January 23, and Comedy on THE SPOT January 26 & 27.

Sorcerer Productions’ (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sorcerer-Productions/105954829426281) I’ll Be Seeing You … WWII Through the Eyes of Radio scheduled to run December 30 - January 15 at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande has been postponed.  Stay tuned for details on future productions!

Other upcoming performances at the Clark Center (www.clarkcenter.org) include Michael Kaeshammer on January 20, INCENDIO and Calmenco!: Evening of Guitars on January 21, The Peking Acrobats on January 25, and Forbidden Broadway 30th Anniversary on January 27.

The Great American Melodrama (www.americanmelodrama.com) in Oceano is pleased to present Greater Tuna running January 19 – March 4.

The Santa Maria Civic Theatre's (www.smct.org) next production, Rabbit Hole, will run February 2-25.   

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (www.pcpa.org), the Central Coast's Resident Professional Theatre Company, located on the Allan Hancock College Campus in Santa Maria, is proud to present Little Women, the Broadway Musical, February 16 – March 11.

The Lompoc Civic Theatre (www.lompoccivictheatre.com) will present a dinner theatre production of The Outrageous Adventures of Sheldon and Mrs Levine starting on January 22 (reservations required) at D'Vine Wine Bar.  And then Almost, Maine will be presented at the Lompoc Civic Auditorium March 16 - April 1. 

Murder In Mind Productions (www.murderinmind.com) will present A Dickens of a Mystery, through January 29, at The Spyglass Inn in Shell Beach (advance reservations required).

The Pewter Plough Playhouse (www.pewterploughplayhouse.org) in Cambria is proud to present Wait Until Dark February 10 – March 25.

The Theatre at the Old Grammar School in Cambria (TOGS) (http://artistsofcambria.com/cambriapac/id4.html) and Allied Arts Theatre's next production will be the romantic comedy Almost, Maine, January 27 - February 19.

So, whatever your plans might be for the next couple of weeks, I trust you will want to include attending a show at any one of our area live entertainment and theatre venues to support the performing arts community here on the California Central Coast!

Curt Miner ... your BroadwayWorld.com guy on the ground with the California Central Coast theatre "news & views"