The California Central Coast’s pre-eminent professional theatre, PCPA TheatreFest is presenting the smash-hit musical whodunit CURTAINS in a split run, April 15-May 9 in Santa Maria’s Marian Theatre and June 17-July 3rd at the Festival Theatre in Solvang. The company has been presenting for over 45 years and has become a staple of the Central Coast’s vibrant Arts scene. I recently spoke with Craig Shafer, the Media Relations / Communications Manager for PCPA and Erik Stein who has the plum role of Christopher Belling in CURTAINS, about the production. Shafer brought me up to speed on the gargantuan task of creating a production of this beautifully designed musical that can be moved from one theater space to another.

“We’ve been performing dual runs in Santa Maria and Solvang since 1974. Many years ago we used to do rotating rep between the two venues. Now we typically open a show in Santa Maria then transfer to Solvang which is about 30 minutes to the south. The Solvang community built the Festival Theater with the primary intention to host PCPA productions in the summer time. The Festival Theatre is run by Solvang Theaterfest, a non-profit that maintains the facility. Since it’s open air there are special considerations made in the lighting plot, but the stage is sized to within an inch or two of the Marian in Santa Maria. Both are thrust stages – 450 in Santa Maria – 700 in Solvang. And, all tech and performances can only be performed at night,” Shafer said.

So far, CURTAINS is shaping up to deliver a huge hit for PCPA. Brad Memberto, reviewer for the Santa Maria Times raved, “It features great songs by the classic duo of John Kander and Fred Ebb, a very funny book by Rupert Holmes, terrific over-the-top performances and fantastic choreography. The production — currently running at the Marian Theater in Santa Maria — is brilliantly directed by Roger DeLaurier. “Curtains” is so good you will feel a need to see it again and again.”

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing cast member Erik Stein, who plays director Christopher Belling, about his approach to this brilliantly funny role:

Q: I think Christopher Belling is just a fabulous role. He’s witty and so over-the-top. Are you having fun making him your own?

ERIK STEIN: I am having so much fun! I’ve never played a character like Christopher before. I’ve always admired the wit of Noel Coward and Oscar Wild, and I am a huge fan of the flamboyance of Peter O’Tool, Tim Curry, Richard Harris, Stewey Griffin…. It is a lot of fun to see just how far I can go and still be a real person.

Q: I noticed you’ve added a cat to show…I laughed out loud when I saw the publicity shot of you with Purryl. A great, awesome idea. Is Purryl a newcomer to the stage? Does she have any lines?

E.S.: I am a cat lover, and I am thrilled to share the stage with Purryl. She is a newcomer to the stage, yet she is a natural. She has no written lines, however, I would not be surprised if she started improvising. She is very comfortable in the spotlight.

Q: How has the experience been of working on a newer show like CURTAINS?

E.S.: I love working on a relatively new musical that so few people have seen. I think this show has the potential to become a classic, and it is thrilling to be able to share this first experience with so many people.

I think audiences must be thrilled, too, with Stein’s performance. The Times review glowed about his performance: “Stein is beyond fantastic in the funniest role at PCPA in years. From his hilarious entrance to his final exit, Stein steals the show with every single movement and line he delivers. Watching the tall actor prance and sashay across the stage was pure joy. I’m not sure who had more fun, the audience or Stein.”

I also took a few minutes to talk to PCPA’s Shafer, three weeks prior to the show’s smash-hit opening, about some unique and innovative marketing concepts he’s hatched for CURTAINS.

Q: Your marketing for CURTAINS includes a great “get to know the characters” section. Do you do that for all your shows or is this a just for CURTAINS thing?

CRAIG SHAFER: I’ve never done a “get to know the characters” in our publicity before, but we were really intrigued by playing up the whodunit component without getting too close to melodrama. Sharing the characters’ relationships with one another seemed like a great way to engage the audience ahead of time. Also, some of our resident artists are quite popular with the audience and this served as a way of getting their faces out there and further building excitement.

Q: The TV commercial you have on your website is great, tying the show in with all the other big Kander & Ebb titles. Do you produce your own video or hire it out?

C.S.: Our TV and radio commercials are created in collaboration with our ad agency AdMinds in San Luis Obispo and directed by PCPA Marketing Director Maria Centrella. This was one of the more extensive edits we’ve done.

Q:  How you go about promoting a newer show like CURTAINS?

C.S.:  Well, “Curtains,” for a relatively new and unknown title– in the regional theatre world — is doing solid advance sales. We’re three weeks out, so we expect that to really take off in the next two weeks. Just saying “murder-mystery-musical-comedy” gets a chuckle and builds intrigue, and when Kitty Genge (Carmen) says in her brassy New York accent in the radio and TV spot, “It’ll kill ya!” everyone knows they’re in for a good time.

Q: The photos are AMAZING! How did you get such great shots so far ahead of opening?

C.S.: Our photo shoot was a bit ambitious. First, we used the backstage of the Marian Theatre just hours before a matinee performance of Macbeth. We needed to capture images for both the TV spot and publicity for the press and web site. The goal was not to play the play, but play with the emotions and characters… Six actors were called, which is more than usual, and the shot list was twice the norm and it was squeezed into a 45 minute call compared to our typical 30 minute shoot. I think it was extremely successful all around.

Q:  I think a lot of theatres looking at CURTAINS can really benefit from some of these great ideas. What kind of thing do you do now as you close in on opening night?

C.S.: There will be a new flash animation on the home page and a video glimpse into a rehearsal. I just sent out an E-Newsletter (http://www.pcpa.org/march2410.html) to our 10,000 + email subscribers that pointed out all the multimedia we have on the web with a reminder the show is just three weeks out. That will give us a huge bump on web page views which is currently exceeding 700 hits a week. In fact, that number should double very shortly. I’ll repeat a week out pointing to the additional content on the web site with the standard publicity to follow, the usual radio and TV interviews and advance newspaper feature or two prior to reviewers on opening night. Then watch word of mouth carry it home.

In addition to the great review in the Santa Maria Times, the San Luis Obispo Tribune gave plaudits to the production saying, “PCPA Theaterfest’s “Curtains” is a treat for Central Coast audiences…PCPA is one of the first on the West Coast to present it — and endow it with creative energy and good humor.”

My thanks go to Erik Stein and Craig Shafer for taking time out of their busy schedules for interviews. For more information on CURTAINS visit the show’s homepage at:

http://www.theatricalrights.com/#/showdetail/?showid=CURT/

-by Fred Stuart for TRW

For the full text of the reviews visit:

http://www.santamariatimes.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/article_27350454-4ea8-11df-9268-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/04/22/1112399/stage-showbiz-can-be-murder.html

LUCKY DUCK, TRW’s wacky, ultra-modern take on The Ugly Duckling story is about to take flight at The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City. Making this summer show experience especially great will be the fact that the amazing team of Henry Krieger and Bill Russell along with co-book writer Jeffrey Hatcher will be offering interviews with StagePage as they re-work the show for Young Audiences with the Coterie’s director Jeff Church.

LUCKY DUCK plays The Coterie June 22 – August 8, 2010. Visit StagePage often this May and June as we chronicle the amazing tale of Lucky Duck’s transformation into the next great Theatre for Young Audiences title form TRW!

Stay tuned to TheatricalRights.com this May for a huge release party featuring three new kid’s theatre titles that will rock your collective worlds! For a sneak peak hit http://www.theatricalrights.com/catalog/TRW_Catalog.pdf and go to pages 33-34! Along with this exciting new title, we’ve got two more amazing releases that will give you just the right title for your next season. Get a jump on the competition and keep an eye on TheatricalRights.com as we get ready for our new releases!

The musical sensation THE COLOR PURPLE is back on the road and earning rave reviews in city after city as it rolls across North America. Your chance to produce this epic musical drama is coming soon! Meanwhile order a PerusalNow™ of this beautiful story and catch the show on tour!

04/30/10 – 05/02/10 Huntsville, AL-Von Braun Center Concert Hall

05/03/10 – 05/03/10 Chattanooga, TN-Memorial Auditorium

05/04/10 – 05/04/10 Asheville, NC-Thomas Wolfe Auditorium at the Asheville Civic Center

05/05/10 – 05/05/10 Fayetteville, NC-Crown Theatre

05/07/10 – 05/09/10 Waterbury, CT-Palace Theater

05/12/10 – 05/12/10 Burlington, VT-Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

05/18/10 – 05/22/10 Brampton, ON-Rose Theatre

05/25/10 – 05/30/10 Durham, NC-Durham Performing Arts Center

For more tour dates and information visit The Color Purple On Tour

ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY is headed for New York! The hilarious, touching and tuneful show will be produced by NYC’s Prospect Theatre Company this fall! Stay tuned as news of this exciting production is revealed…Meanwhile, order your PerusalNow™ and get to know this hilarious musical and plan YOUR production.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY is a funny, frantic and frenzied fairy tale about what we do for love. Sweet, shy deli clerk Vinnie switches lives with Rocco, the town stud, to win the heart of the woman he loves. A farce about dames, games, foods, feuds, molls, dolls, thugs, lugs, switches, snitches, glitches, mistaken identities… and how a simple sandwich guy becomes a hero.

With Music by Stephen Weiner and book & lyrics by Susan DiLallo, the show rocked the Village Theatre in Washington and the Marriott Lincolnshire in Illinois and is now available for premiere productions at your theatre! Call your TRW Licensing Agent toll-free at (866) 378-9758 and check on your area’s Premiere Status Eligibility. Get this new show to your audience and let them know you are committed to providing them the best in cutting edge theatre!

“ Clearly has huge audience appeal… delicious songs and some very funny bits,” –says the Chicago Sun-Times about ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY.

THE GIRL IN THE FRAME is an ideal show for those companies looking for what NPR called, “A tight romantic comedy that has it all!”

A small cast and a unit set are all you need to produce this awesome musical that got its start at the historic Goodspeed Musicals. Reviewers around the country have taken to the show with raves like this one from the Albany Times Union: “Undeniably enjoyable..farcical, zany fun!” And from the Buffalo News in NY: “A contemporary, genuinely funny musical comedy that’s full of heart…3 1/2 stars out of 4!”

Everyone has bought a picture frame that comes complete with the example photo of the hot girl or the hunky guy…what if those fantasy creatures came to life and offered to fulfill your every desire? Hmmmm…Careful what you wish for…You might just get it!

A tiny NYC apartment gets even smaller as a young couple’s wildest fantasies come to life in THE GIRL IN THE FRAME. A hunky fireman, a tuxedo-clad super spy, and the seductive “girl-next-door” turn one couple’s cold feet into a fun and sexy parable of modern love.

With book, music and lyrics by Jeremy Desmon, THE GIRL IN THE FRAME offers just the right touch of modern love in a sassy, screwball comedy format that will leave your audience begging for more! Order a PerusalNow™ and then call your TRW Licensing Agent toll free at (866) 378-9758 to check your area’s Premiere Status Eligibility. Offering new shows to your audience is a great way to invigorate ticket sales and get a real buzz going at your box office and in the local press!

ROMEO & BERNADETTE, a delightfully delicious romantic musical comedy, barrels along with dames, dons and dizzy comedy to a happy ending, accompanied by some of the world’s most recognizable Italian melodies, famous from movies, television and many, many pizzerias. Originally produced in the States at the legendary Papermill Playhouse, Ro & Bern has recently had enormous success overseas, especially in Southeast Asia.

In addition to several other productions in this lovely corner of the globe, Manila’s Repertory Philippines’ 73rd Season featured ROMEO & BERNADETTE, under the direction of Associate Artistic Director Joy Virata. The show’s author relayed his thoughts on the production via BroadwayWorld.com. “I’m so proud and honored to have my musical produced in Manila. I wish Repertory Philippines success in staging this important production,” said Ro & Bern author Mark Saltzman.

Saltzman is an Emmy award-winning script and songwriter, and creator of  THE TIN PAN ALLEY RAG (an Off-Broadway musical that toys around with a fictional meeting between Scott Joplin and a young Irving Berlin set in 1915.) I interviewed Saltzman about the show recently from his home in the Los Angeles area to get his take on the shows origins.

“I always loved mob movies C not just the Godfather, and Sopranos, all the black and white gangster movies. And I come from the Bronx, so that New York dialect and attitude is what I grew up with. And I always loved the Italian music the neighbors were playing and singing. So I guess the inspiration was putting these elements I love into a pot, adding a copy of Romeo and Juliet and the result, when served over pasta, was ROMEO & BERNADETTE,” Saltzman said.

The score features a great mix of musical styles that offers an amazing array of roles and opportunities for directors and performers alike.

“Ro & Bern is a mix of styles. Some of the mobsters sing in a swinging-Vegas Frank Sinatra- Harry Connick style, which the actors have a lot of fun with. Romeo’s style of singing is larger-than-life ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Bernadette has some Sixties girl-group, ‘Grease’ / ‘Hairspray’ working,” Saltzman continued, “Believe, me, (preparing for these roles) will be the most fun the actors ever will have with research.”

For more information on producing ROMEO & BERNADETTE at your theater, visit:http://www.theatricalrights.com/romeo-bernadette

RING OF FIRE, THE JOHNNY CASH MUSICAL is proving to be box office gold across America and around the world. Now your theatre organization can produce this tour de force musical that keeps the hits coming fast and furious! RING OF FIRE is a sure-fire way to heat things up at your theatre’s box office and attract a whole new audience, as you give your regulars a taste of something new.

The Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Ft. Myers, Florida is enjoying the sure-fire hit phenomenon with reviews like this one from the Lehigh Acres Citizen, “The grand finale, “I’ve Been Everywhere,” brought the audience rising as one to cheer this amazing cast with a rousing, well deserved, standing ovation. All in all, “Ring of Fire” succeeds on every level, bringing directly to the audience the singing legend known as the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.”

For the full review click here: http://www.lehighacrescitizen.com/page/content.detail/id/508821/A-Review–Cash-tribute-show-celebrates-the-American-experience.html?nav=5109

Current and upcoming productions of RING OF FIRE include:

February 20, 2010 – May 30, 2010

Barn Dinner Theatre

Greensboro, NC

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March 12, 2010 – May 30, 2010

Western Star Productions

Mohrsville, PA

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April 8, 2010 – April 17, 2010

Town and Country Players

Melrose, MN

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April 15, 2010 – June 5, 2010

Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre

Fort Myers, FL

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July 8, 2010 – August 29, 2010

Fireside Dinner Theatre

Fort Atkinson, WI

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July 8, 2010 – September 4, 2010

Cornwell Turkey House, Inc.

Marshall, MI

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July 16, 2010 – August 1, 2010

Fullerton Civic Light Opera

Fullerton, CA

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August 17, 2010 – September 26, 2010

Derby Dinner Playhouse

Clarksville, IN

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September 22, 2010 – October 9, 2010

Merry Go Round Playhouse

Auburn, NY

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July 21, 2011 – August 7, 2011

S.T.A.G.E. Inc

Bulverde, TX

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ENTER THE GUARDSMAN is an intimate musical about sex, marriage, adultery, role playing, truth-telling and keeping your performance fresh in the long run. A brilliantly witty, unfailingly clever and refreshingly tuneful take on backstage romance, ENTER THE GUARDSMAN has a distinguished pedigree that should give it an edge when planning your season. This delightfully traditional tuner has had productions at some of the musical theatre’s most prestigious venues including Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, London’s Donmar Warehouse, and the venerable Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

Now your theatre organization can have a regional premiere with what TalkinBroadway calls a, “delightfully funny, tuneful, poignant, charming gem of a musical…” Call your Licensing Agent at Theatrical Rights Worldwide, toll free 866-378-9758 to check your area’s Premiere Status Eligibility. Offering new shows to your audience is a great way to invigorate ticket sales and get a real buzz going at your box office and in the local press.

ENTER THE GUARDSMAN features music by Craig Bohmler, Lyrics by Marion Adler and a book by Scott Wentworth based on Ferenc Molnar‘s hugely popular story of two world-renowned actors who, just six months into their marriage find that the bloom is off the rose. But, as invention is the actor’s stock-in-trade, cue the anonymous roses, the amorous letters and…Enter the Guardsman!

A very producible show that features 7 actors on a unit set, ENTER THE GUARDSMAN is now available from TRW! Order a PerusalNow™ and check on Premiere Status Eligibility for your area.

ILLYRIA TRIPLE THREAT RECEIVES $100,000 AWARD

TRW author Peter Mills, the book, music and lyric writer of ILLYRIA, was awarded the prestigious Kleban Award, annually given to both a librettist and a lyricist. Also receiving this year’s award is Barry Wyner, wrote the music, lyrics and book for CALVIN BERGER, a new version of  “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

Mills wrote ILLYRIA, a beautifully realized musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” in 2001.  The adaptation of the comedy is credited to Mills and Prospect Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Cara Reichel. Noteworthy productions have included two runs at New York’s  Prospect Theatre Company in 2002 and 2009, and the regional premiere at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in 2004.

Recently, Peter wrote music and lyrics for GOLDEN BOY OF THE BLUE RIDGE, a critically-acclaimed bluegrass adaptation of J.M. Synge’s Playboy of the Western World set in 1930s Appalachia. He received the 2007 Fred Ebb Award for emerging songwriters, 2006 Drama Desk Award nominations for his show THE PURSUIT OF PERSEPHONE (Best Music and Best Orchestrations), the 2003 Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award from the ASCAP Foundation, and a 2002 grant from the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation. He supplied lyrics for IRON CURTAIN, (book by Susan DiLallo, music by Stephen Weiner of ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY), which received the 2006 IT Award for Best Musical, was workshopped at the 2008 Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference and showcased at the 2009 NAMT Festival. With Cara Reichel, he wrote THE FLOOD, which was selected for the 2001 ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop. MARCO POLO, written with composer Deborah Abramson, was selected for the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop in 2000, and Peter and Deborah were chosen as 2000-01 Dramatists Guild Fellows.

The Kleban Award was established by Edward Kleban, an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. Kleban wrote the lyrics for A CHORUS LINE, winning the 1976 Tony Award® for Best Original Score.

Congratulations to Peter Mills, winner of the 2010 Kleban Award!

Peter holds an M.F.A. in Musical Theater Writing from New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts and a degree in English/Dramatic Literature from Princeton University. He is a founding member of Prospect Theater Company.

Kleban created the Kleban Foundation in his will. The annual awards, each in the amount of $100,000 over two years, are given to the most promising librettist and lyricist in American musical theatre