Seeking Costume and Props Help for Oliver

Lanny Langston is looking for a Costume Coordinator (not designer) and 2-4 seamstresses for the musical, Oliver.  In addition, he is looking for a props coordinator for the production.  Give Lanny a call at 530-903-6361 if interested.   The production dates for the show are November - December 2014.

Make a difference in our community! Become a sponsor today!

2014 Theater Sponsorship
As a non-profit organization (Tax ID #680448569), our sponsors are an invaluable resource to produce our shows. Donations are tax deductible (less the ticket value) and keeps our theater thriving and ticket prices affordable in our community. In addition to recognition through our website and show programs, sponsors who contribute $250 and more receive season tickets.

Director Level - 6 Season tickets
Musician (500 Club) Level - 4 Season Tickets
Actor Level - 2 Season Tickets

Our 2014 Season:

You Can't Take It With You - March/April 2014
Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1937, this comedic play focuses on what happens when a family of conservatives clashes with an eccentric family of free spirits.

Our Town (Readers' Theater) - April 30-May 2, 2014
Thorton Wilder's classic adapted to Placerville in 1901.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - September 2014
This non-musical version, written in 1912, served as the inspiration for Walt Disney's history making, Academy Award winning animated movie.

Oliver - November/December 2014
Lionel Bart's lively musical based on Charles Dickens classic tale, Oliver Twist.

Click the Brown Paper Tickets to Pay Online

Cantare Chorale holding auditions

If you enjoy singing and want to further develop your vocal talent, now’s the perfect time to join the local choral group Cantare Chorale of the Sierra Foothills.  Cantare is excited to announce auditions for its spring season.

The 70th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion is fast approaching and Cantare members plan to honor the United States’ soldiers by singing songs that acknowledge and remember those who have given their lives to make the world more safe and secure.

Most of the group’s musical selections this season will focus on American patriotism and love of country and will express thanks to the “Greatest Generation” who served during World War II, as well as those who have followed in their steps.

While lifting your voice in song can be a way to honor others, it can also “boost your immune system and sense of well-being, while reducing stress and pain and even prolong your life,” according to Suzanne Hanser, chair of the music therapy department at Berklee College of Music. “When we sing instead of speak, we have intonation, melody line and crescendo, which gives us a broader vocabulary to express ourselves,” she said in a recent SixWise.com article.

Cantare Chorale encourages and supports the enjoyment of music in the lives of the citizens of El Dorado County. The group invites all voices — soprano, alto, tenor and bass — to try out and support the development of your vocal talents so that the entire community can benefit.

Auditions have begun and all who wish to try out are encouraged to visit the Cantare Website to see how this non-profit group engages with El Dorado County and Sierra Foothills communities.

Check out cantarechorale.com or call 530-677-6964 for information and to schedule an audition.

Our Town Overview

From the Thorton Wilder Society web page (article by Ashley Gallagher)  

First produced and published in 1938, this Pulitzer Prize–winning drama of life in the small village of Grover’s Corners has become an American classic and is Thornton Wider’s most renowned and most frequently performed play.

“No curtain. No scenery.” A minimalist theatrical style sets apart the 1938 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Wilder’s greatest and best-known work as a playwright, Our Town opens with the Stage Manager’s introduction to Grover’s Corners, a fictional town based on Peterborough, New Hampshire where Wilder often spent his summers. The sparse and symbolic qualities of the set suggest Wilder’s intention to make Grover’s Corners represent all towns.1 

The Stage Manager, played by Wilder himself for two weeks in the 1938 Broadway production, breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience. The Stage Manager also assumes control over the onstage action through such unconventional, metatheatrical devices as prompting actors and cueing scene changes. Once the actors have been set in motion by the Stage Manager in Act I, entitled, “Daily Life,” the allegorical world of Grover’s Corners unfolds. The audience is introduced to the Gibbs and Webb families who symbolize “ordinary people who make the human race seem worth preserving and represent the universality of human existence.”2 Wilder explores the families’ inter-relationships, specifically between George Gibbs and Emily Webb. The audience watches George and Emily talk through their second story bedroom windows, represented by ladders: their simple actions complemented by the simple set. Act II, “Love and Marriage,” takes place three years later on George and Emily’s wedding day. After listening to Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs talk about their own wedding day, the Stage Manager transports the audience back to the days of George and Emily’s high school courtship. In this scene, Emily expresses her disdain for George’s conceited behavior. To make amends, George buys Emily an ice cream soda presented in an imaginary glass by Mr. Morgan, played by the Stage Manager. As this glimpse into George and Emily’s past comes to an end, George decides not to go to agriculture school so he can remain in Grover’s Corners, close to Emily. Then, the audience again finds itself at George and Emily’s wedding. The Stage Manager, now playing a minister, focuses the audience’s attention on the tearful and anxious families before George and Emily blissfully run up the aisle, ending Act II. In Act III, Wilder focuses on the end of the life cycle. Nine more years have gone by and Emily has died in childbirth. As the funeral procession crosses the stage, Emily, dressed in white, emerges from behind the mourners’ umbrellas and sits next to the deceased Mrs. Gibbs in the graveyard. Emily begins to question what it means to live and die, and, although warned against it, chooses to relive her twelfth birthday. Deeply saddened by everything she failed to notice while alive, Emily asks the Stage Manager to take her back to her grave but hesitates a moment to say good-by to the world. As Emily accepts her death, George falls at her feet in grief. While watching George, Emily asks Mrs. Gibbs, “They don’t understand, do they?” to which Mrs. Gibbs responds, “No, dear. They don’t understand.”3 As Emily settles in with the dead of Grover’s Corners, the Stage Manager bids the audience a good night.

*****

Thornton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play made its debut at Princeton, New Jersey’s McCarter Theater before ultimately moving to the Henry Miller Theatre in New York City. In the New York Times review, Brooks Atkinson called Our Town “one of the finest achievements of the current stage…a hauntingly beautiful play.”4 Despite the myriad of interpretations of Our Town, most critics agree that the play is a microcosm of the life cycle. As Haberman writes, “[Wilder] is reminding the audience of how precious daily life is, because it determines our true reality…our enduring identity is not derived from the things and the events because they are familiar and repeated, but from our ever-new, ever-fresh relation to them.”5 Wilder also demonstrates that these aspects of daily life and their constant renewal are universal to all generations and cultures. While Act I covers “Daily Life,” Act II explores “Love and Marriage.” Once the audience is transported back to George and Emily’s wedding day, they hear various characters’ opinions about marriage, which compels them to make their own judgment and promotes the idea that while marriage may be another part of daily life, “each marriage is different from all the others, and no definition could satisfy everybody.”6 Our Town’s emphasis on the universality of daily life, conscious audience engagement, and minimalist theatrical style are a few of the signature techniques which have qualified Wilder’s work both at home and abroad as the “most representative and significant product of the modern American theater.”7  Since the play’s tremendous success in New York, Our Town has become a popular play in schools and community theaters.

Imagination Theater looks forward to bringing this Readers' Theater adaptation of Our Town to Placerville April 30 through May 2 at 7:00 p.m.   

Seasonal Job Opportunity at Fairytale Town

Job Opportunity at Fairytale Town

COSTUMED ENTERTAINERS WANTED / PAID POSITION / CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES AT FAIRYTALE TOWN AGES: 18 to 30 TITLE: Guest Service Representative Seasonal Position, March - October - weekdays, weekends, & holidays The Guest Service Representative reports to the Guest Service Manager. This position is responsible for conducting birthday parties, assisting with day camps, and selling retail merchandise at the retail cart. Examples of Duties: Duties may include but are not limited to: Conduct and lead birthday parties Perform storytelling and provide face painting Dress up in costumes and perform for birthday parties Instruct children in various activities and weeklong camps including arts and crafts, games, dramatics, animal presentations, gardening presentations, and music appreciation Assist with weekend and evening large-scale events Assist with crowd control Attend off-site promotional events Sell retail merchandise at the retail cart Occasional assistance with domestic animal care and feeding Clean and maintain grounds Cash handling Requirements: Must have a strong initiative to lead and have an outgoing personality Must be able to perform in front of a large crowd Interact with the public in a professional and courteous manner Work with a minimum of supervision in a fast pace environment Must be able to handle emergencies and customer concerns Establish and maintain effective relationships with other employees and managers Understand and follow written and oral instructions and communicate clearly verbally and in writing Operate a cash register Special Qualifications: Theater, parks and recreation or child development background preferred Passion and ability to work well with children ages 1-12yrs old Willing and able to work weekends, holidays and evenings Must be willing and able to work with animals Must be willing to go through a background check Must be at least 18 years old at time of hire Application Instructions: No phone calls, please. Please drop off, e-mail or mail your resume with a cover letter to: Zang Her, Fairytale Town, 3901 Land Park Drive, Sacramento, CA 95822. zang@fairytaletown.org.

Poetry Out Loud coming to IT! in February

ZOUNDS!! POEMS COMING AT YOU!

2010 POL county winner David Butler-South Tahoe High

Poetry Out Loud is celebrating its fifth year in El Dorado County! Can you believe it? Woo-hoot! This national poetry recitation contest has now become an Arts Council tradition. Every January and February since 2010, the El Dorado Arts Council has partnered with the California Arts Council to put on this competition in our county high schools.

Here's how the contest works--students from each participating county high school commit to heart a poem and perform it at the classroom level, where they are judged by their teachers. Winners of the classroom contests go on to perform two poems at the school-wide competition where they are judged by trained Arts Council members. School winners then move on to the county-wide competition held this year on Thursday evening, February 6th, from 7:00 to 9:00 at the Imagination Theater on the county fairgrounds.

2011 POL county winner Rebecca Shields-Oak Ridge High

Anybody who's ever been to the county competition will tell you it's not to be missed. Students recite their poems in two riveting rounds. During each recitation the audience holds a collective breath, letting each word swirl in the heart and head. Then--explosive applause! The atmosphere is electric; the stakes are high: each school winner vies for first place--and a $100 prize--plus the opportunity to compete against thirty-three county winners in the California Poetry Out Loud contest held in March at the state capitol. In turn, state winners fly (courtesy of the contest sponsors, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts) to Washington, DC to perform against 52 state winners for the grand prize of $20,000!

2012 POL county and state winner Corbin Gomez-Oak Ridge High

2013 POL county winner and state runner-up Connor Ricketts-Charter University Prep

This year, nine local high school programs are in the Poetry Out Loud lineup: Blue Ridge, Charter University Prep, El Dorado, Golden Ridge, Golden Sierra, Independence, Oak Ridge, Ponderosa, and Union Mine.

The county competition is free. All are invited! Come experience poetry as it's meant to be heard! Be dazzled!  

(Arrive early for best seating.  Last year we had a full house!)

Audition: Our Town (Readers' Theater) - March 23 at 6:00 p.m.

Love theater? Want to squeeze in a little Readers' Theater this spring? Join us for Thorton Wilder's classic, Our Town which has been adapted to Placerville in 1901. There are five parts available for kids (age 12+) and twenty or so parts for adults age (18+).  The audition is Sunday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m.   There are eight reading rehearsals in March and April. There will be three performances--April 30, May 1 and 2 at 7:00 p.m. with a donation (suggested) of $5.00. General Admission. Bring your good reading voice and join us for the audition in March!

Audition Information: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

A fairy tale based on the story by the Brothers Grimm. The play by Jessie Braham White was originally written in 1912 and ran on Broadway in New York City in 1921. This non-musical version served as the inspiration for Walt Disney’s history making, Academy Award winning animated movie. Snow White includes the now familiar seven dwarfs, the beautiful Snow White, the vain and self-absorbed Queen Bragomar, Snow White’s Maids of Honor, the Queen’s clumsy flunkie, Sir Dandiprat, Berthold the Huntsman, Prince Florimond and his two pages, and the Queen’s cats, Long Tail, Short Tail, and Lack Tail. Directed by Peter Wolfe and produced by Lanny Langston, the show takes place in the Queen’s Throne Room, the Forest the cottage of the seven dwarfs, and in the Wicked Queen’s Dungeon. “Snow White” is set in Mythical Fairy Tale Time. Auditions for Snow White will be at Imagination Theater on Saturday, April 19 at 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with call backs on April 21 at 6:30 p.m. There are 27 principal roles available. For more information, contact Peter Wolfe at pwolfe615@gmail.com Rehearsals: July-August 2014. Show dates: September 5-28, 2014

Audition Workshop - April 5th at 9:00 a.m.

Imagination Theater is pleased to announce an upcoming workshop, “How to Audition” on Saturday, April 5th from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The workshop will include topics including: audition skills, stage etiquette, preparing a monologue, cold script reading tips, improvisation, preparing songs, and more. The workshop is for adults and children ages 9+. The auditions will help those prepare Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (non-musical in Sept. for all ages) and Oliver (musical in Nov/Dec for all ages). This workshop is free and will be held at Imagination Theater, located on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. Imagination Theater brings quality, live, local community theater to Placerville and El Dorado County.

Oliver! Audition (4/26) Information

Imagination Theater Presents
Oliver! The Musical

Directed by Lanny Langston

Production Dates: November 28-December 21, 2014

Auditions - Saturday April 26, 2014

9:00 a.m.to Noon – Kids’ Vocal

1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Adults’ Vocal

Call Backs - Sunday, April 27, 2014

1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Cold Readings and Dance Auditions

at Imagination Theater on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Dr. in Placerville

Any boy auditioning for the part of OLIVER must sing the song “WHERE IS LOVE” from Oliver!

For all other kid and adult roles you may sing songs from Oliver! or any other Broadway show.  You may use a CD or mp3 Player for your song.  Audition pianist will be available for those with music scores.   No acapella.  

Parts – Kids

Oliver Twist – 9-11 Years Old –

Artful Dodger (Fagin’s Gang) – 12-15 Years Old

Noal Claypole (Undertaker’s Apprentice) -  14-18 Years Old

Charlotte – Young Girl – 13-16 Years Old

Charlie Bates (Fagin’s Gang) – 11-15 Years Old

Bet, a girl (Fagin’s Gang) – 13-16 Years Old

Fagin’s Gang – Boys and Girls 8-16 Years Old (about 20 youth)

Parts – Adults

Mr. Bumble (tenor)  - The Beadle, a pompous man, ages 40-55

Widow Corney (alto/soprano) – a sharp tongued, conniving widow in workhouse, age 50+

Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry (any range) – undertaker and his wife, ages 35-50

Fagin – male age 45-60

Nancy (Soprano/Alto) – A graduate of Fagin’s gang.  Bill Syke’s girlfriend, ages 18-25

Bill Syke’s (Baritone) – A villain, ages 30-45

Dr. Grimwig- A doctor, non-singing role, ages 35-50

Old Sally (any range) – A pauper, age 40+

Chorus will include

Townspeople, vendors, workhouse assistants with several solo lines in songs. Ages 18+ (about 20 people)

Scripts and music available after February 1, 2014 

For further information, contact Lanny Langston at 530-903-6361.

Theater Alumni Event - February 22

Old Hollywood

A themed C.A.S.T. Party

at Imagination Theater

Saturday, February 22nd, 6pm-9pm

All casts, crews, and production teams from all shows at I.T. are invited

Guests are welcome

Members under 14, please bring an adult or responsible older sibling

Costumes/period dress encouraged but not required.

Think Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, etc.  

See the IT! CAST Facebook page for pictures and inspiration!

Please bring a “finger food” or beverage to share

Appetizer, Dessert, Soft Drink, Wine or Beer. 

Anyone under 30 wishing to partake should be prepared to show ID.

Piano Bar * Theater Games * Talent Show * and More!

Contact us no later than Feb 15 if you are interested in performing in the Talent Show.

Open to anyone. Space may be limited. Classic Film/Musicals theme encouraged, but not necessary.

Volunteers Needed 

Sign-in Table Greeters, Food Presentation, Wine and Beer pourers.

Join our Facebook Group: IT! CAST

Committed Alumni Supporting the Theater

Michelle Harwell  *  Marc Bonham  *  Kate Barba 

Sean Widing  * Jerri Myers

ImaginationTheaterCAST@gmail.com

Congrats to the Cast of You Can't Take It With You

We look forward to seeing these fabulous people on stage in March.  Tickets will be available later in January.

Penny Sycamore – Lorrene Baum Davis
Grandpa – John Prock
Alice Sycamore – Amanda Anderson
Tony Kirby – Steven Kliner
Mr. Kirby – Rick Gaylord
Essie Carmichael – Ali LaVanway
Boris Kolenkhov – Sean Widing
Paul Sycamore – Blake Lawton
Ed Carmichael – Erick Lindley
Mr. DePinna – Dan Clark
Mrs. Kirby – Kathleen Mini
The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina– Erika Maruri
Gay Wellington – Jody Wills
Rheba - Toni Conley-Widing
Donald – Jeff Jackson
Wilbur Henderson – Derrick Toups
G-man – Tim Klemens
FBI Agent - Janice Le Pouvoir
FBI Agent - Diana Granger

Announcing Our 2014 Season