White Christmas Auditions

“I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas!”

Imagination Theater is proud to announce its 2011 December Show – Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. This show will be a singing and dancing extravaganza! Auditions for White Christmas will be held May 14th and 15th, 2011. Contact Foothills Dance Studio for more information – 530-676-9800 foothillsdance@directcon.net

Also, to help prepare people for auditions, Foothills Dance and Performing Arts Studio is offering an adult class in Tap, Jazz and Musical Theater dance. Sign up now!

Audition Notice for Father of the Bride

April 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

April 10 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Callbacks)

Details on specific parts to follow later...

Mr. Banks learns that one of the young men he has seen occasionally about the house is about to become his son-in-law. Daughter Kay announces the engagement out of nowhere. Mrs. Banks and her sons are happy, but Mr. Banks is in a dither. The groom-to-be, Buckley Dunstan, appears on the scene and Mr. Banks realizes that the engagement is serious. Buckley and Kay don't want a "big" wedding—just a simple affair with a few friends! We soon learn, however, that the "few" friends idea is out. Then trouble really begins. The guest list grows larger each day, a caterer is called in, florists, furniture movers and dressmakers take over, and the Banks household is soon caught in turmoil—not to mention growing debt. When Kay, in a fit of temper, calls off the wedding, everyone's patience snaps. But all is set right, and the wedding (despite more last-minute crises) comes off beautifully. In the end, the father of the bride is a happy, proud man, glad that the wedding is over, but knowing too that it was worth all the money and aggravation to start his daughter off so handsomely on the road to married life. The show is scheduled for September 2011

Community Night Scheduled for Grease

Thursday, December 9 has been scheduled as a Community Night. All tickets are $10 for Grease. This is lower than group ticket pricing! You won't want to miss it! A short Q & A Session follows the show.

December 9 and 10 Tickets Available for Purchase

We will be opening up the Thursday and Friday shows, December 9 and 10 soon. We had set aside those dates for a fundraising event for United Outreach. Look for availability to open up in the next day or so ONLINE.

Grease Opening Night Only Two Weeks Away

Excitement and fun is in the air with Grease opening in two weeks! Get your tickets soon. Talk with your family at Thanksgiving and plan on a date to come and enjoy a talented bunch of kids and adults alike! Bring back some of that Summer Lovin' on a cold winter's day. Tickets are available online (preferred), by phone at 530-642-0404.

Behind the Scenes of Quilters

Recently, the cast of Quilters got together to read through their parts and get a feel for the stories and lives of the women traveling by wagon train. Tickets go on sale in December.

Charlotte's Web Show Dates

Show Opens - Fri, February 4, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 5, 2011 - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 6, 2011 - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 7:00 p.m.
Friday, February 11, 2011 - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 12, 2011 - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 13, 2011 - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Tickets go on sale December 1. All seats are $10.

Travel back in time to Mel's Diner November 18

Order a milkshake, burger and fries! The cast of Grease will be performing on Thursday, November 18 at 6:00 p.m. at Mel's Diner in Downtown Placerville. Get a taste of that down home cookin' and some great pre-show entertainment! Grease opens on Friday, December 3 and runs through December 26.

Not Familiar with the Grease Storyline?

In case you aren't familiar with Grease. Here is a synopsis of the story.

Act I
In 1959, Rydell High School's rebellious, happy, thrill-loving students start a new year. The "greasers" are the Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies ("Alma Mater Parody"). In the revival, the play begins with the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies singing, "Grease (is the Word)". The start of the new school year means lousy food ("You want my coleslaw?") and dreaded teachers ("I got Old Lady Lynch for English again. She hates my guts."). The Pink Ladies sit on one side of the lunchroom, and the Burger Palace Boys sit on the other.

There is a new girl at school, Sandy Dumbrowski. She and the leader of the “Burger Palace Boys”, Danny Zuko, had a brief love affair the summer before, but the summer ended for them with unresolved feelings of love. In describing the fling to the Pink Ladies (Jan, Marty, Frenchy, and Betty Rizzo), Sandy focuses on the emotional attachment she and Danny had, while Danny lies to the Boys (Roger, Doody, Sonny, and Kenickie) about the physical aspects of their relationship ("Summer Nights"). Sandy and Danny soon bump into each other at school, and while Sandy is happy to see Danny, he brushes her off, pretending to be too cool. Meanwhile, the kids gather in the hall as Doody, the youngest Burger Palace Boy, shows off his new guitar. Rock star wannabe Doody gives an impromptu concert in the hall ("Those Magic Changes").

At Marty’s pajama party, the girls experiment with wine, cigarettes, and pierced ears, and talk about boys. Marty tells about her long-distance courtship with a Marine ("Freddy, My Love"). Meanwhile, the Burger Palace Boys are busy stealing hubcaps and teasing Kenickie about his new (used) car ("Greased Lightning").

Danny sees Sandy again and tries to apologize for his behavior, but she is hurt to find out that he has told his friends that she is "easy." Head cheerleader Patty Simcox interrupts to prompt Sandy to join the squad and to tease Danny about his latest indiscretions ("Rydell Fight Song"). The kids take their newfangled portable radios for a rock and roll picnic in the park and plan how they will pair off at the upcoming school prom, while Roger shares his love for Jan and his favorite hobby ("Mooning"). Rizzo teases Danny for falling for a girl who resembles the excessively proper teenage ingénue, Sandra Dee ("Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee"). Sandy realizes that Danny is putting her off to be cool and wishes she had never met him. Then Danny suggests that Marty go out with Eugene, and she chases after him. The kids declare that they will "always be together" and they will always be friends ("We Go Together").

Act II
At the High School Hop, everyone is dancing, except Sandy ("Shakin' At the High School Hop"). She is home feeling sorry for herself ("It's Raining on Prom Night"). Meanwhile the favorite radio DJ of the Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies, Vince Fontaine, is the MC at the dance, which takes place in the gym. He is warming the kids up for the hand-jive dance contest. Kenickie dumps his blind date, Cha-Cha DiGregorio, and pairs off with Rizzo. Danny originally enters the contest with Rizzo, but she instead chooses to dance with Kenickie. Meanwhile, Kenickie pairs Danny up with Cha-Cha despite Danny's protest. He and Cha-Cha then proceed to win the dance contest ("Born to Hand Jive"). In the revival, Sandy hears the news that Danny and Cha-Cha got up close and won. She feels betrayed but she cannot stop thinking about Danny ("Hopelessly Devoted to You").

A few days later at the Burger Palace after school, a couple of the guys run into Frenchy, who flunked out of Rydell and has now dropped out of beauty school since she failed all of her classes ("Beauty School Dropout"). Danny, who has taken up track in order to win back Sandy's affections, does not know that Cha-Cha’s boyfriend’s gang has challenged the guys to a rumble. He is more concerned about patching things up with Sandy at the Twi-Light Drive In, but he moves too fast for her, and she leaves ("All Alone at a Drive-In Movie" [in the musical]; ("Sandy" in the revival)). A couple of days later, the "greasers" are having a party in Jan’s basement, as Doody and Roger sing ("Rock ’n’ Roll Party Queen"). Rizzo is worried that she is pregnant, but she is so mad at Kenickie that she tells him he is not the father. Rizzo rejects the kids' offers of help, especially Sandy's ("There Are Worse Things I Could Do"). Sandy wonders what she needs to do to fit in at Rydell ("Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee") (Reprise).

The next time Sandy meets up with the Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies, she has transformed herself into a greaser's dream date ("All Choked Up" [in the musical]; ("You're the One That I Want" in the revival). Rizzo reveals that she is not pregnant, and she and Kenickie reunite. All ends happily "We Go Together" (Reprise)

Smith Flat Charter Presents Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic & Old Lace, written by Joseph Kesselring is being performed by Advanced Drama at Smith Flat Charter School

December
THU 2nd - 7:00PM
FRI 3rd - 7:00PM
SAT 4th - 7:00PM
THU 9th - 7:00PM
FRI 10th - 7:00PM
SAT 11th - 7:00PM

House opens at 6:30 PM. $3 advanced booking, $5 at the door.
530-409-1188 or go to:
www.smithflatdrama.com

Grease opens December 3

Some say “the third time is the charm” but so were the first and second! Grease was Placerville’s Imagination Theater’s premier production in 2001 and its first run was so successful they revived it in 2005. Imagination Theater is once again presenting Grease, the musical. Running from December 3 through December 26, 2010, a whole new generation of local young performers will perform this wildly energetic and entertaining show.

Originally staged as a five-hour amateur production in a Chicago trolley barn, Grease takes a satirical look at the dress, manners, morals, and music of teenagers at the beginning of the rock and roll era. Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, the plot revolves primarily around the attraction between greaser Danny Zuko and the virtuous Sandy Dumbrowski. The score attempts to re-create the sounds of early rock and roll and has spawned such musical hits as "Summer Nights," "Greased Lightning," and "Beauty School Dropout."

The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. Set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School (loosely based on William Howard Taft School), the show follows ten working-class kids as they navigate the complexities of high school, love, cars, and drive-ins.

Imagination Theater’s new production of Grease is being co-directed by the theater founders, Peter Wolfe and Lanny Langston. Each has directed the show before. Jeremy Carlson, who recently performed the lead role of the Beast in Imagination Theater’s 2009 production of Beauty and the Beast, is the vocal director. Jerri Myers, a veteran of many productions throughout the Sacramento area, is the music and band director. Vanessa Lathrop, owner of Foothill Dance Studios in Shingle Springs, is the choreographer. Local musicians Bryan Heath, Craig Zangari, Mr. Bennett, with director, Peter Wolfe will provide the energetic, live rock and roll music.

Tickets can be purchased at online at www.imagination-theater.org or by contacting the box office at 530-642-0404.

Quilters Tickets On Sale December 1

IMAGINATION THEATER in association with Ensemble Theatre Company presents the musical, QUILTERS by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek

March 25th-April 17th, 2011; Thursdays and Fridays at 7:00 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

A mother and her six daughters tell this popular and moving story of pioneer life, taken from the handwritten diaries of women who helped settle the west. The scenes capture the beauty, ...terror and joy, the harsh challenges and heartfelt rewards of frontier life: girlhood, marriage, childbirth, parties, twisters, fire, illness and death. The music and dances have a country/folk flavor. This musical has been called “a theatrical masterstroke which will linger in the mind and memory long after the houselights have dimmed.”

Director: Chrissie Addison
Vocal/Band Directors: Dale Wallerstein, Jeri Myers
Cast: Georgette Barton, Brenda Lindley, Hannah Mahoney, Matti McKenzie, Holly Salvestrin, Rachel Wessman, Beth Zangari

Tickets: $15.00. On sale December 1, 2010; purchase online at www.it-tickets.org or call the IT box office at 530 642 0404.

Grease Dates Flyer

Click on image below to make it bigger! Print this flyer and post at work, at school, your favorite coffee shop, and anywhere else people will see it. Purchase your tickets now for the best seats!

Don't miss Dracula before he disappears!

If you want to catch Dracula before he disappears, your best chance is Halloween night. We have a handful of tickets remaining for the matinee in the afternoon. So set the candy bowl aside and come to see Dracula before it's too late. Contact the box office at 530-642-0404, go online (see what's left for the last show at http://www.it-tickets.org/).

Quilters is cast!

Director Chrissie Addison is happy to announce a great cast for Quilters. Addison says, “We were happy to see some very good auditioners and choosing a cast was difficult. We thank all who came forth with a prepared audition for their time and interest in the show. We welcome new faces to our cast as well as returning actresses.”

The Quilters cast of seven women will start rehearsals in January, but will receive their scripts in October to start preparations for portraying 98 different characters in 16 scenes. The scenes illuminate stories of frontier life – all taken from the trail diaries of the settlers in the 1870s and 80’s.

The cast is as follows:
Sarah – Georgette Barton
Jenny – Elizabeth Zangari
Margaret – Brenda Lindley
Lisa – Holly Salvestrin
Jody – Rachel Wessman
Jane – Mattie McKenzie
Dana – Hannah Mahoney

Quilters will open at Imagination Theater March 24th and run thru April 17th. Follow the threads of this production as we hit the trail!!

Make a Halloween date with Dracula!

Enjoy a visual treat with some stage and film tricks this Halloween weekend as the multi-media tale Dracula concludes at Imagination Theater in Placerville. Richard Sharp’s version of Bram Stokers’s Dracula is brought to life with exciting film footage laced throughout the play to enhance the story and give the audience a new look at an old tale. The high definition digital process was shot in several locations, including the historical Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station in Old Town Sacramento, the Preston School of Industry in Ione, a private residence in Cedar Grove, and a private ranch in Pleasant Valley. Come see this creatively told story!

Matinees for Dracula are at 2:00 p.m. and evening shows at 7:00 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, October 30 and 31. Friday’s show is sold out. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.it-tickets.org/ via PayPal or contact the box office at (530) 642-0404. Advance ticket purchase is highly recommended. All tickets are $15 and are reserved. The show is rate PG-13+. Located on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, Imagination Theater celebrates its' 10th Anniversary bringing quality, live community theater to Placerville and El Dorado County.

Free Vocal Lessons For Sac Area Men

This message is going to out to Sacramento Area performing arts groups that might have members of their group/troupe who would be interested in improving their vocal capabilities.

For the next 4 Thursday's starting this upcoming Thursday (October 28th), the American River Chorus will be hosting a series of free vocal lessons, open to men of all ages that wish to learn or brush-up on their vocal production techniques. The lessons will be lead by Mr Ron Black, who is a nationally recognized leader in vocal pedagogy for male singers. We expect the sessions to be fun as well as informative.The chorus is providing these lessons as part of our mission to inspire musical excellence and promote singing in our community. We also hope to raise awareness of the American River Chorus, which is a fairly new performing group in the Sacramento Area. Our expectation is that these lessons will be useful to singers of all levels. The lessons will run from 7:30-9pm and will be conducted at Kobasics Hall, at 5324 Riverside Blvd in Sacramento.

For additional information, please visit our website at freevoicelessons4you.com or contact us at sing@americanriverchorus.org or call (800)385-3659. Please come join us or pass this information along to any men you know that would benefit from such an opportunity.

Rich Brunner

American River Chorus

World Series Schedule

If you want to see Dracula this weekend and are a SF Giants fan, the matinees of Dracula on Saturday and Sunday will be just the ticket for you! Both shows start at 2:00 p.m. Following the show, grab a pizza or take out Chinese food and you are ready for the game. Dracula tickets can be purchased online or by phone.

2010 World Series Schedule

Game 1 RANGERS @ GIANTS – Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 PM
Game 2 RANGERS @ GIANTS – Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 PM
Game 3 GIANTS @ RANGERS – Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6:30 PM
Game 4 GIANTS @ RANGERS – Sunday, Oct. 31 at 8:00 PM
Game 5* GIANTS @ RANGERS – Monday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 PM
Game 6* RANGERS @ GIANTS – Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 PM
Game 7* RANGERS @ GIANTS – Thursday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 PM

(* if necessary)

All 7 games (if necessary) will be televised on FOX TV.

Dracula at Imagination Theater Continues through Halloween Night

Dracula Tickets Available Online (preferred) or contact the Box Office (530-642-0404)

Join the Dracula Cast at Miraflores Winery on 10/20/10

Sacramento Bee 10/16/10 article and online photo gallery about Dracula

Dracula Film Trailer

Dracula Cast Party at Miraflores Winery

Make your reservations at Miraflores to have a drink, a BITE and an interesting conversation with DRACULA! The cast for Imagination Theater's smash hit Dracula will be here at Miraflores Winery on October 20th from 5:30 - 9PM , for a cast party! Enjoy some delicious bites and some really delicious blood red wine, while talking with the stars. Bring a few friends for a fun ghoulish evening. While you are here take a look into our new beautiful tasting room. Please call the winery to make your reservations with Dracula! 530-647-8505 -$10 per person. See you there...