PerformingView
A Time to Perform in July
By Kaye Osborn and Chris Murphy
July offers many activities for you and your whole family! Fireworks, the 4th of July parade and concerts in the park. There are many theatrical productions to support. Some are local but there are some that requires some driving. Check out theatrical shows in Sonora, Denair, Merced and Newman. There are many choices to do! All it takes is some imagination and planning! Happy 4th of July!
Here is what is happening in our neck of the woods!
Gallo Center for the Arts:
Kumar Vishwas: poet and best selling author
Sat., July 15 7 PM: FREE but you must reserve a ticket for the event
I plan on attending!
YES Company’s Footloose
July 21-30: 7:30 PM July 23: 3 PM – Gallo Center
This is a fantastic performance by the amazing YES Company. These youth performances, directed by Melanee Wyatt are the stepping stone for many a professional acting career. Don’t miss out on this great story of the power of dance in small town America.
Connie Ambrosia-Wann, Mark Medina and Kay Osborne will be interpreting the July 27th show for the hearing impaired.
West Side Theatre – Newman
“No Business Like Show Business” Variety Show presented by the West Side Players
The West Side Players present their “First Annual Variety Show”. Join the Players and local dance troupes for a night of vocal, dance, and dramatic comedy from “West Side Story”,”Chicago”, “The Sound of Music”, “My Fair Lady”, “Moulin Rouge”, “Annie”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Grease”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Frank Sinatra”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, and “Cats
July 28,29, 30 7 P.M.
Tix $10 General $15 Reserved
Center Stage Conservatory
The Movie Drinking Game
July 14th and 15th at 8pm.
Watch as fabulous actors reenact the comedy classic Wet Hot American Summer, as they drink alongside the audience to help raise funds for Center Stage Conservatory.
Tickets will sell out fast, so be sure to get them soon at www.centerstagemodesto.com. A suggested donation of $15 gets you in the door and all you can drink beer! * Not a beer drinker? Feel free to bring your own beverage! + ** This is a 21+ event.
*till supplies run out +Special drinks available for additional donations
**A suggested donation of $15 is still recommended anyway.
The Miss Firecracker Contest
Running through – July 2
As we go into July, don’t miss it the last few performances of this fun performance at the Center Stage Conservatory Theatre.
Center Stage Conservatory’s Lower Level Studio
948 Eleventh Street.
Entrance located on J Street
www.centerstagemodesto.com
StageView – Behind the scenes of Liberty Valence
By Sharon Carmack Mize
This July you can step back to a time when the west was still wild and the law of the land usually rested in a gun holster. The Prospect Theater Project is presenting Jethro Compton’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The play was written in 2014 and is loosely based on the same 1953 short story by Dorothy M. Johnson that the Hollywood movie was. For those who have seen the black and white movie starring Hollywood favorites John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, don’t expect a revival, the play differs quite a bit. It will be interesting to see a new take on the same story.
PTP’s production, which is closing out their season, will star, among others, Joel Morrison, Michael Hewitt and Jim Kocher. It is directed by Jack Souza and narrated by Jordan Sanchez. Sanchez prepared for that role while finishing up his run with Modesto Performing Arts as Noah, the funeral home’s grave digger, in Oliver! If you did not get a chance to see Oliver!, Sanchez was quite convincing as the rough character. Picking the young 11 year old John Sylvester (Oliver) up by his arms, shaking him and then ending up with the enraged orphan on his back pounding on the filthy grave digger with his fists. When asked about the manhandling, young John/Oliver said, “it doesn’t actually hurt. It’s only acting. I know what’s going to happen so I’m ready.”
This is Sanchez’s first time working Prospect Theater, he said, “It’s been quite an experience. Every rehearsal I’m trying to learn as much as I can. I’m not required to stay after my parts are rehearsed but I usually feel like I’ll miss something interesting so I hang back.” Valance is bound to be an entertaining show if an actor working two shows wants to stay even after he is released. The show opens July 7th and runs through July 23rd. Check out Prospect Theater Project on Facebook or on their website for ticket purchasing information.
July 7, 8,9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23
prospecttheaterproject.org/
Tix $20 general $10 Students
