Sierra Stages Announces 2013 Season

Sierra Stages once again is offering affordable Season Passes for its upcoming season of plays and musicals in 2013. Sierra Stages' 5th Season includes three fully-staged productions: Shakespeare's popular and enduring comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream", the hilarious Tony Award-winning musical "Avenue Q" and the hit Off-Broadway revue "Closer Than Ever". The basic General Admission Season Pass is priced at only $55 (just over $18 per show) and allows theatregoers to select any performance of each of the three productions, with unreserved seating. For an additional $25, theatregoers may become Sierra Stages Members and choose reserved seats for each production. A third option, new for 2013, is a special Preview Season Pass priced at only $40 (just over $13 per show!) which allows theatregoers to attend one of the first two public performances ("previews") of each production with unreserved seating. Sierra Stages' 2013 Season Passes may be purchased online at www.SierraStages.org or by calling Sierra Stages at 530-346-3210.

Sierra Stages is a nonprofit community theatre based in western Nevada County with a mission to provide quality productions that are affordable and accessible to everyone. Offering Season Passes as low as $40 for three shows is part of its mission to provide affordable theatre. Since it began only four years ago, Sierra Stages has presented fifteen plays and musicals and has been recognized by the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance with four Elly Awards and twenty-three Elly Award nominations. The annual Elly Awards honor outstanding achievements of community theatres and artists in the greater Sacramento area. Sierra Stages performs at various local venues, including the Nevada Theatre in Nevada City and the Off Center Stage in Grass Valley.

The 2013 Season opens with "A Midsummer Night's Dream" playing from February 28-March 23 at the Nevada Theatre in Nevada City. Gods mix with mortals, a feuding king and queen unleash magical practical jokes on one another, spells yield improbable love affairs and a band of comical tradesmen wander into an enchanted wood and are transformed in the most unlikely ways in Shakespeare's most popular and enduring comedy. Jac Royce directs, with set design by Mike Edwards, costume design by Sharon Olson and lighting design by Erin Beatie. The all-local cast includes Sam Haley-Hill, Robert Rossman, Marion Jeffery, Paul Hauck, Lyra Dominguez, Casey Burke, Conor Nolan, Tinley Ireland, Isaias Acosta, BranDon Johnson, Marcus Arellanes, Cathy Johnston, Chandler Leonard, Clara Knappen, Jackson Knappen, Tadja Enos, and Jozi Gullickson.
From July 10-August 3, Sierra Stages presents the 2004 Broadway hit "Avenue Q" at the Nevada Theatre. Winner of the Tony Award "Triple Crown" for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book, "Avenue Q" is part flesh (humans), part felt (puppets), and packed with heart (universal). "Avenue Q" is a laugh-out-loud musical that tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. There, he meets the girl next door, a Republican, an internet sexpert, and Gary Coleman (need we say more?), along with other colorful types who help Princeton finally discover his purpose in life. Be warned that "Avenue Q" contains adult language and puppet nudity. It is not for the kids (and some adults), but your teenagers will think you're cool if you take them!

Completing the 2013 Season is the Off-Broadway classic "Closer Than Ever" at the Off Center Stage in Grass Valley from October 31 - November 23. "Closer Than Ever" is an intimate musical about love, friendship, security, and happiness - holding onto those essentials in a world that seems to spin faster every day. In this brilliant companion to their hit revue "Starting Here, Starting Now", Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire follow up their earlier "songs of innocence" with funny, wise and witty "songs of experience." Maltby and Shire bring their celebrated craft and contemporary sensibility to songs about aging, mid-life crisis, second marriages, and role reversals with parents, as well as wicked satirical jabs at working couples and unrequited love. The New York Times in 1989 described "Closer Than Ever" as "one of the half-dozen finest American theater scores of the last decade." It was revived in 2012 in New York and earned universal raves.

More Articles by This Author...