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Moonlight Stage Productions 2009/10 Winter Season at the AVO Playhouse presents:Swingtime CanteenThe Star Spangled Musical Hit! Jan 28 - Feb 21, 2010Showtimes: Thu-Sat, 7:30pm; Sat-Sun, 2:00pm Book by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci, and Charles Busch Directed and Choreographed by Don Ward Musical Direction by Dr. Terry O'Donnell
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Moonlight Stage Productions invites audiences to forget their woes, pack up their troubles and check their hats at the San Diego premiere of the rip-roaring canteen musical Swingtime Canteen! You'll travel back in time to a 1944 USO canteen show during World War II. During America's greatest hour of need when everyone has to do their part of the war effort, the glamorous Hollywood star Marian Ames gathers her "gal pals" to head to London to entertain the troops overseas. The girls prove their mettle by singing more than 20 musical hits heard during the Great War all the while bringing laughs, tears, and emotional fireworks to the stage in this celebration of the spirit and hope of the wartime era. Songs include: Don't Fence Me In, I'll Be Seeing You, Sing Sing Sing, How High the Moon, I Don't Want to Walk Without You, A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square, Sentimental Journey, Apple Blossom Time, an Andrews Sisters medley, and many more! Order tickets now>>
Photos from "Swingtime Canteen" by Ken Jacques |
Learn more:
'North County Times' Review of Swingtime Canteen
SanDiego.com Review of Swingtime Canteen
Click here to Read the Swingtime Canteen program.
| Cast and Musicians | |
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JESSICA COUTO (MARIAN AMES), a native of Charleston, S.C., has a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her recent performances include Godspell, Lamb’s Players Theatre; Fiddler on the Roof, Sierra Repertory Theatre; Jerry Springer, The Opera, Hollywood Theatre; Jubilee!, Bally’s Casino, Las Vegas; Christmas from the Heart and The Pajama Game, Dutch Apple Theatre; Into the Woods, Fulton Opera House; Beauty and the Beast, Broadway Palm Theatre; Fiddler on the Roof and Young Abe Lincoln, Lincoln Amphitheatre; Sunday in the Park with George, Strollers Theatre; and Sound of Music, Oregon Straw Hat Players. |
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ALEXIS GRENIER (LILLY) is a recent graduate from Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Having received both her Bachelors and Masters degrees, she moved home to her native San Diego. Recent opera credits:Â L’elisir d’amore (Adina), The Old Maid and the Thief (Laetitia), and Dialogues des Carmelites (Mere Marie). Besides winning the La Jolla Young Artist Competition in ’07, Alexis also placed in the Carmel Music Society’s bi-annual vocal competition. She is currently studying acting, as well as singing in three San Diego bands. |
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RAE HENDERSON (JO STERLING) is making her Moonlight debut; Rae grew up watching Moonlight productions and is honored to now be a part of one! Recent credits include Big River at Candlelight Pavilion and Sweeney Todd at Rancho Cucamonga's Broadway at the Gardens. |
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CHELSEY MOORE (KATIE GAMMERSFLUGEL) is returning to Moonlight Stage Productions again after appearing as Phyllis Dale in 42nd Street this past summer, and previously as a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz when she was 8. She is currently a theatre student at UC Irvine where she recently originated the role of Allie in Aging Out: A New Musical. She has performed in over 20 stage productions in San Diego, at such venues as the Welk Theatre and Legoland. |
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LAUREL GRINNELL (Percussion) is a versatile percussionist who has been performing professionally on drum set since 1996. With extensive training and experience in various musical styles such as jazz, Latin, rock, funk, and reggae, she has performed throughout California in a variety of contexts. Upon graduating from Sonoma State University in Northern California with a degree in Jazz Studies, Laurel moved to San Diego to obtain a Master's degree in Ethnomusicology where she focused her studies on West African drumming, Latin percussion, and Indonesian gamelan. |
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SHARON MARTIN (Woodwinds: Clarinet/Bass, Clarinet, and Alto/ Tenor) has been playing/teaching woodwinds in San Diego since 1990. She obtained her Master's of Music degree from SDSU in 1997. Moonlight credits include: Barnum, My Fair Lady, and Gypsy. Other venues include the Starlight Musical Theater, Lyceum Theater, Lamb's Players Theatre, and San Diego Junior Theater. In addition to her musical ventures, Sharon is also an active realtor with Realty Executives Advantage. |
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ZACH PYKE (Acoustic Bass) has been working as a professional bassist since the age of 17. Moonlight Stage Productions: Dreamgirls, Me and My Girl, Little Shop of Horrors, Cats; San Diego Musical Theatre, Dreamgirls; Stone Soup Theatre, Tick, Tick ... Boom!; The Old Globe, Kingdom; Cygnet Theatre, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Zach has also played with a number of local artists including "Monte Cristo," "The Players Touch," 'Circus Mirrors," "Zampf Dingbats," and currently performs with cabaret songstress Betty Anderson. He can also be seen late Saturday nights at the Super El Camino restaurant and nightclub playing with the house band. He is currently the principal bassist for the San Diego City Ballet. |
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TED WAIT (Trumpet) was most recently heard in the Moonlight orchestras of Phantom and Me and My Girl. Ted enjoys educating young musicians at Los Alisos Middle School as a band and orchestra teacher and is the music director of the schools' spring musical. He also plays with a big band; Moonlight Serenade Orchestra and in his free time, he solos in pep band with his alma mater; SDSU. Ted believes that Shakespeare said it best, "If music be the food of love, play on." |
Creative Team
N. DIXON FISH (SCENIC DESIGN) Swingtime Canteen is quite a style switch for Dixon after designing the set for The Foreigner. He is delighted to be working with the directors Don and Bonnie Ward; this is at least their 25th production together. Avo Playhouse credits: I Do, I Do! and Moon Over Buffalo; Dames At Sea, Moonlight Amphitheatre. Design credits elsewhere: The Dining Room, Scripps Ranch Theatre; Lend Me A Tenor, Proposals, Electra, Heartland, Anna In The Tropics, and Distracted, MiraCosta College. Other design credits; San Diego Junior Theatre, Starlight Musical Theatre and The Welk Resort Theatre.
PAUL A. CANALETTI, JR. (LIGHTING DESIGN) is delighted to be working at Moonlight’s Avo Playhouse once again. Recent Avo designs include: The Foreigner, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Hay Fever, and The Magic Fire. He also spends much of the summer as the sound engineer, mixing shows for the Moonlight Amphitheatre. Paul teaches stage lighting at MiraCosta College, where he is also the resident lighting designer.
PETER HASHAGEN (SOUND DESIGN) Moonlight credits include: The Foreigner, Cats, Phantom, 42nd Street, West Side Story, Cabaret, Kiss Me, Kate, Ain’t Misbehavin’, My One and Only, Children Of Eden, and Seussical. Elsewhere: Cookin’ At The Cookery (nominated for NAACP Award for Theatre Sound Design) and the world premiere of Fire On The Mountain. As Sound Supervisor of La Jolla Playhouse, his credits include: Palm Beach, Zhivago, and The Wiz. Peter studied at the School of Audio Engineering of London.
RENETTA LEHMAN (COSTUME DESIGNER) isexcited to be back working with Moonlight Stage Productions. Local costuming credits include shows at MiraCosta College, Carlsbad Community Theatre, Encore Youth Theatre, and Welk Resort Theatre. When not costuming shows, Renetta keeps her sewing machine busy with one of a kind pieces like wedding dresses, Carnivale of Venice outfits, formal wear, and whatever else comes her way.
BONNIE L. DURBEN (PROPERTIES) Moonlight credits: Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story, and Me and My Girl. Selected credits elsewhere: Fences, Communicating Doors, Bug, My Fair Lady, and The Matchmaker, Cygnet Theatre (Resident Property Designer); Electra, and The Dining Room, MiraCosta College. Member: Set Decorators Society of America. Recipient of the John Guth Patté Award for Backstage Brilliance. Independent film: THE STREET SWEEPER and READY? OK!
BROOKE BALDWIN (STAGE MANAGER) has crewed over a dozen Moonlight productions and contributed to many more. Stage Management and Production Assistant credits include: The Foreigner, Cats, The Most Happy Fella, (Moonlight Stage Productions); Eden Espinosa: Me, (Upright Cabaret); Time Stands Still, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, (Geffen Playhouse); I Love My Wife (Reprise!); Big Love, Cleansed, Anything Goes, Homer In Cyberspace (UCLA). Brooke’s a recent graduate from UCLA. She also loves performing and has been seen in several MiraCosta College productions.
Production Staff Assistant to the Director: BONNIE WARD |
- Winter Show Tickets
- Single Tickets $21 - $29
- Call Vistix 760.724.2110
