Several local productions coming this spring
The spring may bring May flowers and daylight saving time, but it also brings a number of new theatrical productions in the Santa Cruz area.
First, it heralds the start of New Canon Theatre Co.'s “season launch party” at The Sandbox in Sand City on March 11. According to New Canon Theatre's artistic director Justin Gordon, the event will run from 7:30-9:30 p.m. with music by the band Orchid Saloon. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.
Currently based in Monterey, New Canon Theatre Co. will offer four productions this year: “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Finding Chase,” “Hamlet” and “Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.”
For more information, go to newcanontheatre.org or call (323) 459-1969.
Next up will be Mountain Community Theater's production of “The Humans” by Stephen Karam. It opens March 17 and runs four weekends through April 9 at Park Hall in Ben Lomond.
Directed by Miguel Reyna, “The Humans” tells the story of a typical family reunion full of familial resentments, fears of growing old, abandonment and much more.
Tickets are $25 plus a service fee for general admission and $20 plus a service fee for students and seniors. They can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets at brownpapertickets.com. For more information, check out the MCT website: mctshows.org or call (831) 336-4777.
Jewel Theatre Co.'s fourth 2022-23 season production, “A Doll's House, Part 2,” has its opening night on March 31 and runs through April 23.
Written by Lucas Hnath, “Part 2” is a 2017 play that picks up where Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play, “A Doll's House,” left off. Long-time Jewel Theatre favorite Bill Peters directs this production. Hnath's play ran on Broadway for about five months the year he wrote it.
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to Jewel Theatre's website, jeweltheatre.net. Previews are $27, while regular performances are $55 and $50 for students and seniors over age 62. For more information, call the box office at (831) 425-7506.
Fresh off the sold-out fiveweekend run of the “8 Tens @ 8 Play Festival,” Actors Theatre will offer “The Best of the Rest” for two weekends in April. The readings will be held at Center Stage in downtown Santa Cruz. For more information and to buy tickets for “The Best of the Rest,” go to the Actors' Theatre website, santacruzactorstheatre.org/tickets.
Since 1995, playwrights from around the world have submitted their shortplay scripts to Actors' Theatre in anticipation of being selected to become a full-fledged production at the annual “8 Tens @ 8 Play Festival.”
Submissions have been accepted since last November and will continue until the June 30 deadline, according to Actors' Theatre board President Suzanne Schrag. There's a fee of $10 per play and each playwright can submit up to three plays at $10 each. Check out all the information about play submittal on the Actors' Theatre website under “Our Programs: Play Contest & Submissions.”
Cabrillo Stage's Summer Musical Festival has a new artistic director and is cutting back to just one production this summer. As the new artistic director, Andrea Hart recently announced that “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” will be presented from June 6-July 30 at the Cabrillo Crocker Theater in Aptos.
Tickets will be available for purchase beginning April 1. For more information, go to the Cabrillo Stage website at cabrillostage.com or, after June 15, call (831) 479-6154.