Photo Flash: The Theatre Group at SBCC Presents GREASE

The Theatre Group at SBCC will start the season July 11-28, 2018 in the Garvin Theatre with the musical, GREASE. Book, lyrics and music by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.

THE MUSICAL

Meet Rydell High's senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding "T-Birds" and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking "Pink Ladies" in bobby sox and pedal pushers, and celebrate the '50's with one of the best-loved musicals of all time. Head "greaser" Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to restore the romance of their Summer Nights as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as Greased Lightnin', We Go Together and You're the One that I want, recalling the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley that became the soundtrack of a generation. So gather your family and friends and join us for some Summer Lovin' at the Garvin Theatre.

Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School (based on William Howard Taft School in Chicago, Illinois) and follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love. It was nominated for several Tony Awards including for Best Musical in 1972 and won several Drama Desk Awards.

The Robert Stigwood Organization adapted Grease into a feature film also entitled Grease in 1978, directed by Randal Kleiser and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who had also choreographed the show on Broadway.

THE AUTHORS

Warren Casey was born in Yonkers, New York, and attended Syracuse University. During the late '50s, he learned all about "greasers" while working as an art teacher in upstate New York. He moved to Chicago in 1962, where he hoped to pursue an acting career. He appeared in dozens of productions, including creating the role of Bernie Litko in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He supported himself with jobs in retail, including working as an assistant manager of a chain of apparel stores, and as a record salesman. In the meantime, he taught himself how to play the guitar and began writing songs. Mr. Casey acted with the Chicago Stage Guild (where he met Jim Jacobs), the Old Town Players, and the Kingston Mines Theatre. The latter company staged the original production of GREASE which he wrote with Jim Jacobs. After the incredible success of both the musical and the movie, the two collaborated on Island of Lost Coeds, a musical satire of the B-movies of the 1950s. Mr. Casey died in 1988.

Jim Jacobs who created Grease (in 1970) with Warren Casey, was born and raised on the mean streets of Chicago's far northwest side. During the golden era of rock 'n' roll (1956-1960) he was a guitar-playing "greaser" student at Taft High School. In 1963, Jacobs met Warren Casey when they were both cast in a local theatre production of A Shot in the Dark. Seven years later they wrote what was to become one of the greatest musicals of all time. Grease opened in 1971 in a former trolley barn called the Kingston Mines Theatre in Chicago. A year later, Grease made it to Broadway and "Greasemania" took off, resulting in one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. The 1978 movie became and remains the highest grossing movie musical of all time. Originally an actor, Jacobs has been seen on television, in motion pictures, regional theatre, national tours, and on Broadway. He is the co-author of several other plays and musicals including Island of Lost Coeds, a musical spoof of the low budget sci-fi/horror/jungle movies of the 1950s, which he wrote with Warren Casey. In May 2014, Mr. Jacobs was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Columbia College in Chicago. He currently resides in Southern California and remains active in the theatre, especially with the American Theatre Company of Chicago.

THE CAST

This summer's production will feature Hazel Brady, Chris Carmona, Christian Duarte, Will Geare, Josie Gillingham, Grace Gibbs, Aurora Cassandra Gooch, Justin Kang, Tessa Miller, Penny O'Mahoney, Ryan Ostendorf, Elvis Pagano, Chloe Grace Roberts, Hannah Robinson, Daniel Sabraw, Vivian Shay, Kody Siemensma, Irving Soto, Leslie Ann Story, Zachary Allen Thompson, Ciara Tolliver, Aren Vaughn, Alizah Anais Amaryllis Walton and Ben Zevallos.

HAZEL BRADY (Frenchy) is excited to be making her first appearance with The Theatre Group at SBCC! A few of her previous roles include Inga, Young Frankenstein, Eden Brent, Bullets over Broadway and Margaret Mead, HAIR at Santa Barbara High School.

CHRIS CARMONA (Sonny Latierri) will be a junior at San Marcos High School this upcoming year. Some of the most recent shows Chris has played in include: San Marcos' Into the Woods (Wolf), San Marcos' And Then There Were None (General Mackenzie), the 41st, 42nd and 43rd Nutcracker at the Arlington (The Nutcraker), and San Marcos' Damn Yankees (Linville).

AURORA CASSANDRA GOOCH (Betty Rizzo) is a freshman theatre major at SBCC making her first appearance with the Theatre Group at SBCC. Her debut last fall as Hazel (Foley Artist) in It's a Wonderful Life was with the Theatre Arts Department here at SBCC. She studied at the California State Summer School of the Arts for the last two summers studying acting.

CHRISTIAN DURATE (Roger) is excited to be in Grease, his first production for The Theatre Group at SBCC! He graduated from Coronado School of the Arts in San Diego. One of his favorite past roles was Batboy in Batboy the Musical.

WILL GEARE (Eugene Florczyk) is making his debut performance with The Theatre Group at SBCC.

GRACE GIBBS (Ensemble) is so excited to make her debut in Grease, for The Theatre Group at SBCC, and is so grateful for all the people she has met along the way. She just graduated from Santa Barbara High School, after one year of attendance, and previously attended Interlochen Arts Academy as a Theater Performance major in Northern Michigan. Grace has been doing theater for six years, and plans to continue her study in performance in the future.

JOSIE GILLINGHAM (Jan) is a junior at Santa Barbara High School. This is her first appearance performing with The Theatre Group at SBCC.

JUSTIN KANG (Ensemble) is grateful to be a part of his first production for The Theatre Group at SBCC. He's a third year sociology major at UCSB. His past roles include Chuck in Footloose, Henry from Next to Normal, and Pete in the Extreme World of Happiness.

TESSA MILLER (Sandy Dumbrowski) has been acting since the age of three and has been in multiple productions around Santa Barbara, including Les Misérables and Annie! This is her first production with The Theatre Group at SBCC.

PENNY O'MAHONEY (Patty Simcox) is excited to be making her debut with The Theatre Group at SBCC in Grease. Recent favorite roles include Olive in Bullets over Broadway and Mrs. VW in Crybaby, both at Santa Barbara High School. She will be attending SBCC in the fall.

RYAN OSTENDORF (Doody) is a music major at SBCC who last was seen in the Theatre Departments production of It's A Wonderful Life as Clarence, and was in last summer's musical High Society. He has also appeared as Jason in Rabbit Hole for The Theatre Group at SBCC.

ELVIS PAGANO (Donatello/Ensemble) just finished up his junior year at Santa Barbara High School with a lead role in Urinetown the musical. He has been increasingly invested in the performing arts every year since elementary, and he hopes to make something much bigger out of his skills.

CHLOE ROBERTS (Cha-Cha Digregorio, Ensemble) was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Chloe is trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, musical theatre, hip-hop, ballroom, and improvisation. Training includes Dawn Dippel and Amy Cain of Revolve Dance Company, Dawn Scannell, former ballet mistress of the Houston Ballet, Dominic Walsh, Artistic Director of Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre, and Domenico Luciano of the Teatro di San Carlo Ballet School in Naples. She has worked with esteemed choreographers including Eddy Ocampo, Sabrina Phillip, Jodinik Jo of the Centre du Danse Marais in Paris, Sharon Wong of Alvin Ailey, and Tucker Knox of So You Think You Can Dance. She spent two years as a company member and choreographer for Boston's Urbanity Dance Company. Some of her earliest stage experiences were with the Broadway international touring company of The Wizard of Oz with Mickey Rooney and Lillian Montevecchi. Recent productions include Chicago and High Society. Chloe's competitive choreography consistently wins titles at both regional and national competitions including Showstoppers, Nuvo, Radix, and JUMP Dance Competitions.

HANNAH ROBINSON (Ensemble) is making her debut performance with The Theatre Group at SBCC.

DANIEL SABRAW (Ensemble) is currently a student at Santa Barbara High School, and he is thrilled to be making his debut with The Theatre Group at SBCC in Grease this summer! He has been performing for years, most recently seen in Urinetown as Bobby Strong (SBHS) and in Cry-Baby (SBHS).

VIVIAN SHAY (Ensemble) is currently a student at Santa Barbara High School and is thrilled to be making her debut with The Theatre Group at SBCC this summer in Grease! Previous credits include Urinetown (SBHS), Cry-Baby (SBHS), The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Seussical, and more. She is excited to spend a week in NYC this August training with the Radio City Rockettes!

KODY SIEMENSMA (Kenickie) will be a senior in the BFA Acting Program at UCSB, and is a recipient of the Stanley Glenn Scholarship in Theater. He is thrilled to be making his debut with the The Theatre Group at SBCC. He most recently finished UCSB's production of Cabaret, in which he played the Emcee. Other favorite credits include: A View from the Bridge (Rodolpho), King Lear (Edgar), Legally Blonde (Emmett), RENT (Benny), and The Death of Kings (Richmond). Upcoming Projects for fall 2018: Naked Shakes Hamlet and Vanity Fair.

IRVING SOTO (Vince Fontaine, Ensemble) is currently attending UCSB as a Sociology Major. He is involved in the UCSB Chamber Choir and the a cappella group Naked Voices as a Musical Director. His most recent performance was with Shrunken Heads Production Company as Dan Goodman in Next to Normal. Grease marks his debut with The Theatre Group at SBCC.

Leslie Ann Story (Miss Lynch) was last seen as Betty Meeks in DogStar Theater's production of The Foreigner at Center Stage. You may remember her as Sonia in SBCC's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and as Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man. She has appeared in over 85 local stage productions, records radio shows, performs readers' theater and lends her talents to television and radio commercials, independent films, PSAs and voiceovers. When not on stage she can be found assistant directing, set decorating, gathering props and costumes for numerous productions and coaches students on acting and stage protocol.

Zachary Allen Thompson is thrilled to be performing his first show with The Theatre Group at SBCC. He graduated from The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Off the stage he works as creative consultant.

CIARA ISABELLA TOLLIVER (Ensemble) has been on the stage since the age of four and is so excited about her debut performance with The Theatre Group at SBCC. She has completed the music program at SBCC and will go on to study opera and jazz this fall at Berklee College of Music in Boston or Belmont University in Nashville.

Aren Vaughn (Johnny Casino, Ensemble) was last seen in this past summer's musical High Society, and this will be his second performance with The Theatre Group at SBCC.

ALIZAH ANAIS AMARYLLIA WALTON (Marty) is a third year SBCC student majoring in Psychology with a minor in Musical Theatre and Black Studies. She hopes to transfer soon in order to pursue her areas of interest! As Marty in Grease, this is Alizah's second appearance with the Theatre Group at SBCC and has also previously appeared with SBCC's Theatre Arts Department.

BEN ZEVALLOS (Danny Zuko) is definitely stoked about playing Danny Zuko in this production of Grease. This is his first production with The Theatre Group at SBCC, but he dabbled with theatre at Santa Barbara High, where he headed the avant-garde Organic Garden club. He's attending Bowdoin College on the border of Canada.

THE PRODUCTION STAFF

Grease will be directed by Katie Laris, Musical Direction by David Potter and Choreography by Christina McCarthy. Scenic and Lighting Design will be by Patricia L. Frank, Costume Design by Pamela Shaw, Sound Design by Dom Camardella and Santa Barbara Sound, and Production Stage Manager will be Wesley Glenn.

KATIE LARIS (Director) is Co-Chair for the Theatre Department, stage director and an instructor of acting in The Theatre Arts Department at SBCC. Recent productions include Communicating doors, It's a Wonderful Life, Rabbit Hole, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Good Kids, Arsenic and Old Lace, Becky's New Car, August: Osage County, Through the Fire, The Solid Gold Cadillac, Love, Santa Barbara, Machinal, The Suicide, Moonchildren, Stirring the Pot, Twelve Angry Men, Over the Tavern, Seascape, The Physicists, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Lola Goes to Roma, Gunfighter: A Gulf War Chronicle, Real Women Have Curves, Ghosts, Fortinbras and Baby with the Bathwater. Previously she directed Fuente Ovejuna, All's Well That Ends Well and The Birds in New York City and The Trial, The Ride Across Lake Constance and Danger Cave in Portland, Oregon. She also produced and wrote TV programs for Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel and PBS. Katie received her B.A. in Theatre/Literature from Reed College and her M.F.A. in Theatre Directing from Columbia University.

PATRICIA L. FRANK (Scenic/Lighting Designer) is the Co-Chair and Director of Design and Technology for the Theatre Department and serves as the resident scenic and lighting designer for The Theatre Group at SBCC. She returns as the Scenic/Lighting Designer for Grease after her success in the scenic and lighting design for Crimes of the Heart, It's a Wonderful Life, One Man, Two Guvnors, High Society, A Flea in Her Ear, and Other Desert Cities. In addition to her work at SBCC, in April Pat designed the Scenery and Lighting for Liv On at the Lobero Theatre featuring Olivia Newton John, Amy Sky and Beth Nielsen Chapman. This fall she will return to the Lobero Theatre to design the lighting for Celebrating Storm Reading featuring Anthony Edwards. Pat has an MFA in Visual Arts and an MA in Dramatic Arts.

Pamela Shaw (Costume Designer) is resident costume designer for The Theatre Group at SBCC, recently designing Communicating Doors, Crimes of the Heart, It's a Wonderful Life, One Man, Two Guvnors, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Rabbit Hole, A Flea in Her Ear, High Society and In The Next Room or the vibrator play. Ms. Shaw is Costume Designer for The Forbidden Planet at Rubicon Theater, The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence and the premiere of San Patricios at PCPA, the off-Broadway show Lonesome Traveler, Assistant Costume Designer for TV sensation Vampire Diaries and The Artist, the 2011 Academy Award winner: Best Picture & Best Costume Design, designer Mark Bridges. Ms. Shaw served two terms as Vice President of the Costume Designers Guild, Local 892 and is 2017-2020 Chair for the Western Region Board of United Scenic Artists, Local 829.

CHRISTINA MCCARTHY (Choreographer) is Vice Chair of Theater and Dance and Director of Dance at UC Santa Barbara where she teaches contemporary dance technique, choreography and digital editing for dance on film. Ms. McCarthy often collaborates with her colleagues in theater as a dance/movement advisor for the plays staged at UCSB. She creates new concert dance works for the students in the dance department and in the last two years, her choreography was part of the international touring repertory for the UCSB Dance Company. She has choreographed over forty musicals and her contemporary choreography often includes video projection, aerial dance and puppets. Recent musical theater projects have included Cabaret at UCSB, and Bullets Over Broadway and Young Frankenstein at Santa Barbara High School. Her puppets were featured and displayed at the headquarters for Santa Barbara's International Puppet Palooza last March.

David Potter (Musical Director) has conducted, musically directed and played in over 244 musical productions. He was musical director for Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson at the Concord Pavilion. He musically directed the West Coast premier of The Baker's Wife with Wanda Richert. In Los Angeles, They're Playing Our Song with Joyce Dewitt and Richard Kline, and Bells Are Ringing with Nancy Dussault. For the Rubicon Theatre Company, David has musically directed Man of La Mancha, Old Wicked Songs, Tintypes, High Button Shoes with Jason Grae and Susan Egan. He accompaneid Tyne Daly in the opening of the New Vic Theatre and musically directed A Little Night Music for the Ensemble Theatre's opening production at the New Vic Theatre. Other shows for the Ensemble Theatre have been Gun Metal Blues and Fantasticks. For The Theatre Group at Santa Barbara City College he has recently musically directed productions of Bat Boy: the Musical, Violet, The Rocky Horror Show, The Spitfire Grill, The World Goes 'Round, Avenue Q., Spelling Bee and Music Man and has been musical director for SBCC Theatre Group since 1972 starting with the Alhecama Players. He was music director of the UCSB's production of Appoggiatura. He composed the music for the musical drama Joan of Arc performed locally in Santa Barbara and also at New York's Westside Theatre. David attended California Institute of the Arts and Music Academy of the West, where he accompanied for Martial Singher. He was the organ soloist with the Santa Barbara Symphony with their performance of the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. David is presently the Director of Music and Liturgy for San Roque Catholic Church. David has won several Drama-Logue Awards, five Independent Theatre Awards and the local Hero Award from the Independent.

DOM CAMARDELLA (Sound Design) and his company Santa Barbara Sound Design has been the pre-eminent audio production and recording facility and audio architect in the Santa Barbara community for over thirty years. Over the course of this time many stages of evolution have taken place in the music and production industry and as a MIT educated technologist Dom has kept his skill set and his company ever evolving and up to date. Together with his son, Adam Camardella, SBSD has been integrally involved in CD releases for numerous major world-class artists across many genre's, production audio and design delivered for numerous feature films and television shows, and live sound mixing and recording for major festivals and stages around the globe. Adam, who specializes in live sound has worked on stages in over twenty countries and Dom's mixing, audio architecture, and sound expertise has earned him a Grammy and two additional Grammy nominations. Dom, Adam, and SBSD combine the best of classic techniques and scientific knowledge with a thorough understanding of the new, modern digital world of computer based sound and audio systems.

WESLEY GLENN (Production Stage Manager) finished his AA in Theatre Arts Design/Lighting at SBCC this past spring and worked with various production companies while attending. He has been involved in the production of shows in many of Santa Barbara's theaters including the Arlington, Granada, New Vic, Lobero, Center Stage, Garvin, Jurkowitz, and San Marcos High theater. His work with the The Theatre Group at SBCC includes stage managing for One Man, Two Guvnors, Rabbit Hole, and Crimes of the Heart, prop master for Other Desert Cities, costume crew and light board operator for It's a Wonderful Life. He also helped with set construction on all of these shows.

Performances will be July 11-28, 2018, Thursday through Saturday @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 2pm. Previews on July 11 & 12 @ 7:30pm. The Sunday, July 15, 2pm performance will be live-captioned for the hearing-impaired. All performances have the assisted listening system available and the Garvin Theatre is wheelchair accessible.

Ticket prices are: Previews $18 general/$15 seniors/$10 students,

Thursday evening and Sunday matinees $24 general/$19 seniors/$14 students,

Friday and Saturday evenings $26 general/$21 seniors/$17 students.

The Garvin Theatre is located on the West Campus of Santa Barbara City College in the 900 block of Cliff Dr. Parking is free and near the Theatre. For information or reservations call the Garvin Theatre Box Office at 805-965-5935 or purchase tickets online at www.theatregroupsbcc.com.

Photo credit: Ben Crop