Sonora Elementary Students Pitch the Arts to City Council

Members of the Costa Mesa City Council received special gifts from the children of Sonora Elementary on Tuesday, April 19. The youngsters - Russel Zuniga , Samantha Nguyen , Lesly Marin, Tristin Taber, Sarah Ashley and Kaelee Mills - joined Sonora Principal Christine Anderson, teachers Peggy Roberts and Terri Munroe and the Center's Vice President, Education Talena Mara to underscore the importance of the arts in their school work. Anderson and Mara explained the seven-year partnership between Sonora and Segerstrom Center's ArtsConnect education program. The teaching artists of ArtsConnect work with students and teachers during special residencies. These have included composing, puppetry and, most recently, ceramics. The artists show how these arts disciplines and forms relate to and enhance other core curriculum, such as history, social studies, reading, creative writing and science. The children presented each councilmember with one of their creations made in the ceramics class.

Free Inside Dance Lecture-Demonstration

Our intern Jake McIntyre writes about the upcoming Inside Dance event, which is free and open to the public. More details are in his blog post below.

If you enjoy ballet, you undoubtedly get the basics: the athleticism, music and costumes. But have you ever wondered what the choreographer’s message or point is or how the dancers can even do that? Don’t be embarrassed because many of us feel that way somtimes. Segerstrom Center has answers for you with a special free Inside Dance event led by dance historian and interim Associate Dean of the College of the Arts at California State University, Long Beach, Cyrus Parker-Jeanette. Inside Dance will be held Saturday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m. in Samueli Theater. This will be an animated, interactive and informal discussion, full of demonstrations by local dancers, Lisa Ushino, Bernadette Torres and Ya Xi Fu.

Cyrus will lead the audience through the changing trends in ballet, from classical to contemporary, with the dancers performing examples of each style. The excerpts will be choreographed by Lorin Johnson, a professor of dance at CSULB. Lorin is a former dancer with San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, and a wonderful teacher. I’ve had the pleasure of taking one of his classes, and I am excited to see the works he has created.

Inside Dance is perfect for anyone who likes ballet and/or dance and wants to learn more. While this event is free, you will need to reserve a ticket for you and your friends. To reserve a ticket for Inside Dance, call (714) 556-2787.

Photos

Top image: (L to R) Bernadette Torres, Lorin Johnson, Lisa Ushino and Ya Xi Fu
Lower image: Lisa Ushino(front) and Ya Xi Fu (behind)

Wicked Star Sings Anthem at Ducks Game

Lesley McKinnell from the cast of Wicked wowed a crowd of nearly 18,000 people at the Honda Center this past Monday. She sang the National Anthem before an Anaheim Ducks game against the Colorado Avalanche (the Ducks won!). Lesley is from Southern California and a graduate of Cal State Fullerton. She is a member of the ensemble and the understudy for Glinda the Good Witch. For a sampling of what the fans enjoyed, click below. You can see Lesley in Wicked, which is here through Sunday.

Broadway Saturdays Hit High Note

Last month, more than 20 local musical theater students participated in Segerstrom Center’s brand new Broadway Saturdays program. Over three Saturdays, students learned musical theater technique, scene work, monologue interpretation, improvisation, lyric analysis and audition advice from instructors Tony® Award nominee and Broadway star, Erin Dilly, and Broadway veteran Stephen Buntrock (pictured above), who most recently starred in A Little Night Music opposite Bernadette Peters.

The students weren’t the only ones who learned invaluable lessons. Erin (pictured above) said “Broadway Saturdays was such a revelation for me as a teacher. To watch these kids arrive from all different high schools, different places in their learning, strangers and then to watch them leave as friends, inspired, cheering for each other...wow! It reminded me of why I got into theater when I was young – the community! In three weeks I watched each student make remarkable progress. And at the end, a group of strangers had become a joyful little band of players – a real family. It warmed my heart.”

If you or anyone you know is interested in pursuing musical theater, Erin and Stephen will be back at the Center this summer for the Six Days of Broadway camp June 27 – July 2 (for ages 11-13) and July 5 – July 10 (for ages 14-18). For more information and to reserve a spot, call (714) 556-2122 x4333, option 4 or email stars@SCFTA.org. Last summer’s camp sold out.

A New Side to Nathan Gunn

Grammy winner Nathan Gunn is one of opera's most sought after baritones. He is fast becoming the go-to-guy for a variety of other projects as well having earned raves for Show Boat at Carnegie Hall and Camelot at Lincoln Center. You'll begin to see why with this clip from Camelot:



He'll join Kelli O'Hara and the New York Philharmonic on March 21 for a celebration of Broadway before coming the Samueli Theater. Here he sings in the recording studio with Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth:

Segerstrom Center to Celebrate 25th

It was an exciting evening on March 7 when Segerstrom Center President Terry Dwyer hosted an evening for press, guests and fans to announce the Center's 2011-12 Season - the 25th Anniversary Season. Shows include all the usual great dance, Broadway, jazz, cabaret, classical music and family shows - plus free events and the now highly anticipated Off Center offerings. There will be a special celebration weekend at the end of September for the actual anniversary with free performances in the concert hall and on the arts plaza. And 10,000 tickets will be sold throughout the season for just $10 each. Best part of the evening may have been astonishing performances by Antoine Carabinier from the show Traces (photo above), which will be part of next season, and the rocking ensemble from Tony® Award-winning show Million Dollar Quartet, which flew in specially to be part of the event.

Photos below: Center President Terry Dwyer and Million Dollar Quartet. All photos by Doug Gifford.

OC Rocks Out!

Jake McIntyre, our new guest blogger, is back with a review of the hit musical Rock of Ages. Jake writes:

Rock of Ages made its Orange County debut on Tuesday night at Segerstrom Center to a packed house. I had expected a musical, but what I got was more akin to a rock concert. The audience was quickly transported from Costa Mesa to a dirty, louder, sexier and more hair spray-filled era of rock music in L.A.

The show follows Drew, played by former American Idol contestant Constantine Maroulis and small-town girl Sherrie, played by Rebecca Faulkenberry, as they fall in love at L.A.’s most legendary rock club to the biggest hits of the ’80s. Rock of Ages pays homage to the great rockers Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Poison, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and more. ROA made it clear these rock ballads have not lost their touch: audience members sang along to almost every song, stood with their arms raised swaying to the music, and raised flashlights shaped like lighters (provided by ROA) above their heads.

The show pokes fun at cultural norms of the ‘80s, rock musicians and Broadway musicals in general. Lonny, the show’s narrator, keeps the audience laughing with the perfect amount of cheese and raunchiness as he sways his hips.

As a dancer, I have to comment on the fantastic choreography by Kelly Devine. Devine kept to movement exclusive to the ‘80s, mixing steps you would have seen in rock music videos and concerts. You could tell it was not just the audience enjoying the show, but that the performers were having a blast. I was in my car after the show, rocking out during the whole ride home.

This show is a must see for ‘80s rock fans, and anyone who owned a pair of acid-washed jeans, or used to have hair bigger than a door frame. Rock of Ages plays through March 6. The next Broadway Series show is 9 to 5: The Musical May 10 – 15.

Photo by Joan Marcus