Jana Marcus, Pisces Moon Photographer, Publishes Book

Photographer Jana Marcus and her new book, Transfigurations, are the subjects of the September 22, 2011 Good Times cover story. The book is based on Jana's photography exhibit of the same name, which has been shown all over the country since 2005.

"The 55-piece exhibit, of large black and white images with text," says Ms. Marcus, "explores what it means to be a man and a woman, by people who have transitioned to the opposite sex, which blurs the lines of gender separation, stereotyping, and ultimately discovering cultural influences."

With the help of funding from KickStarter.com and generous supporters, Jana transformed her exhibit into a book, which she will be signing during speaking engagements on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Capitola Book Café, 1475 41st Ave., Capitola, (831) 462-4415, and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13 at Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, (831) 423-0900.

Ms. Marcus photographed 13 of Pisces Moon's productions: Durang, Durang, The Food Chain, Durang, Durang: The Second Coming, The Altruists, Five Flights, Never the Sinner, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Swimming in the Shallows, Dead Man Walking, and each of the three iterations of The Laramie Project.

Transfigurations can be ordered through 7 Angels Press or purchased locally at Capitola Book Cafe or Bookshop Santa Cruz. Learn more about Jana Marcus and her work at JanaMarcus.com.

Kristen Vaughan Wins Best Actress IT Award

Kristen Vaughan, pictured with fellow lead actor winner Nick Paglino (left) and presenter actor John Glover (right), won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation's IT Awards, which honor excellence in Off-Off-Broadway Theatre. Mr. Glover presented Ms. Vaughan with her award at a ceremony held on September 19, 2011 at Cooper Union's Great Hall.

Kristen was honored for her portrayal of Jane in Retro Production's Benefactors, written by Michael Frayn.

"They say Off-Off-Broadway is a labor of love, and my God, feel the love in this room," said Ms. Vaughan to the crowd, who jumped to their feet in applause when her name was announced.

Kristen acted in Pisces Moon's 2003 version of The Laramie Project before she followed her career to the New York stage. In prior productions with Pisces Moon, Ms. Vaughan played Amanda in The Food Chain in 2000 and Sydney in The Altruists in 2002. She assayed several characters in 2002's The Laramie Project, and played Olivia in Adam Bock's Five Flights in 2003.

For more information, read this review of Benefactors and this article about the awards ceremony.

Briana Michaud Shines in Cabrillo Stage's "Cabaret"

Briana Michaud, who played multiple Roles in Pisces Moon's The Exonerated, is starring as Sally Bowles in Cabrillo Stage's musical, Cabaret.

Jenna Brogan of the Good Times Weekly wrote: "Twenty-five-year-old Aptos High School graduate Briana Michaud steals the show here as Kit Kat Klub femme fatale Sally Bowles. During the play’s first half, when Michaud’s Sally breaks into song with the sinful “Don’t Tell Mama”—and later “Mein Herr”—the actress does more than charm the audience. She keeps us invested in the story and its characters all the way to the end." Click here for the rest of the article.

Santa Cruz Sentinel theatre critic Katie Hughes McKee praised her performance in its July 29 review, which can be found here, calling Briana "the complete package: actor, singer, dancer, gorgeous."

Cabaret plays July 23 - August 15 at Cabrillo College's dazzling new Crocker Theater. For more information and tickets, please go here.

Kristen Vaughan Lauded as Zelda Fitzgerald in Tennessee Williams play

Kristen Vaughan's portrayal of Zelda Fitzgerald in "Clothes for a Summer Hotel" has once again earned her high praise in the New York theatre community. She "clearly conveys Zelda's blighted passions, both literary and amorous" (Back Stage). Kristen delivers a "stellar performance as Zelda, one that is both heartbreakingly innocent and clear-eyed . . . she sometimes looks remarkably like the real Zelda" (New York Press).

Her pairing with Montgomery Sutton as her lover Edouard (pictured above) is particularly noted in several reviews.

From TheHappiestMedium.com:
"The constant rock of believability as surreal character and broken woman was Vaughan. She brought a foundation of truth within the ethereal planes that was the perfect combination to both believe and get lost in. The chemistry between Vaughan and Sutton really worked, and Sutton brings a warmth and tenderness to his character that gives it other dimensions. Through their scenes we learn more about how deeply this affair touched Zelda, how Sutton’s stance of keeping it an affair by the book effected her mental health, and they were deeply moving."

From BroadwayWorld.com:
"Kristen Vaughan as Zelda Fitzgerald comes the closest to embodying the inherent style of Tennessee Williams' writing. In the spirit of Blanche or Amanda, she finds humor and charm in Zelda and then beautifully couples it with a profound sadness. In "The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the character of Daisy, based on Zelda, as having a 'voice full of money.' This quality is palpable in Ms. Vaughan's performance. She is particularly good when she is coupled with Montgomery Sutton as her lover Edouard."

For more information about "Clothes for a Summer Hotel", please go to the White Horse Theater Company website.

Kristen Vaughan plays Zelda Fitzgerald in New York Play

Kristen Vaughan, whose memorable plays with Pisces Moon included The Altruists, The Laramie Project, The Food Chain and Five Flights, will perform the leading role of Zelda Fitzgerald in Tennessee Williams' Clothes for a Summer Hotel.

Featured in the New York Times, and produced by White Horse Theater Company, the play will perform beginning Feb. 5 at the Hudson Guild Theater and run through Feb. 21. The Feb. 14 show will be followed by a discussion with Nancy Milford, author of the biography “Zelda.”

Tickets are available through SmartTix.

"Dead Man Walking" Actors in "The Story of Rachel Corrie"

Marc Nicholson, who played the leading role of Matt Poncelet in Pisces Moon's Dead Man Walking, has been cast as an international solidarity worker in a dramatic reading of The Story of Rachel Corrie, performing at Actors' Theatre on May 31 at 2 pm and 8 pm. April Bennett (pictured below), also from Dead Man Walking, has the title role in this contemplative drama of a young woman whose courage and sense of justice led to her death in the Gaza Strip. Based on her correspondence with family and fellow solidarity workers, The Story of Rachel Corrie is produced by the Santa Cruz Branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom as the third in their series: “In Celebration of Courageous Women”. Brian Heath directs, Suzanne Schrag plays Rachel's mother and Nabil Ghachem is an Israeli soldier. For tickets and more information, please visit the WILPF website calendar and scroll down to May 31, or call Roz at 459-8078.

Rave Reviews for Kristen Vaughan in New York

Critics are raving about Kristen Vaughan's portrayal of "Sunny" in Retro Productions' Mill Fire, playing through May 24 at the Spoon Theater, 38 West 38th Street in New York City. Backstage wrote: "Vaughan's Sunny is particularly strong (and most convincingly Southern) as she alternates between tipsy anger and pleading wifeliness". NewYorkTheatre.com praised her "standout performance" among a "solid cast". Pictured at right in a scene from the play, Kristen graced Pisces Moon stages in The Food Chain, The Altruists, The Laramie Project (2002 & 2003) and Five Flights.

"Dead Man Walking" Cast Announced

Casting is complete for the play Dead Man Walking, produced by Pisces Moon Productions Inc and Cabrillo College Theatre Arts, in association with Delta High School and the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project. The complete cast list can be found here.

Written by Tim Robbins and based on Sister Helen Prejean's book of the same name, Dead Man Walking will perform at the Cabrillo College Theater, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive in Aptos. It opens February 8, 2008 and runs until February 24: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. Please click here for more information.

Tickets on Sale for "The Exonerated"

Pisces Moon Productions presents The Exonerated, the true stories of six wrongfully convicted survivors of death row in their own words. This riveting play opens Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m. at the Broadway Playhouse at the Santa Cruz Art League, 526 Broadway in Santa Cruz. Tickets are available online or through SmartTix by calling toll-free at 1-877-238-5596.

Lisa Hadley Shines in “It Had To Be You”

Lisa Hadley, who played Reggie Fluty and a host of other characters in Pisces Moon’s 2003 reprise of The Laramie Project, is starring in It Had To Be You at Actors’ Theatre through April 15. Lisa is pictured above right with co-star Richard Saldavia. Santa Cruz Sentinel theatre reviewer Ann Bennett called Lisa “a passionately engaging actress” and the show “one of the funniest shows in recent memory”. Read the full review, on page 9 of the April 5, 2007 issue of the Guide.

Pisces Moon in "Good Times" Cover Story

The Good Times Weekly featured Pisces Moon Productions in the cover story of its March 15-21 issue.

The cover, pictured at right, was designed by Good Times Art Director Joshua Becker, and features Steve DiBartolomeo's photographs of the cast of The Exonerated, Pisces Moon's upcoming play, which opens April 27.

Good Times Feature Editor, Christa Martin, wrote the article as a diary of how she "immersed" herself "in all things Pisces Moon for two weeks." Read the full article.

Rydell Visual Arts Fund of the Community Foundation Supports Pisces Moon's "The Exonerated"

The Rydell Visual Arts Fund of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County has awarded Pisces Moon Productions with a grant to support the visual arts design and construction components of The Exonerated, running April 27 through May 26 at the Broadway Playhouse in the Santa Cruz Art League. “The arts are an integral part of our community,” said Foundation Executive Director Lance Linares, “and no one cared more about the arts than Roy and Frances Rydell.”

In total, eight grants were awarded to local arts organizations, including Cabrillo Stage and Tandy Beal's Friends of Olympia Station, members of the Santa Cruz theatre community.

The Rydell Visual Arts Fund and the Community Foundation help our theatre community to thrive. We appreciate their support, and ask you to help them to help the arts in Santa Cruz. Please visit their web site for more information about how to donate .

Cast Announced for "The Exonerated"

The Exonerated, produced by Pisces Moon and opening April 27, has been cast as follows:

Becky Armor - Sue, Sandra, Lawyer
Gregory T. Banks - Understudy for Delbert
Nathan Caracter - Robert
Chad Davies - Male Ensemble 1
Jeff Dinnell - Male Ensemble 2
Roger McCune - Gary
Briana N. Michaud - Georgia, Judge, Darla, State Prosecutor
JJ Porter - Delbert
Michelle Shulman - Sunny
Yahel Townsend - David
Aaron Walker - Kerry

Pisces Moon Young Company's "And Then They Came for Me" in the News

Wallace Baine previewed And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank in "Anne Frank's Other Story" a cover story in the February 23 issue of The Guide, the Santa Cruz Sentinel's art and entertainment section. Read the full article.

The article refers to the photo, "Behind Her Back" by Linda J. Hirsch. The photo, which she took while on a trip to the Netherlands in 1984, is pictured on the left. The statue of Anne Frank, in a small square in Utrecht, was defaced by Neo-Nazis, who spray-painted a red swastika on the base.

And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank continues to play at the Broadway Playhouse until March 10. Performance dates, show times and tickets.

(c) Linda J. Hirsch all rights reserved 2007

"Once Upon A Mattress" Opens at San Lorenzo Valley High School

Once Upon a Mattress, directed by Daria Troxell, performs three weekends, February 23 through March 10, at SLVHS Performing Arts Center. For more information, call (831) 335-4425, ext. 25.

KUSP Interviews "And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank"

Daria Troxell, host of KUSP's Life Under the Lights interviewed Pisces Moon Young Company’s director Luanne Nunes de Char and actor Jade Gregg of And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank on Friday's Talk of the Bay. Listen.

The Real Thing

Red & Black Stage presents The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, directed by and starring Daniel Hughes, from February 23 through March 24 at Santa Cruz County Actors’ Theatre.

Local Actor in New York Show

Kristen Vaughan, who has acted in many Santa Cruz plays, including Pisces Moon Productions’ The Altruists, Five Flights and The Laramie Project, is now starring in Still Life at the 78th Street Theatre Lab in Manhattan. Performances are from February 16 through March 3, 2007. Kristen’s work in June 2006 with this company earned her rave reviews from the New York Times and Backstage. Tickets and more information.

Auditions Notice: The Exonerated

Pisces Moon Productions announces auditions for their upcoming production of The Exonerated. Culled from interviews, letters, transcripts, case files and the public record, The Exonerated tells the true stories of six wrongfully convicted survivors of death row in their own words. Auditions will be held February 10th, 11th and 12th, 2007 in Santa Cruz. Read the audition details.

Maria Crush Wins Gail Rich Award

Maria Crush, who has done costumes for Pisces Moon Production’s Never the Sinner, Pisces Moon Young Company’s To Kill A Mockingbird and is currently working on And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, was recently honored with a Gail Rich Award for her contributions to local theatre. The awards, which the Santa Cruz Sentinel has given each year since 1996 as a way of recognizing the people of our cultural community, are named after Gail Rich, a strong proponent of the arts who died suddenly that fall. Read more about Maria and the Gail Rich Awards. Photo by Shmuel Thaler.

Fun Institute's Upcoming Events

NEW SPOTLIFE SESSION FORMING: For those of you who've always wanted to work solo,or want to try it again, our Winter Series has just been booked for Saturday afternoons 1:30 - 4:00 running January 13 through March 3. That's right, you could be performing your original 10-minute solo piece by March 3rd, 2007. What a way to start off the year! Go to funinstitue.com for more details.
SPOTLIFE PERFORMANCE: Dec. 2, at 2pm @ Broadway Playhouse. Come see 7 fabulous performers debuting their original Solo pieces. The Playhouse is located at 526 Broadway. $5 at the doorgets you in! Mark your calendars! You're not going to want to miss this.
LOOSE CANNON: Dec. 9th also @ the Broadway Playhouse. Join the wild wacky group as they attempt to make sense of this holiday season. The hilarious show is entitled Pack Light for Nirvana: A Parenthetical Pause on the Journey of Life. Tickets are $10, call 427-4008

Auditions for Anne Frank

Pisces Moon Young Company, a company for actors aged 14 - 22 is pleased to announce AUDITIONS for and then they came for me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, by James Still, directed by Luanne Nunes deChar. Run dates are February 23 - March 10, 2007

Auditions are by appointment only. To schedule an audition you must contact Pisces Moon Young Company prior to November 11th, 2006. Click here for full information on how to apply

To be notified by email of any Pisces Moon auditions or events, please join the email list

"Da Kink In My Hair"

Jared Grayson, who recently starred as Judas Iscariot in Pisces Moon Productions' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, has co-directed a play with Sherrice Kelly for Rainbow Theatre: Da Kink In My Hair by Trey Anthony. It's playing for a limited run with Peeling the Banana as part of a festival of student-directed works at Stevenson College in November.

To say that Da Kink In My Hair is a multi-faceted play would be an understatement. It has so many different themes and stories. Novelette, a hairdresser, has an uncanny ability to draw out her customers' inner stories, however uncomfortable they may be to speak about in public. Though her customers are very outspoken and believe that they know each other quite well, what Novelette is able to unlock by just touching their hair shocks, surprises, and enlightens even the closest people around them. The women of Da Kink In My Hair will make you laugh, cry and stay with you long after you've left the theater.

Da Kink In My Hair and Peeling The Banana
November 3 & 5 at the Stevenson College Center, UCSC, at 8pm
November 11 at Santa Cruz High School at 8pm

The cost is $6 with Student I.D. and General Admission is $8
For questions or more information please contact:
rainbowtheatre@gmail.com

Red and Black Stage: Upcoming show

Red and Black Stage presents:
The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard
February 23rd - March 24th, at the Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre.

About the Play: The Real Thing is a uniquely funny comedy about not-so-funny things from the Oscar-winning writer of Shakespeare in Love. The story revolves around a successful playwright, his lover, his ex-wife, an old friend, and an overzealous political activist. The play explores the many facets of love and marriage, radical politics, and the integrity of art while asking the age old question,"Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?"
About the cast: "It's official as of the 14th, the cast includes April Bennett, John Joseph Burke, Trevor Hofvendahl, Daniel D. Hughes, Steven Macramalla, Aimée Shunney, and Judith Wellner"

Reviews of "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot"

"A spectacular extravaganza of theatre that will give you something to talk about over dinner for quite a while. . . It's a parable of love and forgiveness, all dolled up in extraordinarily clever sequences that range from hilariously funny to outragesously ridiculous to thoughtfully poignant . . . great script by a contemporary playwright . . . outstanding visual experiences . . . directed with splendid timing and control . . . it soars and dips like a rollercoaster" Read more . . . - Ann Bennett, The Santa Cruz Sentinel

"Conversations about Judas Iscariot and forgiveness ignite the Pisces Moon stage." Read more . . . - Christa Martin (Review), The Good Times Weekly

"moments by Beckett, dialogue by Mamet and street talk by Spike Lee" Read more . . . - Bruce Bratton, BrattonOnline

More reviews

A Pisces Moon Production. Directed by Susan Myer Silton. Playing at the Broadway Playhouse in Santa Cruz through Saturday, October 28th, 2006. Tickets available online or by calling toll free 877-238-5596.

KUSP 88.9 FM on Theatre

Friday, September 29
10 a.m. - Talk of the Bay - This week on Life Under the Lights, host Daria Troxell speaks with Susan Myer Silton of Pisces Moon Productions about their production of "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" which plays from September 29th through October 28th, 2006. Listen to the interview live or after the show airs get a podcast.

Radio Broadcasts about Theatre

Thursday 4:00-5:00 p.m. September 28th
on KZSC FM 88.1
Also streamed live over the web at www.kzsc.org.
“University Grapevine” Bruce Bratton will be interviewing Susan Myer Silton, director of Pisces Moon's production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot which plays from September 29th through October 28th, 2006.

Season Auditions at Actors' Theatre

Actors' Theatre in Santa Cruz is holding general auditions for its 2007 season. They will be casting for the several productions including

• 12th Annual Eight Tens @ Eight
  
• The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard
• Best of the Rest Play Festival
• How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

The auditions are being held October 2nd and 3rd from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, with call backs on October 4th also from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Auditions are at Actors' Theatre which is located at 1001 Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz.

They are seeking actors of all types and ages. They request that you come prepared with a one minute monologue. Scripts for the shows are available at the Santa Cruz Main Library. For more information call Actors' Theatre at (831) 425-1003 or visit their web at www. sccat.org

Thanks to the Photographers

Theatre is a visual art, and photography is an essential part of getting people interested in attending a play. We'd like to thank the volunteer photographers who lent their talents to enhance our theatre craft. Their willingness to share their artwork and time is greatly appreciated.

Claudia McGill has provided the photograph used in the poster for Pisces Moon's current production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Steve DiBartolomeo took the cast photos including the one on display here, which shows left to right: Michelle Shulman as Loretta, Luciana Fuller as Gloria and Roger McCune as Butch Honeywell. See more of Steve's photos.

New Pisces Moon Web Site

The new Pisces Moon web site is now published. This version includes many of the features you have suggested to us. We appreciate your continued feedback. Changes include
• improved navigation
• clearer information for educational programs
• online ticketing
• a new, more modern look
• less use of PDF’s that have to be downloaded
• emails for audition information
• community news
• and much more
Be sure to check it out at www.piscesmoon.org

Community Foundation of Santa Cruz

Local community theatre can be a vibrant and important part of any community, but it takes work and support. We are lucky in Santa Cruz to have several community-oriented foundations. The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz has been an active leader in supporting the needs of our community. As they say, "By helping local people give back to the community, the Foundation makes Santa Cruz County a better place to live for everyone, now and in the future". The foundation has provided a grant in support of the web programs that helps Pisces Moon notify the community about theatre classes and performances in Santa Cruz. Without their support, you might not be reading about theatre right now. We appreciate their support of the Santa Cruz theatre community. Please visit their web site for more information about the foundation and how to donate .

Online Ticketing

It is official. Online ticketing is now available for Pisces Moon Productions. Pisces Moon's recent survey of its email subscribers highlighted the desire of Santa Cruz theatre goers to be able to order their tickets online. Order tickets for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

An earlier post on this blog asked for suggestions on how to do this. Thank you all for your suggestions about online ticketing. I am pleased to announce that after reviewing about 15 different services, we found one that had the right balance of highly responsive people, solid technology and a price that works for our scale and community. Ticketing services are being provided by SmartTix.

Leonard Nimoy's Vincent

Sam Lovett and Cynthia Parks are returning to Santa Cruz after a 10 year absence. And they are bringing with them their hit production of Leonard Nimoy's play Vincent, a theatrical portrait of Vincent van Gogh.

Written by Leonard Nimoy, Vincent, a one-man stage play, is based almost entirely on the letters Vincent van Gogh wrote to his art dealer brother Theo van Gogh. Under the direction of Cynthia Parks, Vincent is presented by Chapeaux Productions in a completely different fashion than it has been in the past, namely without the slide show which has accompanied all previous productions of the play. The production focuses instead on the characters of the Van Gogh brothers and their close relationship, and features Lovett playing both Vincent van Gogh and his art dealer brother Theo van Gogh.

Los Angeles audiences and critics alike have been raving about Chapeaux Productions' take on Vincent, with The Los Angeles Times calling the show "Stylish and haunting," The LA Weekly saying "Lovett undergoes lightning bolt transformations to deliver two exceptional performances."

Cynthia and Sam were very active in the SC theatre community, Cynthia as a director and Sam as an actor. They were an important part of Central Coast Theaterworks, which produced, among other plays Angels in America.

For three weeks only, with performances Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM, September 21st through October 7th, 2006 at Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre, 1001 Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz. Tickets are $18 general admission and $15 for all students (with student ID) and seniors (over 60). For reservations, call (831) 515-4118. Photo credit: Kevin McIntyre.

Reviews of Guys and Dolls

Ann Bennett in The Santa Cruz Sentinel writes "This year, Cabrillo Stage celebrates its 25th anniversary season — and does it with an exuberant, spectacular production of one of Broadway's splashiest classics, "Guys and Dolls." Full review.

Nathalie Plotkin in The Herald of Monterey County writes "an absolutely sumptuous production". Full review.

Joyce Mann writing for the Metro says "one of the most energetic and colorful shows to hit the Santa Cruz area in a long time" Full review.

Christa Martin describes in The Good Times "an eye-popping, visual and theatrical treat." Full review.

Bruce Bratton in BrattonOnline writes "Hands down this is the finest, best fun musical Cabrillo has ever presented.".

And various people writing in their MySpace blogs. Zack.

Guys and Dolls at Cabrillo Stage. Plays through August 13, 2006. Ticket info.

Bratton Online Talks Theatre

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot got a shout-out in the July 19 issue of Brattononline.com. Bruce Bratton’s email column goes to thousands of readers weekly, and covers cultural and political topics in the Santa Cruz community. Bruce also hosts a radio show on KZSC 88.1 fm, University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues. It airs every Thursday 4-5 p.m.. He also appears on The Bushwhacker Show on KZSC, where he critiques films every Friday at 8 a.m. Click here to subscribe to Bruce’s column (it’s free!).

Cast Announced for "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot"

Pisces Moon Productions has finalized its cast for their upcoming production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot which premieres September 29, 2006.

Actor's Name: Role(s)
Davis Banta: Understudy for Judge Littlefield & St. Matthew
Norma B. Calderón: Cunningham
Chad Davies: Judge Littlefield/St. Matthew
Daniel David Doane: Pontius Pilate/Simon the Zealot/Uncle Pino
Patrick Drake: St. Peter/St. Thomas/Soldier 1
Luciana Fuller: Mary Magdalene/Gloria/Soldier 3
Jared Grayson: Judas
Trevor Hofvendahl: Jesus
Roger McCune: Butch Honeywell/Sigmund Freud/Soldier 2
Karen Schamberg: Caiaphas/Sr. Glenna/Understudy Soldier 3
Michelle Shulman: Mother Teresa, Loretta & Understudy for Mary Magdalene
Yahel Townsend: El-Fayoumy
Aaron Walker: Satan
LaJoi Whitten: St. Monica/Henrietta Iscariot/Understudy Gloria

Upcoming Show: A Chorus Line by All About Theatre

Opening July 28, 2006. Youth production of A Chorus Line produced by All About Theatre. Click here for show information including schedule and ticket information. Plays through August 6, 2006 at the Louden Nelson Community Center, downtown Santa Cruz (corner of Cedar & Laurel).

Upcoming Shows: Shakespeare Santa Cruz

Summer 2006 brings us 3 shows; Shakespeare's As You Like It July 19-Sept. 3 and King Lear Aug. 1-Sept. 3; and George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion July 26-Sept. 3. Details on tickets and schedule and more can be found at the Shakespeare Santa Cruz Website.

Upcoming Show: "Guys and Dolls" by Cabrillo Stage

Guys and Dolls, the Tony-winning musical is being presented by Cabrillo Stage. Opens July 7, 2006, Plays through August 13, 2006. See all showtimes. Plays at the Cabrillo College Theater, 6500 Soquel Dr, Aptos (Santa Cruz). Tickets by phone 831.479.6154. Tickets can also be ordered online.

Last Chance for Summer Classes (ages 4-19)

Just a few spaces left in Pisces Moon Educational's summer class series for youths. Programs available for ages 4 to 19. Classes with remaining limited availability. (Updated as of June 22, 2006)

ArtStart Moon Magic : July 3 - 8
Dead Men Tell No Tales : July 3 - 8
Mad Adventures of Mr. Toad (1pm-5pm) : July 10 - 14
Theatrical Time Machine : August 7 - 11 and Aug 14 - 18
Peter Pan Puppetry : August 7 - 11 and Aug 14 - 18

Register Now : Click here for our registration form
or call 831-429-2328
or email terri@piscesmoon.org

Are You a Playwright of Any Age?

If you are an aspiring playwright there are many contests around the country where you can submit your work. One of the established groups doing this is Actors' Theatre right here in Santa Cruz. They have been producing "Eight Tens @ Eight" their annual play festival for 12 years now showingcasing new talent. Your play could be one of those. The deadline though is July first so you'll need to act quickly. If you are writing a full length play there is another contest with a deadline of October 1st, 2006. And now they have just launched a contest for "young playwrights" for elementary, middle and high school youngsters. All the information about the three programs is available on Actors' Theatres web site.

Tell us what will bring you back here

We'd like your input to make this a valuable blog for the theatre community. We hope you'll take our 9 question survey to give us some feedback about what you might want to see here in the future to make this blog an interesting place for you to return to. Click here to take survey

Get new posts via email

A new enhancements today to the blog. We added the ability to subscribe and get new stories delivered directly into your email account. This is great for people who don't regularly use a news reader. We all check email, so getting new stories sent directly to us by email certainly is an easy option. To sign up enter your email address on the link to the right of the blog. You will be then asked to type in a special code that shows up on the screen. This is a safety precaution against spammers. And then you'll get an email. You will need to click on the link in this email to activate the email subscription. The email will spell it all out too. This is of course yet another step designed to prevent spammers from being able to add your email address without your consent. Two extra steps but they are quick and it is making the world a safer place for email. For those technically interested, we are using Feedster to provide this service.

Newsfeeds Now Easier to Subscribe to

We've made it easier to sign up to get automatic updates of new stories (posts) that appear here. Just click on the Orange Icon on the right of the blog and it will give you a choice of places you can have the information automatically sent to. This includes My.Yahoo as well as Google and all the major news and blog reading software packages. One more click and you are done. The original Atom feed that was set up produced an xml page which, frankly, took even our web savvy friends a bit extra time to set up. Now you can let the software do all the work for you and don't even need to see the phrase "xml" again. Just know you are part of the blogging world. Do you feel cool yet?

Added RSS (Atom) newsfeed service

On the right side of our blog you can now find the news feed link. This link allows you to see updates of new posts to the blog inside of your other blog reading applications. The great news is that most people already have one of these tools such as My.Yahoo, Safari, FireFox, and others. This means that everytime there is a new post on the Pisces Moon blog you'll see the headline in a program you use everyday and then you can click to read more. Of course you can also just bookmark this blog web site and check back in every so often, but try out the RSS feed and you'll feel totally up to date in this new internet world. Let the news come to you!

Auditions Completed for "Last Days"

Auditions for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot are now complete. This is a Pisces Moon Production to be performed at the Broadway Playhouse in Santa Cruz, California. Thank you all for your interest and coming out to the auditions. Final cast notice will be posted on our Blog soon.

July Calendar of Classes for Pisces Moon Educational

Click here for more details.

Survey Results from Pisces Moon

Thank you to all who responded to Pisces Moon's May “Four Questions” survey! You provided valuable information both to us and to the organization that may help us to fund our web marketing. An overwhelming number of you (86%) wanted to be able to register for classes and buy tickets for productions online. Sixty-seven percent of respondents felt that the website and email notices were very or extremely valuable. Your comments helped to guide us in directions where we can improve, and your support of our current program and hope for its expansion was gratifying. Some of your specific suggestions included providing the ability to register for classes and buy tickets for productions online, improve web navigation, particularly for the educational section, expand our website so that instead of pdfs for class information, we’ll have quicker loading HTML pages. For those who want more audition notices, please be assured that we send audition notices for each production to those that have specified "auditions" in their email preferences.

Kristen Vaughan Gets Rave Reviews in NY

The New York Times called Kristen Vaughan’s performance in Mrs. California, recently at the 78th Street Theater Lab in New York, “perfectly played” - Full Review.

while Backstage called her “funny and positively magnetic” - Full Review


Kristen graced Pisces Moon’s stage in Santa Cruz productions of The Food Chain, The Altruists, The Laramie Project (2002 and 2003) and Five Flights, where she was equally mesmerizing. - Past Shows

Kristen's web site.

Adam Bock Nominated for GLAAD Award

Adam Bock's Swimming in the Shallows was nominated for a GLAAD Media award for 2005 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. GLAAD honors "fair, accurate and inclusive" representation of gay individuals in the media. Pisces Moon Productions performed Swimming in the Shallows in February 2004 in Santa Cruz. We also performed Adam's Five Flights, immediately following its San Francisco debut in the spring of 2003.

Past Shows

Pisces Moon Productions keep an online archive of our past productions.

Online Ticketing

We recently did a survey of our email list subscribers and found that 80% of them were interested in having us sell tickets to our shows online. Being close to Silicon Valley, this makes sense that our audience and potential audience (especially our email list) is very tuned into doing things on the web. Now the harder part is figuring out an economical way to provide this capability. We host our web with Network Solutions and they have added a PayPal processing capability. But I have not found a way to limit the number of seats to a show. I have found through Google a whole bunch of internet based software packages that can be used for online ticketing. Many of them sound great. But they are clearly designed for either larger non-profits or profit making enterprises. These software vendors have to make a living too, I guess. So far the pricing has been prohibitive but we are waiting to hear back from a few suppliers who did no provide pricing on the web. If anyone has other suggestions on how to approach this issue, they are welcome.

Pisces Moon's Next Production

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Produced by Pisces Moon Productions. Directed by Susan Myer Silton. Full details on the web site.

Premieres September 29, 2006

An experiment

This is an experiment to see if a blog has value to a local community theatre company. We welcome your feedback. Only been blogging for 2 minutes now so I am sure there is much to learn as we go forward. Need to figure out a few formatting things too, but bear with us. Thanks. Although I have now learned how to spell check posts. Unless "blog" is not the proper spelling, then the spell checker may want to add the word "blog" to its dictionary!