We’ve been subscribing at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) in Thousand Oaks since forever, if the value of forever is 2001. Our first show at Cabrillo was “Anything Goes” in 2001, and since then they have been a reliable source of well-produced musicals, often ones not commonly done in the area, with great regional talent and the occasional name performer, at a reasonable price. You can see all their past seasons here. We now bring our senior mother-in-law with us, and she seems to enjoy the shows there as well.
We just got our renewal notice for the 2014-2015 season. Here are the shows in the season:
- Memphis (November 14-23, 2014). We saw the first National tour of this when it was at the Pantages. We had reasonably good seats, so we could hear well, and the plot of the show wasn’t that spectacular. At least it wasn’t a jukebox show.
- Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical. (April 17-26, 2015). We saw the first National tour of this when it was at the Ahmanson. Great production, but we were off on the side (which really didn’t hurt that much).
- Oklahoma (July 17-26, 2015). We’ve seen this before — ages ago — when it was at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Not sure how much I want to see it again. It was last at Cabrillo in 1996.
- [Bonus Production] Company (January 23-February 8, 2015). We just saw an intimate scale production of this at Crown City Theatre back in March 2013. Not sure anything can top that.
In short, this is a season where I’ve seen all the shows at some point, and most I’m lukewarm about seeing again. The season ticket prices, where we’re sitting, is $108 for 3 shows, or $138 for 3 shows plus the bonus. I’m truly undecided — that money could equally well go for more shows at a smaller company (such as The Group Rep (FB)), but we would get less musicals. I could explore a different musical company, such as Musical Theatre West, which has more interesting shows, but they do a lot of shows I’ve seen anyway, plus they are down in Long Beach (an even worse schlepp from the Valley than Thousand Oaks). Their staged reading series is more interesting, but that’s only a single night (making scheduling difficult)… plus it is still in Long Beach. Actors Rep of Simi or Canyon Theatre Guild are also possibilities, but they are much more at the regional/amateur theatre level.
P.S.: Wonderful quote in the review of “Discord”: “They quickly get on one another’s nerves: Imagine the dramaturgical love-child of “Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit.””
