Special to the PARADE
On Sept. 18 and 19, El Paseo Arts Foundation begins its 19th Season of Performing Arts Events with “Churchill,” at the SPI Convention Center. In this often funny, sometimes touching and always engaging, one-man-show, distinguished British actor, David Payne brings Churchill to life onstage and enlightens the audience with intimate details of his life. With elements of The Crown and The Darkest Hour, Payne gives audiences an opportunity to spend an evening with one of the great historical figures in the world.
October brings two shows. On Oct. 4 and 5, El Paseo Arts will present the first performing arts performance in the Courtyard at 2500 Padre Blvd. Four talented ladies will take the stage in The Savannah Sipping Society by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. In this delightful, laugh-a-minute comedy, four unique Southern women, who all need to escape the sameness of their day-to-day routines, are drawn together. Over the course of six months, filled with laugher, hilarious misadventures and the occasional liquid refreshment, these women find the confidence to jumpstart their new lives.
Then on Oct. 15, 16, and 17, five talented actors and one leading lady set sail in Rough Crossing by Tom Stoppard, at the SPI Convention Center. Rough Crossing is a farce that parodies the 1930’s musical movie romances fraught with misunderstandings and mistaken directions, overly complicated plots, and outlandish resolutions. The narrative chronicles a voyage on the S.S. Italian Castle by two playwrights who find themselves treading water while trying to finish the play that needs an ending, and a middle, and perhaps a new beginning. Clearly, the scribes are going down for the third time.
On Nov. 6, 7 and 8, the El Paseo Arts players will use the convention center stage to celebrate the music of Rogers and Hammerstein with A Grand Night for Singing. The production was conceived by Walter Bobbie and has musical arrangements by Fred Wells. This new Rogers and Hammerstein musical opened the 1994 Broadway season with flair and distinction, garnering wildly enthusiastic notices and earning two Tony Nominations including Best Musical. The brilliant and innovative musical arrangements prove how terrifically up-to-date the remarkable songs of Rogers and Hammerstein remain.
El Paseo’s New Year starts on Jan. 22, 23 and 24, with the fabulous farce, Move Over Mrs. Markham by Ray Cooney and John Chapman on the convention center stage. In Philip and Joanna Markham’s elegant London flat, four couples have planned to have a tryst with their lovers. It looks like it will be a disastrous and hilarious evening, but spoiler alert—there are happy endings. Good romantic farces always finish with happy endings. It might be a rule set by Shakespeare.
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