Casinos - Inland Entertainment Review Magazine

Theater and Arts
Performance
Riverside
Celebrates
Twenty-Five
Years with
‘South
Pacific’
Twenty-five years ago,
Performance Riverside began its
journey with the unforgettable
Rodgers and Hammerstein
South Pacific. Now, Performance
Riverside revisits its roots with a new production,
directed and choreographed by
Roger Castellano, musically directed by
Scott T. Smith, and featuring the award
winning Inland Empire performer and
director John LaLonde in the role of Emile
DeBeque. Performances will be at Landis
Performing Arts Center on the campus of
Riverside City College, September 19-28.
South Pacific, the winner of nine 1950
Tony Awards, went on to become the first
musical theatre production ever to be
awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.
Some of the greatest songs in Rodgers and
Hammerstein repertoire, including “Some
Enchanted Evening,” “Wash That Man
Right Out of My Hair,” and the haunting
“Bali Ha’i,” were created for this groundbreaking
musical adaptation of James
Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific. Set
in an island paradise during World War II,
two parallel love stories are threatened by
the dangers of prejudice and war. Nellie, a
spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love
with a mature French planter, Emile.
When Emile is recruited on a dangerous
mission, Nellie realizes that life is too short
not to seize her own chance for happiness,
thus confronting and conquering her prejudices.
Performance Riverside’s 2008-2009
Season revisits a slate of musical theatre
hits from its twenty-five years history,
including Annie Get Your Gun, Peter Pan,
and Guys and Dolls, in addition to new
productions of Sensational Showtunes and
Hollydazzle. Season tickets are on sale now.
The Landis Performing Arts Center is
located on the Riverside City College campus
at 4800 Magnolia Avenue.
Performances for South Pacific are
September 19, 20, 26, and 27 at 8pm, and
September 20, 21, 27, and 28 at 2pm.
Tickets are $25, $30, $37, and $43. A
specially priced “Discovery Theatre” performance
for school and senior groups is
also available on September 19 at 10am.
For more information and to purchase
tickets contact the Landis Box Office at
951-222-8100, or purchase online at
www.performanceriverside.org. IER
September, 2008 INLAND ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW 23