Cabrillo Stage presents Plaid Tidings

An Audience favorite, Plaid Tidings is the Christmas version of Stage’s 2008 smash hit Forever Plaid, which will combine two members of the original cast, Max Bennett-Parker and Tad Kistner, with new cast members Matt Dunnand Sean Gorski.

The storyline of Forever Plaid centers around four hilarious young male singers from the late 1950s who were killed in a car crash on the way to their first big concert, and then miraculously revived for the chance to fulfill their dreams and perform the show that never was. In the Christmas version, Plaid Tidings, The heavenly quartet return with their tight swingin’ harmonic renditions of musical hits from the ’50s and ’60s. This nostalgic holiday extravaganza is the very best of Forever Plaid wrapped up in a nifty package with a big bow on top! Stuffed with “Plaid-erized” Christmas standards like “Mr. Santa,“ “Let It Snow” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the boys are back to perform their Christmas Special. At first they aren’t sure why they’ve returned, but a phone call from the heavenly Rosemary Clooney lets them know that they’re needed to put a little harmony into a discordant world.

	Andrew Ceglio (Director/Choreographer) is a native of San Jose who currently resides in Capitola. Andrew began as a Director and Choreographer in 2008 with Cabrillo Stage’s production of Forever Plaid. He returned to Cabrillo Stage in 2009 to direct I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (brought back the following year by popular demand) and Stage’s inaugural winter production of Scrooge, which was also brought back in 2010. Other regional directing credits include: SVPA’s production of Into the Woods and his own adaptation of The Little Prince with Tabard Theatre of San Jose. As a choreographer, Andrew’s most recent work was seen in Cabrillo Stage’s production of The Full Monty and Kirby Prep School’s fall musical Curtains. In addition to his own theatrical career, Andrew is also a private acting coach who began this year as Founding Artistic Director and Producer for “Spotlight Stage,” a new local theatre company which focuses on mentoring upcoming talent and showcasing local professional artists. After a successful run of their first youth production, Starmites, Andrew will be directing and choreographing their upcoming production of The Wiz, which will premier in February of 2012. www.spotlightstage.com
	Drew Lewis (Music Director) is returning as the music director and accompanist for Plaid Tidings. He has been involved in theater around Santa Cruz for twelve years, playing in pit orchestras and working as music director for a variety of theater productions. Most recently he directed GBK Preparatory School production of Curtains. Drew is the music teacher at GBK Preparatory School in Santa Cruz and directs the four award-winning choirs, two instrumental ensembles, and teaches musical production with the school's drama teacher. In the past few years he has also received the opportunity to perform on stage as a singer in choirs with a variety of musicians, including Marvin Hamlisch, Dawn Upshaw, Kerry Marsh, and Ben Folds. He is a member of the California Choral Director's Association (ACDA), the California Music Educator's Association (CMEA) and is President-Elect for the Central Coast Section of the CMEA. In 2010 he was voted CMEA's outstanding Music Educator for the Central Coast Section.
	Dustin Leonard (Managing Director / Production Manager) is one of the founders of Hooked On Theater, and has directed, produced and starred in a number of shows in the Monterey Bay area. Dustin most recently directed Beautiful Thing for MBR Theatre, Little Shop of Horrors & West Side Story for Cabrillo Stage. Dustin's diverse directing credits include The Laramie Project, Lord of the Flies, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Outsiders and Romeo & Juliet. A versatile performer, Dustin has been in shows as diverse as Shakespeare's R&J to Guys & Dolls. His credits include both on and off stage at MBR Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theater, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Cabrillo Stage. Dustin's most beloved performances on stage have been Mercutio in the return of the West Coast premiere of Shakespeare's R&J adapted by Joe Calarco, Jeff in The Sum of Us, Prez in The Pajama Game, Mark in Mass Appeal and the Barber in Cabrillo Stage's Man of La Mancha. Dustin has been an active promoter of Youth Theater in Santa Cruz for 15 years, and is the Managing Artistic Director for Hooked On Theater's summer youth workshop. His musical direction and scenic design credits include West Side Story, Honk, Annie, Crazy for You, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver and many more.
	William “Skip” Epperson (Scenic Design) has been teaching theatrical design and backstage theatre for the past 17 years at Cabrillo College and currently serves as the Theatre Arts Program Chair. Holding a MFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University, he has had the opportunity to collaborate with many talented directors, designers, and technicians across the country, and has had many artists appear on his designs as actors, singers, and dancers. His work has who’s who - PRODUCTION STAFF Cabrillo Stage • Winter 2009 27 appeared on the stages of many theaters and venues including Cabrillo Theatre Arts, Henry Street Playhouse, Washington and Lee University Theater, Santa Cruz Actors Theater, Santa Cruz Bible Church, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Cabrillo Stage. Skip is the proud recipient of a 2008 Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. Together with his beautiful bride of 24 years, Mary Jo, his most precious productions have been his four children–Sara, Zack, Anna-Katherine, and Genevieve–ages 21 to 4.
	Ethan Hoerneman (Lighting Design) previously designed the lighting for the Cabrillo Stage productions of Scrooge, The Wizard of Oz, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys & Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun, West Side Story, Honk!, and Sugar. In the Bay Area, he has also designed theatrical lighting for Theatreworks, Opera San Jose, The Willows, Mark Foehringer Dance Project, the Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra, Teatro Vision, Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose, and a number of other theater companies. In the past thirteen years he has designed animation, projections, lighting, and scenery for more than 350 productions, across North America, Europe, and Asia. He is a graduate of the InterArts and Technology program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison..
	Maria Crush (Costume Design) has been working with Cabrillo Stage since 1988 and designed such shows as The Wizard of Oz, Man of La Mancha, Funny Girl, The Sound of Music, Oliver, The King & I, Peter Pan, Honk, Some Like It Hot, West Side Story, The Music Man, Cabaret, Scrooge, The Full Monty, and Hairspray. She has designed costumes for West Bay Opera, New Music Works and Cabrillo College Productions including Much Ado About Nothing, Three Penny Opera, Rashomon, School for Scandal, The Visit, Twelfth Night, The Magic Flute, Oedipus Rex, The Importance of Being Earnest, Seussical, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Three Sisters. Other Credits include Bernstein’s Mass and The Tender Land with the Cabrillo Music Festival. Additionally she has designed for the Actors’ Theater. She is the costume shop manager at Cabrillo College, won the Gail Rich Award in 2007 and was also nominated in 2009 for a Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship.
	Michael Meek (Sound Design) This is Michael’s first semester with Cabrillo Stage. He is a student in the music department at Cabrillo College and is the teaching assistant for the recording arts program. He has been the intern to the engineer at Kuumbwa Jazz for the past year. Michael has worked as the ASM for La Jolla Playhouse’s 2004 production of Continental Divide: Mothers Against and Daughters of the Revolution. He is a drummer and sound engineer, and is pleased to be joining Cabrillo Stage once again on this production of Plaid Tidings having just designed the sound for The Last Five Years.
	Marcel Tjioe (Resident Technical Director) has been working for Cabrillo Stage for the last four years. He has had a great time crucifying Jesus, hanging Judas, melting the Wicked Witch, killing all The Plaids and scaring the dickens out of Scrooge. Some of the other local companies Marcel has worked for include American Musical Theatre of San Jose, San Jose Repertory Theatre, and TheatreWorks in Palo Alto. He has also worked internationally in Germany (Capitol Theater in Düsseldorf) and Austria (Seefestspiele Mörbisch). Marcel was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a German citizen and he lives in Santa Cruz with his beautiful wife Myriam and 6 year old daughter Sofia. He is the Performing Arts Technician for Cabrillo College.

Cast Information Coming Soon!

Reviews:	Date:
Corny Fun and Good Harmony in 'Plaid Tidings'	12/20/2011

Articles: