'Ragtime' brings the curtain down on the Woodlawn Theatre in S.A.

The community theater company, which took on the name Wonder Theatre in January, is slowly working through a big to-do list to prep for the move. Once"Ragtime" is up and running, staff and volunteers will begin packing, starting with the administrative offices. A capital campaign to raise about $1 million is underway, too. And work has begun to transform two former movie auditoriums at the mall into Wonder's new theater and academy.

For the first time since the company started doing season auditions, all of the slots were snapped up in just 24 hours. A total of 227 people signed up, a big increase over the 100 or 150 who typically take part. And the theater has gotten lots of emails and queries on social media from others who want to try out.

The cast of"Ragtime," the final show to be staged at the Woodlawn Theatre by the company that has been based there since 2012."People are excited abut the shows we're doing," said Christopher Rodriguez, who has served as the company's executive and artistic director since 2015."People are excited to be in that space.""I almost feel like it’s us going off to college," he said."It’s us leaving the nest.

The Woodlawn, which opened in 1945 as a movie theater, has had a long history as home to live theater. Richard Rosen, who would later found Magik Theatre, produced original work there with some friends for about two years starting in 1980. Various ventures operated there after that, including a nightclub. From 1998 to 2005, Actors Theater of San Antonio produced shows in the space, followed by producer Jonathan Pennington, who staged musicals there for about six years.

Justin"Alaska" Honard, a runner-up in season five of"RuPaul's Drag Race," played Dr. Frank N. Furter in the Woodlawn Theatre's 2013 staging of"The Rocky Horror Show."The company based there now took over in 2012, led first by the late Greg Hinojosa.

Entertainment Entertainment Latest News, Entertainment Entertainment Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

San Diego Theatre Critics Circle announces its 2022 Craig Noel Award winnersTheater Notebook: San Diego Theatre Critics Circle announces its 2022 Craig Noel Award winners
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Review: A reimagined 'Secret Garden' fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson TheatreMarsha Norman and Lucy Simon's musical, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved children's novel, gets a new production at at the Ahmanson Theatre with Broadway in the show's sights. It was 'fine', but cutting two songs from the second act was a bad choice. It took out needed backstory and Archie's character development, not to mention beautiful music. That was really upsetting. Maybe our expectations were too high, but it was underwhelming.
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »