El Paseo Arts Foundation has a busy month planned for theater junkies throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
The local arts group will be hosting three stage productions throughout the month of January that are sure to bring out a host of emotions from theater fans.
“The three plays are very different,” JoAnn Evans, who serves as director and producer of the three productions, said. “The first one is a staged reading. It’s not actually acted out.”
El Paseo will be hosting a staged reading of “Tuesdays with Morrie,” which is based on a best-selling novel by Mitch Albom.
“The man that’s playing Morrie is a retired professional actor. He lives in San Benito and his name is Ray Stewart,” Evans said. “He’s done so many wonderful things. He’s absolutely brilliant. He’s working with Will Everett who is also a brilliant young actor.”
“Tuesdays with Morrie” is the story about a man who is dying of ALS who is visited by his former student.
“It’s a sad story and yet a very uplifting and inspiring story, so you cry and yet you’re inspired by the beauty of it and his belief in the power of living and the power of relationships,” Evans said.
The production is scheduled for performance on Jan. 9 and 10 at the South Padre Island Convention Center. Tickets for the play are $20 per person and can be purchased at SOS, the SPI Art Incubator, the Art Gallery in Lighthouse Square, and online at www.elpaseoarts.org.
The second production scheduled this month is “Permanent Record,” a one-man show by acclaimed comedy writer Pat Hazell.
“When I was growing up, we were always threatened with, ‘This will go on your permanent record if you do this bad thing,” Evans explained. “(Hazell) has created this story about the permanent record and talks about his kind of experiences and draws the audience into sharing their experiences of things that are on their permanent record of what they feared would be on their permanent record. It’s a very funny show.”
Hazell is one of the original writers for NBC’s “Seinfeld,” a veteran of “The Tonight Show,” contributor to NPR, and a critically acclaimed playwright.
In addition to the evening performances for “Permanent Record,” Hazell will also be hosting a free comedy writing workshop from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30 in the Convention Center Theatre Conference Room. Interested participants can register at SOS or the SPI Art Incubator. Participation is open to the first 30 registrants.
Hazell’s performance is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 and 31, with a cash only bar provided by Marcello’s Ocean Grille. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the show are $25 per person, $20 per person for El Paseo Arts members. Tickets are available for purchase at SOS, the SPI Art Incubator, the Art Gallery in Lighthouse Square, and online at www.elpaseoarts.org.
The last show scheduled for this month is “Night of the Foolish Moon,” a romantic comedy show with some science fiction elements.
“It’s just a wonderful play,” Evans said. “It is so joyful and so much fun. We’re just having a wonderful time rehearsing it.”
The show is scheduled for Jan. 16, 17, 18 and 19 at the SPI Convention Center. The lobby opens at 6:30 p.m. with a cash bar provided by Marcello’s Ocean Grille, and the curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the show are $25 per person, $20 per person for El Paseo Arts members. Tickets are available for purchase at SOS, the SPI Art Incubator, the Art Gallery in Lighthouse Square, and online at www.elpaseoarts.org.
