Woodminster Summer Musicals
40th Anniversary Season Summer 2006
Press contact: Kathy Kahn, woodminsterpr@yahoo.com, 510-418-8523
Theater contact: Harriet Schlader, harriet@woodminster.com, 510-531-9597

40th Season a Great Success
Musical Theater Under the Stars Drew 25,000 to Joaquin Miller Park

Over 2700 Local Young People Got Free Tickets
Ninth Season of "Kids Come Free" Was Most Successful Ever

September 15, 2006, Oakland CA -- Producers Associates, Inc. closed the 40th consecutive season of the Woodminster Summer Musicals on the evening of September 10, when the amphitheater was packed with enthusiastic theater-goers for the final performance of "Beauty and the Beast."

The organization sold or otherwise distributed about 25,000 individual tickets for the 21-performance season, which opened July 7 and closed September 10. (24,984, to be exact.)

Included in that 25,000 were over 2700 tickets that were given away for free through Woodminster's "Kids Come Free" program. Anyone 16 or younger who is accompanying a paying adult can receive a free ticket to any performance. This year's free children's attendance was the highest in the 9-year history of "Kids Come Free". The closing show, "Beauty and the Beast," was the most popular ever for this program, with nearly 1300 children attending for free.
The major corporate sponsor for the 2006 "Kids Come Free" program, as well as the sole sponsor for "Kids Come Free to Beauty and the Beast," was Chevron. Other important "Kids Come Free" sponsors this year were Target, The Mechanics Bank, and Rotary Club of Oakland Sunrise. The Woodminster Summer Musicals are co-sponsored by the City of Oakland's Parks and Recreation Department.

Woodminster's 2006 season was also one of the largest in history in terms of the sheer number of performers. "Ragtime," which opened the season, had 61 in the cast, the second-highest in the 40 year history of the theater. ("The Most Happy Fella," in 1969, holds the record with 71.) "The King and I," performed this August, had 54 in the cast including 23 children 12 and younger. The Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast," which closed the season, had 46. Each Woodminster cast includes several professional actors who are members of Actors Equity Association, and a number of talented community members, typically from cities all over the greater Bay Area. Woodminster is an opportunity for aspiring actors to hone their skills as they work alongside professionals, as well as a much enjoyed creative outlet for singers and dancers in the community who earn their livings as teachers, salesmen, and cubicle workers. Some local performers audition for Woodminster every year, just as some audience families hold their season tickets season after season for decades.

The public is invited to help choose the 3 shows that will make the 2007 summer season by visiting www.woodminster.com and navigating to the proposed list of shows and voting for their favorites.

The Woodminster Summer Musicals are performed under the stars at Woodminster Amphitheater, an open air performance facility in Joaquin Miller Park high in the Oakland Hills. The park's spectacular views and serene woodsy environment made it the perfect setting for the amphitheater, cascades, reflecting pool, and paths that were originally built as a WPA project in 1939-40. For many East Bay families, it is a long-standing summer tradition to enjoy a picnic in the park and then see a musical at Woodminster.
Producers Associates, Inc. was founded in 1967 by James and Harriet Schlader to provide affordable live summer family entertainment in the East Bay, and to foster a love of live theatre. For the last 40 years, the organization, in partnership with the Oakland Park and Rec Department, has been producing summer musicals at Woodminster Amphitheater. Today it sells more tickets per year than any other resident performing arts group in the city.

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Photos

Below, the cast performs "Be Our Guest" in Beauty and the Beast, which closed the 40th Season of the Woodminster Summer Musicals.
More Beauty and the Beast photos here.

PHOTO BY BOB MORRIS