Can't Help Lovin' by Carl Danielsen

Co-production announced by Producers Associates, Inc. of Oakland and California Conservatory Theatre of San Leandro
Press contact: Kathy Kahn, woodminsterpr@yahoo.com, 510-418-8523
Theater contact: Harriet Schlader, harriet@woodminster.com, 510-531-9597

CALENDAR INFORMATION (April/May 2011)
WHAT: "Can't Help Lovin'" a musical entertainment devised by Carl Danielsen, music by Jerome Kern
PERFORMED BY: Carl Danielsen
PRESENTED BY: California Conservatory Theatre of San Leandro in partnership with Producers Associates, Inc. of Oakland, producers of the Woodminster Summer Musicals
WHERE: California Conservatory Theater, 999 E. 14th St., in the San Leandro Civic Center Directions
WHEN: April 28-May 8, 2011, Thursdays through Sundays
PERFORMANCES April 28 (7 p.m.), April 29 (8 p.m.*), April 30 (2 p.m. & 8 p.m.*), May 1 (2 p.m.), May 5 (7 p.m.), May 6 (8 p.m.*), May 7 (2 p.m. & 8 p.m.*), May 8 (2 p.m.)
[The audience is invited to stay for "talk-backs" with Carl Danielsen after the 8 p.m. performances on Friday and Saturday evenings.]
TICKETS: $45 if purchased before April 15; $50 after April 15 & at the door; through Producers Associates at 510-531-9597 or through CCT at 510-632-8850. Proceeds benefit California Conservatory Theater and the Woodminster Summer Musicals. Information www.woodminster.com.

PRESS RELEASE (For immediate release)

Carl Danielsen to Perform One-Man Entertainment in East Bay
Actor's "Lifelong Love Affair With the Music of Jerome Kern" Inspires this Show

March 1, 2011, Oakland, CA -- Producers Associates, Inc. of Oakland and California Conservatory Theatre of San Leandro announce that they are co-producing the world premiere of Can't Help Lovin', featuring the music of Jerome Kern, performed by Carl Danielsen, and directed by Joel Schlader.

The one-man entertainment will be presented at California Conservatory Theatre of San Leandro, at 999 E. 14th St. in the San Leandro Civic Center. It will run Thursdays through Sundays, April 28 through May 8. Tickets are $45 if purchased by April 15 ($50 after that date), and are available through either organization, Producers Associates at 510-531-9597, or California Conservatory Theatre at 510-632-8850. Proceeds will benefit both organizations.

Carl Danielsen is a New York actor with local roots; he grew up in Oakland and graduated from Bishop O'Dowd High School and UC Berkeley before studying at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and eventually moving to New York to pursue a successful acting career. Says Harriet Schlader, President of Producers Associates, Inc. and Managing Director of the Woodminster Summer Musicals, "We talk about someone being a 'triple threat,' but Carl is really a 'quadruple threat.' He can act, sing, and dance, AND he's an accomplished pianist. When he played Barnum for us, he walked on a tightrope, hung upside-down by his ankle, spinning ... When he did Singin' In the Rain, he danced up and down walls and wowed even the most skeptical Donald O'Connor fans. Carl's performances take your breath away, because he really can do it all, so you never know what he might do this time!"

Carl Danielsen lives and works primarily in New York, but he's in demand by regional theaters, and has appeared regularly in Bay Area venues. Most recently, he has performed in Marvelous Party and 2 Pianos 4 Hands at Center Rep in Walnut Creek, and Singin' in the Rain and Seussical at the Woodminster Summer Musicals in Oakland.

Danielsen explains the roots of the show: "Originally, I was just interested in exploring why people become passionate about different things -- composers, authors, sports, and so forth -- and I found a lot of interesting answers as I looked back over my (mostly unconscious) life-long connection with Jerome Kern. The show is not a biography of Kern, but it does point out how much he influenced the birth of American Musical Theatre. The song forms that became standard in theatre were developed by Kern in the 1910s! We don’t think of Kern as a renegade, but he was."

Can't Help Lovin' showcases a number of Jerome Kern standards, including “The Way You Look Tonight," “Old Man River," “Make Believe," “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," “Pick Yourself Up," “A Fine Romance," “I’m Old Fashioned," “The Song Is You," “I Won’t Dance," and “All The Things You Are."

Says Danielsen, "I’m only performing the songs I love and we’re presenting them in an informal manner with lots of dancing and silliness. I feel like Kern has taken a back seat to other musical giants of his era, and I’m eager to share the gems people may not have heard in a while or even introduce Mr. Kern to younger people for the first time."

Producers Associates, Inc. was founded in 1967 to provide affordable live summer family entertainment in the East Bay, and to foster a love of live theatre. For more than four decades, the organization, in partnership with the Oakland Park and Rec Department, has been producing the Woodminster Summer Musicals in Joaquin Miller Park, and now attracts about 25,000 ticketholders to its performances each summer. For more information about the Woodminster Summer Musicals, visit http://www.woodminster.com.

California Conservatory Theatre was founded in 1978 to bring quality live theatre to San Leandro, and has been performing ever since in a former San Leandro courtroom that has been the venue for over 100 different productions over the last 34 years. CCT has strong support from the City of San Leandro as well as a number of local businesses and individuals who recognize the vibrancy that art brings to the community. For more information about the California Conservatory Theatre, visit http://www.cct-sl.org.

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