Press Releases

Oceanside Theatre Company Springs into Fun with a Full Calendar of Events in April

From portraiture at the gallery to a homecoming show for San Diego’s poet laureate, Oceanside Theatre Company offers a vast array of arts events at the historic Brooks Theater. Get ready to laugh your way into April Fools’ Day with the hilarious Rob Haze! “Face 2 Face: Portraits and Self-Portraits” will be on exhibit March 29 – May 1 and feature 39 pieces by 24 different artists. Mad Strange returns for an all female lineup with a DJ, four musical acts and several vendors in the theater lobby. Richard Lederer returns to OTC for a night of Shakespeare. Nominated for ”Best Rock Artist” at the San Diego Music Awards, Daring Greatly blends multiple genres including soul, rock, and Americana into a vibrant master class performance rich with incredible vocal harmonies and passion. San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez comes home to Oceanside on Thursday, April 27 at 7 PM to share his work in the city where he grew up. Shane Hall partners with Blake Dean from the band Mrs. Henry to perform an intimate acoustic tribute to the sounds of the 90s.

Small Theatres Join Forces to Improve Their Odds of Success

It’s not easy being a small theatre company. Putting on quality professional theatre is expensive. Putting on a musical, which requires extensive rehearsal, choreography and personnel, is even more costly.  That’s why two local professional theatre companies, Oceanside Theatre Company and Scripps Ranch Theatre, have teamed up to bring North County a bigger, better production than either could separately. Lucky Stiff is a frolicking musical romcom full of hilarious hijinx in which English shoe salesman Harry Witherspoon agrees to take his dead uncle’s corpse on vacation to Monte Carlo in hopes of winning his inheritance – which it turns out was  embezzled from his uncle’s girlfriend’s husband. The musical farce, written by the Tony-award-winning writing team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and directed by Moonlight Theatre founder Kathy Brombacher, offers audiences a wonderful sense of escapism. It also requires actors to sing, dance, change the sets, and play multiple characters with a variety of accents. A production of this complexity takes extensive rehearsal time – and time is money. Much of a theatre’s budget goes to staffing.

Oceanside Theatre Company Opens 2023 with Musical Farce, Lucky Stiff 

An absurd musical full of misfits and miscreants trailing along after a dead man on holiday, Lucky Stiff, written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, is “Weekend at Bernie’s” meets “You’ve Got Mail!” A co-production of Oceanside Theatre Company and Scripps Ranch Theatre, Lucky Stiff tells the story of Harry, an English shoe salesman who receives the unexpected news that he has inherited a fortune from his late Uncle Anthony, on the condition that he takes his uncle’s dead body on a special trip to Monte Carlo. If Harry refuses to fulfill all of his uncle’s last wishes exactly, the inheritance will go to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn. It doesn’t help matters that Rita, Tony’s lover with whom he embezzled $6 million behind her husband’s back, and her brother Vinnie, who she blamed for the crime, have their own schemes to get at the money. Based on the novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff is a life-affirming comedy served up with a dash of danger featuring romance, disguises, farcical chases, and an omnipresent corpse. 

Generational Black Pioneers: Oceanside Theatre Company and Oceanside Historical Society Honor Local Black Entrepreneurs on February 11, 2023

“Generational Black Pioneers – Featuring Oceanside Entrepreneurs” recreates poignant moments throughout the 140 years of this seaside military town’s  history through non-fictional narratives and theatrical dramatization based on the lives of the community’s black leaders. Presented by Oceanside Theatre Company and Oceanside Historical Society, the event takes place on February 11 at 7:30 pm at the Brooks Theatre, 217 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Tickets are $15 and available at www.oceansidetheatre.org, or by calling the box office at (760) 433-8900.

Cheryl Ehlers “Mirrors in My Mind” – Artist Open House at the Brooks Theater Gallery on February 3

Brooks Theater Gallery presents a free Artist Open House for its new one-woman art exhibit of Cheryl Ehlers’ “Mirrors in My Mind” on February 3 from 6-8 pm at the Brooks Theatre Gallery in Oceanside. “Mirrors in My Mind” is a reflection of Ehlers’ artistic journey – what she has seen or what has had an impact on her, such as the need to protect the ocean by showing its beauty. The exhibit exemplifies the thoughtful aspects of her art, while incorporating strong colors for strong emotions. This event will offer a chance to watch Ehlers work on a new piece, listen to live music by students and teachers from Giacoletti Music, and take a behind-the-scenes mini-tour of the theater. Light refreshments and a cash bar will be available. Come mingle, mix and enjoy amazing art and live music!

Oceanside Theatre Company & Six String Society Add Matinee Performance of The 27 Club Due to Popular Demand

Oceanside Theatre Company and Six String Society add matinee performance of The 27 Club, a rock concert honoring the musical legends from The 27 Club on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 4 pm at the Brooks Theatre, 217 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside CA 92054. Tickets are $25 for General Admission, $35 for Preferred Seating and $100 for VIP Meet & Greet, available at OceansideTheatre.org and 760-433-8900. Imagine some of the biggest legends in music history performing together in concert – Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Amy Winehouse, among others. The Six String Society’s 27 Club illuminates the lives and music of this infamous group of musicians, in which all the members died tragically at the age of 27. For one day only, these stars are brought to life by talented local musicians.

Oceanside Theatre Company Announces 2023 Subscription Season

A musical farce full of miscreants. A heartwarming dramedy exploring hard choices. Trills, thrills, and romance. A hilarious holiday experience. Oceanside Theatre Company’s 2023 season offers a chance to smile and laugh over life’s absurdities, hardships, horrors, and traditions with a splash of comedy in every show.  Tickets range from $20 for Preview Nights to $45 for Opening Night with Season Subscription and Group Rates available. They can be purchased through OceansideTheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 760-433-8900.

Oceanside Theatre Company & Six String Society Present  Swedish Queen of Swing Gunhild Carling on January 13, 2023

Sweden’s Queen of Swing, Gunhild Carling, sings, dances, and plays over 10 instruments including trombone, trumpet, recorder, bagpipe, harmonica, drums, and piano sometimes all in one song! Born to a family of musicians in 1975, Carling’s home life was filled with a variety of artistic endeavors including acting, circus tricks, dance, music, Vaudeville, and novelty. Carling became infatuated with jazz music and instruments at a young age and is now one of the world’s truly great jazz performers.

Oceanside Theatre Company Set to Grow in 2023

As Oceanside Theatre Company (OTC) looks forward to a new year of growth, the resident company of the Historic Brooks Theater adds six new members to its board of directors, the largest influx of board leadership in the 12-year history of the organization. A multi-talented group of individuals, including educators, public accountants, program managers, and community advocates, the new additions to the board of directors are a step towards OTC’s commitment to expanding and diversifying its governing body spearheaded by its first Interim Managing Director Alex Goodman who was hired in April 2022.

Oceanside Theatre Company and Six String Society Announce 2023 Oceanside Music Series: Live! at the Brooks

Oceanside Theatre Company (OTC) and Six String Society present “Live! at the Brooks,” featuring an eclectic series of nine concerts that will take place throughout 2023 at the historic Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside. With local and national acts, ranging from blues to jazz, from soul to gospel, and from rock to hip hop, this enthralling musical collaboration promises to surprise and delight a variety of audiences.

Oceanside Theatre Company & Megill & Co Present Not Your Normal Nutcracker Featuring Dance for Every Body December 16-18 and More December Events to Fill the Holidays

Megill & Company’s Not Your Normal Nutcracker flips the script on the classic holiday favorite in this gender fluid, body positive performance set to musical selections from Tchaikovsky. Choreographed and starring Oceanside native Beth Megill as a 40-something Clara, who dreams of being a star, this whimsical modern jazz theater production brings to life an imaginary world filled with life-sized rodents, a melting snow kingdom, and a land of sweets comes to life. Audiences will not see dancers like these in your traditional Nutcracker performance. The Snow Queen is 7 1/2 months pregnant — one of two dancers expecting in the new year. The Nutcracker Prince is portrayed by a woman. One gender non-conforming dancer portrays both male and female roles. Best of all, there are tutus for almost everyone, since the men in the cast wear tutus and dresses along with the women in the corps de ballet.

Black Rootedness, A Poetry Reading

Transcontinental Poetry Event Builds Community Across Cultures

An exploration of the themes of Mother Land, Home, The Middle Passage, The New World, Collective Memory, Love, and The Journey Home, Black Rootedness, A Poetry Reading builds community across continents through verse. Inspired by the anthology Black Rootedness: 54 Poets from Africa to America, edited by Karla Brundage of the West Oakland to West Africa project, this poetry reading features writers from California to Kenya. Join Karla Brundage and Oceanside’s Rameses Setekh of Sown in Truth Orations as they host on Saturday, December 10 at the Oceanside Theatre Company at the Brooks, 217 N. Coast Hwy, Oceanside. Gather early for complimentary coffee by Coffee Beards and Bowties and to purchase treats from local black-owned Bliss Tea and Treats at 10 am followed by the poetry reading at 11 am. Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 door. OceansideTheatre.org.

Oceanside Theatre Company, Boys & Girls Clubs of Oceanside to Present Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jr.

Sixty-three students ages 8 to 18 will perform in Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, Jr. program as part of the annual Youth Outreach program underwritten by the Oceanside Theatre Company and the Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside. This free program introduces participants to the magic of the theater arts during a 3-month long after-school program. Culminating in eight performances – six for the general public and two school performances –  this tale as old as time comes to life on November 11-20, 2022 at the Brooks Theater in the heart of the Oceanside Cultural District.

The Bus Ride; Home:
The Buses Are Here, Our Heroes Ain’t On ‘Em, Stories from Children of Revolution 

The Bus Ride; Home: The Buses Are Here, Our Heroes Ain’t on Em is an art exhibition fundraiser showing at the Sunshine Brooks Theater. All proceeds will go towards the opening of the Creative Sols Ark, a community and cultural center in Oceanside, California with a mission of offering a safe space for systemically underprivileged individuals to gain positive opportunities in education, activism, and community building.

Oceanside Theatre Company Presents San Diego Premiere of Billie! Backstage with Lady Day September 23 – October 2 at the Brooks Theater

The two-act play, written by Synthia L. Hardy and directed by Bryan Rasmussen, which premiered at The Whitefire Theater in 2010 and has enjoyed annual encore performances in Los Angeles, combines storytelling and song to capture the essence of Billie Holiday’s music and life. In the first act, Holiday prepares for her show while answering the questions of two unseen reporters. Hardy as Holiday entwines her biography and explanations of the inspiration for and history of her music with performances of her popular numbers. In the second act, Hardy embodies Lady Day, (a nickname given to Holiday by musician Lester Young), in a concert of her hits that includes “’Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do” and “Willow, Weep for Me.”

Musical Visionary David Arkenstone and an All-Female String Quartet to Perform Magical Candlelit Concert at The Brooks 

As part of its Music Series, Oceanside Theatre Company will host musical storyteller, contemporary composer, and instrumentalist David Arkenstone and friends for a candlelit concert at the historic Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. He’ll be accompanied by a percussionist and an all-female string quartet. Available online at OceansideTheatre.org or by calling the box office at 760-433-8900, tickets are $25 general admission, $20 for students, seniors, and active military with ID, and $45 for VIP seating in first two rows which includes a lanyard and laminate, a free CD, and a signed photograph. 

Linguist Richard Lederer Illuminates Language Essentials in Presentation and Book Signing Benefiting Oceanside Theatre Company

(Oceanside, CA) – San Diego Union-Tribune language columnist and author of more than 60 books, Richard Lederer will give a lecture and sign books at the historic Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside on Saturday, August 27, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. In his comedic take on the ever-evolving English language, Lederer, known as Dr. Grammar Guy, illuminates essential grammar and usage for avoiding potentially awkward miscommunications. Laugh and learn about terminal prepositions, split infinitives, the utility of the serial comma, and “they” as a third-person singular pronoun. If you’ve ever had to ask if someone was talking about their non-binary child or multiple children – you will relate!