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1. Stars aligning for theater's season

   BY CAMILLE GAVIN Contributing writer

   Wednesday, Feb 22 2012 04:40 PM

   For some of us, myself included, February seems way too early to start charting a course for the next 12 weeks -- much less the next 12 months. Yet for the folks involved with choosing shows for Stars Theatre Restaurant, it's already a done deal.

   Take heart, though. The final decision about the dinner theater's 2012-2013 season, which opens on March 2, didn't happen overnight, said Bruce Saathoff, artistic director.

   "In selecting shows this season, I sent a survey out to all of our directors, vocal directors, choreographers, tech folks and everyone who was in a Stars show last season, soliciting input."

   Patrons also were asked to suggest shows they would like to see.

   After sifting through the completed surveys, Saathoof and executive producer Jim Fillbrandt met with board president Randy Jelmini and Brent Rochon, chief choreographer, to consider the possibilities.

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2. Disarmed and 'Dangerous' at Spotlight

   Power plays. Duplicity. Seduction. Betrayal. No, we're not talking about the backstage machinations of local theater, but rather the unconventional production of "Dangerous Liaisons," opening Friday at Spotlight Theatre.

3. Pinstripes in spotlight: 'Yankees' at bat

   Faust and Major League Baseball? Only a musical could bring those two ideas together, and that musical is "Damn Yankees," which takes the stage at the Rabobank Theater on Monday.
4. 

   An anchor of local theater ships out for dream job

   Singer/actor/designer Jason McClain, a long-time favorite of local theater, is leaving Bakersfield for what can only be described as a dream job: singing and dancing while sailing to exotic ports on an ultra-luxury cruise liner.
5. 

   CAMILLE GAVIN: Play a rainbow of possibilities

   Powerful and color-blind. Those are the words that continue to flash across my brain as I reflect on a preview of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf" that I saw last Friday.

6. REVIEW: Laughter will keep you up

   A line spoken by Bruce Saathoff as The Man in the Chair just before the finale of "The Drowsy Chaperone" goes something like this: "A musical does what it's supposed to do -- it takes you into another world."
7. 

   A fairy tale turned up to 11 at Spotlight

   It's a good time to feel Grimm.
9. 

   CAMILLE GAVIN: Stars takes shot at Tony winner

   It seems to me that in the last 12 months Brian Sivesind has set some sort of a record in the ever-changing world of local theater.

10. Whoa, Nellie! Classic musical hits town

    There are many candidates for the title "Greatest Musical of All Time," and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" certainly qualifies as one of them.
11. 

    Local actor makes splash on 'Wipeout'

    An obstacle course of trap doors, unstable platforms and devices designed to send contestants plummeting into a chilly pool below may not appeal to most people, but it's right up Matthew Borton's alley.

12. Guest to help CIA make it up as they go along

    The nature of improvisational comedy requires performers to keep things interesting and engage their audience. The Center for Improv Advancement is doing just that this Saturday with a new format special show featuring guest monologist Mark Price.
13. 

    Empty Space salutes best of 2011

    The Stockdale Country Club got a dose of theater Sunday evening when The Empty Space hosted its ninth annual Empty Space Awards. More than 100 people, including nominees, friends and family gathered for cocktails, dinner and a bit of recognition.

14. CAMILLE GAVIN: Spotlight keeps itself in game

    A bundle of changes are in store for the Spotlight Theatre, including a switch to a calendar-year season and an entirely new format for the summer months.