Modesto Performing Arts Tickets

Modesto Performing Arts is the City of Modesto's oldest community theater company and is still going strong promoting art and culture, song and dance with forty-five years of work behind them. Along with putting on quality shows and musicals and entertaining audiences of all ages with classic musicals, they also provide aspiring individuals a platform to explore and exhibit their skills.

Each year the company puts up new productions, some being beloved classics and some being contemporary shows. In past years, they have done "The Sound of Music", "A Christmas Carol", "Cabaret", "My Fair Lady" and "Jesus Christ, Superstar!" among many others. This year's selection features "Pinocchio", "Man of La Mancha" and "South Pacific." Pinocchio will be performed in April, followed by Man of La Mancha from June 21 to 29 and then in August audiences will get to see Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.

"Pinocchio" has always been a great story, gaining mainstream success when Disney released the animated version of the age-old story of an old toy maker who creates a boy out of wood, only to find his 'son' coming to life with a sprinkle of magic. Modesto's performance of this story brings back everyone's favorite characters. We have Gepetto, the Fire-eater who runs the Grand Puppet Theater and the fox and the cat who attempt to drag Pinocchio off the path of goodness. And of course - the Blue Fairy who breathes life into Pinocchio and acts as his conscience, helping him tell right from wrong. Ray Newman will be playing the part of Gepetto, and our favorite little boy will be acted out by Corbin Kerr.

"Man of La Mancha" will be performed in June. This musical is an adaptation of I, Don Quixote by Dale Wasserman which was a 1959 non-musical teleplay. "Man of La Mancha" is a play within a play and tells the story of a 'mad' knight and the few prisoners with him who are waiting for a hearing from the Spanish Inquisition. The part of Don Quixote will be played by the veteran Merced actor Curtis Nelson. His love interest Aldonza will be played by Krista Joy Serpa.

Talking about this production, Modesto's director Paul Tischer has said that even though some might say they are unfamiliar with the story that this play is based on, they will know the song 'The Impossible Dream' and can relate to it. The play is about having an impossible, seemingly unreachable dream but that doesn't stop us from dreaming. And that is what this play captures - Don Quixote dreams.

In August, audiences will get to see "South Pacific" at the Gallo Center for the Arts in the Foster Family Theatre. The musical is composed by Richard Rodgers and lyrics are by Oscar Hammerstein II of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical theatre writing team, who are famous for "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music." The musical is based on 'Tales of the South Pacific' by James A. Michener, winner of a Pulitzer Prize. The musical's aim, other than entertainment, was to send a progressive and concrete message on racism to the masses.

The play centers around four people, two parallel love stories and how they overcome their respective prejudices to gain happiness. The story is set in a beautiful island, smack-dab in the middle of World War II. We have Nellie, who is a nurse from Arkansas, and a French planter named Emile. Nellie falls in love with Emile but holds back from accepting his marriage proposal when she comes to know that the mother of Emile's children was an island native. The same fears and prejudices haunt Lieutenant Joe Cable and as a result, his relationship with a Tonkinese girl end, despite him knowing he loves her. Joe and Emile are recruited to go on a life-threatening mission and as events unfold, lessons are learnt and ideas and prejudices are let go of.

The social aspects of this story are relevant even today and as racial discrimination and prejudice is candidly explored in the musical, it promises to be an extremely thought-provoking production. Modesto Performing Arts tickets are available for the productions being put up at the Gallo Center for the Arts in the Foster Family Theatre.