Sing along to 'West Side Story'

Cinnabar Theater offers an audience participation musical

November 16, 2005

By YOVANNA BIEBERICH
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

For those who have always wanted to star in a Broadway musical, but never got past singing in the shower, Cinnabar Theater is offering folks a chance to shine at a "West Side Story" sing-along on Nov. 18-19.

"We're going to be showing the film and want everyone to come in costume as their favorite character from 'West Side Story,' " said Cinnabar Theater board member Laura Sunday. "We're going to have quite a rumble."

The idea for the sing-along, a fund-raiser for the theater's youth programs, came from a conversation Sunday had with a friend of hers in Los Angeles.

"She had just come back from singing 'The Sound of Music' with 18,000 of her new best friends at the Hollywood Bowl. She had so much fun that I said 'You know, I could do this, and Cinnabar would be the perfect place to do a Broadway sing-along.' So I picked my favorite musical of all time -- 'West Side Story.' I used to do all the parts in the mirror when I was growing up."

Two nights have been blocked out at Cinnabar for the sing-along, which begins with a Tony and Maria New York City-style pizza party.

"So far we have people coming from the East Bay and San Francisco who want to be a part of it," said Sunday. "I even invited Rita Moreno, who lives in Berkeley, so maybe we'll have a surprise visitor."

The pizza party and "West Side Story" sing-along is open to kids as well as adults and all proceeds will go specifically to Cinnabar's youth programs and scholarships.

"This is an event where you can bring your kids and your mom," she added. "Three generations will have fun with this."

Sunday said that about an hour-and-a-half of the film will be shown and there will be costume and trivia contests. Participants who donate $100 will have the opportunity to lead the audience in their favorite song. The highest donor will get to be either Tony or Maria in a re-enactment of the wedding scene.

Response to the upcoming sing-along has been positive, and depending how the turnout is for West Side Story, Cinnabar may consider future sing-alongs.

"We'll wait and see how things go," she said. "So far the response has been great. And there are so many wonderful shows we could do like 'Fiddler on the Roof,' 'South Pacific' and 'Grease.' Some people even want to do the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show.'"

Showtime for both nights is at 7:30 p.m. at Cinnabar Theater, 3333 Petaluma Blvd. North. Advance tickets for the 6:30 p.m. pizza party and sing-along are $25 adults and $18 for kids 12 and under. Tickets at the door are $13 adults plus a movie donation of $15, and $10 kids 12 and under plus a movie donation of $10.

"It's going to be a hoot-and-a-half," Sunday added. "Everyone's going to have a great time."

For tickets and more information, call Cinnabar Theater at 763-8920 or visit www.cinnabartheater.org.

(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at ybieberich@arguscourier.com)