Shakespeare Orange County, Garden Grove’s leading source for Shakespeare, will begin its 2014 season with William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, June 21-July 19 in The Festival Amphitheater. Directed by Susan Angelo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows fools and faeries through a romantic romp in which a magical potion forces lovers to fall in love with the wrong person. Set in beautiful Polynesia during the 1700s, SOC’s version of the popular Shakespearean comedy includes the appearance of Garden Grove’s award-winning Polynesian Dance Group, Hitia O Te Ra.
This world famous dance troupe of nearly 60 strong musicians and dancers, young and old, is led by Alex Tekurio and is made up of Hawaiians, Tahitians, Samoans, Maoris, Filipinos and Micronesians. Hitia O Te Ra, which is Tahitian for “Land of the Rising Sun,” is known not only for the thundering power of its war dances and the romantic beauty of its island love stories, but also for its cultural accuracy in the retelling of ancient myths from The Pacific Rim. Like a night on the islands, Hitia O Te Ra will transport you with its beauty, grace, and powerful imagery.
A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream is the first production of the new SOC under the artistic direction of John Walcutt. Walcutt succeeds previous artistic director Tom Bradac who will appear in the show as Bottom. Bradac originally founded the company under the name The Grove Shakespeare Festival in the late 1970s and later renamed it Shakespeare Orange County. In 2013 he announced his retirement as producing artistic director, turning the reigns over to Walcutt to begin a new era as Shakespeare/Summerfest Orange County.
The cast includes Jeremy Schaeg, EJ Arriola, Morgan Lauff, Mikki Pagdonsolan, Patricia Fa’asua, Bryan Taylor, Dmitri Tzoytzoyrakos, Miguel Perez, Amanda Zarr, Evelyn Carol Case, Katie Devoe‐Peterson, Laura Zenoni, Isabelle Grimm, Hayley Jackson, Nicholas Thurkettle, Tom Bradac, Stephen Novick, Gene Godwin, Jesse Pudles, Louis Jack, Zachary Weed, Darren Nash, Connor McCloskey, Luke Castor, Jeff Budner, Sandy Ninh, Anh Nyguyen, and Christopher Badillo, as well as Hitia O Te Ra members Kapua Miyahira-Chow, Miranda Thompson, Avery Conrad, Jazaleia Feterika, Kaitlyn Slack, Makayla Davidow, Manu Tanielu, Natalia Martinez and Solomona Tafua.
Here is a look at SOC’s full summer schedule. All performances begin at 8:00 pm and are presented in The Festival Amphitheatre located in in Euclid Park, 12762 Main St. Garden Grove, CA 92840. For tickets, call (714) 590-1575 or go to www.shakespeareoc.org.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
June 19 – July 19, 2014
A Midsummer Saturday Night’s Fever Dream
Guest production presented by The Troubies
July 24, 25, 26, 2104
The Curse of Oedipus
Guest production presented by The Antaeus Company
July 31, August 1, 2. 2014
The Tavern
By George M. Cohan
Directed by Mike Peebler
August 7 – 23, 2014
Trieu Tran (UnPlugged)
A One-Man Show; For mature audiences only
Guest production produced in association with VAALA
August 17, 2014
Shakespeare in LA 