For Immediate release:
From: Jesse Dinkel/Theatrical Arts International Inc.

Theatrical Arts International announces an all new Broadway
Play Series at the California Theatre of Performing Arts.

Theatrical Arts International is pleased to announce an all new Broadway Play Series to compliment it’s on-going broadwayl series at the California Theatre 562 w. 4th street in San Bernardino. The new series will include three shows “Driving Miss Daisy,” November 17th 2007, “Steel Magnolias,” and A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters.” Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 909-885-5152. This is an all new series so all seats are still available!

The first show of the Series is Alfred Uhry’s 1987 play “Driving Miss Daisy.” It tells the story of Daisy Wertham, an elderly Jewish woman in Atlanta, whose failing driving skills prompt her son, Boolie, to hire Hoke Coleman as his mother’s chauffeur in 1948. At first Daisy is resentful and refuses all offers of help. But over 20 years, as both Daisy and Hoke grow older and frailer, their relationship grows into a deep-rooted friendship as they learn to rely on each other.

Born in Atlanta, Uhry graduated from Brown University and began work as a lyricist and librettist for musicals, including America’s Sweetheart. His first major success came with The Robber Bridegroom in 1975 and he went on to co-write the screenplay for Mystic Pizza in 1988.

Driving Miss Daisy is the first of three plays known as Uhry’s “Atlanta Trilogy.” The Last Night of Ballyhoo won the 1977 Tony Award as Best Play as well as awards from the American Theatre Critics Association, the Outer Critics Circle and The Drama League. Parade is Uhry’s Tony-winning 1998 musical about the lynching of factory owner Leo Frank.

“Driving Miss Daisy” won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Outer Critics Circle Award and will play November 17th, 2007.

The next offering in the series is A comedy-drama written by Robert Harling and made into a popular 1989 movie, “Steel Magnolias” revolves around the lives of six women in modern-day Mississippi who see each other regularly at Truvy’s beauty salon. At the center of the group is M’Lynn and her daughter, Shelby, a serious diabetic whose optimistic outlook on life becomes the focus of the plot. An ensemble cast of six women brings Harling’s characters to life in this tribute to strong women everywhere.

Robert Harling and his sister Susan grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Harling attended Tulane Law School and completed his degree in 1977 but never practiced law. Instead, he moved to New York City where he became an "obscure actor doing chicken and chili commercials."

Harling had such a difficult time dealing with his sister Susan's death from diabetic complications after childbirth, that he was prompted to write a short story about her life. Ten days later, (at the age of 33), he had a playscript. He found an agent, and "Steel Magnolias" opened off-Broadway.

The play was so well received, Hollywood purchased it and Harling found himself writing the screenplay. On May 26, 1988, two and a half years after her death, Susan's story began to be put onto film in the very town where she had grown up. Six months later, in 1989, the movie opened with a cast that included Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts.

“Steel Magnolias” Plays January 26th, 2008.

Our final Offering for the season will be A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters.” In his critically acclaimed plays, A.R. Gurney has wittily captured the manners of upper-middle-class America, but never as gracefully or with such dazzling economy as in Love Letters. In an era of emails, Love Letters reminds us of the intimacy of correspondence as it traces the relationship of the free-spirited but unstable artist Melissa Gardner, with the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III.


Their loving but bittersweet friendship unfolds from what is written—and what is left unwritten—in 50 years of letters, from summer camps and boarding schools through college, war, career and relationships. A smash hit both off and on Broadway, Love Letters captures Andy and Melissa with a fullness of detail that only Gurney can command.

Press Release 2

THEATRICAL ARTS INTERNATIONAL Season 2007 through 2008
562 West 4th Street • San Bernardino CA 92401 (909) 885-5152 FAX (909) 885-8672

For Immediate Release
Attention: Entertainment Editor
Media Contact: Jesse Dinkel (909) 885-5152

Theatrical Arts International announces it’s new
2007-2008 Season at San Bernardino’s historic
California Theatre of Performing Arts!

Theatrical Arts International has announced it’s line-up for the 2007-2008 season At the California Theatre of Performing Arts, and it will include the hit broadway musical “The Music Man.” The Music Man is the endearing story of traveling salesman, Harold Hill, and his visit to a small Iowa town in 1912 where he meets and falls in love with the willful, spinster librarian, Marian Paroo.

With his fast-talking style, "Professor" Harold Hill convinces the town that unless they adopt his revolutionary music program, "The Think System", the morale of the youngsters of River City will be forever doomed. This all-American family musical is guaranteed to entertain, featuring an entire score of classic hit songs including "Till There was You", "Gary, Indiana", "Lida Rose" and of course, "Seventy-six Trombones". On Broadway it ran for 1,375 performances, starring Barbara Cook and made a star of Robert Preston, THE MUSIC MAN was embraced by theatre audiences of all ages. The Music Man - April 24-27, 2008

The new season will also include the smash hit “Peter Pan,” Wendy Darling mesmerizes her younger brothers with tales of swordplay, swashbuckling and Captain Hook. Come fly away with Peter, Wendy, John and Michael to Never Land for a magical musical adventure with pirates and Indians. It’s a place of vivid imagination where children can still be children. With Peter in the lead, the Darling children will fly right out of their nursery window to the wonder of Never Land, a world filled with high adventure beyond their dreams. There will be Tinker Bell, the entrancing little fairy-sprite who speaks only with blinking lights and tinkling sounds, as well as renegade Indians, the lost boys who are taken under the mothering wing of Wendy, wicked pirates who Peter must battle, and the ticking crocodile who pursues Captain Hook for his other hand. But in the end, as with all great fairytales, good triumphs over evil. Adults are invited to peer into this magical realm too, and reflect on the precious bliss of youthful yesterdays.
Peter Pan - Feb. 17-1, 2008.

Also on the ticket is “The Pirates of Penzance.”, Pirate Rockettes, Keystone cops, a diva disguised as a middle-aged maid, a pas de deux between a waif-like modern-major-general and a virile brigand, and a charmingly brash robber king – Theatrical Arts International is at it again with a mix of daring and devil-may-care abandon in this refreshed version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.

Pirates of Penzance is one of the most celebrated musical operettas of all time. On a rocky seashore on the coast of Cornwall the pirates of Penzance are holding a sherry party to celebrate the apprentice Frederic's promotion to the status of full-blown pirate on the expiry of his indentures. For today is the 29th of February, 1897, and it is his twenty-first birthday. His health is duly drunk, and in a speech of thanks Frederic startles the pirates by telling them of his intention to leave them for good. It seems that he was apprenticed to them in error. Ruth, the pirates' maid-of-all-work, takes up the tale. She tells how, when she was formerly Frederic's nursery-maid, his parents instructed her to have the boy apprenticed to a pilot. Being hard of hearing she misheard, and in error Frederic was apprenticed to a pirate.
The Pirates of Penzance - Mar 27-30, 2008

And last but not least, Come and celebrate the season in style with an all new Christmas extravaganza "Jingle Bell Rock." This production takes all your favorite songs of the season and remixes them with an influence of swing and rock n' roll it’s a concert for the whole family. Jingle Bell Rock is just the show to get you in the mood for the holidays. Jingle Bell Rock - December 20-23, 2007.

Season tickets are on sale now! Call Theatrical Arts International at (909) 885-5152 for more information.

Show schedules.
Jingle Bell Rock - December 20-23, 2007
Peter Pan - Feb. 17-17, 2008
The Pirates of Penzance - Mar 27-30, 2008
The Music Man - April 24-27, 2008

SEASON TICKET PRICES

Thursday - Sunday
Gold Circle $199.00
Orchestra $160.00
Side Orchestra $115.00
Front Balcony$160.00
Rear Balcony $99.00

California Theatre Box Office located at:
562 W. 4th Street • San Bernardino CA 92401
(909) 885-5152