Leave it to Long Beach's Alive Theater group to take two very different types of weekend diversions and crash them together in a single phrase that leaves you totally confused. Now smack-dab in the middle of their second annual Cherry Poppin' Play Festival, this troupe of avant guard thespians from Cal State Long Beach is looking to stimulate every topographical region of your creative pallet. The festival continues this Saturday, Feb. 28 and runs until next Saturday, March 8. There is a total of six plays and nine bands throughout the festival.
The goal is to provide a multi-faceted experience of theater,art and music using their best home-grown talent. The event features two new plays every night with a half-hour of live music and exhibitions by four local artists. This week features music by recent Detroit Bar residents Free Moral Agents .
It's also worth noting that the festival is moving up in the world since it's first year in production at the Garage Theater. This year, they will be holding the event at the Queen Mary's Royal Theater. But despite the best efforts of Alive Theater, it looks like guests are going to have to shell out a royal $12 for parking, unless of course you are a fan of the LB transit system. But hey, great music and live art sure sounds like an attractive way to spend a Saturday night.
And while the Weekly hasn't always been the biggest fans of every production the Alive folks cook up [see Amanda Parson's review of “28 Plays Later”] it's worth noting that these guys have been garnering some buzz in other local publications. And maybe since the festival is focusing on two main plays in one night instead of 28, maybe things will go a lot smoother.
From the looks of this video below, it seems that the “cherry poppin' ” theme involves breaking in a new set of actors and directors as well as a new audience every week. Hopefully it will be a pleasurable first time for both parties involved. For more info on tickets, LOOK HERE!
Check out some Cherry Poppin':
