On June 16, Kathy Brombacher will be handed the keys for the newly renovated stage house at Vista's Moonlight Amphitheatre.
The razing of the old amphitheater and the construction of a massive, high-tech stage house and surrounding areas were completed in just 10 months. Ten months -- and 25 years, that is.
Brombacher, Moonlight's producing artistic director, has been trying to get a modern stage house (complete with fly loft, electronic rigging and actors' dressing rooms) built since the early '80s, so the significance of those keys is palpable.
"It's beyond my dreams," Brombacher said, while giving a hard-hat tour last week of the new theater, which was abuzz with construction workers rushing to meet their deadline. "We really decided to build things right, to create a legacy and allow Moonlight grow in its programming."
But before the curtain goes up on the new theater, Moonlight will pay tribute to itself this weekend with a pair of benefit concerts that will honor the theater's 29-year history and help raise money for lighting and sound equipment to be installed at the amphitheater before the company's summer season opens in six weeks.
"Moonlight Memories," being presented at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Vista's Avo Playhouse, is a 90-minute musical tribute to shows from past seasons featuring actors who have graced the theater's stage over the years.
"Moonlight Memories" will be hosted by Randall Hickman and Douglas Davis, who have appeared in numerous Moonlight shows over the years and who own their own Vista theater company. Hickman said he's honored to have the opportunity to thank the theater that served as their artistic home throughout the 1990s.
"I would do anything for Kathy Brombacher and the Moonlight," Hickman said. "Everything Doug and I have today is a result of Kathy and Moonlight. There is such a sense of a theater family here in Vista, and Kathy was so supportive of our efforts to perform at the Moonlight and start our own theater company. We were very happy to help out on this when we were asked."
Joining Hickman and Davis will be adult and youth actors who have appeared in Moonlight shows from the 1980s forward. They include Richard and Sarah Bermudez, who co-starred in last season's blockbuster "Les Miserables," singing a duet from "Oklahoma" (staged at the Moonlight in 1982 and 1996); Kim Neblett performing a number from "Camelot" (1982, 1989); "Gypsy" star Gail Beall, singing a song from "42nd Street" (1990, 1997 and this summer); John Nettles singing from "Barnum" (1997); veteran character actor Ralph Johnson singing from "Man of La Mancha" (1997); and many others singing from "Oliver!," "The Wizard of Oz," "Mame," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Dreamgirls," "Chess" and "Honk" (a favorite of Moonlight's Encore Youth Theatre).
"Moonlight Memories" will be presented twice on Saturday. The evening performance will include a reception hosted by Moonlight's Angels Auxiliary. Moonlight Cultural Foundation executive director Diana Slaughter Aron said she's hoping the audience supports the event as enthusiastically as the artists who are volunteering their time onstage.
"When we decided to celebrate the history of the theater and sent out a call for actors, we were overwhelmed with the response we got," said Aron, who is organizing the event with longtime Moonlight costume designer Roslyn Lehman. "Everybody wanted to be involved because they have a passion and love for the Moonlight."
While most of the Moonlight reconstruction project has been paid for through a taxpayer-sponsored city sales tax increase and city recreation funds, money is still needed to pay for the sound and lighting equipment.
"Our capital campaign is for $675,000, and so far we've raised $425,000," Aron said. "We're looking to get the rest done soon. We ask people to buy tickets and bring their checkbooks on Saturday. Every dollar makes a difference."
Brombacher will share some stories about Moonlight's history at the Saturday performances. She said she can't wait to show Vistans what their tax dollars have paid for. The new theater will open on time and on budget, Brombacher said, thanks to the tireless supervision of city project manager Marie Ertel.
The new theater is a sight to behold, rising above the treetops in Vista's Brengle Terrace Park. The 12,000-square-foot structure has a 60-vertical-foot flyloft, automated rigging, men's and women's dressing rooms, rehearsal and storage rooms, a costume conveyor (a space-saving rotating storage rack similar to those at the dry cleaner's), a 9-foot-deep orchestra pit, a laundry room (so the costume staff doesn't have to take costumes home for washing each night), and an overhead sound/lighting canopy that extends over the first five rows of the audience seating area.
Other improvements are a new south entrance and box office, additional restrooms and twice as many picnic tables. The once-steep and narrow ramps in the seating area have been replaced with wide, easy-to-navigate steps. And the once-concave upper lawn has been re-landscaped and raised 12 feet in the center to offer better views.
The new stage also has what Ertel calls a "megadoor" that will allow the stagehouse to be sealed and turned into a black-box (multipurpose) space which Brombacher said can be used in the offseason for plays, cabaret shows and concerts.
Brombacher said she intentionally chose this season's three shows (reduced from the usual four to allow ample time for construction) to show off the new theater's features. "42nd Street" (running July 15-Aug. 1) will showcase the new stage, and it's a classic theater tale about putting on a show. "Phantom," the Yeston/Kopit musical about the Phantom of the Opera running Aug. 12-29, will show off the new scenery fly system (that allows sets to be dropped in from above rather than pushed on and off by hand from the wings). And the rarely produced season-closer "Cats" (Sept. 9-26) will bring in new audiences, much as "Les Miserables" did last summer.
Ticket prices have gone up this year, with three-show season tickets priced from $62 for lawn seats to $102 for the best orchestra weekend seats. Single tickets for each show range from $22 for lawn seats to $44 for adult orchestra seats.
The price hike hasn't stopped ticket-buyers, though. Ticket sales are at an all-time high, thanks in part to last summer's "Les Mis," which brought in many theatergoers new to the Moonlight (and who have since bought subscriptions).
Single tickets went on sale Saturday and orchestra seats for many performances are already selling out. Fortunately, this season a third week of performances has been added to each run, so plenty of seats are still available for shows during the added weeks.
Brombacher said that seeing the new Moonlight rise over the past winter has been thrilling and gratifying.
"When we started talking about this in the '80s, I said I wanted a roof, maybe something nice with a flyloft and some dressing rooms. I never imagined something like this," she said. "I'm so grateful to the people of Vista for having the vision and dedication to do this."
"Moonlight Memories"
When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Avo Playhouse, 303 Main St., Vista
Tickets: $20 for matinee; $35 for evening show (includes hosted reception)
Phone: 760-724-2110
Web: moonlightstage.com
