FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 30, 2009

City of Rancho Cucamonga, California – The City of Rancho Cucamonga’s professional musical theatre company, will hold two days of auditions to cast its March 2010 production of Rent. Auditions will be held on Monday, December 7th in Los Angeles (principals only) and on Monday, December 14th in Rancho Cucamonga (principals and ensemble). All those interested are required to submit their headshots and resumes electronically via actors access submission service at www.actorsaccess.com. Actors will receive a confirmation of appointment time if invited to audition.

There will also be an open call audition at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center located at 12505 Cultural Center Drive in Rancho Cucamonga on Monday, December 14th from 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. There is no advance appointment required for these open call auditions. All those wishing to audition should come prepared with photo and resume and be prepared to sing 16 bars of a song from the show and 16 bars of a pop rock.

Jonathan Larson’s Groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical reinvented musical theatre when it debuted in 1996. An inspiring story about friends and artists struggling in New York City’s East Village, Renttackles addiction, poverty, AIDS and most of all, love. Rent transformed how a generation feels about musicals, changed Broadway forever and inspired a major motion picture.

The Broadway at the Gardens production of Rent will be directed by Ron Kellum who was seen on Broadway and in national Broadway touring productions of Chicago, Dreamgirls, Fosse, Joseph, Aida, Smokey Joe’s Café and Beauty and the Beast in addition to directing musical productions throughout the U.S. and choreographing for film and television including the upcoming feature, Ironman 2. He will be joined by Co-director Courtney Corey who appeared as Maureen in the first Broadway national tour of Rent and who most recently appeared several times as Elphaba in the Los Angeles and Chicago productions of the smash hit musical Wicked. Musical Director is David Lamoureux who has conducted and directed many local productions, has recorded and toured extensively as a musician with artists ranging from Gwen Stefani and Augustana to Liz Callaway and Sandy Duncan, and was a driving force behind last year’s inaugural Broadway at the Gardens production of Sweeney Todd.

Ron Kellum will also be hosting a Musical Theatre Workshop in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, December 12th from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. for $35 per person, with additional 10-minute private coaching sessions available for workshop participants for an additional fee of $10. For details on this workshop, please call the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center at (909) 477-2775.

Performances of Rent will be March 5th-14th, 2010. Tickets are $33.50 and are currently on sale at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center Box Office located at 12505 Cultural Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga or online at www.lewisfamilyplayhouse.com.

An intimate, 536-seat venue, the Lewis Family Playhouse is the crown jewel of the three-acre, 89,000-square foot Victoria Gardens Cultural Center. The complex at 12505 Cultural Center Drive is conveniently located off the I-15 at Foothill Boulevard, as a major anchor of Victoria Gardens. The Box Office is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 6:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with free parking available.

For More Information - For additional information, please call the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office at (909) 477-2752 or visit www.lewisfamilyplayhouse.com.

Help the Rancho Cucamonga Hearts for Arts initiative!  Donate all holiday season leading up to Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day you’ll be able to show your love this February.  Hearts for Arts is a month long celebration of Rancho Cucamonga’s love for the performing arts highlighted by two special events.

Hearts for Arts will kick off on February 6th with Southern California’s favorite weatherman, Fritz Coleman, performing his stand up comedy routine on the Lewis Family Playhouse stage.  Tonight at 11! Tickets are priced at $26.500, meet and greet dessert reception tickets are available for an additional $20.00.

All month long, there will be individual donation opportunities at Lewis Family Playhouse performances and you can always support the arts online with a donation through the Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation through the City of Rancho Cucamonga’s RCpark.com website.

On Saturday, February 20th the Ontario Reign will host a Rancho Cucamonga Community Night benefiting Hearts for Arts, donating at least $1 to the cause from every ticket sold.  The Los Angeles Kings affiliate team will provide visitors to Citizens Business Bank Arena with an exciting night of professional hockey!  Tickets to the Ontario Reign February 20th game are on sale at the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office (purchase tickets at the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office and save the $3 Arena facility fee) – game tickets are $12 each.  Call or stop by today:  (909) 477-2752 or 12505 Cultural Center Drive at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 3, 2009

Rancho Cucamonga, California – The City of Rancho Cucamonga Community Services Department’s Link Program is a program for homebound seniors who reside in Rancho Cucamonga and are no longer able to leave their homes to participate in daily activities without the assistance of others. Link participants do not have nearby family or other social connections that could otherwise assist.

The program’s seventy-seven volunteers make weekly telephone calls to the 270 seniors currently participating in the program to ensure that they are doing well. City staff work closely with Link volunteers to lend support or assistance whenever necessary. In addition to making telephone calls, volunteers also work to ensure that the homebound seniors are remembered on special occasions.  Holidays are an especially important time for the Link program.

Thanks to generous donations from the community the program is able to send out 750 gift bags to the homebound seniors in the program as well as to low income seniors who would not otherwise receive anything for the season. The numerous thank you cards and letters of appreciation Link receives from its program recipients reinforces these efforts.

For More Information - For additional information about the Link Program, to make a donation or to become a volunteer, please contact Recreation Leader Jane Penny at (909) 477-2780, extension 8009 or visit www.RCpark.com.

Help the Rancho Cucamonga Hearts for Arts initiative!  Donate all holiday season leading up to Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day you’ll be able to show your love this February.  Hearts for Arts is a month long celebration of Rancho Cucamonga’s love for the performing arts highlighted by two special events.

Hearts for Arts will kick off on February 6th with Southern California’s favorite weatherman, Fritz Coleman, performing his stand up comedy routine on the Lewis Family Playhouse stage.  Tonight at 11! Tickets are priced at $26.500, meet and greet dessert reception tickets are available for an additional $20.00.

All month long, there will be individual donation opportunities at Lewis Family Playhouse performances and you can always support the arts online with a donation through the Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation through the City of Rancho Cucamonga’s RCpark.com website.

On Saturday, February 20th the Ontario Reign will host a Rancho Cucamonga Community Night benefiting Hearts for Arts, donating at least $1 to the cause from every ticket sold.  The Los Angeles Kings affiliate team will provide visitors to Citizens Business Bank Arena with an exciting night of professional hockey!  Tickets to the Ontario Reign February 20th game are on sale at the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office (purchase tickets at the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office and save the $3 Arena facility fee) – game tickets are $12 each.  Call or stop by today:  (909) 477-2752 or 12505 Cultural Center Drive at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center.

A recent clarification from a state tax agency could be a significant boon for the arts in the state. California Arts License Plate fees are charitable deductions to the State of California for tax purposes, according to the Franchise Tax Board. The clarification comes just in time for the holidays and end-of-year charitable planning and serves as a platform to launch a goal of affixing one million new arts plates to California cars.

Whether the additional fees Californians voluntarily pay for Arts Plates were considered a charitable contribution to the State of California was in question for years.

The recent clarification is especially helpful for businesses and residents looking to support arts statewide. Sales and renewals of the Arts Plate account for over 60 percent of the California Arts Council’s budget. Currently the state’s per capita investment in the arts is around 10 cents per person even with the Arts Plate funds, putting California in last place compared to other states in the nation.

“It’s a crucial time for the arts in California,” said Malissa Feruzzi Shriver, Chair of the California Arts Council. “Our economy relies on creative minds, artistic organizations and innovative workers, yet our per capita state investment in the arts is the lowest in the nation. Individuals and businesses can help change that by buying Arts Plates, especially for the upcoming holidays and as part of end-of-year charitable donations.”

“One million cars with California Arts Plates would mean close to $40 million for the arts,” continued Feruzzi Shriver. “That would put California near the top in arts funding rather than dead last.”

The California Arts Council is the state agency that advances California through the arts and creativity, and the agency’s programs emphasize arts for children and communities. The Arts Plate, designed by California artist Wayne Thiebaud, first hit the roadways in 1994. Since then sales and renewals of the plate have provided over $20 million for the arts in California. Fees for sales and renewals of the Arts Plate go directly into the Arts Plate Fund, minus the Department of Motor Vehicles’ cost to fabricate and administer the plate.

For more information about the California Arts License Plate, contact the California Arts Council’s communication director Mary Beth Barber at (916) 322-6588, (916) 835-5580 (cell) or mbarber@cac.ca.gov.

Help the Rancho Cucamonga Hearts for Arts initiative!  Donate all holiday season leading up to Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day you’ll be able to show your love this February.  Hearts for Arts is a month long celebration of Rancho Cucamonga’s love for the performing arts highlighted by two special events.

Hearts for Arts will kick off on February 6th with Southern California’s favorite weatherman, Fritz Coleman, performing his stand up comedy routine on the Lewis Family Playhouse stage.  Tonight at 11! Tickets are priced at $26.500, meet and greet dessert reception tickets are available for an additional $20.00.

All month long, there will be individual donation opportunities at Lewis Family Playhouse performances and you can always support the arts online with a donation through the Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation through the City of Rancho Cucamonga’s RCpark.com website.

On Saturday, February 20th the Ontario Reign will host a Rancho Cucamonga Community Night benefiting Hearts for Arts, donating at least $1 to the cause from every ticket sold.  The Los Angeles Kings affiliate team will provide visitors to Citizens Business Bank Arena with an exciting night of professional hockey!  Tickets to the Ontario Reign February 20th game are on sale at the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office (purchase tickets at the Lewis Family Playhouse Box Office and save the $3 Arena facility fee) – game tickets are $12 each.  Call or stop by today:  (909) 477-2752 or 12505 Cultural Center Drive at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center.