Seal Beach Community Performing Arts Association

SBCPAA's annual Shakespeare in the Park has been voted as the Silver Ribbon Winner for "Best Cultural Event" in the Sun Newspapers Best of Seal Beach 2017 Readership Poll! Thanks to you, Seal Beach! We hope to see you all this August at our 4th annual outdoor theater event!

The Friends of Seal Beach Arts, the membership support group of SBCPAA, enjoyed a gala First Annual Membership Luncheon at Old Ranch Country Club, Seal Beach, on November 18, 2016. The luncheon honored Seal Beach Art Patron, Harlene Goodrich, who is the Premier Underwriting Sponsor for the 2016-3017 SBCPAA/Goodrich concert series. For more information on the concert series and how to become a member of the Friends and enjoy membership benefits, including FREE tickets to all the concerts, please go to our website sealbeacharts.org. Your Friends membership will help us continue to bring live performing arts experiences to our Southern California communities. THANK YOU!

Not just for children...the arts teach us all something!

Call for sponsors! Support the performing arts in Seal Beach and receive great benefits. Several levels of sponsorship are available. Contact us today! For more information or to become a sponsor, visit sealbeacharts.org/sponsorship-form or call Esther Kenyon at (562) 429-3992.

Interesting tidbit for you! They found a surprise... "Archaeologists are excavating the remains of the Curtain, a 16th-century playhouse where some of the Bard's plays were first staged."

Have you seen our ad in the Summer 2016 edition of Shoreline magazine? We're proud to present the 3rd annual Shakespeare in the Park event on August 7 in Seal Beach! For more info and sponsorship opportunities, visit sealbeacharts.org or call Esther Kenyon at (562) 429-3992. Hope to see you in the audience!

From The Publisher: Pier challenges are part of our history, today's fire will strengthen our resolve and bind us together. Today a devastating fire destroyed ...the end of the Seal Beach Fishing Pier, and the community is already rallying around a prompt effort to restore this local landmark to its typical glory. There were no fatalities, but one heroic firefighter was treated at a local hospital. The fire today was heartbreaking, but will not break the spirit and love that Seal Beach has for this pier - itself part of our own identity. When first built in 1906, the 1,865 foot pier was the longest pier south of San Francisco. It was the center of the "Jewel City" amusement resort and was one of the many pleasure piers in southern California. Attractions included a roller coaster and fifty huge lamps which projected changing rainbows of light onto the water for nighttime bathing. Memorial bronze plaques near the entrance of the pier give testament of the pier's history and resiliency. One says, Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, 1938, Project No. Calif. 1723-F. It represents a rebuilding that occurred because of damage by the 1935 storms and accompanying wave damage. Just a year later, in 1939, a hurricane ripped the pier in half. Again, it was soon repaired, at a cost of $110,000. The huge storms of 1983 that destroyed so many California piers also destroyed ours. Several sections of the pier were torn away and many questioned if the pier would ever be rebuilt. "Save Our Pier" group formed and the members raised money from both private and public sponsors and got their pier rebuilt, at a cost of $2.3 million. Today, plaques honoring Emily Frazier, Daisy Funk and Joyce Risner, who co-founded the group, as well as various other individuals, businesses and groups that contributed time and money to the effort, are visible on the pier. Since then a number of additional incidents have closed the pier. On May 15, 1992, an electrical fire started in the center lifeguard tower caused major damage to the pier. Next, just a few months later, the Lander's earthquake cracked some of the pier's support pilings. On May 21, 1994, a natural gas line under the pier was ignited by falling barbecue coals. The blaze blocked the mid-pier section and trapped about 150 people out at the end of the pier, all departed the pier safely, but the pier again was closed for repairs for months. It closed again in May of 1994 for repairs caused by the earlier fires and earthquakes. Further damage occurred in 2014 during hurricane force storms. And today, Seal Beach again faces the challenges of possessing a landmark public attraction that extends into the unforgivable ocean, more than a quarter-mile from dry land. We will overcome and recover from the shock and devastation of the pier fire today, and once again our pier will be the focal point of our community for the full use and enjoyment of residents and visitors. - Vince Bodiford, publisher #SealBeach #SealBeachPier #OldTownSealBeach

Can't wait for our free Shakespeare in the Park production of Othello this summer? Hold yourself over with this Shakespeare Aloud performance on Saturday, May 21 at the University Art Museum CSULB at California State University, Long Beach.

This is no April Fool's! The arts improve academic performance. "Students with an education rich in the arts have higher GPAs and standardized test scores, and lower drop-out rates....benefits reaped by students regardless of socio-economic status. Students with 4 years of arts or music in high school average 100 points better on their SAT scores than students with just one-half year of arts or music." This and more in our latest newsletter: http://goo.gl/lNnzwR

Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. - Othello