Another success! On the heels of two well-attended and highly acclaimed performances of “Who Put the ‘Bad’ In Carlsbad?” we were honored with one of Carlsbad’s Community Activity Grants.
At their Tuesday, March 13 meeting the City Council voted to approve their recommended list of grant applicants and that meant our request was honored!
In our application we expressed our intent to create an enduring “Winter Classic” event that would enrich our community by:
Honoring Carlsbad’s multi-cultural heritage and increasing its civic pride
Showcasing Carlsbad’s outstanding theatre community
Promoting tourism and our international connections
Our February and March productions appear to have nicely furthered those goals and guess what; we’re just getting started!
With this grant and the donations received from our new members we will be compiling a schedule of events with an international focus.
Stay tuned!
If you joined and gave us your e-mail address you will be among the first to know and will receive priority to participate before the general public has access.
It pays to be a member. If you want to be included in this lucky group of international bon vivants, just click on the Join Us tab and send us the CSCA Enrollment Form.
Click here to view a list of wishes submitted by our guests who attended the 'Who Put the Bad in Carlsbad?' performances on February 19 and March 11, 2011.
Meet our cast below and then click here to see them in the play and at rehearsal:
Tom Hersant (Oz)Tom Began acting in college as Dr. Chumly in Harvey and has performed with the Carlsbad Playreaders and Village Church Community Theatre including The Robe (Pontius Pilate and Caligula). He is President of Carlsbad Sister Citiy Ambassadors.
Malinda Whitelaw (Director)is an experienced director, opera singer and voice coach, having worked with Beverly Sills at Wolf Trap. As a founder of The Gallery Players in Burlington, North Carolina, she has worked in all aspects of community theatre including producing, directing, acting, set design, fundraising, and management. Bringing performance arts to the community is her passion. She is an active member of Aviara Women's Club and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Carlsbad Friends of the Arts and teaches piano at her Vista studio (760-598-0239).
Justin Feinman (Captain Jack) is a senior at Carlsbad High School, a member of their Advanced Theatre Program and President of the Drama Club. He recently appeared in Major Barbara and David and Lisa.
Mackenzie Herr (Dorothy)is 14 and has already lit up the stage in numerous North County productions including Shakespeare's Sonnet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Annie, and Beauty and the Beast.
Morris Pike (Long John Silver)is famous in North County as the irascible and lovable pirate Captain Book who appears at libraries, hospitals, and classrooms inspiring children to read. To date he has given away over 54,000 free books to children who otherwise wouldn't have them. The recipient of many service awards and honors, he champions the Treasure Chest Literacy Program and steers his Good Ship Literacy to agencies and schools throughout the county.
Laura Case (Queen of Hearts)is on the Board of Directors of the Carlsbad Community Theatre and recently appeared as Aunt Em/Evillene in CCT's production of The Wiz. Credits as an actor and musical director include: West Side Story, Sound of Music, Dear World, Godspell, Shenandoah and Finian's Rainbow.
Carolyn Funes (Witch 1)is an ongoing performer at the Carlsbad Senior Center's Readers. Her credits include Around the World in 80 Days, Our Town, and Lysistrata.
Joanna Swasey (Witch 2/Crow)began acting in high school and jumped into musicals when she joined the Bluth Bros. Productions in Santa Monica. Her acting credits include Damn Yankees, Once Upon a Mattress, Circus Daze and Fiddler on the Roof.
Janel DeGuzman (Witch 3/Evil Queen)has appeared at Moonlight, Star Theatre, Sledgehammer, North Coast Rep, and San Diego Rep. Her credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titus Andronicus, Romeo & Juliet, Seven Crimes, Room Service, The Bungler, and Earthquake Sun.
Anthony Reynoso (Dracula)has starred in Pirandello's Wife, I Remember Mama, and The Good Doctor and was previously nominated for an Aubrey Award. He quit community theatre when he became a father, but now the kids are older, he has jumped back in.
Jolene Saiyad (Snow White)The talented Jolene Saiyad has appeared on stage and in film. She has studied method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Theatre, Dance and Performing Studies.
Joanne Brouk (Producer/Playwright)has written and produced programs for theatre, museums, radio, symphony, and Internet, with awards and grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, California Historical Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, Hearst Foundation, Microquest, and California Arts Council. She serves on the Board of Directors of Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors and is a member of Aviara Women's Club. She lives in Carlsbad and wrote this play as a love letter to her favorite city
We provided tastes of the traditional Karlovy Vary oplatky (Oblaten in German) spa wafers at the play. They have been an European tradition since 1640 . . . but ours will be fresh! A limited number of packages well be available for sale
on this website . . . Stay tuned.
Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors feeds and cares for the two sister city relationships of the City of Carlsbad; Futtsu, Japan and Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.
Our mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, cooperation and cultural exchanges. Increasing our community's interest in international cultural exposure can be done, we feel, through tasty and tempting tours.
Our County gets more World Beer Cup awards than any country outside the USA. Hence, a beer focus here and abroad. We will be hosting beer tours here in San Diego county in the not too distant future. It won't be any fancy-schmancy stuff, more of a Joe Six-Pack style where we zip-about tasting the fare of ALL the micro-breweries in our fair county…over 47 of them, last count.
And we have been pondering a visit to the Czech home of pilsner beer (they did it first back in 1842) where we'll create a delicious concoction of pubs and spas. (No, not the notorious "beer baths" one gets at some European soccer games. We're talking' a trip where travelers can get multiple spa treatments and visit multiple breweries and pubs. That's what we're talking' about!) . . . Stay tuned."
Tom and Harriet visited Futtsu! In October, 2011 Tom, Tonya and Harriet met with the Mayor of Futtsu along with Mayaku, Tomiko san, and Wakanabe san along with members of Futtsu International Relations Asssociation and the Futtsu city council. Tom and Harriet presented a signed print of a local artist's painting of our flower fields. Read Tom's travel notes.
This a view from their hotel room in Futtsu. See their itinerary here and Tom's remarks regarding their visit, 10/17/11 - 10/28/11.
Our Treasurer Kim returned from Karlovy Vary and provided us with a slide show of the Girl Scout visit as our Junior Ambassadors. In addition The North County Times wrote a nice story about their visit.
Click here to see a slideshow of Tom's 2011 trip to Karlovy Vary. Click here tto read Tom's travelogue from that trip which commemorated the 20th Anniversary of our sister city affiliation.
20 Anniversary Commemoration
In 1991 Karlovy Vary of the Czech Republic asked Carlsbad of California (to be distinguished from that one without a beach located in New Mexico) to "expand our historical connection" and become sister cities. Our then Mayor, Bud Lewis, and the City Council happily agreed.
2011 marked the 20th Anniversary and our then new Mayor, Matt Hall and Council members informed CSCA that they were unfortunately unable to travel to Karlovy Vary to partake in the celebration. CSCA President Tom Hersant attended the three-day event which began on May 6 and presented Karlovy Vary's then newly elected Lord Mayor, Petr Kulhanek, with some tokens of Carlsbad's appreciation for our long and valued association with his historic city.
We provided tastes of the traditional Karlovy Vary oplatky (Oblaten in German) spa wafers at the play. They have been an European tradition since 1640 . . . but ours will be fresh! A limited number of packages well be available for sale
European Brewery & Pub Tour 2012 - Survey
Tom and Harriet visited Futtsu! In October, 2011 Tom, Tonya and Harriet met with the Mayor of Futtsu along with Mayaku, Tomiko san, and Wakanabe san along with members of Futtsu International Relations Asssociation and the Futtsu city council. Tom and Harriet presented a signed print of a local artist's painting of our flower fields. Read Tom's travel notes. 
This a view from their hotel room in Futtsu. See their itinerary here and Tom's remarks regarding their visit, 10/17/11 - 10/28/11.