TREASURE ISLAND opens today!

Ye be warned.

(...and go to www.piratesofthecapitalcity.com for some pirate fun.)

The show runs through November 2nd.

Dinner and a Show Plans?

STC is making dinner plans before the show a lot easier with our new online restaurant guide, STCdine.com. We've partnered with a number of downtown restaurants to provide detailed information (including a featured restaurant for each of this season's productions) along with a discount package that's pretty hard to beat!

WIN A NEW HOME FOR $100!!!

Find out how HERE...

STC is raffling off a 3-bedroom riverfront condo at the new Regatta at the Rivers development in West Sacramento. Tickets are only $100 and we're only selling 5000 of them--that means you're odds of winning a NEW HOME are better than your odds of cutting yourself shaving!

Check out the news on this exciting fundraiser for STC in Bob Shallit's column in the SacBee and on KCRA3 over the weekend.

STC Wins Arts & Business Award

STC picked up the "Best Arts/Business Partnership" award from the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento at the annual Prelude to the Season event last Thursday. The award, which goes to the best collaboration between a local business and a non-profit arts organiztion, was given to the Firehouse Ball in recognition of the relationship between STC, the Firehouse Restaurant and the Harvego Family Foundation.

We're very proud of this award and even prouder of the event itself, which raised a record amount for STC last June. Look for a save-the-date notice after the first of the year for the 9th annual Firehouse Ball!

Cowtown Marathon

I ran the half-marathon in the annual Cowtown Marathon yesterday, and the morning after 13.1 miles I can honestly say I know more kinds of pain than Eskimos have words for "snow."

STC-2 Ambassadors Wow The Crowd at Perspectives 2008

One of the premiere events in Sacramento is "Perspectives," an annual gathering featuring some of the top speakers and personalities in the country sponsored by the Metro Chamber. This year, the featured presenters were Karl Rove, Deepak Chopra, comedian Frank Caliendo, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and political columnists Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas.

Our new STC-2 Ambassadors opened the event with an energetic medley of patriotic songs that brought the crowd of over 3,000 to their feet--here's the photo at left:

TREASURE ISLAND Fight Rehearsal

It Be The Internation'l Pirate Holiday Today, Savvy?

'Cause it be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! So, hoist up yer mizzenmast, shout to our box office that ye be wantin' tickets to our seafarin' adventure, TREASURE ISLAND.

(This be a blatant plug, a'course. Arrrrrrrrr...)

4 Stars for TEN PM DREAM from SN&R

Another terrific review for TEN PM DREAM from Patti Roberts at Sacramento News & Review HERE (and I'm glad she pointed out our sparse audiences--this show is a departure from our regular programming and really should be seen by our patrons.)

3 1/2 Stars For TEN PM DREAM

Jim Carnes from the Sacramento Bee gave STC's production of TEN PM DREAM a 3 1/2 star review--it's a well-written analysis of this fascinating combination of dance, music, and theatre.

Check it out HERE...and don't miss it! Performances end Sunday, September 21st.

New Website For TREASURE ISLAND

STC is stepping up its online presence! Check out the new website, PiratesoftheCapitalCity.com! It's the official website for the opening production of our 2008-09 Mainstage season, Treasure Island.

Lots of cool features, including a downloadable version of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, a cool pirate game and a link to find out your personal pirate name (I urge you to play "Pirates"--my son, Drew, is hooked. If you'll pardon the pun. :-)

CMA Registration Begins Today

Registration for the 2009 Capital Music Awards auditions begins today! The CMA's are a vocal competition for local high school students (like a cross between American Idol and High School Musical.) Last year over 500 talented teenagers tried out for the chance to win a $5000 college scholarship--and this year, we expect an even bigger turnout.

Go to http://www.capitalmusicawards.com/, check out the new web site and sign up for our social pages on MySpace, Facebook and Ning. Auditions will be held October 18 & 19. For details, go to the website.

The Closest I'll Ever Come To A Gold Medal

Gabe Gardiner, member of the U.S men's volleyball team that won the gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Very cool--especially the white jade in the middle of the medal!

More A&BC Nominations

The official list of finalists for the annual Prelude to the Season event for the Arts and Business Council have been announced and several members of our STC family have been honored:
Peggy Shannon, STC's artistic director--Artist of the Year
Dan Brunner, past president, STC Board of Trustees--Volunteer of the Year
Marcy Goodnow, STC staff choreographer--Arts Educator of the Year

Congratulations to these exceptional people! We're proud, naturally.

SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE TODAY!

STC's 2008-2009 season is ready to begin--don't miss Treasure Island, Noises Off, and our most popular production ever, Cinderella! Call the STC box office at 916-443-6722 or toll free 888-4-STC-TIX for information or go to Tickets.com.

STC Nominated for Arts & Business Award

Just got the word from the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento that STC and the Firehouse Restaurant have been nominated for the 2008 Prelude to the Season Awards in the category of "Arts/Business Partnership." It's a nice nod to our annual Firehouse Ball which raised a record $188,000 this past June in its 8th year as our major fundraiser.

Lloyd Harvego, owner of the Firehouse Restaurant, has been a terrific partner through the years and deserves all the credit for making this event the most unique (and delicious!) fundraiser in Sacramento. Prelude to the Season takes place Thursday, October 2nd at the Doubletree Inn.

Race For The Arts

STC competed in yesterday's Race For The Arts--it's a 5K along the riverfront in West Sac that benefits Sacramento's arts community. Fun day, hot day, great day to celebrate all the talent we have in this region.

When I say that we "competed," what I really meant to say is that we tried running in the 90-degree heat and managed to jog impressively. Michele Hillen-Noufer, director of STC-2's Young Professionals Conservatory, ran the course in 30:22, while I struggled to finish in 32:28 (I justify trailing Michele by 2 minutes to the fact that she's run a number of New York City Marathons, she's 16 years younger and looks much better in running clothes. On the other hand, she gave birth to twins 10 months ago, so I really don't have any excuse.)

Thanks to everyone who pledged! Every penny goes to support STC, so if you want to donate, there's still time--just click HERE for more information.

Back on the Blog!

After a challenging number of weeks trying to recover from a hacker attack to our blogsite, STANDING OH'S is back! Thanks for your patience during this time.

There were so many thing we wanted to tell you during that time--unfortunately, my IT abilities are limited and after spending too much time trying to fix the old blog, it was time to simply start a new one. We hope you like the format--and although I couldn't recover the old posts, I did manage to hang on to our banner.

I'll be letting you know about rehearsals, auditions, special events, and all the behind-the scenes activity that makes STC the place to be this season!