Woodminster Summer Musicals Announces 2004 Summer Season

by Bill Atkinson

The Woodminster Summer Musicals are performed under the stars at Woodminster Amphitheater, an open-air performance facility in Joaquin Miller Park high in the Oakland Hills. The park's spectacular views and serene woodsy environment make it the perfect setting for the amphitheater, cascades, reflecting pool, and paths originally built as a WPA project in 1939-40. For many East Bay families, it is a long-standing summer tradition to enjoy a picnic in the park and then see a musical at Woodminster. The 2004 season opens with Annie, which runs from July 9 to 18. The play is based on Harold Gray's "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip about a spunky Depression-era orphan in search of a family, and recreates the emerging optimism of FDR's New Deal America in song and dance. Second on the schedule is The Will Rogers Follies, which will run from August 6 to 15. It originally opened in 1990 on Broadway and won six Tony Awards, three Drama Desk Awards, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. Closing the 38th season will be Flower Drum Song, which will run from September 3 to 12. Woodminster will be performing David Henry Hwang's 2002 adaptation of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic. Each show plays for two weekends, Friday through Sunday and then Thursday through Sunday the following week. All performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $19-$31, with discounts for groups, seniors, and those aged 16 and under. Season tickets are also available and provide a significant discount for people who wish to see all three shows. Woodminster also has a "Kids Come Free" program, now in its 16th year, where a child 16 or younger can attend free accompanied by a paying adult. For information about tickets, call 531-9597, or visit www.woodminster.com.