Solvang has long had a theater downtown. It’s been shuttered, but it’s been there.
Now, it’s reopening, and local theater enthusiasts are excited about the possibilities. The venue will henceforth be known as Manny’s Upstairs Theatre, because of its location above the newly re-opened Manny’s restaurant on Mission Drive. Manny’s owner Fernando Tovalin controls the theater, but doesn’t technically “own” it.
The space will re-open this month with a series of works by famed screenwriter and local resident Gerald DiPego.
The Lakers—Four New Works by Gerald DiPego will debut on March 20 at the theater as a benefit for Arts Outreach, a Santa Ynez Valley organization with which DiPego has taught creative writing, screenwriting, and “a class for movie lovers.” DiPego has said that in much of his work, he shows the struggle humans face between connection and isolation, and this theme carries over to work he’ll present with The Lakers. The show includes several vignettes: Basker Nevins, in which he explores the idea of sitting next to someone on a plane and whether you engage the person or avoid engagement; The Lakers, a one-act play that presents what happens when someone fights with their live-in lover and seeks solace on the couch of a basketball-loving buddy; Kelly Hinks, which asks: What if your life was a movie—literally?; and J.H. Boone, which explores what you will have to say to the world when you’ve lived for a century.
The inaugural presentation will be a staged reading of the four works. DiPego was the screenwriter for such films as Phenomenon, Message in a Bottle, The Forgotten, Instinct, and others. He’ll be joined by actors Jeff McKinnon, Carey McKinnon, Ian Cummings, Robin Burrows, and K.C. Murphy Thompson. DiPego will also take on several roles in the vignettes himself.
Though he’s been a filmmaker for a long time, DiPego said he hasn’t taken many turns in front of the camera—until more recently, when he’s joined his experienced acting ensemble on stage.
“I’ve always been the writer, behind the camera, very shy,” he said. “Now I’m older. It’s freeing, and these guys [the other actors] help me out.”
DiPego said he’s rather liking his new role on center stage. This will be the fifth time his stories have been presented on Santa Ynez Valley stages. His work has also appeared in front of audiences at the Santa Ynez Valley High School Little Theater, Tales from the Tavern, and the Los Olivos Grange. He’s often performed the readings himself.
“Now I have the pleasure of just standing on the stage with just the audience in front of me and nothing, no cameras or directors, in between me and my audience,” DiPego said.
The newly restored theater space has long been coveted by Santa Ynez Valley performing arts groups. It was last open to the public in the early ’90s when an Elvis impersonator performed there nightly. Now that’s it’s re-opened, so have the possibilities for the 100-seat theater.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone likes the Lakers, because cameras at their games tend to cut to Leonardo DiCaprio in the crowd. Send comments to scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2011.
