by RENEE PATRICK Cascade A&E Editor

Local playwright Cricket Daniel will open her third play, Gina Galdi and Guest at 2nd Street Theater on February 17. A regular on the stage until her relatively recent foray into writing, Daniel has always been attracted to the energy, passion and creativity found surrounding life in the theatre world.

Gina Galdi and Guest features Gina, a 34 year old wedding cake designer who is forced to move back home to her parent’s house in order to get her business off the ground. “I see it as a little of Sex in the City, which I miss, with current topic of the day – having to move back in with the parents,” said Daniel.

A play for mature audiences only, her characters meet for drinks and trade stories from childhood, work and…relationships. Daniel likes to create her characters based on people in her life, using names of friends and family members, and always setting her scene on the east coast. “I’ve never lived back east, but my entire family is from there, she commented. “I think in the humor back east, people can get away with saying things they can’t other places.”

2nd Street Theater and Bits & Pieces Custom Framing present the classic rock opera, The Who’s Tommy.  Performances are January 13-28, 2012. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7 pm with two Sunday matinees at 3pm.

After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother’s lover by his father, Tommy is traumatized into catatonia, and as the boy grows, he suffers abuse at the hands of his sadistic relatives and neighbors. As an adolescent, he’s discovered to have an uncanny knack for playing pinball, and when his mother finally breaks through his catatonia, he becomes an international pinball superstar. Peter Townshend’s tale of a young boy’s journey from pain to triumph is the most electrifying evening of rock and roll ever to play in a theater!

This is the first full production by 2nd Street Theater since owner, Maralyn Thoma, stopped doing a full season and began allowing outside production companies to use the facility at the beginning of 2010. There are plans to produce several plays per year, and still keep the facility available for others to use.

Tommy features an all star cast and band, including newcomer, David DaCosta (Captain Walker) who has appeared on stage in Boston in numerous productions, Holly Hamilton (Mrs. Walker), who has appeared in several shows at 2nd Street including I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and The Taffettas, and recently had a local hit, Stuck In The Middle of Bend. Rick Buckley from the local group FunBobby is part of the fabulous live band that will shake 2nd Street Theater on its foundation during the production.

The show is being co-directed by Maralyn Thoma, who appeared in the 1970 production of Tommy in Los Angeles and Sandy Klein (director of Evil Dead the Musical), with musical direction by Stan Roach, vocal direction by Karen Sipes and choreography by Gwendolyn Rasic of Dance Central.

The Who’s Tommy, January 13-28, 2012, Wedn-Sat. 7pm with two Sunday matinees at 3pm. www.2ndstreettheater.com. 541-312-9626 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Innovation Theatre Works presents two classic holiday stories this season running concurrently on its MainStage and in Balcony Café. Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory starring KTVZ’s Bob Shaw will take up residence on the MainStage beginning Friday, December 2 and play Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm.  

Directed by Sandy Silver, this largely autobiographical story written by Truman Capote, which takes place in the 1930s, describes a period in the lives of the seven-year-old narrator and an elderly woman who is his distant cousin and best friend.