Coastal theater troupes have announced a cornucopia of creative projects for the year ahead.
The Coaster Theatre Playhouse in Cannon Beach and the Ten Fifteen Theater in Astoria each have multiple mainstage productions planned in 2024.
A variety of shows are planned in Nehalem and Tillamook. On the Long Beach Peninsula, one of two groups has unveiled details of its planned musical.
The Ten Fifteen Theater, Astoria
Six shows are planned at this Astoria venue, which has announced its upcoming season with the theme “growing pains.”
Danyelle Tinker, executive artistic director, said the third season will feature “stories of growth, transformation, overcoming challenges and achievements.”
The season opens with a romantic comedy, “Shooting Star,” by Steven Dietz. It opens Feb. 2, 2024, for a three-weekend run and highlights two former lovers who reflect on their life paths when reunited at a snowed-in airport.
“The Rise and Fall of Little Voice,” by British dramatist Jim Cartwright, will be performed from March 29 to April 13, 2024. The play, about a seedy agent’s interest in a talented young singer who lives with an alcoholic mother, has played on Broadway.
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear” by Lauren Gunderson, will play next from May 31 to June 15, 2024. It is a dark revenge comedy about a woman who enlists unusual helpers to get back at her husband. Gunderson, a San Francisco playwriting teacher, is known for supporting domestic violence awareness efforts.
“Simple Salmon,” the theater’s annual sketch show, will return from July 26 to Aug. 10, 2024.
“The Woman in Black,” by Stephen Mallatratt, follows from Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, 2024. It is a small-cast drama, first produced in 1987, that features an attorney who enlists an actor while seeking to solve the puzzle of the mysterious death of an elderly recluse.
The season concludes with Ginna Hoben’s “Decked!” from Dec. 6 to Dec. 21, 2024.
This all-female show focuses on two sisters in a troubled family transported to another dimension to review past choices and future options in the style of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol.”
Hoben also wrote “The 12 Dates of Christmas,” a one-woman show that concluded the troupe’s 2022 season.
Coaster Theatre Playhouse, Cannon Beach
This group is planning six shows, a season publicist Jenni Tronier described as “a mathematical drama, delightful mystery, a romantic commute, singing nuns, a nonstop whodunit and a white Christmas.”
The season kicks off with “Proof,” a 2000 drama about the grown daughter of a mathematician coping with controversy after his death. It opens on Jan. 26, 2024, and runs through Feb. 18.
“Death By Design,” a play by modern author Rob Urbinati, said to combine the styles of Noel Coward and Agatha Christie, opens March 15, 2024.
The Coaster Theatre Playhouse has announced six plays for its 2024 season.
“2 Across,” a play about a romantic encounter between a man and a woman on a public transportation system in which crosswords are a metaphor for life opens May 9, 2024.
“Meshuggah-Nuns,” the fourth sequel to the comedy musical “Nunsense,” will be performed from June 28 to Sept. 1, 2024.
“The Game’s Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays),” about a 1930s actor called to solve a mystery in an isolated castle, plays Sept. 27 to Oct. 26, 2024. The season concludes with Irvin Berlin’s classic musical “White Christmas” from Nov. 22 to Dec. 22, 2024.
North County Recreation District Performing Arts Center, Nehalem
This theater, owned by the North County Recreation District, hosts shows staged by the Riverbend Players. The group has announced four productions for next year’s season.
“Agnes of God” was staged by the Riverbend Players in August. The group has announced four upcoming plays.
“Crimes of the Heart,” a 1981 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about Southern sisters in a dysfunctional family, kicks off the season on March 1, 2024.
The backstage comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong” is planned for May 31, 2024, and “The Girl on the Train,” a mystery, will open Sept. 6, 2024.
The season concludes with a version of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” staged in the style of a live 1940s radio play, opening Dec. 6, 2024.
Tillamook Association for the Performing Arts, Tillamook
The Tillamook Association for the Performing Arts plans three productions at its theater in the former Barn Tavern.
Frederick Knotts’ mystery “Dial M For Murder” will open Feb. 2, 2024, a comedy called “Four Old Broads on the High Seas” begins June 14, 2024, and Edward Albee’s Tony Award-winning 1962 drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” will open Sept. 20, 2024.
Peninsula Association of Performing Artists, Chinook
The Peninsula Association of Performing Artists, which stages musicals at the Fort Columbia Theater in Chinook, Washington, has yet to announce its summer show for next year. Its usual schedule is a five-weekend run, beginning after the Fourth of July.
Peninsula Players, Ilwaco
This troupe’s leaders have announced that their spring musical will be “Nunsense,” staged at the playhouse in Ilwaco, Washington, beginning March 8, 2024. The group has postponed its fall “Grimm Spectaculathon” comedy.