OBCTheater — Attraction in Corona

I came to see the Musical, 'Sweeney Todd', put on by the OBC Theater. I have a friend who is part of the cast in this show. Now, I think we all know, "There's no business, like show business," however... ...It was a TOTAL surprise to me when they announced that Nate Beals - my friend - who was cast as ensemble - would be playing the lead role - Sweeney Todd. Of course, I couldn't be happier. However, I also know that this meant something has happened to the person chosen to play the lead role. I sure hope he is okay! OBC Theater has done an AMAZING job with the sets, staging, lighting, etc. within the amount of space they have for this quaint little Theater & stage. I was thoroughly impressed with the way the stage craft & values were... Excellent job! KUDOS! The costuming was spot on. The cast... the cast was WONDERFULLY EERIE!! From Caroline Nelms - Beggar Woman showing us that she has two frequencies, pitiful & lewd, yet with all the abrupt transitions, she shows us she's no reg. beggar, she's legitimately insane. The dark eerie, deep, rich Baribass vocals of Nate Beals... Wow! When he sang the last note of, 'There's no place like London,' that note was so deep & low, it changed the phrasing telling us that Sweeney's version of himself, is more corrupt & sinister than we were ever thinking. He did a great job of showing how Sweeney has an incredible sense of full control over his rage, making him a dangerous man. Nate really did a fantastic job filling in for the lead role of Sweeney Todd at last minutes' notice! Great job, Nate! BRAVO! BRAVO! Contralto Tania Nelson - Mrs. Lovett with her dark & comical wit for 'the Pie song', first off this is a tricky piece to pull off. I felt as if Tania was channeling Angela Landsbury (whom I was fortunate to work with in this show) she's almost there. She did a wonderful job of changing the tone w/ little to no warning, which also coincides with the aimless, unpredictable mind of Mrs. Lovett. Job well done... BRAVA! BRAVA! Then there's the beautiful voices of TJ Punchard - Anthony & Camryn Hamm - Johanna, Robert Hoyt - Beadle, Jamie Snyder- Judge Turpin, Patrick Melver- Tobias & Adam Granados- Aldofo Pirelli, & then last but not least by any means, the Ensemble. The Ensemble was awesome!! They help weave us through this story of Sweeney Todd. There's a LOT of dissonance & chromaticism in the music they sing, and Wow! Did they nail it! This dissonance emulates that sinister tone that Sondheim incorporates throughout the whole show almost like a Requim Mass. The dissonance serves to make the audience feel discomfort. BRAVA, BRAVO Ensemble! Overall, I highly recommend getting tickets today to go see Sweeny Todd - this weekend! OBC Theater has done an AMAZING & INCREDIBLE job, and you don't want to miss this show!!!

It's showing at the OBCTheater in Corona,(9/15,16,17/2023) which is the...

10/7/2022 - UPDATE: I originally posted this review yesterday and received a call early the next morning from Amanda. Apparently this was a miscommunication and she's working on resolving our issue. In addition, I mentioned below in my original review that the Grinch production was put on by CAT but today I learned it was also OBC (and again, we had a great experience back then as well).

I'm leaving the original review below but we will be coming back in the future to see more performances because they really are good and do have great production values. They're a non-profit and we also understand what that means (word of mouth, etc.).

10/6/2022 (original review) - My family (wife + 2 kids) and I went to see their Peter Pan play this past Friday. We pre-purchased the tickets and were very excited about it. Unfortunately, a few minutes into the play, my youngest son (3 years old) got scared and started crying during the play. I didn't want to disrupt the performance so I stepped outside to calm him down.

He didn't want to go back inside. I spoke to someone out front who told me to talk to Tammy about a refund. We waited until the play was over to speak with Tammy. She let me know that she was going to ask an "Amanda" about the refund (for just myself and my youngest son) but we haven't heard back and it's already been a week. It appears that they've ghosted us!

I understand the amount of work that goes into a performance. However, now we're out $80 and they won't refund us. My son and I didn't even get to watch the show!

A few years back at CAT, a similar situation happened with my now oldest child - he was scared during a production of The Grinch. We didn't get to watch the show (because our son was so upset) but we did show up. When we had to walk out, we spoke with them and they refunded us our money no problem.

They won't even talk to us about a potential credit with them. Their shows might be OK but if you have young kids and they happen to not like the play or get scared, stay away - because you won't be getting a refund or...

Do yourself a favor and go see OBC Theater’s enchanting production of Peter Pan at the beautiful Corona Civic Center It is a feast for the eyes and ears. The sets, costumes and talent are Broadway quality due to the company’s fastidious attention to detail and high level of professionalism. Elise Burt is on par with Cathy Rigby and when Rachel Wesolowki as Mrs. Darling sang, I got chills! Captain Hook really is Captain Hook with a perfect performance from his costume to his stage presence, mannerisms and voice. The multitalented and statuesque actor, Paul Kehler is endearing and somewhat scary in the duel roles of Hook and Mr. Darling. There is flying through a lit up night sky, a giant croc and other great special effects. I especially loved how they portrayed Tinkerbell very clever Do not...