The Electric Company Theatre, a non-profit theatre company residing at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, will bring four unique experiences to the local community throughout 2026.<\/p>\n
Callie Prendiville Johnson is the co-artistic director of the Electric Company Theatre alongside her husband Brian Johnson. Both run the company without permanent employees, instead granting paid positions to actors, directors and other artists for each show.<\/p>\n
Callie Prendiville Johnson said that the program selection process is simultaneously tied to events surrounding the Muckenthaler and their personal interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only put on shows we\u2019re super passionate about,\u201d Prendiville Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re never gonna put something on just because we think it\u2019s gonna make money or just because it\u2019s the popular thing to do. We really have to love it first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 season will begin with \u201cOnce The Musical.\u201d Performances will take place at the Charleston in Downtown Fullerton rather than at the Muckenthaler.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s based off an Irish movie from the early 2000s and we did it here in 2023 inside the gallery,\u201d Prendiville Johnson said. \u201cIt was sold out, it was a big hit, so we\u2019re doing it again but at a new location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the cast from the 2023 production will be reprising their roles, including Prendiville Johnson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce The Musical\u201d opens to the public Feb. 1 and runs until Feb. 25.<\/p>\n
For the annual kids\u2019 show, the Electric Company Theatre will perform \u201cYou\u2019re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Performances will take place in the Muckenthaler\u2019s art gallery during the Cultural Center\u2019s exhibition where Tom Everhart\u2019s artistic reinterpretations of Charles M. Schulz\u2019s classic work will be on display.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prendiville Johnson said the exhibition influenced their decision to put on the play, which features a senior-only cast playing the characters created by Schulz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an unusual way to cast that show. Normally you have young adults playing kids,\u201d Prendiville Johnson said. \u201cIt\u2019s an idea he (Brian) has been talking about for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a Good Man, Charlie Brown\u201d will have nighttime public performances on March 1, 4 and 11, with special student matinees for Fullerton elementary school children.<\/p>\n
Performed in a driveway on the side of the Muckenthaler, the third show of 2026 will be \u201cTristan & Yseult.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really ancient myth. It\u2019s a \u2018Romeo and Juliet\u2019-type story, but it\u2019s a very modern adaptation. There will be a live rock band, there will be lots of combat,\u201d Prendiville Johnson said. \u201cIt\u2019s very tragic, but it\u2019s very beautiful and funny and fun too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show includes combat sequences choreographed by Cal State Fullerton\u2019s part-time devised theatre faculty member Michael Polak, who is also co-directing the show alongside Brian Johnson.<\/p>\n
According to Prendiville Johnson, the audience will sit around the driveway while actors perform among the center trees and come in and out of the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cTristan & Yseult\u201d will run from June 2 until June 24.<\/p>\n
The final show at the end of 2026 will be \u201cServant of Two Masters,\u201d taking place on the amphitheater stage from Nov. 1 until Nov. 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Electric Company Theatre will be putting their own unique twist on the play. Rather than being a direct read of the script, the show will follow underfunded performers as they try to perform Carlo Goldoni\u2019s comedy using limited resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Attendees will sit in both the house and on the stage while the actors perform in the area surrounded by the audience, staging a unique immersive dynamic.<\/p>\n
Tickets for all four shows are available through the company\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Electric Company Theatre, a non-profit theatre company residing at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, will bring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2628,16547,4181,1860,1058],"class_list":["post-141700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-fullerton","tag-live","tag-preview","tag-show","tag-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}