BOTTLE SHOCK! THE MUSICAL Industry Reading Announced

CCAE Theatricals and the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, will host a private industry reading of Bottle Shock! The Musical on Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, 2022.

The work features book, music, and lyrics by writing team James D Sasser and Charles Vincent Burwell. The reading will be directed by J. Scott Lapp (The Prince of Egypt, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bonnie & Clyde) with musical direction by Vadim Feichtner (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Falsettos), casting by Lindsay Brooks and stage management by Shayne Mim.

The reading will feature Jeff Skowron (Broadway's Enron, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Lion King) as Steven Spurrier; T.J. Mannix (Radio City Christmas Spectacular, All My Children, One Life to Live, As the World Turns) as Jim Barrett; Patrick Ortiz (Broadway's Mamma Mia, West Side Story, For the Record) as Gustavo Brambilla; Garrett Clayton (Teen Beach Movie, Hairspray Live, King Cobra) as Bo Barrett; Emma Degerstedt (Off Broadway's Desperate Measures, Smokey Joe's Cafe revival) as Samantha Fulton; and Joanna Carpenter (King's Blade, Apple TV's We Crashed) as Jo Fagnani. The company includes Reanne Acasio, Michael Cavinder, Sarah Errington, Craig McEldowney, Katie Porter and Wendy Rosoff.

1976. Before Napa was synonymous with wine. Jim Barrett's new winery is struggling, and he's got a troubled relationship with his 20s something son, Bo. Meanwhile aspiring Mexican-American winemaker Gustavo, and UC Davis Enology grad student Samantha, chart their own course against discrimination and the odds. When stuffy English sommelier Spurrier shows up looking for contenders for his "Judgment of Paris" - a blind wine tasting competition - everyone's skeptical. At the urging of Bo, Samantha, and Gus, Jim's Chardonnay is included, and when it unexpectedly beats the French, their little valley and the world of wine will never be the same.

Bottle Shock! The Musical is based on the movie Bottle Shock; story by Ross Schwartz & Lannette Pabon and Jody Savin & Randall Miller; screenplay by Jody Savin & Randall Miller and Ross Schwartz. The movie starred Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Chris Pine, Rachel Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez, Eliza Dushku, and remains one of the top streamed wine-centric films of all time. The musical was first developed at Ars Nova in New York with director Kent Nicholson. It subsequently had a 29-hour workshop and staged reading with FOGG Theatre Company at Z Space in San Francisco, a weeklong writer's residency supported by the Napa Film Festival, and the following summer was presented in concert at The Lincoln Theater for the Napa Film Festival. It then had a two-night staged concert presentation at the Napa Opera House.

CCAE Theatricals is based in Escondido, CA at the California Center for the Arts. The mission of CCAE theatricals is to preserve, strengthen, and advance Musical Theater as a social and cultural platform by nurturing compelling, high-caliber theatrical artistry. As both a laboratory for theatrical exploration and a producer of plays that expand the boundaries of theatrical form, we support innovative projects that are aesthetically, thematically, and methodologically diverse for diverse audiences.

With a mission of bringing people together to discover, create and celebrate both the visual and performing arts, California Center for the Arts, Escondido is the cultural center of North San Diego County. The Center's unique campus includes a 1,523-seat concert hall, a 404-seat theater, a contemporary art museum, art and dance studios, and a full-service conference center with meeting and banquet facilities. The Center also runs an extensive education program and produces free community events. San Diego Magazine named the Center the "Best Limited Engagement" in North County. The Center was named in the Top Five for U-T San Diego's Readers Poll for "Best Live Music Venue" and the Top Five for "Best Place to Get Married."

All information is accurate at the time of release but is subject to change.