The Visalia Players at The Ice House Theater proudly welcomes the world premiere of an original musical “ THE 50 STATES – A Musical Trip Around The Country” written and composed by east coast to west coast transplant, Andrew Hink and directed by JJ Pestano.
Show times run through April 4 – 13
“After visiting my 50th and final state, I decided to write a show with a song about every state. I’ve played music for dozens of musicals over the years, and have composed several scores, but this is my biggest project yet. I am ecstatic for the world premiere coming so soon. With a cast almost as big as the USA, “THE 50 STATES” takes a journey through the country featuring a wide variety of music styles and genres.” – Andrew Hink
“When I accepted Drew’s offer to co-direct his original musical in a workshop, I knew that I wanted to achieve two things. One was to keep the production minimal so we can make Drew’s score and our singers the main focus. Second was to give the singers a little freedom with their numbers, giving them a chance to display any other talents that they normally wouldn’t be able to show in a traditional book musical.
Consider “THE 50 STATES” as a School House Rock like cabaret where each state is in its own musical vignette or mini-episode. Ranging from a brisk 25 seconds to a mere couple of minutes, you can expect moments such as a gospel song in Mississippi, a storm report in Iowa, a jazz quartet in Louisiana, a showstopper in Maine, a “cheesy” number in Wisconsin and a very brief visit in Rhode Island.
Drew and I have assembled a very talented group of singers for this workshop, featuring veterans of the Visalia Community Players to high school students of VUSD, and cast members of the upcoming Ice House Production of “The Producers”, who are doing double duty going back and forth to both rehearsals. We couldn’t be more proud of all the hard work they put into getting this show on its feet for the very first time!” – JJ Pestano
The Cast of “THE 50 STATES” features Sam Agredano, Joey Anderson, Jason Bionda, Rebecca Coffey-Godfrey, Otis Goodwin, Emma Grenier, Joe Harding, Evan Huckabay, Cinthia Ibarra, Ari Murillo, Ella Noblitt, Em Reid, Jerry Sharp, Nicholas Simpkins, Violet Sommer, and Michelin White.
Performance Dates and Times: 2 weekends opening on Friday, April 4, 2025.
Friday and Saturday evening performances April 4,5,11 at 7:30pm
Sunday matinees April 6, 13 at 2pm
The Ice House Theater, 410 E. Race Street, Visalia, CA 93291
To purchase tickets, go to www.visaliaicehouce.com