Encore for arts center

Gallimaufry Performing Arts of Laguna Beach is looking forward to scaling new heights in 2006.

Formed in 2004, the multi-faceted organization produced 11 events in 2005 ? including “A Chorus Line,” “Seussical,” two musical reviews (“Duets” and “Best of Broadway”), three Dance Day festivals, a teen theatre company production of “Weird Romance,” and the inaugural caDance Festival.

The combined attendance to their events rose to more than 13,000 audience members? a 300% increase over the company’s first year, Executive Artistic Director Steve Josephson said.

Josephson thinks the formula ? offering a bit of every kind of performance under the sun ? works.

“I think that we’ve just produced a really varied season that had a little bit of something for everybody,” Josephson said.

“We are dedicated to producing events that run the gamut from small, intimate, non-musical plays to large scale festivals that include professional dance companies and cutting-edge, multi-media spectaculars.”

The company has had ambitious plans since its inception, he said.

“We wanted to start small, then grow. We are a producing and creative organization with separate divisions for theater, dance, and music. The idea is a crossover between the different branches of performing arts.”

The company recently lost noted ballerina Jodie Gates, who spun off to form her own local dance organization after just one year with Gallimaufry, where she led the Dance Day festivals and the inaugural nine-day caDance Festival. Gates is planning her own dance festival, to be called Laguna Dance Festival, in the fall.

In 2006, Josepheson is moving forward with even more offerings in his “gallimaufry” ? defined as a “mixed-up jumble, or hodgepodge,” a word derived from a 15th century French stew with many ingredients.

In 2006, Gallimaufry will produce two separate multi-week festivals with something for many tastes.

The Family Festival will run from Wednesday, April 26 through Sunday, May 7.

“The festival will feature five productions aimed at attracting and entertaining every branch of your family tree,” Josephson said.

Included will be the “revised” stage version of the cult film “Sordid Lives,” by Gallimaufry’s small repertory company, the Promiscuous Assemblage.

Also offered will be a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “The Diary of Anne Frank,” produced by The Generation GAP, Gallimaufry’s self-producing, teen theatrical company.

An integral part of this new festival is Dance Day, scheduled for Saturday, May 6.

The free event will take place on Main Beach and feature performances by the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Erin Landry, Dudley Brooks’ comedy dance troupe “Run for Your Life” from San Francisco, the Indian choreography of Ramaa Bharadvaj and The Angahara Ensemble, and a Tahitian group.

Dance Day will also feature four free master classes. Class styles will feature Modern, Afro-Caribbean, Indian and a special “Bob Fosse” workshop taught by Juliet Fischer, a Broadway performer who appeared in the revival of “Chicago.” Fischer will teach the choreography from the show, Josephson said.

“Songs in the Sand,” Sunday performances of full orchestra concerts, will also be performed on Main Beach.

The first concert will be a staging of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “South Pacific,” with a 20-piece orchestra and more than a dozen singers, on Sunday, May 7.

The organization is also expanding its fall festival to include all the performing arts.

Renamed the Gallimaufry Arts Festival, the event will include a signature Dance Day on Saturday, Sept. 30; a Songs in the Sand concert on Sunday, Oct. 1; and the entire Lula Washington Dance Theatre company on stage at the Artists’ Theatre.

Besides dance, the expanded festival will feature the multi-media performance “Vox Lumiere,” a staged performance based on the original silent film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The staging includes three movie screens, a rock opera score, six singers and a dance ensemble.

“This presentation is unlike anything most theatergoers will have ever experienced,” Josephson said.

Rounding out the repertoire will be the American premiere of Josephson’s adaptation of Henry James’ “The Aspern Papers.”

“The Aspern Papers,” produced by Festival Theatre USC and directed by Josephson, debuted in 2001 at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

“I’ve been waiting to stage the American premiere until such an event as this,” Josephson said. “‘The Aspern Papers’ is a fairly faithful adaptation of James’ work with a twist. It is set against the entire score of Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’ and includes a dance company as the ensemble. It is literature, music and dance. The new Gallimaufry Arts Festival is the perfect venue. It really sums up what we’re trying to achieve.”

Another 2006 addition is the Ridiculous Medley, a new vocal group that performs for special events, community functions, parties, fundraisers and corporate events. Under the direction of Meredith Woodson-Hubbard, the Ridiculous Medley has already performed for the CHOC Queen of Hearts Guild fundraiser this past February, and at other community events.

Gallimaufry Performing Arts’ educational wing continues to offer free classes at both Top of the World Elementary School and the Boys and Girls Club of Laguna Beach.