A look back at 2024 in Morongo Basin Theatre

By
Charlie Thomas
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2024 saw an ever-widening variety of live productions in our Morongo Basin.

Andrea Keller (left) won a DTL award for Best Set Design for “Man of La Mancha”, directed by Gary Daigneault (right).

Theatre 29 brought “Man of La Mancha”, “Daddy LongLegs”, “Nunsense”, “MIS-CAST Goes to the Movies” “Seussical Kids & Jr” versions with their summer youth program, “Clue” “Musical Mischief” and the first annual 29 Queer Film Festival, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Sound of Music” as well as Rotating Players Improv workshops and shows with Thought Theatre staging a reading of “The Mountaintop” and “Musings of a Black Woman in a Brown Desert” encapsulating a very busy year.

The community theatre captured 30 Desert Star Awards nominations for their 2023-24 season, with wins for Gianni Caravella as Supporting Actor Youth Theatre for Disney’s Frozen Jr, Lead Actress in a Musical was Analisa Pilecki in Man of La Mancha, Best Lead Male Performer in a Cabaret/Revue went to Charles Harvey for Mis-Cast Goes To The Movies and Best Set Design for Andrea Keller for Man of La Mancha.

Thought Theatre’s Malcolm Stanley-Wolfe brought home a Best Supporting Actor – One Acts trophy for Shakespeare in Revue.

They also received 4 Desert Star Award nominations.

Theatre is alive and well in our basin and the best is yet to come.

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Charlie Thomas
Charlie Thomas
Charlie Thomas is a local theatrical director, actor, producer, stage designer and playwright with over thirty-five years’ experience in both professional and non-professional live theatre, film, television, and radio. His pedigree includes most of the major theatrical companies in the Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin including Theatre 29, Hi-Desert Playhouse, Groves Cabin Theatre, Palm Canyon Theatre and College of the Desert, to name a very few. Charlie is an active member of the greater desert performing arts scene. He currently serves as Vice-President on the Theatre 29 board of directors. He also serves on the board of the Desert Theatre League, a live performance support organization that provides judging and awards for theatrical and dance excellence for over 39 organizations. He is also a founding panelist of the Alliance of Desert Theatres which formed during the COVID-19 pandemic to network with performing arts houses all over the desert for support and networking while the industry was shutdown. During his theatrical career, Charlie has won many Desert Theatre League performance awards as well as their “Sidney Harmon” award which recognizes honorees for exhibiting theatrical excellence. Charlie Thomas joined Z107.7 in April 2020 and has greatly come to enjoy the everchanging scope of the work. He has also enjoyed the opportunity to share his breadth of knowledge and experience as Z107.7’s Entertainment Reporter. He is grateful to be able to share news stories about the wide variety of arts our beautiful basin has to offer.

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