
People who share seatses next to each other for years or who are introducing themselves to new family members and new neighbors. Of the venue itself is open air, and you come in an hour and a half before the show to picnic or buy concessions, and there's a great time for community.

There's a great ownership among the patrons of our theatre, and it's so accessible to families and all ages, all generations. And it really is - gives people an opportunity to see a kind of production they perhaps wouldn't normally go to.īROMBACHER: Yes, indeed. The people who will come again and again to see these shows. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: That seems to be the foundation that really built moonlight. I sense that a lot of families have come to moonlight since it was first founded 32 years ago, and they're just very, very loyal to the theatre there. JOHNSON: They're enthusiastic, they're devout, they're varied in age and dynamic.

It's given me a community to be very proud of as I do all the musicals that I do up there.ĬAVANAUGH: What are the audiences at moonlight stage like? What are they like? It's given me a community in which to work. It's given me the opportunity to meet hundreds and hundreds of fine actors working with some of the finest directors in Southern California. JOHNSON: Moonlight is my theatre family in the summertime, and basically year-round. What impact has the moonlight stage productions had on you as an actor? You performed in so many productions at moonlight. Ralph, you have a long history acting in San Diego. State of the art stagehouse.ĬAVANAUGH: It really is impressive. And the finest moment of moonlight has been that in 2009, we opened our new stagehouse. And from that grew an audience, and patrons and all that we see now. So we gone in that rather primitive way, with friends and associates who knew theatre, and a great deem to produce, and trying to have the finest production elements that we could, and we began. No running water, electricity, fences, anything like that. It was a windswept flag pavilion that I saw in 1981 with a beautiful amphitheater, great views, beautiful sunsets, but a very primitive setting. Ground you found in 1981.īROMBACHER: It's a great memory. We also produce a winter season.ĬAVANAUGH: You wouldn't think this rather large stage and these big productions could have come from that little patch.

We do them with great lightning designers and scenery, and that's been our main stay in the summer. So I felt they would make that decision and help nurture the next years of moonlight.ĬAVANAUGH: For those who aren't familiar with the stage productions and how it came about, what types of productions is moonlight famous for?īROMBACHER: Our outdoor performances, I believe a huge Broadway musicals, things like les miserables, fid ral on the roof, legally blonde. But I have some other goals that have to do with family and friend, traveling, writing, and other projects. Why did you decide to retire?īROMBACHER: I decided that 32 years of having a chance to lead this organization has been just the center of my life and a great joy. Hi.ĬAVANAUGH: And actor Ralph Johnson is here, performed for 16 summers in moonlight's stage productions.ĬAVANAUGH: This must be a bittersweet time for you as you prepare to step down. I'd like to welcome my guests, Kathy Brombacher of moonlight stage productions. And many credit the musicals put on each summer as putting North County on the map as a community that values theatre. Kathy Brombacher founded moonlight in Vista in 1981. The woman who made singing and dancing a summertime fixture for audiences in Vista is about to take her final bow as artistic director.
