Pleasant Valley Education Foundation Presents 2011 CineMagic Musical Theater Showcase, April 15-16

April 8, 2011 - PRLog -- CAMARILLO, Calif. — April 8, 2011 — The Pleasant Valley Education Foundation (PVEF), a Camarillo-based non-profit dedicated to creating hands-on learning opportunities in the arts and technology for local public grade school students, today announced it will host the 10th-anniversary edition of CineMagic, its highly-popular performing arts program, April 15-16, 2011, at Pacifica High School Performing Arts Center in Oxnard, Calif. Student performances will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Fri., April 15, and at 1:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Sat., April 16.

With the theme “CineMagic Rocks!”, this year’s highly-anticipated production will feature over 200 Camarillo elementary and middle school students, from grades 3-8, performing 22 well-known hits from some of music’s most legendary rock and pop artists, including Elvis Presley, Elton John, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, and the Beach Boys. For many students, CineMagic represents the very first occasion they have performed live on stage.

“CineMagic’s long-term success can be attributed to two important factors:  the program’s mission of accepting all children who desire to perform and are willing to commit to practice, and the program’s affordable, yet highly-professional, approach to staging, performance, and costume and set design,” said Peggy Smith, president of the Pleasant Valley Education Foundation, and CineMagic program coordinator. “While school districts today are facing major budget cuts, it’s exciting to be able to offer such a great program as this to students. CineMagic is fun, enjoyable, and exciting for children and adults, and the confidence and sense of accomplishment it instills in students is invaluable and life-changing.”

Established in 2002, CineMagic is a unique and successful performing arts initiative that helps Camarillo children build their self-confidence and self-esteem, regardless of skill, through classical, standards-based instruction in acting, dancing, and singing. CineMagic, which also exposes students to different performing arts genres, theater traditions, and music styles they might not otherwise experience, culminates annually in a spring performance on a large stage in front of supportive educators, friends, and family members.

CineMagic is primarily funded by performance ticket sales; individual and corporate donations; DVD, photo, and concession sales; and student participation fees, which are specifically used to design and create customized costumes for all children. In addition, for 2011, the program also received special grants from the ESCO Technologies Foundation (http://www.escotechnologiesfoundation.org), a non-profit which provides financial support to children, charities, and others in need in the communities in which the company has operations; the city of Camarillo’s community service grant program, which funds and supports the projects of local non-profit organizations; and the Camarillo Fiesta Association (http://camarillofiesta.org), a non-profit group of volunteers which stages the annual Camarillo Fiesta & Street Fair every July on Ventura Boulevard in Old Town Camarillo, and donates a substantial portion of the net proceeds to numerous Camarillo charities.

Through the ESCO Technologies Foundation grant, the PVEF awarded CineMagic participation scholarships to select students based on financial need and other circumstances. One scholarship winner, 13-year-old Camarillo resident Brock Waidmann, is using his CineMagic experience to prepare for his starring role in award-winning actor Paul Reiser’s new, semi-autobiographical television show, “The Paul Reiser Show,” which begins airing April 14 on NBC.

“Brock has always wanted to be an actor, but being disabled, we didn’t know if that option was ever going to be available to him,” said Rhonda Waidmann, Brock’s mother. “There weren’t a lot of affordable alternatives around where he could get acting experience and training, so when we found CineMagic, we were very grateful. We wouldn’t be able to participate in CineMagic without the donors who make it possible for the PVEF to offer scholarships to families like ours.

“Brock has gained so much confidence from being on stage in CineMagic, and he has so much fun,” Ms. Waidmann continued. “With the confidence Brock has gained from CineMagic, he was able to audition for, and win the part in, ‘The Paul Reiser Show’. We cannot be more proud of him.”

Ticket Pricing and Availability
Advance tickets to all three CineMagic performances are now available for purchase online via the PVEF website, located at http://www.pvef.org, and priced at $13.50 and $20.00 each depending on seat location within the venue. Tickets may also be purchased at the Pacifica High School Performing Arts Center box office on the day of the performance for $15.00 and $22.00 each.

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PVEF and CineMagic are trademarks of Pleasant Valley Education Foundation.
All other company and artist names, song and product titles, publisher names, trademarks, artwork, and associated imagery are trademarks, registered trademarks, and/or copyright material of their respective owners.

About Pleasant Valley Education Foundation
Based in Camarillo, Calif., the Pleasant Valley Education Foundation (PVEF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing resources and programs that create hands-on learning opportunities in the arts and technology for Camarillo public school students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. Founded in 1985, the foundation brings businesses, schools, educators, parents, and community volunteers together to create and implement hands-on programs that cultivate and enhance experiential learning and 21st century living skills, including creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. The PVEF’s numerous, award-winning initiatives include CineMagic, its signature after-school performing arts program which teaches singing, dancing, and on-stage performance; Robotics Roundup, a friendly competition in which students design, build, test, and program robots to accomplish challenge missions; a speech tournament, in which third graders exercise their brains and learn poise in categories such as poetry and storytelling; and innovation grants, which provides needed funds to individual teachers, schools, or district-wide programs supporting innovative arts and technology learning. School administrators, teachers, parents, children, journalists, and community members can access foundation news, information, updates, event calendars, photos, and program videos by following PVEF on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PVEFoundation; on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PVEFoundation; and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/PleasantValleyEdFoun. For more information, please visit http://www.pvef.org.

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Based in Camarillo, Calif., the Pleasant Valley Education Foundation (PVEF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing resources and programs that create hands-on learning opportunities in the arts and technology for Camarillo public school students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. Founded in 1985, the foundation brings businesses, schools, educators, parents, and community volunteers together to create and implement hands-on programs that cultivate and enhance experiential learning and 21st century living skills, including creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration.