Cabrillo Stage's sold out 'Escaping Queens' opens Aug. 10

Wyatt Bernard (center) as Little Joey is joined by the cast of "Escaping Queens," which opens on Aug. 10. (Photo by R.R. Jones).

APTOS — For Joe Ortiz, seeing his life story performed in musical form is a surreal experience.

Coupled with the fact that it will be performed in front of a live audience can only further add to that feeling.

"Escaping Queens," authored by Ortiz, is the final production in Cabrillo Stage's summer season, opening on Aug. 10 and running through Aug. 19. It quickly sold out in June.

The production was originally planned as an opera based on Ortiz's unpublished memoir "Pastina," which was a story about how his father's actions forced his family out of New York.

Ortiz, who owns Gayle's Bakery in Capitola with his wife Gayle, found that the project never got off the ground. Ortiz then began looking at another way to tell his family story.

For the complete article see the 08-02-2012 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 08-02-2012 paper.

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