Launching its 10th anniversary season in September, CenterStage at the Marin Jewish Community Center is expanding its repertoire with two new series, “The Dance Project” and “Artists and Authors.”
Returning artists include some of CenterStage’s most popular draws, such as famed playwright Neil Simon, cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci and award-winning songwriter Stephen Schwartz.
First-timers include world-renowned violinist Isaac Stern, comedy writer Carl Reiner and actor Danny Hoch, whose recent work includes the gripping film “The Thin Red Line.”
For CenterStage director Greg Phillips, who built the performing arts program from scratch and can take credit for presenting 350 artists in nine seasons, it’s been a slow but steady climb to validation.
“Last season was our most successful ever,” said Phillips. “We had more sold-out houses” than ever before.
“We’re anticipating that this season will take off. It took a long while for Marin and the Bay Area to discover…that there was this little jewel over in San Rafael where you could experience extraordinary entertainment in the venue the size of a large living room.”
OK, so it’s a giant living room. But the large stage, cabaret-style seating and good sound system ensure that there’s not bad seat in the place.
With a line-up that ranges from “Schindler’s List” author Thomas Keneally, as interviewed by KQED’s probing talk-show host Michael Krasny, to let-it-all-hang-out gospel singer Linda Tillery and her Cultural Heritage Choir, CenterStage will bring an eclectic assortment to the MJCC.
Always aiming for a broader audience, CenterStage has added a few new series in the last five years. At this point, Phillips joked, about the only audience that’s missing is the heavy-metal crew.
Phillips is quite pleased with “Artists and Authors,” which essentially combines the former “Conversations” and “Lives in the Theater.”
“It’s almost like a festival,” he said of the monthlong series.
The series kicks off Sept. 29 with Rabbi Alan Lew of San Francisco’s Congregation Beth Sholom. Lew, who appeared with CenterStage once as an interviewer, will himself be asked questions about his new book, “One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi.” The interviewer is Lew’s longtime friend Norman Fischer, co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center.
Simon, author of the new book “The Play Goes On,” will be interviewed by local film critic Jan Wahl on Oct. 6. Reiner appears on Oct. 11, followed by Keneally on Oct. 14, ice skater Peggy Fleming on Oct. 17 and “A Year in Provence” author Peter Mayle on Oct. 18. Stern, who will discuss his autobiography “My First 79 Years,” is scheduled for Oct. 28. A winter and spring series will soon be announced.
“The Dance Project,” debuting in March, “features what we think are the very best of the Bay Area dance companies,” said Phillips.
Four evening performances will take place in a five-day span: Lines Contemporary Ballet, ODC/San Francisco, Marin Dance Theater and “Marin Dance Legends,” featuring Joanna Berman of the San Francisco Ballet, modern-dance company leaders Anna Halprin and June Watanabe, and Lauren and Careen Jonas of the Dabble Ballet.
The upcoming mix on CenterStage also includes “Solo Spotlights” with comics Josh Kornbluth and Kate Clinton, performer Geoff Hoyle, and David Sedaris, the popular National Public Radio commentator. “Chamber Sundaes” spotlights New Century Chamber orchestra and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
“Musical Mix” will feature singer Shana Morrison of Marin — daughter of the moody, baby-boomer favorite Van Morrison — coupled with slide guitarist Roy Rogers, as well as modern-jazz vocalist Kitty Morgolis, raised in Hillsborough.
As for “Singers and Songwriters,” Stephen Schwartz with Val Diamond probably tops the bill. Schwartz’s successes include the Broadway shows “Godspell” and “Pippin,” plus the movies “Pocahontas” and “The Prince of Egypt,” while singer Diamond claims local fame for belting ’em out in San Francisco’s “Beach Blanket Babylon.”
Behind the scenes, CenterStage provides free tickets to various nonprofit groups, including those working with Russian Jewish emigres or serving low-income Latinos in San Rafael’s Canal district. Artists also go into area schools to do “informances,” Phillips said, giving free tickets to children and discounted ones to parents for later performances.
In recent years, he added, “we’re seeing that more of our performances benefit other organizations. For example, the Fireman’s Fund will purchase blocks of tickets and donate them to organizations.” The recipients, in turn, may sell the tickets as a fund-raiser. “We’re trying to encourage more of the Jewish organizations to take advantage of it,” Phillips said.
“Our goal and our dream is to have some way for our performances to benefit other audiences.”
And while Phillips, through persistence and chutzpah, has achieved some personal goals — like signing Reiner and snagging Simon for a return visit with CenterStage — he’s set his sights still further. He confided: “I’d love to get Seinfeld to do an evening here.”