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Shadows: An Original Musical
Friday August 17, 2012

Laguna Blanca senior Zoe Serbin & her partner Griffin Saxon direct all-star cast of local students in original production to debut August 17 at Center Stage Theater

Santa Barbara, CA. August, 2012 - Saxon-Serbin Productions presents "Shadows: An Original Musical" to debut at Center Stage Theater August 17 and 18 at 7pm. Co-written, co-directed, and co-produced by local students Griffin Saxon and Zoe Serbin, Shadows is a musical based on Nintendo video game characters, and follows Luigi, Link, Daisy, and Wario on their journey from Hoboken, New Jersey to the Mushroom Kingdom. Along the way they meet a cast of quirky characters who help them further advance in their quest and discover their true potential as heroes. The show includes a 3-piece band, choreography by Santa Barbara High School sophomore Malcolm McCarthy, and a set completely designed and created by the cast.

This is Saxon and Serbin's second show together. Their first production debuted in 2010 with the original production "Star Wars: The Musical," a parody of the beloved film series. The Saxon-Serbin Productions duo has also been recognized for their work, having been featured at TEDx American Riviera, in Mike Degruy's film "The Spark Within," and they have been widely supported by the local community.

Founded with the goals of providing a free theater experience for their cast while supporting local non- profits, Saxon-Serbin Productions has formed a cast and crew of 22 devoted students, ranging from tenth graders to college sophomores. The cast has joined together to support Transition House by donating all proceeds from their show, as well as private contributions through their own fundraising, to the organization.

An accomplished writer and artist, ZOE SERBIN is a senior at Laguna Blanca School, where she has honed her artistic skills and continued her passion for acting in the school's theater program & writing for the award winning student newspaper, The Fourth Estate. Zoe has always had a passion for serving the homeless. She has been involved with Congregation B'nai B'rith's monthly service dinners, as well as Christmas meals, with Transition House since 2004. She also went to Washington, D.C. to attend Panim El Panim, a conference where she met and talked to the formerly and currently homeless about what it's like first-hand. After returning to Santa Barbara, she wrote an article for Laguna Blanca's student newspaper about how society views and reacts to the homeless in the local community. The article, "Homelessness: A National Issue and a National Solution" won a 2011 Gold Circle Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Zoe is so excited to have this new show support Transition House. While at Laguna, Serbin has earned herself top honors in arts and literature, and was recognized last year with the Elena D'Agostina Art Award as well as the David Elkins Award for Outstanding Character. With Shadows, she is expanding upon her artistic and writing experiences to tackle her new role of theater direction and production.

GRIFFIN SAXON, a senior at Santa Barbara High School, has been raised in a household where community service is an important part of life. Recently his entire family was awarded "Family of The Year" by the Family Service Agency for their work within the community. In 2009, he was featured in the local book "Hometown Santa Barbara" for his work with the homeless population at Project Healthy Neighbors. He has taken service trips to Bolivia to help with water sanitation, to New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina work, and to Arizona to build houses on a Native American reservation. Zoe and Griffin's first production "Star Wars: The Musical" raised $1,400 to support the New Orleans service trip.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION TEAM Griffin and Zoe have been good friends since kindergarten. In fifth grade they acted together in The Adderley School's production of "The Music Man." Since then they have been inseparable. As best friends, Saxon and Serbin have taken on multiple creative efforts together, from making short-films to writing songs. During their off time you'll mostly see them by a TV playing video games, or running down State Street belting ABBA songs.

FOR TICKETS Visit www.centerstagetheater.org or call their box office at (805) 963-0408. Tickets are $12 for students and seniors and $15 for adults. The play is rated 13 +. For more information about the show, visit www.facebook.com/shadowsthemusical.

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