Three shows make up final winter season at Moonlight

Moonlight Stage Productions is saying goodbye to its AVO Playhouse winter productions with a final season of three shows, “The Lion in Winter,” “Sondheim on Sondheim” and “Anna in the Tropics.”

The winter season will instead be replaced by the new Moonlight Presents, which will feature several series focusing on music, dancing, circus acts, children’s touring shows and intimately set cabaret shows. The new Moonlight Presents series will launch in 2016.

This change allows the AVO Playhouse to become a rental facility year-round, opening up an additional 13 weeks on the rental calendar and providing greater flexibility for renters, according to a press release from Moonlight Stage Productions. The AVO Playhouse is widely used by outside presenters, business groups and community organizations.

This final winter season will kick off with James Goldman’s “The Lion in Winter,” opening Thursday and running through Sunday, Feb. 1.

Tickets range from $24 to $32 and are on sale now at the VisTix box office, by phone at 760-724-2110 and online at moonlightstage.com.

“The Lion in Winter” tells the story of King Henry II of England and the battle between his fiercely competitive sons to claim the role of heir to the throne. This is complicated by the banished queen, Eleanor of Aquitane, who is a prisoner for raising an army to dethrone her husband.

England finds itself on the brink of war when the equally competitive King Philip of France enters the drama.

Directing and starring in the production as King Henry is Jason Heil. Joining him on stage is Zackary Bonin as Richard Lionheart; Benjamin Cole as Geoffrey; Dagmar Krause Fields as Eleanor; Alex Guzman as Philip; Reed Lievers as John and Katie Sapper as Alais.

“Sondheim on Sondheim,” a revue focusing on the work of Stephen Sondheim in his own words and music, opens Thursday, Feb. 12 and runs through Sunday, March 1.

“Sondheim on Sondheim,” created by James Lapine with new arrangements by David Loud, features two dozen carefully chosen Sondheim songs, as well as interspersed interview footage to give you an inside look at Sondheim himself.

“Anna in the Tropics” opens Thursday, March 12 and runs through Sunday, March 29.

This Pulitzer-prize winning show, written by Nilo Cruz, tells the story of workers in a Cuban cigar factory in 1929, who discover the importance of literature in their lives.

Moonlight has also announced its summer 2015 season, which will begin in June with “All Shook Up,” followed by “The Music Man,” “Shrek: The Musical” and “Big Fish.”