Paul Sand Projects

Santa Monica Public Theatre, founded by Tony Award-winning actor and long-time Santa Monica resident PAUL SAND, brings a unique and extraordinary theatrical experience to an equally unique and extraordinary venue with the premiere of the new stage play An Illegal Start inside the national landmark Merry-Go-Round Building (aka Looff Hippodrome) on the Santa Monica Pier on May 5, 6, 11, 12 & 13, 2017 at 8:00 PM.

A NEW PLAY IN A CLASSIC VENUE

 SMPT's primary goal, in line with the Paul Sand  Projects mission, is to deliver high quality  theatre to the arts-rich community of Santa  Monica, both through innovative theatrical  productions and through educational outreach  programs serving not only those who already  have an interest in theatre, but also to those in  the community who are not ordinarily exposed  to the culture and experience of theatre.

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Inspired by the highly enthusiastic critical and audience response from Paul Sand Projects' first production, Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel, at the Santa Monica Pier (then later at Culver City's "Actors' Gang" and Santa Monica's "Miles Memorial Playhouse"), the new non-profit Santa Monica Public Theatre was born.

Theatre in the Merry-go-round

Written by JAMES HARRIS, An Illegal Start was originally conceived for performance on the traditional stage with a very basic set consisting of little more than a telephone pole. At the suggestion of director Paul Sand, Harris adapted the play specifically to be performed in the Santa Monica Pier Merry-Go-Round Building.

The play is set in 1980’s rural western Colorado, where an old merry go-round in a defunct amusement park becomes refuge for two young men (IRISH GIRON and CAMERON TAGGE) after a near-fatal accident, catapulting an unlikely friendship into an intimately intertwined journey through the trials of two starkly different life paths.

Santa monica public theatre

An Illegal Start