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New year, new offerings
Theater, arts groups starting off with exciting events

by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

Exercise more, eat better. New Year's resolutions are rolling off the tongue these days. Another one might be: Take advantage of all that Pleasanton has to offer.

The new Firehouse Arts Center4444 Railroad Ave. in downtown Pleasanton, continually offers live entertainment as well as art exhibits.

"There's a chemical reaction when you put actors and the audience together," says actor Jeff Seaberg, who frequently appears in productions of the Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre. "The excitement of what is prepared and what is uncertain."

Tri-Valley Rep stages its small musicals in its studio theater on Serpentine Lane in Pleasanton while its main stage productions are presented at the Bankhead Theatre in Livermore.

Coming soon to places near you:

* Paintbrush Diplomacy: International children's art exhibit by ages 5-18 showing works from the permanent collection of Paintbrush Diplomacy, an organization that seeks to connect the world, one paintbrush at a time. At Harrington Gallery at the Firehouse Arts Center, through Jan. 12.

* Treasures of the Tri-Valley III: Tri-Valley Toybox, through Jan. 30 at Museum On Main, 603 Main St., Pleasanton. Featuring toys from private collections throughout the Tri-Valley area.

* Pleasanton Library Free Classic Film Series: "Twelve O'clock High," 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 6; 400 Old Bernal Ave.

* Jeff Bordes and the Panthelion Quartet with its energetic blend of jazz, classical, tribal, and urban-groove styles. Bordes is a graduate of Amador Valley High. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 8. Firehouse Arts Center.

* "Phases of Life After Death" author and psychic Irma Slage speaking at the Pleasanton Library; 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 9.

* Cypress String Quartet will play Mozart, Schulhoff and Debussy at 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 9, at the Firehouse Arts Center.

* M.O.M.'s Reading Time for preschoolers and their parents at the Museum On Main will feature reading and an activity on Martin Luther King Jr. from 10-11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 603 Main St.

* Museum On Main 2011 Ed Kinney Lecture Series: "The Relativity of Albert Einstein" at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 12, at the Firehouse Arts Center. Meet the great scientific thinker who revolutionized physics, portrayed by dynamic Broadway and film actor Duffy Hudson. Tickets at the door. Call 462-2766.

* Tingstad and Rumbel: Acoustic musicians bring their "American home-style music" to the Firehouse Arts Center at 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 14. Tickets: 931-4848.

* Rodgers & Hammerstein and Rodgers & Hart: part of the Firehouse Arts Center Cabaret Series, performing at 8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 15-16.

* "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," based on the film starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre, Jan. 21-Feb. 6. Tickets: 373-6800

* "The Horse, of Course!" exhibit at Alviso Adobe Community Park, 3465 Old Foothill Road, Pleasanton, through Jan. 31. Curated by the Museum On Main with photographs, objects and documents to demonstrate the importance of the horse in the Valley's history.

* Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre will present "Cabaret," the musical set in 1931 Berlin at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, revolving around the English cabaret performer, Sally Bowles, and her relationship with a young American writer, Jan. 21-30, at the Firehouse Arts Center.

* Valley Concert Chorale: An Evening of Music with Daniel Glover, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 5, at First Presbyterian Church, Fourth & L streets, Livermore. Tickets: 866-4003.