“NINE “ opens this weekend at the Gem Theater on Main Street in Garden Grove (OMP photo).

By Thom de Martino

Sometimes we become so overcome with the world, we can feel like we are all that exists –– a solitary soul. Loved ones and those around us can become abstracted: becoming shadows and ideas, symbolic… representing something archetypal – both subjective and universal – embedded deeply within our psyche.

For the man contending with the autumn of his life, with more years behind than before him… what lessons can be gleaned from the kaleidoscope of women in his past, present and future — what deeper, sublime meaning?

Arriving Thursday, April 25 at the Gem Theater in Garden Grove is One More Productions’ newest offering,”Nine”: the tale of a director on the cusp of middle age, his Herculean task of finishing his new film while salvaging his relationship with his wife… all the while contending with the other women who shape his world, in the myriad forms of maiden, mother, mistress, and more…

“‘Nine’, for me, is one of the most exciting and challenging pieces I’ve worked on as a director,” says One More Productions’ co-founder Damien Lorton. “The music is stunning, the orchestra is beautiful … It’s about a man who is lost in his own art, his own passion, his own ego… It’s essentially an opera.”

It’s a lavish, sensual and thought-provoking piece, performed by some of the finest vocalists from an array of previous Gem productions, and backed by a full orchestra — and yet another example of local community theater making bold, innovative choices with their programming.

Adriana Sanchez, Beth Hansen, Nicole Cassesso, Brittany Gerardi and Erika Baldwin star in “Nine”, opening April 25 at The Gem Theater, 12852 Main Street, Garden Grove, CA, 92840. Call 714-741-9550 x221 or e-mail boxoffice@onemoreproductions.com for ticketing information.