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Summer Theatre Heats Up

By Molly Exner
UW-RF News Bureau

MAY 26, 2005--The St. Croix Valley Summer Theatre will celebrate its 39th season with productions in the UW-River Falls Blanche Davis Theatre in the Kleinpell Fine Arts Building beginning June 23.

Since 1966, the St. Croix Valley Summer Theatre (SCVST), a semi-professional summer stock troupe based at UW-RF, has provided quality summer entertainment to thousands of theatergoers in the community and across the region.

All productions are held in the Blanche Davis Theatre, an air-conditioned 300-seat proscenium theatre in the Kleinpell Fine Arts Building at UW-RF. Extensive scene and costume shops, sophisticated computerized light and sound systems, a digital audio studio, well-equipped rehearsal rooms and a studio theatre add a little something extra to the summer theatre's performances that keeps ticket holders coming back for more.

"Our Town," by Thornton Wilder, has become an American stage treasure and is Wilder's most renowned and frequently performed play. First produced in 1938, the play reveals the ordinary lives of people living in the small town of Grover's Corners, N.H. SCVST veteran Ken Hill, a professor at Ripon College, directs the play. Performances run June 23-25 at 7:30 p.m., June 26 matinee at 1:30 p.m., and June 29-July 2 at 7:30 p.m. Adult tickets are $13; students and senior tickets are$10; and children's tickets are $8.

"Stuart Little," adapted by Joseph Robinette, is a show for the whole family based on E. B. White's story of a mouse's heroic quest across the American countryside. While leaving home and growing up, Little finds himself embroiled in one adventure after another. Hill also directs this performance. Performances run July 6,7 and 9 at 7:30 p.m., and July 9 matinee at 10:30 a.m. All tickets are $5.

"And The World Goes Around," featuring the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, consists of a talented group performing the enormously popular songs from hit plays such as "Cabaret," "New York, New York," and "Chicago." Phil Bratnober, director of last season's hit production of "My Fair Lady" and a theatre and drama teacher at Woodbury (Minn.) High School, directs the musical. Performances run July 14-16 at 7:30 p.m., July 17 matinee at 1:30 p.m., and July 20-23 at 7:30 p.m. Adult tickets are $15; students and senior tickets are$12; and children's tickets are $10.

"The Pirates of Penzance," the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta also directed by Bratnober, combines music and comedy to tell the story of swashbuckling pirates, damsels in distress and the model of a modern major general. With a glorious musical score and hilarious potshots at Victorian duty, it stands its ground as one of the greatest musical comedies of all time. Performances run July 28-30 at 7:30 p.m., July 31 matinee at 1:30 p.m., and August 3-6 at 7:30 p.m. Adult tickets are $15; students and senior tickets are$12; and children's tickets are $10.

Brad Jennings, a 2005 UW-RF graduate from Chetek, appears in "Our Town," "And The World Goes Around," and "The Pirates of Penzance." Jennings has been a staple in University and community theatre appearing in countless productions.

The SCVST box office, located on the south wall of the lobby in the Kleinpell Fine Arts Building., is open starting June 6, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To ensure a seat for the performances, tickets should be purchased in advance. Season tickets can be ordered by phone using a credit card. The box office is open one-hour before curtain time if any unsold seats are still available. For an SCVST brochure, tickets or more information, e-mail scvst@uwrf.edu or call the UW-RF box office at 715/425-3114 or 800/228-5423.

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