Western Playhouse, the summer theatre company at Missouri Western State University, will present musicals old and new in its third season. Meredith Willson\u2019s perennial favorite, \u201cThe Music Man,\u201d will be produced June 20-28, and \u201cMother Divine,\u201d an official selection of the New York Musical Theatre Festival\u2019s 2013 Next Link Project, will be produced July 11-19. Both productions will be staged in Potter Hall on the Missouri Western campus. Auditions for both productions will be held in Kansas City and St. Joseph next month. Tickets will cost $22.50 for adults and $9.50 for youth 17 and under, with family discounts available.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to bring these great musicals to life,\u201d said Dr. Bob Willenbrink, producing director and founding dean of Missouri Western\u2019s School of Fine Arts. \u201c\u2018The Music Man\u2019 is a family classic that will be enjoyed by young and old alike. \u2018Mother Divine\u2019 is an award-winning new script that will continue to grow in popularity as it reaches new audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equity and non-Equity principal auditions for actor\/singers who can dance will be held on March 15 at Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo., and on March 16 at Potter Hall on Missouri Western\u2019s campus, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day. Sign up for an audition time at www.westernplayhouse.com\/auditions.<\/p>\n
Western Playhouse is also seeking technicians for both productions. Visit www.westernplayouse.com\/technicians to apply for a spot on the technical crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic Man\u201d won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, when it debuted on Broadway in 1957. Willson described the musical as \u201can Iowan\u2019s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.\u201d Harold Hill\u2019s latest con is to sell band instruments and uniforms to parents with promises that he would form a band, then skip town once the goods arrive. But his scheme in River City, Iowa, hits a snag when he falls in love with the town\u2019s librarian. With familiar tunes like \u201cSeventy-six Trombones,\u201d \u201c(Ya Got) Trouble\u201d and \u201cTill There Was You,\u201d \u201cThe Music Man\u201d is one of the most beloved musicals ever produced. It will be performed at 7:30 p.m. June 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28, and at 2 p.m. June 22.<\/p>\n
\u201cMother Divine\u201d is based on the real-life events of the Depression-era Harlem evangelist Father Divine. The musical takes a comic look at the two \u201cMother Divines\u201d and their husband who claimed to be God. Father Divine\u2019s claims of immortality hit a snag with the untimely death of his presumed-to-be-immortal wife. When Father tells his flock that he \u201creincarnated\u201d Mother as a young blonde bombshell known as \u201cMother in the Second Body,\u201d the spirit of the original Mother Divine returns to set the record straight. \u201cMother Divine\u201d was written by Laurel Klinger Vartabedian of St. Joseph (book and lyrics) and Bill Evans (music). \u201cMother Divine\u201d will be performed at 7:30 p.m. July 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19, and 2 p.m. July 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly two years ago, I was chatting with Laurel Vartabedian and learned she had written a musical that was in competition for production in New York City,\u201d said Dr. Gordon Mapley, Western Playhouse co-founder and executive producer and dean of the Western Institute at Missouri Western. \u201cI read the script, studied the historical underpinnings of the play and eventually viewed clips of the New York City production. Loving the musical, I sought Laurel\u2019s approval for the Western Playhouse to be the first company to produce the play after the New York Musical Theatre Festival. We appreciate the opportunity to work with Laurel and some of her New York contacts to produce an exciting 2014 Playhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is considered the preeminent festival for launching new musicals. \u201cMother Divine\u201d was one of ten shows selected as a Next Link Project out of over 200 complete shows submitted. \u201cMother Divine\u201d is also being prepared for a Los Angeles-area production this summer.<\/p>\n
Western Playhouse was founded in 2012 as a unit of the Western Institute at Missouri Western. It is a resident summer theatre company utilizing professional actors.<\/p>\n
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit <\/em>www.missouriwestern.edu<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Western Playhouse, the summer theatre company at Missouri Western State University, will present musicals old and new in its third season. Meredith Willson\u2019s perennial favorite, \u201cThe Music Man,\u201d will be produced June 20-28, and \u201cMother Divine,\u201d an official selection of the New York Musical Theatre Festival\u2019s 2013 Next Link Project, will be produced July 11-19. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48],"tags":[321,557,560,563,787],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1989"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7799,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions\/7799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}