Stars return for Straw Hat Players alumni show
Sinatra tribute created by former Straw Hat director David Grapes
Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Straw Hat Players Summer Theatre opens its 50th season with My Way – A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, a PG-rated musical revue with hits like “Fly Me to the Moon” and “You Make Me Feel So Young.” The show runs from June 4 to 7 on the Gaede Stage. Award-winning director, actor and playwright David Grapes, who directed Straw Hat from 1991 to 1993, returns to direct the show, which features alums Nicole Fenstad and Sean Michael Palmer, as well as current Straw Hat Director Craig Ellingson and senior theatre major Anne Brown.
The Straw Hat Players holds its 50th celebration reunion July 19 and 20. Theatre professor Delmar Hansen started the summer theatre company in 1963. Alumni from all decades of the company’s history will attend the reunion. A retrospective display of Straw Hat memorabilia will be displayed in the MSUM Art Gallery during the reunion.
The 50th season continues with the PG-13-rated musical The World Goes ‘Round, which features the song and dance of John Kander and Fred Ebb, the team that created Cabaret and Chicago. The show runs from June 11 to 14 on the Gaede Stage.
The third show of the summer is Godspell, a PG-rated musical based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew. This musical runs from June 18 to 21 in the Hansen Theatre. The show features a string of well-loved songs, including “Day By Day.”
From June 25 to 28, the Straw Hat Players present Lend Me a Tenor, a PG-13-rated comedy from Ken Ludwig. It’s a madcap, screwball comedy by one of the greatest American farce writers. This play takes place on the Gaede Stage.
Fifth in the line-up is the dramatic comedy Same Time Next Year, rate PG-13. The play follows a love affair between Doris and George, who rendezvous once a year. Twenty-five years of manners and morals are hilariously and touchingly played out by the lovers. The play runs from July 9 to 12 on the Gaede Stage.
The season closes with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Forum in Hansen Theatre. The beloved musical, rate PG-13, is a non-stop laugh-fest in which Pseudolus, a crafty slave, struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan named Philia for his young master, Hero. Shows run July 18, 19, and from July 23 to 26.
All shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.mnstate.edu/strawhat, or by calling the MSUM Box Office Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 218.477.2271.