Straw Hat Players
June 4-7 | June 11-14 | June 18-21 | June 25-28
The 56th season of the community’s oldest summer theatre company opens June 4 with Breaking Up is Hard to Do, a musical filled with favorites from the 1960s. Breaking Up (rated PG-13) has not been staged in the region before. The show runs through June 7 on the Gaede Stage. Set at a Catskills resort in 1960, the musical tells the story of Lois and Marge, two friends from Brooklyn in search of good times and romance over one wild Labor Day weekend. The musical score showcases 18 Neil Sedaka classics, including “Where the Boys Are,” “Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl,” “Love Will Keep Us Together,” and the chart-topping title song.
Tunes from a decade later come next, with a second regional premiere titled Disaster! (rated PG-13). Set in 1979, this musical revue follows New York’s A-listers as they line up for the opening of a floating casino and discotheque. What begins as a night of boogie fever quickly changes to panic as the ship succumbs to multiple disasters, such as earthquakes, tidal waves and infernos. The show runs from June 11 to 14 on the Hansen Theatre stage.
Plaza Suite (rated PG-13), one of famed playwright Neil Simon’s best-loved plays, opens June 18 and runs through June 21 on the Gaede Stage. The dramatic comedy explores the ins-and-outs of marriage by portraying three couples who successively occupy a suite at the Plaza.
The season closes with the blockbuster hit musical Annie (rated PG). Based on the popular comic strip by Harold Gray, this musical is loved all over the world. Little orphan Annie steals the hearts of everyone, despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. Determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage, she eventually finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell and a mutt named Sandy. Annie opens on June 25 and runs through June 28 in Hansen Theatre.
The Gaede Stage and Hansen Theatre are located in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts. All shows start at 7:30 p.m. Season tickets are available for the entire Straw Hat season at a discount. Season tickets and tickets for individual shows may be purchased online at mnstate.edu/tickets, or by calling the MSUM Box Office Monday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. at 218-477-2271.