Aug 1, 2007

NEWS STORY FORMAT

SCC’S CENTER STAGE THEATRE
ANNOUNCES PRODUCTIONS FOR 2007-08 SEASON

St. Charles Community College’s Center Stage Theatre announced its lineup for the 2007-08 season. The five-play season includes comedy, drama, a Tony-Award-winning-play, and a musical.

All shows will be presented at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sundays in the theater of the Donald D. Shook Fine Arts Building (FAB) on the SCC campus, located at 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Dr. in Cottleville.

The first play, Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias,” follows Shelby, the prettiest girl in Chinquapin, La., through her wedding, pregnancy, illness, and tragic death. The play demonstrates how friendship, inner strength, and humor help people through the trials of life. Pamela Cilek, SCC theater professor, will direct the play. Auditions will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, and at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 20-21, in the FAB. The show will run from Oct. 3-7 with a matinee for high school students at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4.

The second play of the season will be Alan Ayckbourn’s Tony-Award-winning-comedy “Relatively Speaking,” directed by Deborah Phillips, adjunct theater instructor. The play revolves around an unidentified pair of slippers found under a bed, leading to a series of hilarious misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and alibis between two young lovers and a middle-aged couple. In the end, no one is certain who’s in love with whom. Auditions will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, and at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 8-9, in the FAB. Performances will be held Nov. 14-18 with a matinee for high school students at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 15.

The third production will be “Black Elk Speaks,” written by John Neihardt and directed by Hal Berry, SCC professor of history and theater. The life narrative of Black Elk is brought to life in this play which follows Black Elk through the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn and the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Auditions will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, and 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 22-23, in the FAB. The show will run from March 5-9 with a matinee for high school students at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 6.

The fourth production contains two one-act plays called “The Room” and “The Dumb Waiter,” both written by Harold Pinter and directed by David Marshall, SCC professor of English. “The Room” revolves around a husband, wife, and two visitors who contribute to a shocking act of violence and a surprising metamorphosis. The second play, “The Dumb Waiter,” is a mysterious study in suspense about two professional killers who wait apprehensively for word of their next macabre assignment. Auditions will be at 1 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 28-29, in the FAB. The play will run from April 23-27.

The final production of the season will be the musical “Once Upon a Mattress,” written by John Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer with music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Marshall Barer. Lynne Snyder, SCC adjunct theater professor, will direct and choreograph the production with musical direction by Gene Ditch. “Once Upon a Mattress” is a hilarious musical adaptation of the family fairy tale, “The Princess and the Pea,” in which Prince Dauntless is patiently waiting for his true princess to appear, in spite of his overbearing mother’s persistence to keep him single. This show is for ages 10 and up. Auditions will be at 7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, June 2-4, in the FAB. Performances will be held July 29-Aug. 3.

Tickets for the general public are $7; $5 for senior citizens and students; and free for SCC students with a valid student ID. High school matinees are $5 per student; one free ticket for chaperones is provided for every 15 students in attendance.

Center Stage Theatre shows are selected for mature audiences. Children under 10 years old will not be admitted unless the play is specifically labeled “suitable for children.” Theater patrons should contact the Young People’s Theatre of SCC for performances geared towards younger audiences.

For more information about Center Stage Theatre, contact the SCC Division of Arts and Humanities at 636-922-8254 or visit www.stchas.edu/calendars. For tickets, call 636-922-8050.

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