June 3, 2014. Get ’em while they’re hot – Lees-McRae Summer Theatre tickets are now on sale at www.LMC.edu/SummerTheatre. With three fantastic musicals scheduled from June 29-Aug 10, you’ll have plenty of chances to enjoy the thrills of Broadway in your own backyard. This year’s productions are Kiss Me, Kate; A Grand Night for Singing; and Monty Pythons’s Spamalot. Starting off the season from June 29-July 6, Kiss Me, Kate combines Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” with Cole Porter’s music and lyrics. Directed by Dr. Michael Hannah, associate professor of performing arts, this is a play-within-a-play where each cast member’s on-stage life is complicated by what is happening offstage. Kiss Me, Kate will be performed on the following dates and times: July 1, 2, 3 &5 at 7 p.m. and June 29 and July 5-6 at 2 p.m. Next up will be Roger and Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Singing scheduled for July 16-20. This musical, directed by Dr. Janet Brton Speer, artistic director of Summer Theatre is a fresh take on the Rogers & Hammerstein canon conceived by Tony Award Winner Walter Bobbie. Over three decades after the duo’s final collaboration, The Sound of Music, it was in fact this new R&H Musical that opened the 1994 Broadway season with flair and distinction, garnering wildly enthusiastic notices. You probably never imagined “Shall We Dance?” as a comic pas de deux for a towering beauty and her dimunutive admirer, nor did they suspect that one day a lovelorn young lad might pose the musical question, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” But that’s precisely the kind of invention lavished upon this revue, with innovative musical arrangements including a sultry Andrews Sisters-esque “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair,” a swinging “Honeyburn” worthy of the Modernaires, and a jazzy “Kansas City” which leaves no question about how terrifically up to date the remarkable songs of R&H remain. A Grand Night for SInging will be performed on the following dates and times: July 16-19 at 7 p.m. and July 17, 19 and 20 at 2 p.m. Wrapping up the season from Aug. 6-10 will be Monty Python’s Spamalot, commonly known as a “new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” In this musical Monty Python stalwart Eric Idle and composure John Du Prez adapt the classic film into a musical featuring the Knights Who Say Ni, killer rabbits, accused witches and other Python touches. Spamalot adds swipes at Vegas glitz and Broadway conventions to the film’s anarchic spirit. Directed by Dr. Speer, Spamalot will be performed on the following dates and times: Aug. 6-9 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 7, 9 and 10 at 2 p.m. The Box Office opens June 16 in Hayes Auditorium. For more information on Summer Theatre, please call 828-898-8709. All shows are held at the Broyhill Theatre of Hayes Auditorium. Online ticket purchases are available at www.LMC.edu/SummerTheatre. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Lees-McRae College is a private, four-year college offering diverse baccalaureate degrees, strong athletic programs and outstanding faculty. With 900 students hailing from 35 states and more than 10 countries, Lees-McRae’s broad core curriculum is enhanced by field-specific career preparation and experiential learning with an emphasis in leadership and service. For more information, please visit www.LMC.edu or call 828-898-5241.
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