Season Schedule
Jun 06, 2012 - Jun 23, 2012
Penn State Downtown Theatre Center
Created by Larry Gallagher
Directed by Amy Anders Corcoran
Last seen on our stage in 2001 . . .Who can get enough of Beehive?
Six wailing women, a hot six-piece band, fifty outrageous costumes and wigs, and fifteen cans of hairspray a week can only mean one thing–BEEHIVE, the ’60s musical sensation, is back on our stage!
Beehive is a high-energy musical revue tracing the legendary music of the 1960s through thirty-seven popular hits of the girl groups and solo singers of the era. The Chiffons, The Supremes, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin are just some of the pop stars portrayed by the super talented cast. Hear such favorites as “My Boyfriend’s Back,” “One Day,” “Where the Boys Are,” “Downtown,” “Proud Mary,” and “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”
Jul 18, 2012 - Aug 04, 2012
Penn State Downtown Theatre Center
Book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts
Directed by Cary Libkin
Last seen on our stage in 2003 . . .It’s time for a refresher course in LOVE!
What could be better than a return smash hit musical comedy about everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives, and in-laws, but were afraid to admit?
Off-Broadway's longest running musical, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is a musical comedy about love in suburbia. It has been described as "Seinfeld set to music." The talented comedic actors play over 40 roles as they explore the various ups and downs of love and different types of relationships. From single life to dating to marriage to the end of relationships, this play explores the whole cycle with humor, emotion, and insight. Perfect for anyone who's ever experienced the ups and downs of modern romance, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change has inspired at least 57 proposals in its own audience, each of them answered with a "yes." Come see this inspiring, laugh-out-loud funny musical celebration of relationships.
Sep 25, 2012 - Oct 05, 2012
Penn State Downtown Theatre Center
By Liz Flahive
Directed by Robert W. Schneider
An uproarious and uplifting family comedy!
The Barretts wish their family could make it through one day unnoticed, but that’s going to be hard now that their son has to publicly apologize to his entire high school for publishing his enemies list. A contemporary new comedy about the highs and lows of family life!
Kenny Barrett did something that has everyone worried. He wishes he could just make it through the rest of his senior year unnoticed, but that's going to be hard since he has to publicly apologize to his entire high school. At home, his mother is struggling with a rocky start to her second marriage and a surprise visit from her estranged sister. A new play about a family limping out the door in the morning and coming home no matter what.
Oct 16, 2012 - Nov 02, 2012
Pavilion Theatre
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler
Directed by Susan H. Schulman
Some people would KILL for a good musical!
Our very own Broadway director, Susan H. Schulman, directed the revival of Sweeney Todd at the Circle in the Square, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Now you can see her vision in our production!
The musical tells the story of Benjamin Barker, alias Sweeney Todd, who returns to London after 15 years' transportation on false charges. When he learns from his former landlady Mrs. Lovett that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by the judge who wrongly transported him (Judge Turpin by name), he vows revenge.
Nov 07, 2012 - Nov 15, 2012
Playhouse Theatre
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Steve Broadnax
Sometimes tragedy is just a matter of really bad timing...
Oya runs—fast enough to win a scholarship out of the projects. But then the grief of family and the spirits of the bayou tear up the path beneath her swift feet, threatening to pull her beneath the water. How strong is the song of Oya’s run and can she outpace the call of fate? More . . .
A trilogy of modern-day stories of kinship, love, heartache, and coming of age from Tarell Alvin McCraney, the winner of the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. The Brother / Sister Plays delve into the world of a Louisiana Bayou housing project, a landscape of hardship and dreams. Influenced by Yoruban mythology, modern dance, and autobiography, and populated with stories of sacrifice, heartache, and laughter, this award-winning trilogy has been hailed as “the greatest piece of writing by an American playwright under 30” (Chicago Tribune).
Feb 12, 2013 - Feb 23, 2013
Pavilion Theatre
By William Shakespeare
Guest Directed by Ed Stern (from Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park)
Will King Navarre’s men succumb to the game of love?
Love and loquacity. Passion and puns. Rhetoric and romance. The Bard takes wordplay and wit to their most impressive in this clever comedy.
The King of Navarre and his men take an oath to devote their lives to scholarship—without the company of women. But what they didn't anticipate was a visit from the beautiful Princess of France and her three gorgeous ladies-in-waiting. Will the oath hold? Or will the men succumb to the game of love?.
Apr 05, 2013 - Apr 06, 2013
Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture with the modern classic MASS, Leonard Bernstein’s provocative exploration of faith.
A collaboration of Penn State’s schools of Music and Theatre and the Center for the Performing Arts, MASS seeks the meaning and relevance of faith in an increasingly secular and noisy world. Sometimes humorous, occasionally bawdy, and at times profoundly moving, Bernstein’s masterpiece, based on the Roman Catholic liturgy, includes passages sung in Latin with additional texts in English by Bernstein, Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz, and Paul Simon. The work, scored for orchestra, marching and rock bands, actors, and dancers, also features rock, blues, Broadway, and classical music. Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, MASS debuted at the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971.
On sale May 16
