Saint Michael's Playhouse Announces 2010 Season & Holiday Ticket Sale

Chuck Tobin, producing artistic director of the Saint Michael's Playhouse professional summer theater, just announced the 63rd Playhouse season to run from June 15 to August 7, 2010, with four productions: 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, June 15-25; AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, June 29-July 10; BLITHE SPIRIT, July 13-25, and ALWAYS . . . PATSY CLINE, July 27- August 7.

Tobin also announced a holiday ticket sale special from now through December 21: theater lovers can purchase subscriptions to the 2010 summer season for $108 for the four shows, evenings; or $88 for the fours shows, matinees.

Visit The Playhouse on line at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org; call 802.654-2281 or visit the box office in the McCarthy Arts Center on the campus of Saint Michael's College to purchase subscription certificates at last summer's rates. The Box Office is open weekdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through December 21.

Tobin said that holiday ticket sales (Dec. 1-21) are brisk, with the first eight days of sales this month showing a 29% increase over sales for the same period last year, which he said, showed a significant increase over the prior year.

"This outstanding increase in sales clearly demonstrates greater Burlington and Saint Michael's College communities' trust in and enthusiasm for the work of our professional creative team which is comprised of Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theater artists from around the country," Tobin said.

The Playhouse was named "One of the best regional theatre companies in America" by the NYC Drama League and "Best of New England" by Yankee Magazine in recognition of the organization's high-quality professional productions. The Playhouse is also home to a nationally-recognized, intensive theater internship program, training young theater students in all aspects of professional theater. Student interns have been essential to The Playhouse since its inception in 1947.

"This program puts our students' education into action," Tobin said, "and has been the springboard for hundreds of our graduates' successful careers."

THE SUMMER 2010 SAINT MICHAEL'S PLAYHOUSE SEASON:

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The laugh-out-loud sensation of Broadway, running for over 1,000 performances!

June 15 - 26

"Can you spell H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S? This Tony Award-winning Broadway blockbuster is a tune ful, offbeat and smart musical. Six whiz-kids in the throes of adolescence learn that winning isn't everything, and that losing doesn't necessar ily make you a loser. This side-splittingly funny musical boasts lovable characters, ingenious songs, and audience participation. The New York Times hailed the show, saying, ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is riotously funny and remarkably ingenious. Gold stars all around!'"

Around the World in 80 Days

The whirlwind fast-paced comedy of epic proportions!

June 29 - July 10

"Stampeding elephants! Raging typhoons! Runaway trains! Unabashedly slapstick! Hold onto your seats for the original Amazing Race! Jules Verne's thrilling novel comes to life before your eyes in this wildly theatrical adaptation. Join fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg and his resourceful servant Passepartout as they race the clock and set out to circle the globe. Danger, romance, and comic surprises abound in this whirlwind of a show as five actors portraying 39 characters traverse seven continents in one of the great adventures of all time."

Blithe Spirit

The ingenious, funny and brilliantly crafted British comedy!

July 13 - 24

"Noel Coward's Broadway comedy breezes onto The Playhouse stage. Charles, a successful writer and his second wife, Ruth, decide to hold a séance as research for an upcoming mystery novel. An eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, arrives to conduct the session and to Charles' (and Ruth's) surprise, the ghost of his glamorous and delightfully mischievous first wife, Elvira appears. The evening quickly devolves into chaos as doors start slamming and vases go flying. A perfectly enchanted comedy for a light-hearted summer evening!"

Always...Pasty Cline

A brand new production of The Playhouse's most frequently requested smash-hit musical!

July 27 - August 7

"Always...Patsy Cline is based on the true story of the legendary country singer's unlikely friendship with Houston housewife, Louise Seger. As seen through Louise's eyes, this smash-hit musical and Playhouse favorite offers old fans and new ones a chance to see the American original and dazzling star that was Patsy Cline. An intimate look at the woman behind the legend, as only a true friend could tell it, filled with all of Patsy's greatest hits including Anytime, Walkin' After Midnight, I Fall To Pieces, She's Got You, Sweet Dreams and Crazy."

Saint Michael's Playhouse is Greater Burlington's professional summer theater, celebrating live theater, nationally renowned Equity actors, and a Professional Theater Internship Program for college students in the heart of Northern Vermont's liveliest community. From its humble beginnings in 1947, Saint Michael's Playhouse has blossomed into an eight-week theater season housed in one of Vermont's finest theater venues, Saint Michael's McCarthy Arts Center. As the area's only professional summer theater, Saint Michael's Playhouse features stellar talent from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theaters nationwide, hiring actors and stage managers who are members of Actor's Equity Association - the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Each season approximately 15,000 theatergoers experience the unparalleled opportunity to see live, professional New York-caliber theater, produced and presented right here in Vermont. More information is available at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org .

To post a comment, you must register and login.