OKLAHOMA! to Play PACE Mainstage, Begin. 7/26

OKLAHOMA! one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's best musicals, comes to the PACE Mainstage on July 26-28 and August 2-4. This rousing story about the American West features favorites like Oh What a Beautiful Morning, The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, and People Will Say We're In Love.

Director Kim Moore of the Parker Theatre Academy promises audiences that this "Ain't Yer Grandma's Oklahoma!" The large cast of Parker and Denver-area singers, dancers, and actors numbers close to 100, and features Will Freyschlag as Curly, Laura Gerhard as Laurey, and Cara Lippit as Ado Annie. The high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in the brand-new state of Oklahoma provides the ultimate climax to this triumphant favorite.

A portion of all tickets sales will benefit the Parker Task Force. On Sunday July 28 following the 2 p.m. show, a celebrity pie auction with auctioneer "Ado Annie" will benefit the outreach programs of the PACE Renaissance Guild.

Performances are at the PACE Center in Parker at 7:30 p.m. on July 26, 27 and August 2, 3 and at 2:00 p.m. on July 28 and August 3, 4. Tickets start at $18.50 and can be ordered online at www.pacecenteronline.org or by calling the PACE box office at 303-805-6800.

Located in Historic Old Town Parker two blocks east of Parker Road and Mainstreet, the PACE Center is home to a 536-seat theater, 250-seat amphitheater, art gallery, event room, dance studio, culinary kitchen and several classrooms. The PACE Center provides a wide variety of local, regional, national and international cultural, arts, scientific and educational programming to the region and serves as a rental venue for community, business and social events. For more information about Parker's NEW Center for the Arts, visit www.PACEcenteronline.org.