SpotLight Showcase Set for Tonight, 6/11, at the Orpheum

The SpotLight Showcase, the seventh annual event celebrating high school student participants in Hennepin Theatre Trust's SpotLight Musical Theatre Program, will be held at the Orpheum Theatre at 7 p.m. tonight, June 11, 2012. Tickets, available for only $15, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2012. This professionally produced gala evening honors Minnesota's best young musical theatre talent by featuring dynamic student performances mixed with award presentations from among 56 participating schools statewide. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 1.800.982.2787. 

This year's event will feature a student medley based on songs from the Trust's 2012/13 Broadway Season and a special performance from Broadway vocalist and SpotLight spokesperson Linda Eder. The names of two students selected to represent Minnesota at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York will also be announced.

As the Trust's flagship educational initiative, the SpotLight Musical Theatre Program honors, supports and advocates for Minnesota high school musical theatre students and programs. This program, the only one of its kind in the state, includes the opportunity to work with theatre educators and musical theatre professionals who provide training and insight through critical feedback and Broadway workshops. This year, a record 56 schools, including 13 new schools and nine from greater Minnesota, are presenting musicals made possible by the collaboration of almost 5,000 students and are annually seen by an estimated 105,000 audience members.