Our Town
by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Peter Westerhoff
September 29, 30 and October 1, 2, 3, 2009 at 7:30pm
October 4, 2009 at 2:30pm

Our Town is a character story about an average town’s citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives, particularly George Gibbs, a doctor’s son, and Emily Webb, the daughter of the town’s newspaper editor. Thornton Wilder’s timeless 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning look at love, death, and destiny is celebrated around the world and performed at least once each and every day in the United States.

THORNTON WILDER: “ There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

Lonely Planet
by Steven Dietz
Directed by J. Kevin Doolen
November 12, 13, 18, 20, and 21, 2009 at 7:30pm
November 15, 2009 at 2:30pm
Production made possible by a grant from Mr. Bob Lemon (Class of 1951).

Contemporary playwright Steven Dietz is at his best in this two-person tour de force comedy with tragic undertones. This lively tribute to humanity renews a sense of urgency without preaching or moaning.

STEVEN DIETZ: “In a chaotic world, friendship is the most elegant, the most lasting way to be useful. We are, each of us, a living testament to our friends’ compassion and tolerance, humor and wisdom, patience and grit. Friendship, not technology, is the only thing capable of showing us the enormity of the world.”

5th of July
by Landford Wilson
Directed by Michael Gross
February 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, 2010 at 7:30pm
February 21, 2010 at 2:30pm

In Landford Wilson’s 5th of July we share a sometime painful, and more often comedic, journey of renewal for Kenneth Talley, a combat-wounded veteran and teacher of English, who has returned home, disillusioned about every aspect of his life. Initially seeking to distance himself from his family, friends, community, and calling, Ken rediscovers the desire to engage in his world, and to again live life as fully and meaningfully as possible.
In the play’s introduction, Landford Wilson wrote of his 1978 play, that it was “…one of restoration and commitment. Something the country sorely needed. I was almost surprised when I realized the play had to be set in my hometown of Lebanon, Missouri. This had to be about the heartland.”

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan
New Music by Jeanine Tesori
New Lyrics by Dick Scanlan
Original Story and Screenplay by Richard Morris for the University Pictures Film
Directed by Peter Westerhoff
April 21, 22, 23, and 24, 2010 at 7:30pm
April 25, 2010 at 2:30pm

Thoroughly Modern Millie is a high-spirited musical romp that has all of New York dancing the Charleston. It’s the zany new 1920’s musical that has took Broadway by storm! Taking place in New York City in 1922, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of young Millie Dillmount, who has just moved to the city in search of a new life for herself. It’s a New York full of intrigue and jazz – a time when women were entering the workforce and the rules of love and social behavior were changing forever. Based on the popular movie, the stage version of Thoroughly Modern Millie includes a full score of new songs and bright dance numbers.

JEANINE TESORI: “Thoroughly Modern Millie” is a coming-of-age story. So, would you call it happy? You watch someone literally start their life; a young girl drops who she ever was and begins again, like so many people do in New York. It’s hopeful. It’s about beginnings.