Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola announces 2016 season, its biggest since reopening in 2007
From a press release:
Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola has announced their 10th anniversary season, which will be their biggest season since the theatre reopened in 2007.
The theatre (5177 Nuangola Rd., Nuangola) will host nine mainstage productions (seven musicals and two plays), four youth workshops, as well as a slew of special events and fundraisers.
The mainstage season will open on Friday, March 11 with the rock opera hit “The Who’s Tommy.” It will have a four-week run through Sunday, April 3.
Based on the iconic 1969 rock concept album, “The Who’s Tommy” is an exhilarating story of hope, healing, and the human spirit. The story of the pinball-playing deaf, dumb, and blind boy who triumphs over his adversities has inspired, amazed, and puzzled audiences for more than 40 years.
After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother’s lover by his father, Tommy is traumatized into catatonia, and as the boy grows, he suffers abuse at the hands of his sadistic relatives and neighbors. As an adolescent, he’s discovered to have an uncanny knack for playing pinball, and when his mother finally breaks through his catatonia, he becomes an international pinball superstar.
“Children of Eden” plays April 15 through May 1. With a score by award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz of “Godspell,” “Pippin,” and “Wicked” fame, “Children of Eden” is a biblical musical telling both the story of creation and the story of Noah. The musical will feature a cast of 40 performers, the largest cast to appear on the Grove stage.
Lee Harper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” comes to life onstage on May 13-May 22.
It’s 1935, and racial tensions are high in Maycomb, Alabama. Nonetheless, young Jean Louise Finch – or Scout, as she is fondly called – manages to live a rather carefree, privileged existence insulated from issues of race. All that changes when Scout watches her father, Atticus Finch, defend an innocent man, Tom Robinson, against a potential death sentence, which looms threateningly against him because of prejudice due to race. Scout begins to realize that just because society portrays something as being true doesn’t mean that it actually is fact. With the help of Atticus and her older brother, Jem, Scout learns that “growing up” often means doing what is right, even when it comes at great cost.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is now considered an American masterpiece about the power of childhood innocence, morality, and love. However, it is important to note that the author, Harper Lee, always defined it as a simple love story.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” includes a weekday matinee performances for school students.
Disney gets a double appearance at the Grove with live adaptations of both “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast” taking the stage. “The Little Mermaid” will have an unprecedented five-week run from June 10-July 10.
Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s most beloved stories and the classic animated film, “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages. With music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and a compelling book by Doug Wright, this fishy fable will capture your heart with its irresistible songs, including “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl,” and “Part of Your World.”
Each year, Theatre at the Grove presents a classic musical deeply rooted in Americana, and this year is no different. Past years have boasted performances of “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Hello Dolly.” This season, the Grove will present “Funny Girl,” made famous by Barbara Streisand’s portrayal of Fanny Brice in the 1964 Broadway production and in the 1968 motion picture. Famous musical numbers include “I’m the Greatest Star,” “I Want to Be Seen with You Tonight,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “People,” “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” “Who Are You Now?” and “You Are Woman, I Am Man.”
“9 to 5,” written by country music superstar Dolly Parton and based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name, has a four-week run starting Sept. 25.
Pushed to the boiling point, three female co-workers concoct a plan to get even with the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot they call their boss. In a hilarious turn of events, Violet, Judy, and Doralee live out their wildest fantasy – giving their boss the boot! While Hart remains “otherwise engaged,” the women give their workplace a dream makeover, taking control of the company that had always kept them down. Hey, a girl can scheme, can’t she?
Fall at the theatre will feature “Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical” and “Arsenic and Old Lace.”
“Bonnie and Clyde,” running Oct. 14-30, features songs by “Jekyll and Hyde” composer Frank Weildhorn. At the height of the Great Depression, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow went from two small-town nobodies in West Texas to America’s most renowned folk heroes and Texas law enforcement’s worst nightmares.
When Bonnie and Clyde meet, their mutual cravings for excitement and fame immediately set them on a mission to chase their dreams. Their bold and reckless behavior turns the young lovers’ thrilling adventure into a downward spiral, putting themselves and their loved ones in trouble with the law. Forced to stay on the run, the lovers resort to robbery and murder to survive. As the infamous duo’s fame grows bigger, their inevitable end draws nearer.
In “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Spinster sisters Abby and Martha Brewster are devoted to charity and family. But they have taken on another project as well – befriending lonely older gentlemen and then poisoning them with arsenic-laced elderberry wine. The over 70-year-old comedic mystery over the Grove stage Nov. 11-20.
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” closes the 2016 season with a 14 performance run Dec. 2-18. It tells the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity. The audience is sure to be singing along to such favorites as “Belle,” “Be Our Guest” and, of course, the title song, “Beauty and the Beast.”
Regular performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Some productions include special Saturday matinees and Thursday family night performance. Exact performance schedules are available online at theatreatthegrove.com.
Season passes for Theatre at the Grove’s 2016 season are available by calling the box office at 570-868-8212 or e-mailing grovetickets@frontier.com. Season passes are $158 while individual tickets are $20 for musicals and $18 for plays. Discounts are available for children, students, and groups.
