Artistic Director Paul J. Hustoles talks about the season's shows.
Highland Summer Theatre is a professional summer stock theatre that presents four productions
(including two full musical productions) between the end of May and the end of July. This year we will present
our 43rd annual season.
Musical performances are held in the Ted Paul Theatre, a 529-seat, fully equipped proscenium stage;
plays are performed in the Andreas Theatre (gorgeous 250-seat state-of-the-art black box that opened
in May 2000) in the air conditioned Performing Arts Center of Minnesota State Mankato. More than 11,000 patrons
are expected to see this season!
Season brochures for the 43rd annual Highland Summer Theatre
will be mailed in mid-April (the second weekend of our final musical production, Mame.
If you did not receive a brochure in the mail but would like one, let us know.
Tickets for ALL INDIVIDUAL shows are on sale NOW. During the summer,
all performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
If you'd like a season brochure mailed to you, tell us so here.
Deathtrap
by Ira Levin
Sponsored by Hale Associates
7:30 p.m. May 27-31
Seemingly comfortably ensconced in his charming Connecticut home, Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer
of Broadway thrillers, is struggling to overcome a "dry" spell which has resulted in a string of failures
and a shortage of funds. A possible break in his fortunes occurs when he receives a script from a student in
the seminar he has been conducting at a nearby college—a thriller which Sidney recognizes immediately
as a potential Broadway hit. Sidney's plan, which he devises with his wife's help, is to offer to collaborate
with the student, an idea which the younger man quickly accepts. Thereafter suspense mounts steadily
as the plot begins to twist and turn with devilish cleverness, and with such an abundance of thrills
and laughter, that audiences will be held enthralled until the final, startling moments of the play.
Minnesota State Mankato previously presented Deathrap in the summer of 1986.
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
book and lyrics by Joe DePietro, music by Jimmy Roberts
7:30 p.m. June 11-14
This celebration of the mating game takes on the truths and myths behind that contemporary conundrum known
as "the relationship." Act I explores the journey from dating and waiting, to love and marriage. Act II reveals
the agonies and triumphs of in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set.
This hilarious musical revue pays tribute to those who have loved and lost, to those who have fallen on their face
at the portal of romance, to those who have dared to ask, "Say, what are you doing Saturday night?"
This is the first time Minnesota State Mankato has presented I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.
Plaza Suite
by Neil Simon
Sponsored by Minnesota State Mankato TRIO Program
7:30 p.m. June 24-28
Hilarity abounds in this portrait of three couples successively occupying a suite at the famous New York City Plaza Hotel.
A suburban couple take the suite while their house is being painted and it turns out to be the one in which they
honeymooned 23 (or was it 24?) years before and was yesterday the anniversary, or is it today? This wry tale of
marriage in decay is followed by the exploits of a Hollywood producer who, after three marriages, is looking for fresh love.
He calls a childhood sweetheart, now a suburban housewife, for a little diversion. Over the years she has idolized him from
afar and is now more than the match he bargained for. The last couple is a mother and father fighting about the best way
to get their daughter out of the bathroom and down to the ballroom where guests await, or as mamma yells, "I want you to come out
of that bathroom and get married!"
Minnesota State Mankato previously presented Plaza Suite in 1971.
Damn Yankees
book by Douglass Wallop and George Abbott,
lyrics and music by Jerry Ross
and Richard Adler
Sponsored by Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic, P.A., Wolf Etter & Co.
and the Pamela and Wynn R. Kearney Foundation
7:30 p.m. July 10-12 & 16-19
Faust meets professional baseball in this Broadway classic from the creators of The Pajama Game. Middle-aged baseball
fanatic Joe Boyd trades his soul to the Devil (the charming but devious Mr. Applegate) for a chance to lead
his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the damn New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation,
Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth
of the life (and wife) he's left behind. Added to the devilish mix is the temptress, Lola. Light, fast-paced and clever,
Damn Yankees is a home-run hit whose all-American subject matter and irreverent sense of humor have brought
many a sports fan into the theatre. It features a catchy score filled with rousing production numbers and popular favorites
like "Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants."
Minnesota State Mankato previously presented Damn Yankees in the summer of 1989.