Three Rivers releases 2012-13 Center Stage season schedule | Arts & Culture

BUTLER COUNTY, MO (KFVS) - Center Stage, Three Rivers College’s student/staff/community theater, has announced its 2012-13 season of four productions.

The season will include the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Our Town” Oct. 19-21; the holiday favorite “It’s a Wonderful Life” Nov. 16-18; “Egad, What a Cad, an Old Fashioned Melodrama” March 15-17, and the musical “Godspell” May 10-12.

Roles in Center Stage performances are open to Three Rivers students, college employees, and community members. Auditions are held four to five weeks prior to the performance.

“We held an open audition, and I was impressed with the talent in this community,” said Robert Cook, Director of Center Stage and the Three Rivers Tinnin Fine Arts Center and a theatre instructor at the college. “The goal of Center Stage is to provide performance opportunities to those in the area interested in acting and theater and to provide a wide range of theater experiences to the community.”

Following are details about Center Stage’s 2012-13 season. All performances will be at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center. Showtimes are 7 p.m. for Friday and Saturday performances, 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets to each performance are $10 for adults and $5 for children, students and senior citizens:

• “Our Town,” Oct. 19-21. This Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Thornton Wilder takes place in the fictional community of Grover’s Corners, N.H., and portrays small town America of the early 1900s. It explores the relationships between a number of Grover’s Corners citizens, but mainly focuses on two young lovers George Gibbs & Emily Webb. The audience experiences the circle of life, daily life, love and marriage and ultimately death with these lovers along with the residents of Grover’s Corners.
• “It’s A Wonderful Life, a live radio play,” Nov. 16-18. Most people have seen the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.” This production presents George Bailey’s story as a live radio performance of the 1940s. Those attending the performances become part of the studio audience, while the play’s cast portrays radio performers and sound effects producers. This will be a fun kick off for the holiday season for the entire family. Audition will be 7 p.m. Oct. 6, with callbacks, if needed, on Oct. 7.
• “Egad, What a Cad, an Old-Fashioned Melodrama,” March 15-17. Come hiss the Villain and cheer the Hero & Heroine in this old-fashioned melodrama, where audience participation isn’t just welcome, it’s encouraged. Beautiful heroine Constant Hope is about to fall into the clutches of black-hearted cad Bertram Oleander. Can she be saved by noble hero, Manly Rash? This is a play that’s great fun for cast and audience alike. Audition will be 7 p.m. Jan. 28, with callbacks, if needed, on Jan. 29.
•  “Godspell,” May 10-12. “Godspell,” one of the biggest Broadway hits of all time, is a musical based on the gospel according to St. Matthew. It features such well-loved songs as “Day by Day,” "All Good Gifts, “and "Turn Back, O Man." Drawing from various theatrical traditions, “Godspell” is a groundbreaking and unique reflection on the teachings & parables of Jesus. Audition will be 7 p.m. March 18, with callbacks, if needed, on March 19.

Tickets for Center Stage productions go on sale two weeks prior to the performance at the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce and the Three Rivers Business/Financial Services Office. Tickets also will be sold at the door, as available.

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