Rose State College 2008-2009 Theatre Season

You Can't Take It With You     July 17, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m.; July 20, 2pm matinee. H. B. Atkinson Theatre.
By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
You Can't Take It With You first premiered in December of 1936 near the end of the Great Depression. One of Hart and Kaufman's greatest successes, the comedy won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has become a perennial American theater favorite. The Frank Capra film version won several Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1938, and the play has entertained generations of audiences for the past 70 years.
Rated G (for all audiences Est. running time 2 hr. 30 min)
Dinner Theatre- Thursday, July 17 at 6pm, Main Dining Room. Reservations and payment due by 5pm, Monday, July 14.

Molly Sweeney                           October 10 and 11, 2008, 7:30pm curtain, H. B. Atkinson Theatre.
by Brian Friel
The Rose State College entry into the American College Theatre Festival.  MOLLY SWEENEY is Irish playwright Brian Friel's poignant drama of a blind woman who gains her sight and the aftermath of that surgery. This powerful tale is told by three complex characters. First there is Molly, blind since infancy, and relatively content in her sightless universe. Then there is Frank, her ambitious but well- meaning husband who forever pushes and prods Molly towards an operation that might restore her vision. Completing the triangle is Mr. Rice, Molly's once-famous, now alcoholic eye-surgeon who dreams of restoring himself by restoring Molly. Their individual stories interweave on stage, threading in and around each other's lives, until the unexpected and striking conclusion that begs the question, "Which of these three have gained sight, and who can actually see?"
Dinner Theatre- Friday, October 10 at 6pm, Main Dining Room. Reservations and payment due by 5pm, Tuesday, October 7.

Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn          Nov. 7, 8, 2008.  7:30pm. November 9, 2pm matinee.  RSC Performing Arts Theatre
Music and Lyrics by Roger Miller
Book by William Hauptman
Adapted from the novel by Mark Twain 
Country-Western songwriter Roger Miller created his one and only Broadway score for this show, and justifiably won a Tony Award for his efforts. The colorful journey of Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim bursts with humor, thrilling adventure, and poignant insight into American history. A story of friendship and redemption, the toe-tapping score includes "Oh, Muddy Water," "River in the Rain," "Free at Last," and "Waitin’ for the Light to Shine."
(Rated PG for mature themes, racially sensitive story lines. Est. running time, 2 hr. 20 min.)
Dinner Theatre- Friday, Nov. 7, 6pm.  Performing Arts Theatre Lecture Room.  Reservations and payment due by Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Inspecting Carol    December 4, 5, 6 at 7:30 p.m.; December 7, 2pm matinee.  H. B. Atkinson Theatre
by Daniel Sullivan
A Christmas Carol meets The Government Inspector meets Noises Off meets Waiting For Guffman in Inspecting Carol, a hit play originally commissioned by Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1992. The flustered cast of a small theatre caters to an amateur actor seeking a role in their production of A Christmas Carol when he is mistaken for a National Endowment for the Arts inspector. Enhanced by humor, the show addresses serious issues that concern government funding of the arts and the pressures affecting programming at regional theatres. This hilarious farce of the Charles Dickens classic is a joyful celebration of the season but packs an additional punch of enjoyment with preposterous situations and witty commentary.
 (Rated PG.  Est. running time 2 hrs. 15 min.)
Dinner Theatre- Friday, Dec. 5 at 6pm, Main Dining Room. Reservations and payment due by 5pm, Tuesday, Dec. 2.

Almost, Maine                     February 12, 13, 14, 7:30pm; Feb. 15, 2pm matinee.  H.B. Atkinson Theatre
by John Cariani
The perfect "date play" for young and old, this delightful romantic comedy aims for the heart by way of the funnybone. Set in the far reaches of Northern Maine, an eccentric and endearing cast of Mainers fall in and out of love in ways that only people who live in close proximity to wild moose can do. Funny, warm and delightfully romantic, put on your parka and enjoy this whimsical look at the joys and perils of romance.
 (Rated PG.  Est. running time 1 hr. 45 minutes.)
Dinner Theatre- Thursday, Feb. 12, 6pm, Main Dining Room. Reservations and payment are due by 5pm, Monday, Feb. 9.

Brighton Beach Memoirs                         April 16, 17, 18, 7:30pm; April 19, 2pm matinee.  H. B. Atkinson Theatre
by Neil Simon
Here is part one of Neil Simon's autobiographical trilogy: a portrait of the writer as a Brooklyn teenager in 1937 living with his family in crowded, lower middle class circumstances. No other play exemplifies Simon's mastery of wit and precision storytelling more than this funny and nostalgic coming-of-age comedy. Audiences are left filled with laughter and vivid images of a time when the struggles of a boy, a family and a nation were as big as its dreams.
 (Rated PG.  Est.  running time 2 hrs. 20 min.)
Dinner Theatre- Thursday, April 16, 6pm, Main Dining Room.  Reservations and payment due by 5pm, Monday, April 13.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Please contact rnelson@rose.edu
Rick Nelson, Professor of Theatre
6420 SE 15th Street
Midwest City, OK 73110
(405) 736-0364

For information and reservations for Dinner Theatre, please contact the Office of Special Events at 736-0313, or by email to Lisa Price at lprice@rose.edu.