The SummerStage Festival at Stephen F. Austin State University will present a fun and funny children’s musical and an emotionally powerful American play in its 2018 summer theatre season.
Make plans early to enjoy this year’s SummerStage Festival, which is slated for June 29 through July 19 with performances in W.M. Turner Auditorium and the Downstage Theatre. Both venues are in Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus. This year’s plays are “Pinkalicious the Musical” and “Crimes of the Heart.” The festival is sponsored in part by Tipton Ford Lincoln.
Launched in 2014 to take the place of the traditional Summer Repertory Theatre season, SummerStage is designed to provide less formal, fun and easy-going live theatre experiences for East Texas audiences, according to Cleo House Jr., director of the SFA School of Theatre.
“SummerStage is about deepening the School of Theatre’s relationship with the community,” House said. “It’s about doing our part to keep the arts alive for Nacogdoches, even during the summer months when things tend to quiet down.”
“Pinkalicious the Musical” with book by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann, music by John Gregor, and lyrics by John Gregor, Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann, is the story of Pinkalicious, a little girl who can’t stop eating pink cupcakes despite warnings from her parents. Her pink indulgence lands her at the doctor’s office with Pinkititis, an affliction that turns her pink from head to toe – a dream come true for this pink loving enthusiast. But when her hue goes too far, only Pinkalicious can figure out a way to get out of this predicament.
“At face value, ‘Pinkalicious’ is a musical for young audiences that teaches moderation and self-control,” said House, who is the play’s director. “However, it also has a message about being true to what makes you unique and the importance of family.”
“Crimes of the Heart” by Beth Henley is about three sisters with very different personalities and lives who reunite when the youngest of them, Babe, has just shot her husband. The oldest sister, Lenny, takes care of their grandfather and is turning into an old maid, while Meg, who tries to make it in Hollywood as a singer/actress, has had a wild life filled with many men. Their reunion causes much joy, but also many tensions, according to the description at imdb.com.
“A play about family, love and loss, ‘Crimes of the Heart’ is both funny and serious, as well as lighthearted and profound,” said Dr. Inga Meier, assistant professor of theatre and the play’s director.
Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, “Crimes of the Heart,” in the end, is “the story of how people escape the past to seize the future,” according dramatists.com.
“Warm-hearted, irreverent, zany and brilliantly imaginative, the play teems with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of three young Mississippi sisters betrayed by their passions,” the website states.
“Pinkalicious the Musical” will be presented in Turner Auditorium at 10 a.m. June 29, July 10 and 19; at 2 p.m. July 7, 10 and 18; and at 6:30 p.m. June 30 and July 14. General admission tickets are $8. A pay-what-you-can performance is at 2 p.m. July 10.
“Crimes of the Heart” will be presented in the Downstage Theatre at 7:30 p.m. July 5, 7, 12, 13, 17 18 and 19 and at 2 p.m. July 14. General admission tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for students/youth. A pay-what-you-can performance is at 2 p.m. July 14.
For tickets or more information, visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.
