Tibbits Summer Theatre Offers Exciting Mix
COLDWATER – Tibbits Summer Theatre’s 2016 season includes a mix of old and new, music and comedy, exceptional dancing, and the professional theatre Tibbits has been presenting for 52 years plus new music events and new times.
The main four-show season features the classic American musical, “Oklahoma!”, the recent Broadway hit “The Addams Family the Musical,” the funny, yet poignant play “Driving Miss Daisy,” and the hilarious farce “Boeing-Boeing.” The new start time for evening shows will be 7:30 pm and the season will stretch a little longer with new events in between the plays.
“Driving Miss Daisy” will open the summer stock season on June 16 and run through June 25. The play by Alfred Uhry is set against a backdrop of changing world events over 30 years. A spirited Southern widow and her proud, but soft-spoken, black chauffeur journey from suspicion and mistrust to respect and deep-rooted affection.
A show for the whole family, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” will open July 7 and run through July 16. Based on the play “Green Grow the Lilacs” by Lynn Riggs, this spirited musical celebrates the American frontier spirit of community, optimism and patriotism. Set when Oklahoma was just a territory and the cowboys and the farmers were more concerned about who gets the girl than becoming a state.
According to Charles Burr, Artistic Director for Tibbits Summer Theatre, “Oklahoma!” is a musical that will thrill audiences both young and old.” He added, “With the company we have it will also be danced as you have never seen it danced before.”
Based on the creepy, kooky characters of the 1960s TV show, “The Addams Family, The Musical” opens July 28 and runs through August 6. In the story by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, Wednesday Addams falls in love with an all-American Midwestern boy. She invites him and his family to meet her family. In the macabre home of Gomez and Morticia, amidst the laughs and peculiarities, secrets are disclosed, relationships are tested, and the Addams family is forced to realize their little girl has grown up.
“Boeing-Boeing” by Marc Camoletti, Beverly Cross, and Francis Evans opens August 11 and runs through August 20. This hilarious farce set in 1960s Paris, introduces swinging bachelor Bernard as he happily strings along three gorgeous airline stewardesses. He brags of his ideal set up until all of his careful scheduling is undone by a faster Boeing jet plane. Soon all three stewardesses are in town simultaneously with catastrophic results.
Tibbits professional summer stock season has been entertaining local audiences and bringing people to Coldwater from across the United States and Canada since 1964. In those 52 years Tibbits has developed an outstanding reputation for quality theatre. USA Today named Tibbits one of “10 great places to see the lights way off Broadway.”
The Summer Theatre schedule begins a week earlier and ends a week later this year and has new events added. Amidst the run of “Driving Miss Daisy,” the cast will take a night off for an evening of comedy featuring Heywood Banks, a favorite of the Bob and Tom Show. Tibbits is planning a music festival event for July 1 and looking to add some cabaret-style dinner theatre performances in the middle of July. According to Tibbits Executive Director Christine Delaney, “We are looking for other ways to expand the season. We would love to offer some special dinner theatre events, receptions or opportunities to really showcase the actors.”
Summer Theatre season tickets are available now offering the greatest value for all four shows. Single show tickets and passbooks go on sale April 1. To reserve seats, stop at Tibbits administrative offices at 93 W. Chicago Street weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm or call 517-278-6029. All performances are held at the beautiful historic Tibbits Opera House, 14 S. Hanchett Street, Coldwater. For more information, go to www.Tibbits.org.