2018-2019 Season

Rise Up!

This lyric from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s HAMILTON is used to encourage people to “Rise Up” to meet a challenge that’s holding them back, to take a course of action that makes them better than they were before, to work to defeat a prejudice, to discover that there is another way to achieve their art, or to overcome a foe more powerful than you can imagine and to come out on the other side with justice.

Whenever we begin picking a new season, the challenge for us is to “Rise Up” and find great work to redraft, renew, or introduce to our audiences, and we have accomplished that again this year.

September 7-23, 2018
Kephart Theatre

The Music Man

By Meredith Willson

THE GREAT MIDWEST MUSICAL!

Slick con man Harold Hill is going to sucker River City into buying the idea of a boys’ band. That is until he falls in love with the strong-willed, eccentric Marian, the librarian! You too will be caught up in his trap with songs like Til There Was You, Ya Got Trouble, and Seventy-Six Trombones.

Production sponsored by BANK VI

Orchestra sponsored by ALL SMILES DENTAL CARE

October 19 – November 4, 2018
Sunflower Financial Theatre

Silent Sky

By Lauren Gunderson

WOMEN’S WORK TAKES US TO THE STARS!

When the brilliant Henrietta Leavitt goes to work for a renowned astronomer at Harvard, she is given “women’s work” in his project. But, it is she and her female co-workers who made discoveries that advance that science even into the 21st century.

Sponsored by COLDWELL BANKER and KCOE ISOM

November 16 – December 9, 2018
Kephart Theatre

Elf: The Musical

Book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin
Music by Matthew Sklar and Lyrics by Chad Beguelin

A REAL ELF CAN ALWAYS SAVE CHRISTMAS!

Buddy, a bit of an odd-sized elf, embarks on a journey from the North Pole to New York City to find his real father. Along the way he discovers his dad and his true love, and still manages to save Christmas for all of us. Make the holidays merrier with songs like SparkleJollyTwinkleJingley, A Christmas Song, and Never Fall in Love with an Elf.

Production sponsored by FIRST BANK KANSAS

Orchestra sponsored by EDWARD JONES

Costumes sponsored by HERITAGE REAL ESTATE ADVISORS

January 4 – 20, 2019
Sunflower Financial Theatre

The Foreigner

By Larry Shue

A GOOD PERSON CAN NEVER HIDE FROM DOING THE RIGHT THING!

Sent to a rural Georgia retreat to settle his nerves, Charlie (a demolition expert) pretends not to speak English so he will be left alone. Because of this, he overhears the evil plans of a two-faced preacher and his redneck partner. Charlie does what any overly shy person would do, he SAVES the day!

Sponsored by PKM STEEL

February 8-23, 2019
Kephart Theatre

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Based on the novel by Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens

BRILLIANCE HIDES. BRILLIANCE SUCCEEDS.

Cristopher is a 15-year-old mathematic savant who is ill-equipped to deal with life in the real world. When his neighbor’s dog is killed, he decides he’s going to investigate the incident. His journey becomes one not only of discovery of the crime, his family, and his world, but of just how far his own abilities can take him.

SPONSORED BY BENNINGTON STATE BANK

April 5 – 20, 2019
Kephart Theatre

Sunday in the Park with George

By Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Produced in collaboration with
KANSAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

ART, LIKE LOVE, IS NEVER EASY

Meet George Seurat, the father of post-impressionist pointillism, as he creates his masterpiece “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, and his love, a beautiful young woman known simply as “Dot.” What it takes for each of them to accomplish their love will thrill you through some of the greatest music of the last 100 years.

Sponsored by WELLS FARGO ADVISORS and CROWN DISTRIBUTORS

June 7 – 30, 2019
Kephart Theatre

Disney’s

Newsies: The Musical

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Jack Feldman, and Book by Harvey Fierstein

RISING UP IS THE ONLY WAY TO SUCCEED!

Based on the true story of the newsboy strike at the turn of the 20th century, this exciting and electric Broadway hit introduces you to Jack Kelly and his band of misfits who try to squeeze a nickel out of selling newspapers. But when the cost of the papers is raised, they decide that a strike is the only way for them to ever achieve a fair shake. Great music and amazing dancing will be the perfect end to this great season.

Production sponsored by THE BANK OF TESCOTT

Orchestra sponsored by MOWERY CLINIC