Heir to the Frankish throne, the young prince Pippin is in search of the secret to true happiness and fulfillment. He seeks it in the glories of the battlefield, the temptations of the flesh and the intrigues of political power (after disposing of his father, King Charlemagne the Great). In the end, though, Pippin finds that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors, but rather in the unextraordinary moments that happen every day.

Written by: Bob Fosse & Roger O. Hirson

Directed by: Anthony Johnson

Based on the iconic 1985 Paramount movie which was inspired by the classic Hasbro board game, Clue is a hilarious farce-meets-murder mystery. The tale begins at a remote mansion, where six mysterious guests assemble for an unusual dinner party where murder and blackmail are on the menu. When their host turns up dead, they all become suspects. Led by Wadsworth – the butler, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock and Colonel Mustard race to find the killer as the body count stacks up.

Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn

Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture

Based on the Hasbro board game CLUE

Directed by: Brian Shetterly

There's trouble in River City when a fast-talking salesman gets his heart stolen by the town librarian. The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band that he vows to organize – this, despite the fact that he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain's fall.

Written by: Meredith Wilson

Directed by: Rick Vale

Welcome to Almost, Maine, a place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it almost doesn’t exist. One cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.

Written by: John Cariani

Directed by: Sharon Stafford and Rhonda Tinch-Mize

It’s 1955, and into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing young man who changes everything and everyone he meets. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, this hip-swiveling, lip-curling musical fantasy will have you jumpin’ out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”

Written by: Joe DiPietro

Directed by: Liz Carrier

Oct 26, 27, 28, Nov 3, 4 | 7:30pm

Sun, Nov 5 | 2:20pm

Music by: Tom Kitt

Book and Lyrics by: Brian Yorkey

This MUSICAL is RATED R due to strong themes and language.
Next to Normal explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness. Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Next to Normal was also chosen as "one of the year's ten best shows" by critics around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times.

Dad's an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens, appearing to be a typical American family. And yet their lives are anything but normal because the mother has been battling manic depression for 16 years. Next to Normal takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, presenting their family's story with love, sympathy and heart.

This deeply moving piece of theatre provides a wonderful opportunity for performers to explore dramatic material and showcase vocal talents with an energetic pop/rock score. Next to Normal is an emotional powerhouse that addresses such issues as grieving a loss, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life.

*Trigger Warning: there is heavy focus on mental illness, electroshock therapy, and a suicide attempt in this show. Audiences are advised. Due to adult themes and language, this show is not recommended for audiences under 16.

*There are also brief moments of bright flashing lights, as well as brief moments with representation of blood.

Sept 7, 8, 9, 15, 16 | 7:30pm

Sun Sept 17 | 3:30pm

Written by: Ken Ludwig

This FARCE is RATED PG-13.

Winner of 3 Tony Awards and 4 Drama Desk Awards, Lend Me A Tenor is set in September 1934. Saunders, the general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is primed to welcome world-famous singer Tito Merelli, known as Il Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as the star of the opera. Tito arrives late, and through a hilarious series of mishaps, he is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max believe he’s dead - and in a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Merelli's costume and fool the audience into thinking he's Il Stupendo. Max succeeds and lives up to his idol, but Merelli regains consciousness and gets into the identical costume, ready to perform. Now two opera singers are running around in the same costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo.

July 20, 21, 22, 28, 29 | 7:30pm

Sun, July 30 | 3:30pm

Music by: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by: Oscar Hammerstein II
New Book by: Douglas Carter Beane

This MUSICAL is RATED G

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s enchanting adaptation of the timeless fairytale, Cinderella, was their only musical originally composed for television. When the television program, starring Julie Andrews as Cinderella, first aired in 1957, it was the most widely viewed program in the history of the medium at that time. Since then, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella has continued to charm audiences in productions on stage and on television. Based upon the classic fairy tale, and particularly the French version Cendrillon ou la Petite Pantoufle de Verre, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s adaptation brings new life to the story of a young woman forced into servitude who dreams of – and achieves – a better life. Cinderella features some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved songs, including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible,” and “Ten Minutes Ago.”

June 1, 2, 3, 9, 10 | 7:30pm

Sun, June 11 | 3:30pm

Written by: D.W. Gregory

This play is rated PG-13

In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire. Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece for 9 to 10 actors, who play more than 30 parts—friends, co-workers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates, and myriad interested bystanders. Called a "powerful" and "engrossing" drama by critics, Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.

April 20, 21, 22, 28, 29 | 7:30pm

Sun, April 30 | 3:30pm

Music by: Alan Menken

Lyrics by: Glenn Slater

Book by: Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner

This MUSICAL is RATED PG.

When disco diva, Deloris Van Cartier, witnesses a murder, she is put in protective custody in the one place the cops are sure she won't be a found: a convent! Disguised as a nun, she finds herself at odds with both the rigid lifestyle and uptight Mother Superior. Using her unique disco moves and singing talent to inspire the choir, Deloris breathes new life into the church and community but, in doing so, blows her cover. Soon, the gang is giving chase, only to find them up against Deloris and the power of her newly found sisterhood.

Filled with powerful gospel music, and a truly moving story, Sister Act will leave audiences breathless. A sparkling tribute to the universal power of friendship, Sister Act is reason to REJOICE!

If you missed the award winning play, “The Meeting” last month, you have another chance to catch it at Anderson’s Mainstage Theatre!
Purchase your tickets now for the encore performance! Here for one night only! February 18, 2023 at 7:30 pm
- Click the Buy Tickets button below to purchase your tickets
Or
-Use the link to purchase https://www.eventbrite.com/.../the-meeting-tickets...

A powerful and compelling play about the imaginary meeting of two of the most important people in modern times; Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A one act play by Jeff Stetson

Directed by Rain Wilson

Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Jazz Age musical, featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another.

With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight.

Edgar Allan Poe stands alone in the flickering darkness of his mind, trying desperately to convince himself -- and us -- that he's not mad. The spell he weaves brings us a highly theatrical adaptation of four tales Poe himself considered his best: "The Raven," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Pit and the Pendulum," and "The Tell-Tale Heart." Enter the world of Poe and check your heartbeat at the door.

Bialystock and Bloom! Those names should strike terror and hysteria in anyone familiar with Mel Brooks' classic cult comedy film. Now as a big Broadway musical, The Producers once again sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor. It is a truly "boffo" hit, winning a record twelve Tony Awards and wowing capacity crowds night after night.

The plot is simple: a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby bilking their backers (all "little old ladies") out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit! The antics of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom as they maneuver their way fecklessly through finding a show (the gloriously offensive "Springtime for Hitler"), hiring a director, raising the money and finally going to prison for their misdeeds is a lesson in broad comic construction. At the core of the insanely funny adventure is a poignant emotional journey of two very different men who become friends.

With a truly hysterical book co-written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (Annie) and music and lyrics by Mr. Brooks, The Producers skewers Broadway traditions and takes no prisoners as it proudly proclaims itself an "equal opportunity offender!"

An odd assortment of guests are warned against going into the woods for it is Midsummer Eve (there is no woods in the neighborhood, but legend says that it sometimes appears). A philanderer, his young wife and the current object of his affections; an artist who has lost faith in himself and his wife who despises him; indolent lady and a delightful old couple venture into the forest that appears outside the windows and find dreams and desires answered. When they return, they gradually revert to their former state, but not without a memory of the wood.

A loving send-up of the early 1960s, small-town America, teenagers, and rock & roll, BYE BYE BIRDIE remains as fresh and vibrant as ever. Teen heartthrob Conrad Birdie has been drafted, so he chooses All-American girl Kim MacAfee for a very public farewell kiss. Featuring a tuneful high-energy score, plenty of great parts for teens, and a hilarious script, BIRDIE continues to thrill audiences around the world.

Hit songs include “Put on a Happy Face,” “One Last Kiss,” “One Boy,” “A Lot of Livin’ to Do,” “Kids!” and “Rosie.”

When James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion that results in a tremendous peach... and launches a journey of enormous proportions. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of the gigantic peach, among human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities, but after it falls from the tree and rolls into the ocean, the group faces hunger, sharks and plenty of disagreements. Thanks to James' quick wit and creative thinking, the residents learn to live and work together as a family. The dangerous voyage is a success, but the adventure takes a whole new twist once they land on the Empire State Building.

A delightfully offbeat adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl adventure, the creative possibilities with James and the Giant Peach are endless. Actors will love playing the outlandish characters and performing brand new material from one of Broadway's hottest duos.

An odd assortment of guests are warned against going into the woods for it is Midsummer Eve (there is no woods in the neighborhood, but legend says that it sometimes appears). A philanderer, his young wife and the current object of his affections; an artist who has lost faith in himself and his wife who despises him; indolent lady and a delightful old couple venture into the forest that appears outside the windows and find dreams and desires answered. When they return, they gradually revert to their former state, but not without a memory of the wood.

A loving send-up of the early 1960s, small-town America, teenagers, and rock & roll, BYE BYE BIRDIE remains as fresh and vibrant as ever. Teen heartthrob Conrad Birdie has been drafted, so he chooses All-American girl Kim MacAfee for a very public farewell kiss. Featuring a tuneful high-energy score, plenty of great parts for teens, and a hilarious script, BIRDIE continues to thrill audiences around the world.

Hit songs include “Put on a Happy Face,” “One Last Kiss,” “One Boy,” “A Lot of Livin’ to Do,” “Kids!” and “Rosie.”