PSST! Season Ends Sunday

VALDOSTA -- Peach State Summer Theatre fans have just a few more opportunities to catch one, two, or all three of this year’s must-see shows.

The countdown to the end of the summer musical theatre season begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight with “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” Additional performances for this show, which is based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the popular 2001 movie, are set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 12, and Saturday, July 14. Tickets are available for all those who wish to spend the evening laughing with and, of course, cheering on Elle Woods, a blonde, pink-obsessed, sorority girl who travels across the country, from Los Angeles, Calif., to Cambridge, Mass., to enroll at Harvard Law School and win back Warner, the ex-boyfriend she hopes to marry.

“Go, Dog. Go!” performances are set for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11, and Saturday, July 14. Theatregoers of all ages are invited to watch as a small cast of nine actors bring P.D. Eastman’s classic 1961 children’s book to life on the small stage, using movement, color, and space to describe the actions and interactions of a group of highly mobile dogs who snorkel, howl at the moon, ride a Ferris wheel, sing, dance and climb trees -- all in the pursuit of work and play.

Closing out the 2012 PSST! season is “The Light in the Piazza,” with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11, and Friday, July 13, as well as at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 15. Based on the novella by Elizabeth Spencer, this show takes place in Italy in the summer of 1953. Two Americans, Margaret Johnson and her daughter, Clara Johnson, are traveling through Florence and Rome. A sudden gust of wind and a lost hat result in Clara meeting a young man, Fabrizio Naccarelli. They fall in love at first sight and enjoy an intense romance, despite her mother’s endless attempts to keep them apart. As the story unfolds, a secret is revealed: Clara is not quite all that she appears to be.

Peach State Summer Theatre, or PSST!, is Valdosta’s premiere professional summer stock theatre. Each summer, dozens of singers, dancers, technicians, managers, and creators gather on the campus of Valdosta State University for nine weeks. During that time, they rehearse, build, and present three musicals in rotating repertory.

The 2012 Peach State Summer Theatre season marks the 23rd year of Valdosta State University producing professional theatre for the city of Valdosta, the state of Georgia, and beyond. From 1990 to 2004, VSU produced the Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival. In 2005, the summer theatre program was relocated to the university and renamed PSST! Then, in 2006, it was designated the Official Musical Theatre of the State of Georgia by the Georgia Legislature.

The musical theatre season kicked off on June 2 with the opening of “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” which was followed by the opening of “Go, Dog. Go!” on June 15 and “The Light in the Piazza” on June 22. All three shows will be presented in rotating repertory through the weekend of July 14-15 on the Sawyer Theatre stage in VSU’s Fine Arts Building.

Individual show tickets are $25 plus tax for adults and $20 plus tax for all children, students, and senior citizens. The Peach State Summer Theatre box office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. It is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building and can be reached by calling (229) 259-7770.

Visit www.valdosta.edu/psst or read “Peach State Summer Theatre Box Office Is Open For Business” or “PSST! Season Kicks Off Saturday With ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’”  or “PSST!: Creating Three Very Different Worlds On One Small Stage” or “PSST! Opens ‘Go, Dog. Go!’ On Friday” or “PSST!’s ‘The Light In The Piazza’ Continues Wednesday” or “PSST! Offers Pay What You Can Days” for more information.