PSST! Season Ends July 16

Pictured are Shrek (Alexander Mendoza) and Fiona (Megan Wheeler). "Forever Plaid" stars Steven Bidwell as Frankie, Olin Davidson as Smudge, Andrew Poston as Sparky, and Imari Thompson as Jinx.  Pictured are Henry Higgins (Olin Davidson) and Eliza Doolittle (Megan Wheeler).

NOTE: Please refer to the bottom of this story for ticket availability as of 3:30 p.m. Monday, July 10.

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

Final performances of “Shrek the Musical,” featuring everyone’s favorite flatulent ogre, are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 13, and 2 p.m. Saturday, July 15.

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film released in 2001 and the 1990 book by William Steig, “Shrek the Musical” is “a one-of-a-kind, hilarious fairy tale in which curses are reversed, monsters get the girls, donkeys and dragons find love, and princesses are beautiful in all shapes and sizes,” according to StageAgent.com.

“Shrek the Musical” opened on Broadway in New York City at the Broadway Theatre on Dec. 14, 2008. It closed on Jan. 3, 2010, after a 441-performance run. This was followed by national tours across the United States, a West End production at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, United Kingdom and Ireland tours, and international productions across Asia, Europe, South America, and beyond. It has earned a Grammy Award nomination, eight Tony Award nominations, 11 Drama Desk Award nominations, and four Laurence Olivier Award nominations and received accolades for its costume design, set design, and cast.

Final performances of “Forever Plaid” are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 15.

Known as one of the most popular and successful musicals in recent memory, “Forever Plaid” is a rather amusing Off-Broadway musical revue written by Stuart Ross. It was first performed in New York in 1989 and is now performed around the globe — entertaining audiences of all ages with its boyish charm, brotherly bickering, quirky choreography, and classic barbershop quartet harmonies.

“Once upon a time, there were four guys — Sparky, Smudge, Jinx, and Frankie — who discovered that they shared a love for music and then got together to become their idols — The Four Freshman, The Hi-Los, and The Crew Cuts,” according to a synopsis provided by Music Theatre International. “Rehearsing in the basement of Smudge's family's plumbing supply company, they became Forever Plaid. On the way to their first big gig, the Plaids are broadsided by a school bus and killed instantly. It is at the moment when their careers and lives end that the story of ‘Forever Plaid’ begins....”

Final performances of “My Fair Lady” are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 14, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 16.

Featuring book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, “My Fair Lady” is based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play “Pygmalion,” which is based on Greek mythology’s tale of a sculptor who falls in love with a statue he carves. It opened on Broadway in New York City on March 15, 1956, and closed on Sept. 29, 1962, after 2,717 performances and nearly a dozen Theatre World Award and Tony Award nominations and wins. It went on to enjoy a London production, a number of international tours, and a film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and to earn eight Oscars and many more Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award, Laurence Olivier Award, and Tony Award wins and nominations.

“Eliza Doolittle is a young flower seller with an unmistakable Cockney accent, which keeps her in the lower rungs of Edwardian society,” according to a brief synopsis provided by Music Theatre International. “When Professor Henry Higgins tries to teach her how to speak like a proper lady, an unlikely friendship begins to flourish.”

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 10 weeks, and during that time, they rehearse, build, and present three musicals in rotating repertory.

The 2017 Peach State Summer Theatre season marks the 28^th year of VSU 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!

The Georgia Legislature designated Valdosta State’s summer stock theatre program the Official Musical Theatre of the State of Georgia.

VSU’s Jacque Wheeler serves as the artistic director of Peach State Summer Theatre. H. Duke Guthrie is the managing director.

Individual admission is $32 for adults, $26 for students and senior citizens, and $24 for Peach State Summer Theatre fans in groups of 10 or more, including taxes and fees.

The Peach State Summer Theatre Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. It is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building, at the corner of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street, and can be reached by calling (229) 259-7770. The online box office at www.valdosta.edu/psst is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

All performances are held in Valdosta State University’s Sawyer Theatre.

Sawyer Theatre and the PSST! Box Office are located on the first floor of VSU’s Fine Arts Building, at the intersection of Oak Street and Brookwood Drive.

Visit www.valdosta.edu/psst for more information.

Seat Availability as of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, July 11

“Shrek the Musical”

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 13 — 2 seats available in the handicap accessible area

• 2 p.m. Saturday, July 15 — Several seats available

“Forever Plaid”

• 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12 — Several seats available

• 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 15 — Several seats available

“My Fair Lady”

• 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 12 — 0 seats available

• 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 14 — 0 seats available

• 3 p.m. Sunday, July 16 — 0 seats available

Waiting List Notes: A waiting list is available at each performance. If reserved — but not yet paid for — tickets are not claimed within 15 minutes before the start of the show, seats may become available. You should arrive about 30 minutes before the show and be prepared to wait patiently to see if seats open up for that performance.