Riverland Community College

Riverland Community College Theatre Director Lindsey Duoos Williams has announced the 2023-2024 theatre season. The shows this year will include two musicals, a new play, and a showcase of Riverland student work. Tickets are now on sale.

The season opens Oct. 11 with Urinetown, the Musical, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollman and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage caused by a 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he's had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Winner of three Tony Awards, Urinetown is a hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, environmental collapse, privatization of natural resources, bureaucracy, municipal politics, and musical theatre itself!  Urinetown, the Musical is directed by Lindsey Duoos Williams.

The second production is The Spotlight, an evening of performances showcasing Riverland Theatre students. Join us Dec. 1 and 2 for an entertaining evening of scenes, monologues, and songs performed by Riverland Theatre students as they prepare to attend the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Des Moines, Iowa this January. Susan V. Hansen will direct.

Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler opens Feb. 28. London, 1953. Scientists are on the verge of discovering what they call the secret of life: the DNA double helix. Providing the key is driven young physicist Rosalind Franklin, one of the great female scientists of the twentieth century. A chorus of physicists relives the chase, revealing the unsung achievements of this trail-blazing, fiercely independent woman. But if the double helix was the breakthrough of the 20th century, then what kept Franklin out of the history books? Called “beautiful, tender, and surprising,” Photograph 51 looks at the woman who cracked DNA and asks what is sacrificed in the pursuit of science, love, and a place in history. Photograph 51 is directed by Susan V. Hansen.

Closing out the season is the classic musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schultz, with book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, additional dialogue by Michael Mayer, and additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Happiness is great musical theatre! With charm, wit, and heart, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown explores life through the eyes of Charlie Brown and his friends in the Peanuts gang as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes, and celebrate the joy of friendship. Full of memorable songs and iconic moments from the classic Peanuts comic strip, this charming show is sure to delight audiences of all ages. Lindsey Duoos Williams directs.

Tickets are available for purchase online at www.riverland.edu/tickets, or by phone.  To receive more information, call the Riverland Theatre Box Office at (507) 433-0595, email boxoffice@riverland.edu, or visit the web site and download the brochure at www.riverland.edu/theatre. Individual ticket prices for Urinetown, the Musical and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown are $16 and $13 for The Spotlight and Photograph 51. Riverland students receive two free tickets to each production.

Riverland Theatre strives to provide quality productions that are entertaining and challenging to both the audience and the artists.  Because we reach such a diverse audience, some audience members may find some subject matter, language, or situations objectionable. If you have concerns about a specific production, we encourage you to become familiar with the material before attending the performance.

Riverland’s Theatre Department is a high-energy performance-oriented program. Plays produced vary from classical tragedy to modern comedy and from full-scale large cast musicals in intimate small cast plays. Students are encouraged to get involved in all areas of theatre production including, but not limited to, acting, stage managing, set building and painting. Strong academic offerings provide challenges in and out of the classroom.