Riverland Theatre’s second production of the season is The Spotlight, created from scenes, monologues, and songs performed by Riverland Theatre students. The Spotlight will feature performances from shows such as Compleat Stage Beauty, Once Upon a Mattress, Bent, The Last Five Years, Romantic Comedy, Covenant, Nice Girls Dancing to Good Country Music, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Of Mice and Men, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Dear Evan Hansen, The Cherry Orchard, I Hate Hamlet, The Wild Party and more.

Susan V Hansen directs. John Deyo is the technical director. Brian Johnson is the musical director. The Spotlight features Ethan Brandt, Maggie Bremner, Jadon Fimon, Jannel Howard, Antonio Moralis, Tehya Orr, Molly Robins, and Caden Strampe.

“The wonderful part about The Spotlight is that students get to work on pieces that we might not normally produce at Riverland,” said Hansen. “They get to push their boundaries as actors, and the audience gets to see sides of them we have not had an opportunity to experience. The audience also gets ‘a little taste’ of a variety of shows!”

The Spotlight was born out of an effort to support Riverland Theatre students intending to compete at the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) held each January. Representatives from each region move on to the National Festival at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “It’s kind of like the NCAA for theatre students,” said Hansen.

The Spotlight will be performed Friday, Dec. 6 and Sat., Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Frank W. Bridges Theatre on Riverland’s Austin East Campus. Individual tickets to The Spotlight are $13. Tickets are currently on sale at www.riverland.edu/tickets 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The online ticketing system allows customers to pay by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover. The on-campus box office will be open for in-person sales in the theatre lobby one hour prior to each performance. Riverland students receive two free tickets with a valid student ID. Contact the box office at 507-433-0595 or by emailing boxoffice@riverland.edu. 

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.