NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

5/15/2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES- The NSU Summer Theatre will present two major productions this season, "Little Mary Sunshine" June 14-22 and "The Miss Firecracker Contest" Aug. 2-10.

"Little Mary Sunshine" is a delightful musical spoof of all the old operettas complete with noble Forest Rangers instead of the Mounties of Rose Marie, eternally optimistic heroines, stalwart heroes and a whole assortment of stock early vintage musical theatre types.

The show, written by Rick Besoyan, made a star of Eileen Brennan and was called "a devastatingly comic jab at the operettas of the 1920's and one of the greatest "sleepers" in musical theatre history." It was also one of Off-Broadway's longest running musicals.

"The beauty of the fun, however is that the musical, although satirical, is in its own right, really good," said director Dr. Jack Wann. "This promises to be a charming evening of pure escapism to a more innocent time when good really could triumph and the heroine could pay off the overdue mortgage by selling cookies."

"The Miss Firecracker Contest" is by Beth Henley, the author of "Crimes of the Heart." The play finds zany humor in small-town life and was called "Southern-Gothic" by the New York Times.

Set in Mississippi, the local favorite "Miss Hot Tamale" hopes she can leave her home in a final "blaze of glory." This is complicated by unexpected arrivals from the past and whole host of nutty townspeople. The show had a long run on Broadway and is explosively funny, especially in its characterizations.

Summer shows normally sell out early. To make reservations, call (318) 357-6891.

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