KELLY KERR / Tulsa World
KELLY KERR / Tulsa World
One hot summer
By MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
5/30/2004
Beginning in June, the PAC will sizzle with 26 different SummerStage productions, making for one hot summer
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KELLY KERR / Tulsa World |
KELLY KERR / Tulsa World |
If you think there's little to see as far as live entertainment in the summer months, you're simply not looking hard enough. The Tulsa Performing Arts Center is open for business.
The PAC Trust has long hoped to expand and diversify its SummerStage Festival event, with the thought that people would keep coming to the facility in those months when groups such as Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa Opera and Celebrity Attractions take a break.
To that end, this year's event can truly be called a festival of the arts. With 26 different productions offering more than 90 performances, SummerStage will present the single largest season of any arts group in the city.
"We're the home to the arts in Tulsa, and we wanted more diversity. And we want it open to everyone," said Chad Oliverson, PAC Trust marketing coordinator and a primary architect in the building of SummerStage from seven productions in 2002 to 13 in 2003 and now 26.
"People should come to these shows wearing your jeans. Don't come to the PAC in a tux; that's not what SummerStage is about. It's about relaxed fun, hanging out with friends and enjoying yourself. Be as dressed up or as casual as you want to be. This is a movie theater with live actors on stage. This is the new place to be."
"This is about showcasing what Tulsa has to offer, and we want to do it with a splash, a bang, having some hot fun out of the sun," he said. "Go to a waterpark during the day, but chill out with us at night."
As a cross-promotion bonus, tickets to any SummerStage show will grant free admission into several of club kingpin Steve Kitchell's downtown nightspots, including Voodoo Room, Velvet Lounge, the Majestic and Studio 54.
SummerStage is the ticket for one hot summer
Tickets for the SummerStage 2004 events that run June 13-Aug. 28 are available by calling 596-7111 or online at www.tulsapac.com.
Fresh Theater
"Eleemosynary"
Heller Theater, July 30-Aug. 1, Aug. 5-7
Playwright Lee Blessing's tale is a journey of connections for a daughter, mother and grandmother.
Dorothea, the grandmother, has sought to assert her independence through eccentricity. Artie long ago fled the stifling domination of her mother, and in doing so, she abandoned Echo, a child of exceptional intellect and sensitivity, for Dorothea to raise. Tickets are $7-$10.
Make me laugh
"Laughing Matter Improv"
Heller Theater, Aug. 20
For those who love the fun of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"-style comedy, this will be a special treat in the cabaret setting.
Oklahoma's longest-running improv group, Heller Theater's "Laughing Matter," performs on Friday night, while Johnny Buschardt's popular Improv Experiment leaves its south Tulsa studio long enough to take over the stage on Saturday night. Tickets are $7 for each night.
Michael Smith 581-8334
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
2004, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.