We are thrilled to announce that Porthouse Theatre, Kent State University's summer professional theatre, will hold a full season of live theatre during the summer of 2021.
The 2021 season is designed with coronavirus-related restrictions and precautions in mind and will feature productions of Quilters, BKLYN, and Altar Boyz, all of which have casts of 7 or less. The season will also feature simplified scenic and costume designs and offer still evolving alternate seating options and streaming opportunities. Picnicking will be restricted to picnic tables only, no concessions will be sold, and golf cart transportation will be unavailable. Porthouse will continue to monitor the State of Ohio's coronavirus-related policies and will make further decisions and adjustments as the season approaches.
"Although there will be compromises in production values, you can rest assured that you will experience the same great storytelling that has shaped Porthouse for the past 20 years," said producing artistic director Terri Kent. "Now, it won’t be 'business as usual' and we have to remain flexible, but I remain hopeful. I got the vaccine so that I could safely direct two of the productions this year. I look forward to greeting everyone at the theatre—from a distance of 6 feet."
To read Terri Kent's letter to our subscribers and friends, please visit the link below:
Season Information
Quilters
June 17 – July 3, 2021
Book by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek
Music and Lyrics by Barbara Damashek
Directed by Terri Kent
Ostensibly the story of a pioneer woman and her six daughters, QUILTERS blends a series of interrelated scenes into a rich mosaic which captures the sweep and beauty, the terror and joy, the harsh challenge and abiding rewards of frontier life. Illuminating stories contained in various patches or “blocks” with music, dance and drama, the action depicts the lot of women on the frontier: girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death. But, with this, there is also love, warmth, rich and lively humor and the moving spectacle of simple human dignity and steadfastness in the face of adversity. In the end, when the various patches are assembled into one glorious, brilliantly colorful quilt, the effect is both breathtaking and magical—and a theatrical masterstroke which will linger in the mind and memory long after the house lights have dimmed.
Quilters is presented through special arrangement with Dramatist Play Service.
BKLYN
July 8 – 24, 2021
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson
Produced by Scott Prisand and Mark Schoenfeld
Original Broadway Production produced by Jeff Calhoun, John McDaniel, and Producers Four
Directed by Eric van Baars
BKLYN is a play within a play where a group of street performers weave together stories from their lives to tell the tale of a young woman arriving in Brooklyn to find the father she never knew.
Produced by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing. (www.broadwaylicensing.com)
Altar Boyz
July 29 – August 15, 2021
Book by Kevin Del Aguina
Music and Lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker
Conceived by Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport
Directed by Terri Kent
Choreographed by Martín Céspedes
A foot-stomping, rafter-raising musical comedy about a ficticious Christian boy band on the last night of their national “Raise the Praise” tour. The Boyz are five all-singing, all-dancing heartthrobs from Ohio: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham.
Altar Boyz is presented through special arrangement with Concord Theatricals.
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Media Contact:
Joni Koneval, jkoneval@kent.edu, 330-672-0116