Culture
June at Peoples Bank Theatre Means Country Music and Theatre
< < Back toThe historic Peoples Bank Theatre in downtown Marietta kicks off its new Spotlight Series in June, featuring a concert with country music artist Travis Tritt and summer stock productions of Cabaret and The Merchant of Venice.
Travis Tritt will take the stage Friday, June 16 at 8 p.m. Tritt’s solo acoustic performance was part of the theatre’s grand reopening in January 2016. This time, Tritt returns with his full band, just after celebrating his 25th Anniversary with the Grand Ole Opry.
More than 25 years after Tritt launched his music career, the Grammy award-winning artist continues to sell-out shows across the globe. A Marietta, Georgia native, Travis Tritt is dubbed one of “The Class of ‘89,” which included Country music superstars Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Alan Jackson; all of whom dominated the charts in the early 1990s. Among his eleven studio albums and numerous charted singles are nineteen Top 10 hits, including “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde,” “Here’s A Quarter” and “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive.”
Over the course of his career, Tritt has amassed more than 25 million career album sales, two Grammy award wins and multiple No. 1 singles on the Country radio charts. Most recently, Tritt released a special live 2-disc CD and DVD, titled A Man and His Guitar – Live From The Franklin Theatre.
The following weekend Peoples Bank Theatre will open the musical Cabaret, directed by Geoff Coward. The production is the first of two summer stock theatre productions from Peoples Bank Theatre, starring a cast of college actors from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and New York, presented in collaboration with the Theatre Department at Marietta College.
Set in pre-World War II Berlin, Cabaret follows the unlikely romance of struggling American writer Clifford Bradshaw and cabaret performer Sally Bowles. As the time passes, however, the situation in Berlin changes from exciting and vital to uncertain and dangerous. Some of the musical’s most memorable songs include “Cabaret,” “Willkommen” and “Maybe This Time.”
Performances of Cabaret will take place June 23 at 8 p.m., June 24 at 8 p.m., June 25 at 2 p.m., June 30 at 8 p.m., July 1 at 2 p.m., and July 2 at 2 p.m.
Overlapping with the run of Cabaret is the fourth annual installment of Shakespeare By The River, featuring a production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by the Marietta College Theatre Department’s Andy Felt. Written between 1596 and 1598, The Merchant of Venice is Shakespeare’s comedy centered around love, money, prejudice and social injustice, featuring some of the bard’s most memorable and complex characters.
Performances of The Merchant of Venice are free to the public and take place in Muskingum Park June 29-July 2 and July 7-9, starting at 8:30 p.m. each evening.
The Summer Stock theatre program at Peoples Bank Theatre is made possible in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Support is also provided by ArtsBridge.
Full event details and ticket information for these events and more are available online at peoplesbanktheatre.com or by calling the box office at 740-371-5152. Walk-up hours at the box office are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and one to two hours prior to most events.
Located at 222 Putnam Street in historic downtown Marietta, Peoples Bank Theatre is managed by the nonprofit Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association.