Redlands Theatre Festival Kicks Off 44th Season

REDLANDS >> "Live theater under the stars in beautiful Prospect Park" has been the summertime mantra of the Redlands Theatre Festival for more than four decades now, and the tradition — and experience — continues when the season opens July 8. Five shows in repertory, with a different show each night, are being presented in the outdoor Avice Meeker Sewall Theatre in the park. It runs through Aug. 20 with 8:30 performances nightly. "It's another season and another set of five shows in rep, under the stars in Prospect Park," said Cliff Cabanilla, RTF founder and producing director. "We must doing something right — our 44th season and still kicking. Cabanilla said there is plenty for an audience to choose from. "Musicals, contemporary comedies and beautiful poetry from the pen of an American classical writer," he said. "What more would a discriminating audience want?" This summer features the five-time Tony Award-winning musical "The Drowsy Chaperone," the swashbuckling Tony Award-winner "Peter and the Starcatcher," the moving Emily Dickinson biography "The Belle of Amherst," the family-friendly comedy "Leaving Iowa" and the hilarious Western melodrama "Deadwood Dick." Opening the season on July 8 is "The Drowsy Chaperone," a parody of a 1920s stage musical that comes to life in a man's dingy New York apartment when he puts on a phonograph record of his favorite musical. Prospect Park is at the corner of Cajon Street and Highland Avenue in Redlands. For more information about the shows and ticket sales, visit www.rtfseason.com or call 909-792-0562.