Area residents were definitely down with Emporia State University’s Up With Theatre online fundraiser.
Donors went over the $10,000 goal this week, making Theatre Director Aubrey Wilson ecstatic as the current summer theater season is now officially underway. The immediate goal is to expand the summer schedule from one show last year and two shows this year back to a longstanding hallmark of four shows.
Wilson says the summer theater schedule also prepares students for possible careers after college.
The campaign launched in mid-April and ended on Memorial Day, seeking to expand the performance schedule, pay for performer salaries and residence hall lodging and fund needed items like equipment and rights fees. Additional fundraising plans are pending, but Wilson says the theater department is emphasizing its Theatre Guild, which re-launched last year after being dormant for two years. Cost is $150 per family, offering perks like parties and ticket discounts. Interested residents can go online to emporia.edu/foundation or call 620-341-5440. The toll-free number is 855-ESU-ALUM.
This summer has two performances: “Junie B Jones Is Not A Crook” from June 13-15 and “Spring Awakening: The Musical” from June 27-29. This will be the 71st season of summer theater at Emporia State. In the program’s early years, the summer schedule actually had eight shows before going to six performances between 1959-1979. Four shows became the norm in 1980 before the schedule shrank to one show during the COVID-19 pandemic.
