MSSU presents Broadway hits in 'Southern Showcase, Onstage!'

JOPLIN, Mo. – Later this week, Missouri Southern State University’s theatre and music departments will present classic and contemporary Broadway hits in the new show “Southern Showcase, Onstage!” The production will take place in MSSU’s Bud Walton Black Box Theatre, April 8 – 10 at 7:30 p.m.

The first half of the show is all classic Broadway, including pieces like “Kiss me, Kate,” “Anything Goes,” “West Side Story,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and “Guys and Dolls.” The second half consists of modern musicals like “Chicago,” “Jagged Little Pill,” “Hair,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and “Waitress.”

“It’s a mix between choral, chamber, duets, solos, men’s quartets, women’s quartets, dances. It’s just a fun night of kind of a cabaret style show,” said Program Director and Chair of Theatre Erick Wolfe.

This is the first year ‘Southern Showcase, Onstage!’ will be performed.

“The energy behind it has been fantastic,” Wolfe said.

The departments usually put on large musicals in the spring, but with Taylor Auditorium being renovated, they decided to perform something more intimate at MSSU’s Black Box Theatre.

“We wanted to find a way that we could take that same energy of ‘Choral Flourish’ from the fall season and find a way to kind of merge that with the music theater and the theatre program,” said Wolfe.

Wolfe says there are even tables set up on the stage floor so audience members can get a closer look.

“With this kind of show, the intimacy of being that close and the music… It’s so powerful,” he said.

With social distancing in place, there will be 65 seats, including the seating on the stage, available per night. Masks are required.

Anyone interested in the show can order $15 tickets online for in-person admission or a live stream of the event.

Video on demand is also available for purchase.

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