Tickets for Ninth Annual SpotLight Showcase June 8 and 9 at the Orpheum Theatre On Sale Valentine’s Day MINNEAPOLIS—The SpotLight Showcase, the ninth annual event celebrating Minnesota’s best high school theatre talent as part of Hennepin Theatre Trust’s SpotLight Musical Theatre Program, will be held for the first time on two nights on Sunday, June 8 and Monday, June 9, both at 7 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. The professionally produced show highlights and honors the state’s finest musical theatre students and programs with dynamic performances from a record number of 67 participating schools. Tickets for both nights, available for only $15, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 14. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 1.800.982.2787. Minnesota native, SpotLight alum, Broadway star and two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes serves as this year’s SpotLight spokesperson to raise awareness for the program. SpotLight provides world-class educational, performing and creative experiences that help students develop essential skills for success such as collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving and self-expression. Students work with local and national theatre educators as well as Broadway musical theatre professionals who offer training, feedback, on-site school workshops and master classes. Throughout the year, skilled evaluators review SpotLight schools’ musical theatre productions and provide constructive feedback. Outstanding individuals and schools are later invited to perform at the SpotLight Showcase. Last year’s event sold out and featured more than 1,200 Minnesota students performing on the Orpheum Stage. This year, 67 schools, including 13 from greater Minnesota, are presenting musicals made possible by the collaboration of almost 5,400 students, which are seen by an estimated 130,000 audience members. A comprehensive list of participating schools is included at the end of this press release. SpotLight, now in its ninth year, is sponsored by TCF Bank. The Trust established SpotLight because no such program of its kind existed in Minnesota to honor excellence in high school musical theatre. TICKET INFORMATION The SpotLight Showcase takes place at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 and Monday, June 9 at the Orpheum Theatre (910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis). Individual tickets, available for $15 each, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 14. They can be purchased in person (no service fees) at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis), online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org, through Ticketmaster by calling 1.800.982.2787 or by visiting a Ticketmaster Outlet Center. Priority seating packages are also available online. For patron protection and standard prices, Hennepin Theatre Trust strongly recommends purchasing only from authorized ticket outlets. All prices include applicable facility restoration fees and additional charges may apply. 2013-2014 SpotLight Musical Theatre Program Participating Schools and Musicals: Andover High School: The Music Man Bemidji High School: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Benilde-St. Margaret’s, St. Louis Park: The Wizard of Oz Blaine High School: Little Women The Blake School, Minneapolis: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Buffalo High School: The Phantom of the Opera Cambridge-Isanti High School: Bye Bye Birdie! Centennial High School, Circle Pines: Once Upon a Mattress Central High School, St. Paul: Little Shop of Horrors Chanhassen High School: Urinetown: The Musical Chaska High School: The Wizard of Oz Chisago Lakes High School: Seussical: The Musical Columbia Heights High School: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Concordia Academy, Roseville: The Wiz Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul: The Drowsy Chaperone and Oklahoma! DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis: Grease Eagan High School: All Shook Up East Ridge High School, Woodbury: Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida Eastview High School, Apple Valley: Legally Blonde: The Musical Edina High School: Fiddler on the Roof and Band Geeks FAIR Downtown School: Spring musical to be announced at a later date Fridley Senior High School: Little Shop of Horrors Forest Lake Area High School: A Year with Frog and Toad Glencoe-Silver Lake High School: Footloose Hibbing High School: Fiddler on the Roof Hill-Murray School, Maplewood: Little Shop of Horrors Irondale High School, Minneapolis: Shrek the Musical Jefferson High School, Alexandria: Thoroughly Modern Millie Kennedy High School, Bloomington: Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida La Crescent High School: The Sound of Music Lakeville North High School: The Music Man Lakeville South High School: Spring musical to be announced at a later date Main Street School of Performing Arts, Hopkins: The Drowsy Chaperone Maple Grove Senior High School: Guys and Dolls Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis: Seussical: The Musical Minnetonka High School: Young Frankenstein and Evita Moorhead High School: Jesus Christ Superstar Mounds Park Academy, St. Paul: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Mound Westonka High School: Copacabana New Life Academy, Woodbury: Fiddler on the Roof North High School, North St. Paul: Guys and Dolls Park High School, Cottage Grove: Legally Blonde: The Musical Richfield High School: Sweeney Todd Roseville Area High School: The Wizard of Oz Rogers High School: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee St. Francis High School: Shrek the Musical Saint John’s Prep School, Saint Cloud: Grease St. Louis Park High School: Once Upon a Mattress St. Paul Academy and Summit School: The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Once on This Island Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists: Fiddler on the Roof and Illyria Shakopee High School: Anything Goes Shattuck-St. Mary’s School, Fairbault: Little Shop of Horrors Simley High School, Inver Grove Heights: Grease South St. Paul Secondary School: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Southwest High School, Minneapolis: Thoroughly Modern Millie Spring Lake Park High School: Cabaret Tartan Senior High School, Oakdale: Footloose and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Thomas Jefferson High School, Bloomington: Legally Blonde: The Musical Totino-Grace High School, Fridley: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat VISTA Productions – Theatre Department of Visitation School and Saint Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights: Gifts of the Magi and Shrek the Musical Washburn High School, Minneapolis: You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown and Les Misérables Watertown-Mayer High School: Seussical: The Musical Wayzata High School: Kiss Me, Kate White Bear Lake Area High School: Once Upon a Mattress Winona Senior High School: Monty Python’s Spamalot Woodbury High School: Guys and Dolls Zimmerman High School: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast HENNEPIN THEATRE TRUST, owner of the historic Orpheum, State, Pantages and New Century Theatres, is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to arts-inspired community cultural development. We achieve our mission by presenting a rich mix of live performances, creating inspiring arts education experiences and advancing a thriving Cultural District in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Trust’s activities include presenting Broadway touring productions and the related Broadway Confidential series, concerts, comedy, speakers and other variety entertainment plus educational initiatives including our SpotLight Musical Theatre and Critical Review programs for high schools, Teen Ushers, the Access Program and Family Day events. The SpotLight Musical Theatre Program is made possible with support from TCF Bank. The SpotLight Showcase is funded, in part, by the Minnesota State Arts Board through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008..