MINNEAPOLISThe SpotLight Showcase, the seventh annual event celebrating high school student participants in Hennepin Theatre Trusts SpotLight Musical Theatre Program, will be held at the Orpheum Theatre at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 11, 2012. Tickets, available for only $15, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2012. This professionally produced gala evening honors Minnesotas best young musical theatre talent by featuring dynamic student performances mixed with award presentations from among 56 participating schools statewide. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 1.800.982.2787.

This years event will feature a student medley based on songs from the Trusts 2012/13 Broadway Season and a special performance from Broadway vocalist and SpotLight spokesperson Linda Eder. The names of two students selected to represent Minnesota at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York will also be announced. A comprehensive list of participating schools is included at the end of this press release.

As the Trusts flagship educational initiative, the SpotLight Musical Theatre Program honors, supports and advocates for Minnesota high school musical theatre students and programs. This program, the only one of its kind in the state, includes the opportunity to work with theatre educators and musical theatre professionals who provide training and insight through critical feedback and Broadway workshops. This year, a record 56 schools, including 13 new schools and nine from greater Minnesota, are presenting musicals made possible by the collaboration of almost 5,000 students and are annually seen by an estimated 105,000 audience members.

TICKET INFORMATION

The SpotLight Showcase will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 11, 2012 at Hennepin Theatre Trusts Orpheum Theatre (910 Hennepin Avenue, Mpls., 55403). Individual tickets, available for only $15 each, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2012. They can be purchased in person at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Avenue, Mpls., 55402), by calling 1.800.982.2787 or by visiting HennepinTheatreTrust.org. All prices include applicable facility fees. Additional charges may apply. Exclusive VIP ticket packages including programming and gift offers, are also available online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org.

School Participants in the 2011-12 SpotLight Program:

Andover High School: Annie Get Your Gun

Anoka High School: The Pirates of Penzance

Bemidji High School: White Christmas

Benilde-St. Margarets (St. Louis Park): How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Blaine High School: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

The Blake School (Minneapolis): Grease

Breck School (Minneapolis): My Fair Lady

Cambridge-Isanti High School: Grease

Centennial High School (Circle Pines): Little Shop of Horrors

Central High School (Saint Paul): Bye Bye Birdie

Chanhassen High School: Curtains

Chaska High School: Once Upon a Mattress

Chisago Lakes High School: Hello, Dolly!

Columbia Heights High School: Guys and Dolls

Concordia Academy (Roseville): Peter Pan

Cretin-Derham Hall (Saint Paul): Sweet Charity

DeLaSalle High School (Minneapolis): Into the Woods

Eagan High School: A Christmas Carol Musical

East Ridge High School (Woodbury): The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Eastview High School (Apple Valley): Beauty and the Beast

Edina High School: Urinetown

FAIR Downtown School (Minneapolis): Into the Woods

Forest Lake High School: Guys and Dolls

Fridley Senior High School: Footloose

Glencoe-Silver Lake High School: Seussical

Hill-Murray School (Maplewood): Bye Bye Birdie

Irondale High School (New Brighton): How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Jefferson Senior High School (Alexandria): Little Shop of Horrors

Lakeville North High School: The Secret Garden

Lakeville South High School: The Wizard of Oz

Main Street School of Performing Arts (Hopkins): The Producers

Maple Grove Senior High School: The Drowsy Chaperone

Minnehaha Academy (Minneapolis): Honk!

Minnetonka High School: Legally Blonde

Monticello High School: Singin in the Rain

Moorhead High School: Children of Eden

Mound Westonka High School: The Drowsy Chaperone

New Life Academy (Woodbury): Beauty and the Beast

Norwood Young America High School: Little Shop of Horrors

Park High School (Cottage Grove): Blood Brothers

Richfield Senior High School: Little Shop of Horrors

Rogers High School: Little Shop of Horrors

Roseville Area High School: Urinetown

Shakopee High School: Grease

Southwest High School (Minneapolis): Hairspray

South St. Paul Secondary School: Fiddler on the Roof

St. Francis High School: Curtains

St. Louis Park High School: Little Shop of Horrors

Saint Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts: Caroline, or Change

Tartan Senior High School (Oakdale): Once on This Island

Thomas Jefferson High School (Bloomington): All Shook Up

Totino-Grace High School (Fridley): Anything Goes

Washburn High School (Minneapolis): Fame

Wayzata High School: Brigadoon

White Bear Lake Area High School: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Winona Senior High School: The Secret Garden

Sarah Johnson | Public Relations Manager

612.455.9527 | 612.455.9502 fx

Sarah.Johnson@HennepinTheatreTrust.org

615 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 140 | Minneapolis, MN | 55403

HennepinTheatreTrust.org

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