The Little Lion

This compelling drama by Virginia playwright Irene Ziegler is based on the novel by Nancy Wright Beasley, a Richmond author and scholar of the Holocaust. Set in and around the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania during World War II, this powerful story chronicles the struggle of a Jewish family to survive. Both book and play are fictionalized versions about actual people. The story centers on the heroism of Laibale Gillman, a teenage boy, known as The Little Lion because of his courage and tenacity to protect his family. MMT’s staged reading follows the world-premiere in 2016 at Swift Creek Mill Theatre in Chesterfield County.

Rated: PG 13 for Content

This production is SOLD OUT.

Friday, September 8 at 7 PM
Saturday, September 9 at 8 PM

Constellations

Science and romance collide in this sophisticated love story. Constellations is a spellbinding journey about a simple encounter between a man and a woman that quickly defies the usual boundaries of a relationship, and ends by asking audiences to ponder the differences between choice and destiny.

This production is produced in agreement with Actors’ Equity Association.

To purchase a season subscription, click here.

This production contains mature language. Viewer discretion is advised.

SPECIAL EVENTS

PREVIEW NIGHT
Thursday, Feb 22, 2018 | 7:30pm
See the show at a discounted ticket price of $15

FRIENDS OF THE FRINGE- RECEPTION
Saturday, Feb 24th | 7:30pm
Attend a special talk back with the cast, and creative team (director & production designer) following that evening’s performance.

SPECIAL GUEST- AMANDA NELSON, VIRGINIA TECH
Sunday, Feb 25th | 2:00pm
Special Guest, Amanda Nelson, Virginia Tech: Assistant Professor, Theatre and Director of the MFA in Theatre in Arts Leadership, leads special talk back with cast after Sunday, Feb 25th’s matinee performance.

TALK BACK WITH THE CAST
A lively post-show audience discussion with the cast is offered on the following performances:
Friday, Feb 23rd | 7:30pm
Friday, Mar 2nd | 7:30pm
Friday, Mar 9th | 7:30pm

MEET & MINGLE WITH THE CAST
Meet & Mingle with the cast after the performance. We’ll keep the bar open and the cast members are open to talk with you about the show and more:
Thursday, Mar 1st | 7:30pm
Thursday, Mar 8th | 7:30pm

The Tempest

Sorcerers, sprites and spirits meet villains, and monsters, and kings in Shakespeare’s tragicomedy set on a remote island complete with a shipwreck. Romance and a raging storm end in revelations, redemption and marriage as Shakespeare’s plays so often do.

MMT’s shortened adaptation of the original script, an excellent introduction to Shakespeare for Middle and High School students, will be acted by MMT Conservatory students. In conjunction with this production, MMT will distribute free books to student audience members, as part of our initiative connecting theatre to literacy.

Performed on the Waldron Stage at 20 Church Ave, SE.

Saturday, May 5th, 3pm
Sunday, May 6th, 3pm
Wednesday, May 9th, 7pm
Saturday, May 12th, 3pm

All tickets are pay what you can and only available 30 minutes prior to each performance.

The Christians

Pastor Paul approaches the pulpit on the day when his megachurch is celebrating paying off its debt. To the surprise of his congregation, his sermon reveals that the church is taking a new direction theologically. Fractured by a dispute over salvation and damnation, this is a play about religious schism in modern America. This play will be presented as a staged reading. (Actors will have scripts in hand)

To purchase a season subscription, click here.

Spring Awakening

A rock musical about teenagers caught between the tumult of adolescence and the frustrating lack of experience with sex, pregnancy, abortion and suicide, guilt, innocence and death, all with wailing guitars, driving percussion and tortured young voices. The musical, based on a 19th century German play, won 8 Tony Awards in 2006.

Performed by the 2018 MMT Summer Apprentice Company.

This production contains mature language and content. Viewer discretion is advised.

To purchase a season subscription, click here.

Listen to the original cast recording:

West Side Story

Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this classic follows warring families of teenaged gangs and star-crossed lovers, desperate for somewhere to be together forever. The romantic and violent story is told through choreography based on the Jerome Robbins original Tony Award-winning dances, with the music of Leonard Bernstein and the words of then beginner Stephen Sondheim. Since its Broadway debut 60 years ago, it has remained a shining example of the best of this truly American art form. This production of West Side Story is MMT’s contribution to the global celebration of composer Leonard Bernstein’s centennial.

This production is produced in agreement with Actors’ Equity Association.

To purchase a season subscription, click here.

Listen to the original cast recording:

Next To Normal

Winner of the Pulitzer-Prize for Drama, this groundbreaking musical follows the Goodmans, a seemingly typical American family whose lives are anything but normal. The contemporary and electrifying musical shares the Goodman family’s intricate battle with mental health. Abundant with love, sympathy, and heart, Next To Normal takes the audience into the minds of each character, and reminds us that nobody’s family is normal.

Contains mature language and content. There will be no late seating.

This production is dedicated to Adam and the Neely family.

Special Events

SPECIAL GUEST- BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Thursday, June 20th | 7:30pm
Featuring Adrien Monti and Cathy Brown. Medical professionals from Behavioral Health are featured in a special talkback after Next To Normal’s Thursday evening performances.

SPECIAL GUEST- GAIL EVAN, LPC
Friday, June 21st | 7:30pm
Special Guest Gail Evans, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) through the Virginia Board of Health Professions, is featured in a special talkback after Next To Normal’s opening night performance.

FRIENDS OF THE FRINGE AT DESCHUTES!
Sunday, June 23rd | 2:00pm
Attend a free lively post-show social event following Sunday’s matinee performance at Deschutes Brewery Downtown. Social event organized by Friends of the Fringe, cash bar.

SPECIAL GUEST- DR. ROBERT TRESTMAN – CARILION CLINIC
Wednesday, June 26th | 7:30pm
Special Guest, Dr. Robert Trestman, Chair of Carilion Clinic’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, is featured in a special talkback after Wednesday, June 26th’s performance.

SPECIAL GUEST- BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Thursday, June 27th | 7:30pm
Featuring Tamara Starnes and Letitia Hawkins-Beatty. Medical professionals from Behavioral Health are featured in a special talkback after Next To Normal’s Thursday evening performances.

TALKBACK WITH THE CAST
Friday, June 28th | 7:30pm
Attend a free lively post-show audience discussion with the cast.

Listen to the original cast recording:

FRIENDS OF THE FRINGE

The Waldron Fringe Series is supported by MMT’s affinity group: Friends of the Fringe. The Friends of the Fringe is a new affinity group of people donating their time, energy and money to ensure Mill Mountain Theatre can continue offering contemporary, cutting-edge productions in the Waldron Fringe Series.

For more information on Friends of the Fringe, email John Levin, Director of Development at development@millmountain.org

The Glass Menagerie

Said to be one of the greatest plays in the 20th Century, The Glass Menagerie is the “memory play” that catapulted beloved playwright Tennessee Williams to fame. This riveting drama is set in 1937’s St. Louis, and follows the fragile Wingfield family: Tom, an aspiring poet, his painfully shy sister Laura, and their mother Amanda, a faded southern belle. Dreams and reality collide in this play of exquisite beauty.

Student Matinees:

September 26th @ 10am
October 3rd @ 10am

*If you would like to bring a school group to a performance of The Glass Menagerie please contact Ginger Poole at ginger@nullmillmountain.org

Romeo and Juliet

All public performances of Romeo & Juliet are on Mill Mountain Theatre’s Waldron Stage: 20 Church Avenue SE, Roanoke, VA.

William Shakespeare’s classic tale of Romeo and Juliet is re-envisioned in an imaginative and theatrical adaptation on the Waldron Stage. Shakespeare’s most famous play of love, family feuds, and inevitable tragedy takes on a new life with local youth performers. Romeo and Juliet is appropriate for middle and high school students, and this production will feature student performers, designers, and technicians. The Pay-What-You-Can performances will include the distribution of free books to students, as part of our initiative connecting theatre to literacy.

Tickets are only available 30 minutes prior to each performance and are pay what you can.

Performances:

Saturday, October 19th: 7:30pm
Sunday, October 20th: 2pm
Thursday, October 24th: 7:30pm
Friday, October 25th: 7:30pm
Saturday, October 26th: 2pm & 7:30pm

Student Matinees:

Wednesday, October 23rd: 10am
Thursday, October 24th: 10am
Friday, October 25th: 10am

*If you would like to bring a school group to a performance of Romeo and Juliet please contact Emma Gwin at emma@nullmillmountain.org

Every Brilliant Thing

All performances of Every Brilliant Thing are on Mill Mountain Theatre’s Waldron Stage: 20 Church Avenue SE, Roanoke, VA.

“You’re six years old. Your mother’s in the hospital. You’re told she finds it hard to be happy. So you start making a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world: 1. Ice Cream, 2. Kung Fu Movies, 3. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out of your nose.”

Touching, funny, and brilliantly stripped-down, Every Brilliant Thing is a one-man show about an individual’s journey with their mother and her struggle with mental health. The Guardian calls it “Heart-wrenching, hilarious…possibly one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see.”

FRIENDS OF THE FRINGE

For more information on Friends of the Fringe, email John Levin, Director of Development at development@millmountain.org

The Elephant In The Room

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Unapologetically Indian, The Elephant in the Room is a tumultuous ride through seemingly immiscible cultures, love and loss, issues of race, and the desperation of not belonging anywhere. This one-woman play navigates playwright and performer Priyanka Shetty’s transition from her deeply-embedded roots in India to finding context and common ground in America. The Elephant in the Room is presented as part of the Fringe Series.

The Cake

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When Della, a North Carolina baker and devout Christian, is asked to bake a wedding cake for her best friend’s daughter, she is overjoyed – until she finds out that the bride’s intended is another bride. For the first time in her life, Della is forced to think for herself, examine her deeply-held belief in “traditional marriage,” and make a decision that may turn her entire life upside-down. Inspired by true events, this hilarious and delicious play by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC’s This Is Us) is proof that love is the key ingredient in creating common ground.

This show contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

The Cake will be presented inside the Trinkle MainStage in order to provide a safe, socially distanced viewing experience for our audience. We look forward to the return of the Fringe Series.

Mask-wearing will be required for all MMT patrons including children under age 12 regardless of vaccination status. We cannot promise all parties will be spaced 6 feet apart. If you are concerned with spacing, you may arrive at the theatre 30 minutes prior to the show and we will do our best to seat you at a distance. MMT will follow all CDC and VDH guidelines at the time of performance.

In The Heights

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Kicking off the 2022 Trinkle MainStage Series is the Tony-Award-winning musical In The Heights. Transporting audiences to a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, this groundbreaking musical tells a universal story of family, hope, and resilience. Bodega owner Usnavi and his friends dream, hope, and work for a brighter future. Written by Broadway’s Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), In The Heights combines hip-hop, salsa, and soul with classic musical theatre to create a theatrical experience like no other.

With recent changes stemming from Actors’ Equity Association and the decreasing COVID-19 rates in our area, Mill Mountain Theatre has decided to make masks optional, for everyone. Mill Mountain Theatre will continue to actively monitor the COVID-19 rates in the Roanoke Region and through the State and CDC recommendations.

IN THE HEIGHTS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com

Continue reading “In The Heights”

Fun Home

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When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to explore the intersection of her father’s life and her own unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home. This retrospective look at familial relationships moves between past and present to explore the author’s relationship with her father, her own sexuality, and the looming unanswerable questions that remain. Part of MMT’s Fringe Series, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

This show contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

FUN HOME is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com

The Diary of Anne Frank

“I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Thirteen-year-old Anne Frank wrote in her diary to better understand herself and the horrors of being Jewish in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. In this transcendently powerful new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman, Anne Frank emerges from the pages of history as a living, lyrical, and intensely gifted young girl. An impassioned drama about the lives of eight people hiding from the Nazis in a concealed storage attic, The Diary of Anne Frank captures the claustrophobic realities of their daily existence—their fear, their laughter, their grief, and their hope. This adaptation breathes new life into this iconic tale.

STUDENT MATINEES:

September 28th at 10 a.m.

To book a field trip, contact Larry Kufel at larry@nullmillmountain.org

This show contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

“The Diary of Anne Frank (Adaptation by Wendy Kesselman)” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Charlotte’s Web

Tickets to this production are ‘Pay What You Can’ upon arrival at the theatre and are ineligible to be reserved prior to the performance. Charlotte’s Web will be on MMT’s Waldron Stage at 20 Church Ave SE, Roanoke, VA 24011

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“With the right words, you can change the world.” The beloved book, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White is adapted into an even more loveable musical by Joseph Robinette with ear-catching music by Charles Strouse. Fern Arable is the eight-year-old daughter of John Arable, a pig farmer. Fern pleaded with her father to prevent turning the runt of the litter into bacon. In exchange for saving the pig, Fern nurtures the pig and names him Wilbur, who makes an unlikely and inseparable bond with a spider, named Charlotte.

All Private Student Matinees are SOLD OUT

Show Dates & Times

May 4th – 6:30 p.m.

May 5th – 6:30 p.m. (Limited Seating Available).

May 6th – 1 p.m. (Sold Out) and 6:30 p.m.

May 7th – 1 p.m.

May 11th – 6:30 p.m.

May 12th – 6:30 p.m.

May 13th – 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

May 14th – 1 p.m.

Bright Star

Inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony®-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past—and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. With beautiful melodies and powerfully moving characters, the story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tightly in its grasp, BRIGHT STAR is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.

This show contains sensitive subjects that may not be suitable for all audiences. Therefore, we recommend this show to those ages 12 and up.

Listen to the original cast recording:

The Mountaintop

After delivering his historic ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’ speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. retires to the Lorraine Motel, where he encounters Camae, a mysterious maid bearing surprising news. Amidst a raging storm, the play unveils the profound humanity of America’s revered civil rights leader. Katori Hall’s Olivier Award-winning drama reimagines Dr. King’s final night, earning praise from the Associated Press as ‘a thrilling, audacious flight of magical realism.’ Originally a fringe reading on Mill Mountain Theatre’s Waldron Stage in 2017, we’re excited to present this powerful production.