News

The Spring Lake Park Schools Theater is excited to announce performances for the 2024-2025 school year! Full of entertaining and polished shows, audiences of all ages are sure to enjoy this year's productions.

"Thanks to our talented students, our theater program is thriving," says Theater Director Kevin Dutcher. "Our students are the heart of everything we do, and I’m excited to see the amazing creativity they always bring both onstage and behind the scenes. We warmly invite you to attend our shows and experience their outstanding work while joining our vibrant theater community!"

All performances take place in the Spring Lake Park High School Fine Arts Center at 1100 81st Ave NE, Spring Lake Park.

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This year's world-class performances:

Spring Lake Park High School fall play - "Puffs (for Young Wizards)"

Message from Director Kevin Dutcher: My daughter read each of the Harry Potter books as they came out, and once she was done my wife and I dug in (I was always last:). We loved the books and the movies, so when I heard about this (satirical) script, I was excited to check it out. I sat down to read it, and I laughed/chortled/guffawed my way through it. We had been planning to do the fall show in the round to give our students and audiences a different experience, and this fast-paced, incredibly funny show seemed like the perfect choice. Wands are optional. Prepare to laugh. A lot.

Synopsis: For seven years a certain boy wizard went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil. This is not his story. This is the story of the Puffs... who just happened to be there too. A tale for anyone who has never been destined to save the world.

Performance dates:

• Friday, October 25, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, October 26, 7 p.m.
• Friday, November 1, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, November 2, 2 p.m.

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Westwood Intermediate play - "Lost Boys!"

Message from Director Kevin Dutcher: I’ve always loved fairy tales, and their magical nature is a great fit for our grade 5/6 program. In this story, famous storybook characters suddenly come to life, and they take our heroes on a wonderful adventure. It has some of the best music I’ve ever written, and I can’t wait for you to see our amazing young performers in action!

Synopsis: The most valuable item in the Kingdom of Make Believe is a Magical Book from which all the stories of the world spring forth. When it is stolen, it’s up to four smart, savvy kids to get it back. They’re aided by characters that have been displaced from the book and magically brought to life – Cinderella, Captain Hook, some of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, several Fairies and many more. Will they be able to recapture the book and return the magic of reading to the world? Come and find out, and bring the whole family along to enjoy this delightful comedy, full of catchy, memorable songs and characters that are laugh-out-loud funny.

Performance dates:

• Friday, December 6, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, December 7, 7 p.m.

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Spring Lake Park High School One-Act play 

Performances:

• January 17, 7 p.m.
• January 18, 2 p.m.

Competition:

• Prelims - January 23
• Finals - February 30

Note: The one-act play is a state-wide competition. The title and cast are kept secret to ensure equity in judging. Come enjoy a surprise performance that students are taking on the road for competition.

Westwood Intermediate and Middle School play - "High School Musical"

Message from Director Kevin Dutcher: As we were wrapping up "Oliver Jr." last year, all the kids were in the auditorium, ready to do their final performance. I had been discussing titles with our wonderful Music Director, Ms. Geist. She thought the kids might go for “High School Musical”, but I was concerned that they wouldn’t be familiar with it, as it was popular back in the 00’s. I asked them what their interest level was – and their response was deafening!  They are SO excited about it, and with how incredibly talented this group of kids is, prepare to have the roof blown off the theater!       

Synopsis: It’s the first day after winter break at East High. The Jocks, Brainiacs, Thespians and Skater Dudes all find their cliques. Basketball team captain and resident jock, Troy, discovers that the brainy Gabriella, a girl he met singing karaoke on his ski trip, has just enrolled at East High. The couple cause an upheaval when they decide to audition for the high school musical. Although many students resent the threat posed to the "status quo," Troy and Gabriella’s alliance might just open the door for others to shine as well.

Performance dates:

• Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7 p.m.
• Friday, February 28, 2025, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 1, 2025, 2 p.m.

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Spring Lake Park High School spring musical - "Hello, Dolly!"

Message from Director Kevin Dutcher: Our last two Spring Musicals ("Matilda" and "Beauty & the Beast") were both relatively contemporary, so we thought we’d reach further back to the classics of the musical theater canon for 2025.  I’ve been listening to the soundtrack on a loop, and honestly I’d forgotten how good it is. The songs are going round my brain non-stop. This will be the final performance of this year’s senior class, one of the very best I’ve had in my 36 years of educational theater – come and celebrate with them, it’s going to be an incredible show! 

Synopsis: This musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s hit play, “The Matchmaker” bursts onto the stage with humor, romance, energetic dance numbers and some of the greatest songs in musical theatre history. It’s the story of Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she attempts to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. Along the way she also succeeds in matching up the young and beautiful Widow Molloy with Vandergelder’s head clerk, Cornelius Hackl; Cornelius’ assistant, Barnaby Tucker, with Mrs. Molloy’s assistant, Minnie Fay; and the struggling artist, Ambrose Kemper, with Mr. Vandergelder’s forlorn niece, Ermengarde. Mrs. Levi tracks Vandergelder from his hay and feed store in Yonkers to Mrs. Molloy’s hat shop in New York, out onto the streets of the city and finally to the most elegant and expensive restaurant in town. Does everyone end up “happily ever after?” Come join us and find out!

Performance dates:

• Friday, April 25, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m.
• Friday, May 2, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, May 3, 7 p.m.
• Sunday, May 4, 2 p.m.

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