Riverside Theatre Works is a family theatre devoted to entertaining and bringing a family together for an affordable night out. Each year, we choose productions that make people laugh, wonder, and relax through songs and comedic moments. RTW Performing Arts Centre's school and mainstage theatre work closely together to also ensure that students in the school have an opportunity to perform on stage. Plays and musicals are chosen with this in mind, thus have roles for children ages 5-18 throughout the season.

Mainstage Productions

Mainstage productions are those which feature children and adults in
the cast and are suitable and enjoyable for the entire family. RTW
produces 3 mainstage shows per year which run four performances for two
full weekends.

Oklahoma!/Oct. 12-21, 2007

Fridays 8pm, Saturdays 3pm & 8pm, Sundays 3pm

Celebrate the state of Oklahoma's Centennial year by watching the musical that celebrated the start of it all!

Rodgers & Hammerstein's
first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative,
having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre
still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian territory just
after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the
local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against
which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play
out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth,
with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey
is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will
succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this
new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax
to the triumphant OKLAHOMA!

The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe/ Nov. 30-Dec. 9, 2007;

Fridays 8pm, Saturdays 3pm & 8pm, Sundays 3pm

C.S. Lewis' classic, set in the land of Narnia, recreates the magic and mystery of Aslan, the great lion, his struggle with the White Witch, and the adventures of four children who inadvertently wander from an old wardrobe into the exciting, never-to-be-forgotten Narnia. The intense action features chases, duels and escapes as the witch is determined to keep Narnia in her possession and to end the reign of Aslan. This story of love, faith, courage and giving, with its triumph of good over evil, is a true celebration of life.

The Music Man/ May 9-18, 2008;

Fridays 8pm, Saturdays 3pm & 8pm, Sundays 3pm

An affectionate paean to Smalltown, U.S.A. of a bygone era, Meredith Willson's The Music Man follows fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize -- this despite the fact that he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain's fall.

Special Event Productions

Because we know that people have other interests, RTW is committed to
bringing special event productions to our audiences who are interested
in more than just our general family-oriented shows. We produce a
cabaret, an opera and a children's musical theatre production every
year. These productions run at special times rather than according to
our mainstage schedule. Often, additional stages are built for these
shows and are even taken to other venues for various audiences.

OPERA --

The Pirates of Penzance/ Feb. 15-17, 2008; Friday 8pm, Saturday 3pm and 8pm, Sunday 3pm

In The Pirates of Penzance, the young pirate apprentice Frederic is
about to be freed from his indentured period. The honorable Frederic,
who was mistakenly apprenticed to the pirates by his partially deaf
nursemaid Ruth, has decided to leave the pirate life. Now a free man,
Frederic leaves for the shore. Frederic, who has never seen a woman
besides Ruth, instantly falls in love with Mabel, one of the daughters
of Major-General Stanley. Soon though, the pirates arrive and want to
marry the rest of Major-General Stanley's daughters. Major-General
Stanley enlists the help of the police to stop the pirates. Frederic
desires to help Major-General Stanley and the police protect the
ladies, but soon he discovers that due to a technicality, he is still
bound by duty to remain an apprentice to the pirates. All is well in
the end when it is discovered that the pirates have noble blood and
would in fact be suitable husbands for Major-General Stanley's daughter.

CABARET --

Baby / March 8, 15, 22,
2008; Saturdays 8pm

Is there anything more exciting, frightening and utterly transformational than impending parenthood? Baby tells the story of three couples on a university campus as they deal with the painful, rewarding and agonizingly funny consequences of this universal experience. There are the college students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings, having trouble conceiving but determined to try; and the middle-aged parents, looking foward to seeing their last child graduate from college when a night of unexpected passion lands them back where they started.

CHILDREN'S THEATRE --

Honk! / April 18-27, 2008; April Vacation Week (See performance times below)

Honk! is the story of Ugly, whose odd, gawky looks instantly incite prejudice from his family and neighbors. Separated from the farm and pursued by a hungry Cat, Ugly must find his way home. Along his rollicking and harrowing journey he not only discovers his true beauty and glorious destiny, but also finds love and acceptance in all its forms.

Performances:

Friday, 4/18 7pm

Saturdays and Sundays 4/19-20, 4/26-4/27 3pm

Tuesday, 4/22 11am and 3pm

Wednesday, 4/23 11am

Thursday, 4/24 11am and 3pm

Friday, 4/25 11am and 7pm