Past Shows
Untitled Calamity Jane Play
February 21-March 2, 2025
by Kati Frazier runs February 21-March 2, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm (without live music).
Eighty-minute run time followed by an hour of live music, dancing, and cash bar hosted by Headwaters Crafthouse. The FLEX theatre will be transformed into a lively Wild West saloon, featuring rustic tables and bar seating for an immersive show experience.
This play invites audiences to experience the legend of the iconic cowboy, pioneer, and outlaw like never before. Part memory play, part Wild West spectacle, the play blurs the lines between history and folklore. Set in Deadwood, South Dakota, this comedic play tells the story of the famous sharpshooter Calamity Jane. Split into two characters, Calamity and Jane, this production travels back in time to address what is true, what is false, and what might be slightly exaggerated about the daring adventures of her past.
Ticket Prices include drink vouchers (every show) and live music cover charge (evening performances). Friday and Saturday general admission tickets are $20, with discounted rates available for students, seniors, and veterans at $18. Children aged 2-12 and those with a Carroll ID are $14.
For Sunday matinees, general admission is $15, with student, senior, and veteran tickets priced at $13. Children aged 2-12 and those with a Carroll ID are $9.
The play includes strong language and violence.
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Directing Scenes
November 20-22, 2024
–Student-directed work in the new FLEX theatre in Lower Campus Center –
This short play cycle recounts the history of a cursed hotel and the unfortunate guests who stay there. From riding in an erratic elevator and dealing with possessive ghosts to managing an ever-expanding hole in the floor armed only with gleaning supplies, these encounters with the unknown chillingly collapse the distance between the real and the surreal and remind us that, sometimes, bad things do happen for a reason.
Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. on November 21, 22, and 23. Parking is free in the Campus Center lot off Lyndale Avenue for all performances. The theatre is fully ADA accessible through the east entrance of the Campus Center. Tickets are available at the door or online.
Little Women Broadway Musical
September 20-October 6, 2024
Book by Allan Knee, Music by Jason Howland, Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein
In a world where women are expected to act a certain way and only allowed to do certain things, one young woman dares to dream beyond those expectations. Set in Civil War America, Jo March creates fantastical stories of heroics and romance. With her sisters, Meg, Beth and Amy, and her best friend Laurie, Jo writes and performs her imaginative stories with the hopes of one day selling them and becoming a world famous writer. But growing up in a society that has expectations isn’t easy. The March sisters must lean on each other to become who they are meant to be while also finding their own place both separately and in their family structure. Based on Louisa May Alcott's book, Little Women is a story of four girls who are fighting to become women in their own way and in their own time. Familial bonds, love, loss, heartbreak and courage will help them along the way.
100-year play reading: Seven Keys to Bald Pate Inn
November 2, 2024
This year will be our fifth presentation of a relic from Carroll’s theatre past. This 100-year reading will honor the Carroll Theatre tradition by reading a play that was performed here 100 years ago. November 1913 is the first record of a play performed by the Dramatic Club under the direction of Reverend Turnbull. This is staged with minimal rehearsal and stage elements, radio style.
We have planned this year's play, Seven Keys to Bald Pate Inn, for the evening of Nov 2nd at 7:30 p.m. Seven Keys was performed at Carroll in May of 1925.
The event is free and coincides with Founder's Day.
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
September 21 - October 8, 2023
by Joe Tracz and Rob Rokicki. This dynamic musical adaptation of Rick Riordan's bestselling book opened on Broadway in 2019. When teenager Percy Jackson discovers he's a demigod, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus' missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods. Associate Professor and Department Chair, Kim Shire will direct. Music Direction by Anna Milburn and Choreography by Brandon Taylor.
Photos by Ross Peter Nelson
She Persisted 2023
November 30 - December 2, 2023
A festival of scenes by Carroll’s women in theatre class will select scenes written by women to produce in this evening of short theatrical works.
Men on Boats
February 23 - March 3, 2024
by Jaclyn Backhaus runs February 23 through March 3, 2023. Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. Men On Boats is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. Associate Professor and Department Chair Kim Shire will direct.
Seussical the Musical
April 12-28, 2024
Seussical TYA by Tony-winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty runs April 12 through 28, 2024. The Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many "thinks." Horton faces a double challenge – not only must he protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left to his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping, and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphant. Associate Professor and Department Chair Kim Shire will direct.
