When Super Summer Theatre secured a rehearsal space, it quickly became a no-brainer for the production company—known for its warm-weather shows at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park—to use that location for something bigger, too.
“We were lucky enough to … be provided with a space that we could use for auditions and rehearsals and set fabrication for our summer-season shows,” says Super Summer Theatre’s chairperson Christy Miller. “By being able to have a place, for the first time, to put everything under one roof, we also found that we ended up with some time in the winter months where we didn’t have a lot going on.”
From there, the concept of the In City Series snowballed, the idea being to provide a smaller, more intimate experience during the theater company’s offseason. “Super Summer Theatre started very small,” Miller says. “We were excited when we had 200 people out on our lawn, so that intimate theater experience has since passed by at the [Ranch].”
According to Super Summer’s website, more than 1 million patrons have visited Spring Mountain Ranch for its productions since the 1970s. This year’s In City Series “allowed us to create a more intimate experience where we can allow some of our smaller companies in town to have a place to hone their craft,” Miller says. “That’s been our goal all along.”
The In City Series kicked off October 17 with Death is a Drag, which runs through November 3, presented by Dime a Dozen Productions. The comedic show tells the story of drag queen Sharon DeWealth, whose ghost comes back to haunt her friends and family at her wake.
“All the hilarity goes on with that makes it so much fun,” Miller says. Costumes are highly encouraged, as they are at Super Summer Theatre’s November 1 Deception at the Disco! fundraiser and interactive murder mystery show, produced by A Touch of Mystery Entertainment. “We’ll give away prizes for best costume and who solves the mystery, and all the money that we raise goes directly toward helping the In City series continue to grow,” Miller says.
House of Tomorrow runs from December 5-15, First Date runs January 30-February 16 and The Rat Pack Lounge closes out In City’s debut season in March. Super Summer Theatre will return to Spring Mountain Ranch in May with a production of Mary Poppins. Until then, Miller hopes people will catch an In City Series production, to “come out and enjoy theater and support the arts in our community.”
DEATH IS A DRAG Through November 3, dates & times vary, $20. SST Studio Theatre, 4340 S. Valley View Blvd. #208, 702-579-7529.
