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Seating: 217
Season: July 5 to September 3, 2010
Tickets: $25; $30 for La Boheme
Facilities: Air Conditoning, Universal Access,

Situated in the heart of central Ontario cottage country, Highlands Summer Festival provides an entertaining and varied playbill that includes stage plays, comedies, classical and contemporary musical concerts and opera performances. Come for the theatre, but save some time to visit the studios of the many talented artists who make the Highlands their home. You can also enjoy a week long course at the famous Haliburton School of the Arts. The area is truly alive with artistic activity. Top quality restaurants and a variety of accommodation options makes your stay even more enjoyable. Highlands Summer Festival, celebrating ten years of great live theatre and concerts. Do something dramatic this summer! Highlands Summer Festival is also home to the Highlands Opera Studio. During the month of August young professionals hone their operatic skills under the tutelage of artistic directors Richard Margison and Valerie Kuinka along luminaries from the Canadian opera world. As part of their program they present two Opera Excerpts Concerts, two evenings of one act concert operas and conclude with the full-length opera, La Boheme.

The Goodbye Girl

Musical
By: Neil Simon, Marvin Hamlisch

Opening Night: 7/5/2010
Runs: 7/5/2010 to 7/16/2010

The musical The Goodbye Girl is based on Neil Simon’s well-known film about an unlikely romance between an egotistical actor, Elliot, who sublets a friend’s Manhattan apartment, and his friend’s ex-girlfriend, Paula, a former dancer, and her precocious pre-teen daughter, Lucy, who still live there. This Tony Award Winning Musical features the same unique humor that has made Neil Simon the most popular playwright in Broadway history. Add a score by Marvin Hamlisch, composer of A Chorus Line, and you have an instant contemporary classic! Opens July 5 for ten performances. Matinee on July 11.

Summer Wind

Musical
By: Featuring Tom Regina

Opening Night: 7/12/2010
Runs: 7/12/2010 to 9/7/2010

Highlands Summer Festival veteran actor and musician Tom Regina has created an enchanting and upbeat summer concert featuring a woodwind quintet. With the creative genius of composers such as Ravel, Grieg, Piazzolla, Scott Joplin and others at his command, and colleagues from the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Tom will lead a musical journey from classical to contemporary jazz featuring flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon. It’s an evening sure to delight all musical tastes. July 12, August 6 and 9.

Sylvia

Comedy
By: A.R. Gurney

Opening Night: 7/19/2010
Runs: 7/19/2010 to 7/30/2010

Greg returns to his Upper West Side apartment in the late afternoon accompanied by Sylvia, a beautiful, frisky young blonde he has just picked up in the park. He worries about how Kate, his wife, is going to respond to Sylvia, a dog he found—or perhaps she has found him. Dramatic literature is stuffed with memorable love scenes, but none is as immediately delicious and dizzy as the one that begins the redeeming affair in A. R. Gurney’s comedy, Sylvia. Sylvia offers Greg an escape from the frustrations of his job and the unknowns of middle age. To Kate, Sylvia becomes a rival for affection. The marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of priceless and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives. This hilarious romantic triangle is for anyone who has ever owned a dog, loved a dog, and even those who don’t believe that a dog is man’s best friend. (Some language may not be suitable for younger audience members.) Opens July 19 for eight performances.

Charlie Farquharson and Dem Udders

Comedy
By: Don Harron

Opening Night: 7/26/2010
Runs: 7/26/2010 to 7/27/2010

We are delighted to welcome to our stage, Don Harron, one of Canada’s most extraordinary talents, a modern “Renaissance Man”, whose entertainment career includes achievements as an actor, writer, broadcaster, comic and producer. Don is probably best known to Canadians for the five years he spent as the popular host of the CBC radio series Morningside, for which he won an ACTRA award. Don will be joined by Claudette and pianist David Warrack for these performances. July 26 and 27. Sorry, these performances have been SOLD OUT.

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

Comedy
By: John Bishop

Opening Night: 8/2/2010
Runs: 8/2/2010 to 8/13/2010

The creative team responsible for a recent Broadway flop is cut off, in a mansion, from the rest of the world, by a vicious blizzard. Add sliding panels, secret passageways, a German maid who is, apparently, four different people, a “Slasher” who strikes again and again and accusing fingers that point in all directions. The mystery gets solved in the nick of time but not before the audience has been treated to a sidesplitting good time and a generous serving of the author John Bishop’s satirical and refreshingly irreverent wit. Opens August 2 for eight performances.

Faculty Concert, Richard Margison and Friends

Musical
By: Highland Opera Studio

Opening Night: 8/14/2010
Runs: 8/14/2010 to 8/14/2010

Members of the Highlands Opera Studio faculty present a fund-raising concert. Artistic Director Richard Margison and some of the most outstanding musical talents of the Canadian Opera world lend their talents in support of the Highlands Opera Studio ongoing success. Hear favourite arias, duets and trios from world famous operas. Held in the intimate setting of the Minden United Church, this outstanding musical evening is always an stunning musical evening. There will be an opportunity to meet the performers after the show. The performers will listed once the faculty is set for the coming season. NOTE: Since this is a fund-raising event, a special admission of $75 applies. One concert only. Limited seating. No reserved seating available.

Opera Excerpts Concert

Musical
By: Highlands Opera Studio

Opening Night: 8/19/2010
Runs: 8/19/2010 to 8/21/2010

The participants in the Highlands Opera Studio present two evenings of their favourite selections from the best-loved operas of the world. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear familiar arias, duets, choruses and more....all in one evening. August 19 and 21.

Chamber Opera Concerts

Musical
By: Highlands Opera Studio

Opening Night: 8/20/2010
Runs: 8/20/2010 to 8/22/2010

Singers from the Highlands Opera Studio demonstrate their skill and versatility as they present two one act operas. These operas will highlight the exceptional range of these young singers while introducing a new repertoire of opera to the Highlands. August 20 and 22 (matinee). NOTE: The selection of the one act operas will be made once auditions have been completed.

La Bohème

Musical
By: Giacomo Puccini

Opening Night: 8/29/2010
Runs: 8/29/2010 to 9/1/2010

Puccini set this opera in Paris of the 1800’s at the height of the invasion of Bohemian artists, from which the title is drawn. The love affair between seamstress Mimi and poet Rodolfo, at the centre of the story, is on the rocks and life is tough for these young artists and their friends as they try to eke out a living. While attempting a reconciliation, they discover that Mimi is ill. The Highlands Opera Studio presentation of the world famous La Bohème includes participants in this year’s Opera Studio program in principal roles and a chorus drawn from the Highlands community. Four performances August 29 (matinee), 30, 31 and September 1. Tickets: $30 each.