Hope Summer Repertory Theatre's Children's Performance Troupe began its season June 22nd with How I Became a Pirate based on the children's picture book by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon.  Music and lyrics are by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman.  "When Braid Beard's pirate crew invites Jeremy Jacob to join their voyage, he jumps right on board. Buried treasure, sea chanteys, pirate talk - who wouldn't go along? Soon Jeremy Jacob knows all about being a pirate. He throws his food across the table and his manners to the wind. He hollers like thunder and laughs off bedtime. It's the heave-ho, blow-the-man-down, very best time of his life. Until he finds out what pirates don't do - no reading bedtime stories, no tucking kids in. . . . maybe being a pirate isn't so great after all" (Houghton Mifflin HarcourtPublisher).

Hope Summer Repertory Theatre's Children's Performance Troupe began its season June 22nd with How I Became a Pirate based on the children's picture book by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon.  Music and lyrics are by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman.  "When Braid Beard's pirate crew invites Jeremy Jacob to join their voyage, he jumps right on board. Buried treasure, sea chanteys, pirate talk - who wouldn't go along? Soon Jeremy Jacob knows all about being a pirate. He throws his food across the table and his manners to the wind. He hollers like thunder and laughs off bedtime. It's the heave-ho, blow-the-man-down, very best time of his life. Until he finds out what pirates don't do - no reading bedtime stories, no tucking kids in. . . . maybe being a pirate isn't so great after all" (Houghton Mifflin HarcourtPublisher).

CPT continues this summer with The Borrowers, opening on July 13th, based on the award winning book by Mary Norton which later expanded into a popular children's series.  The story was also adapted into a television miniseries on BBC and TNT.  The Borrowers follows the Clock family, tiny people that live beneath the floor boards of an old manor on the English countryside.  Watch what happens when the Clocks are discovered by the actual residents of the manor, needing to flee to the countryside and band together to take care of each other and find a new home.            

Directing How I Became a Pirate is Desha Crownover, joining us for her first season with HSRT.  She is the Artistic Director at San Diego Junior Theatre where she has served as general manager, director, musical director, and teaching artist for the past fifteen years, co-founding SDJT's Conservatory Program for aspiring high school artists . She has had the opportunity to direct, teach, and perform all over San Diego where her directing work has been commended by such theatre notables as Edward Albee, Ming Cho Lee, and Timothy Near.  She holds a Masters degree in Theatre from San Diego State University and a BA in Theatre from UCSD and has served on the teaching faculty of SDSU, Cuyamaca College, and Santa Fe Christian Schools.

James Saba is returning to HSRT for his eighteenth season and is directing The Borrowers as well as Taking Steps. Past HSRT credits include A Year With Frog and ToadForever Plaid,Petite Rouge, Lost In Yonkers, The Shakespeare Revue, Scapin, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Sylvia, and over 30 productions for the Children's Performance Troupe.  Regionally he directed All in the Timing and 7 Stories (Old Globe Theatre), Blithe Spirit, Lucky Stiff and ThePhiladelphia Story (Webster University), Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol (North Coast Repertory Theatre),The Mystery of Irma Vep (Diversionary Theatre) and Girl Scouts of America (FringeNYC). 

Performances for How I Became a Pirate continue at 10:30 a.m. in the Studio Theatre on June 27, 29, July 1, 6, 25, 29, August 3, 8, 12 and at 1:30 p.m. on July 27, August 1, 5, and 10.

The Borrowers opens at 10:30 a.m. in the Studio Theatre on July 13th and continues on July 15, 18, 20, 27, August 1, 5, and 10.  Performances held at 1:30 p.m. are on July 25, 29, August 3, 8, and 12.

While at the ticket office, make sure to check out HSRT's other productions such asChildren of EdenTaking Steps opening June 24th, Return to the Forbidden Planetopening July 8th, I Remember Mama opening July 22nd, and Guys on Ice opening August 1st in the Knickerbocker.

Tickets are now on sale through the DeWitt and DeVos Fieldhouse ticket offices.  Prices range from $10-$26 for musicals and $8-$19 for plays.  Season tickets ranging from $48-$85 are also available. 

The ticket office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The ticket office is now open on Saturdays at noon. On performance dates, the DeWitt Ticket Office will be open through intermission.  The ticket office is located in DeWitt Cultural Center at 12th Street and Columbia Avenue. For tickets call the ticket office at 616-395-7890. For more information visit the HSRT website at www.hope.edu/hsrt. 

The DeWitt Theatre is located at 141 East 12th street. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located in Holland's downtown on 8th street.

HSRT is now on facebook!  Keep up to date with what's happening this season by searching Hope Summer Repertory Theatre on www.facebook.com.