After many months of hard work and dedication from a talented cast and crew, Missouri State T&D Department’s Dreamland is ready to hit the stage!

As the fabled Area 51 top-secret military base is scheduled to be declassified, a group of high school honor students is given two days’ free rein to explore the site, rumored to have been involved in everything from experimental aircraft to space alien autopsies!  Are the conspiracy theories true?  A zany mash-up of sci-fi fantasy with B-movie-style production, Dreamland blends an ebullient pop score with lyrics by Broadway veteran and MSU Theatre & Dance alumnus Nathan Tysen! To delve into a behind-the-scenes looks at the production of this show, we interviewed director Sarah Wiggin.

When asked about the content of the show, Sarah described Dreamland as “a musical riff on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set during the declassification of Area 51. Four honor students and a show choir are invited to help celebrate the opening of Area 51 as a family friendly attraction re-named ‘Dreamland.’ While there, one of the students encounters the supposedly non-existent aliens who have been trapped in an underground room for over 60 years. Together, she and the aliens devise a way to help them escape. Along the way, love and friendship grows and blooms.” Sarah contends that working with the cast of this production has been a terrific experience for her. Many students and faculty in the cast, crew, and design teams have put in countless hours to bring this show to the stage, and we hope you will be in attendance.

As it goes for most theatrical productions, the cast and crew hopes that audiences have a good time when seeing Dreamland. Sarah Wiggin specifically stated,

“so much of the work we do as theatre artists is about ‘holding the mirror up to nature’ and making audiences think or feel deeply. In this case, I really want them to leave happy and entertained.”

Dreamland opens November 17th and runs through the 19th at 7:30pm, with a matinee on November 20th at 2:30pm in Coger Theatre. To purchase tickets, you can click here.

“Dreamland is a fun, clever, and unique take on a classic story. It is full of great music, smart lyrics, and surprises.”