 Each summer Muhlenberg College sponsors the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre Festival, which mounts three original stage productions of Broadway's most acclaimed musicals with professional artistic staff and orchestra in residence. In addition, the popular regional festival offers a musical play for children and a non-residential performing arts camp for area middle school students.
The Festival Company includes professional Equity guest artists, opera singers, Muhlenberg students and alumni, performing arts students from other colleges, high school interns, and community members under the direction of skilled professional staff. All company members are paid and campus housing is provided. Since 1981, the festival has presented critically-acclaimed productions of Kiss Me Kate, Carousel, The Pirates of Penzance, Gypsy, Of Thee I Sing, Evita, Into the Woods, My Fair Lady, and Crazy for You among many others.
JOIN OUR AUDIENCE E-LIST
Send us your name and email address to receive early season subscriber forms, e-cards, newsletters, and special ticket offers!
2008 Season Subscription Forms for the two main stage productions are available online to print and mail as instructed at www.summerbroadway.org.
- Tickets to all 2008 shows, including the musical for children, will be available online April 27th. The theatre box office will be opened limited hours in April and May, Monday thru Friday.
- To request a full season subscription brochure by mail or to obtain additional information about the summer performing arts programs, please contact boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu.
- The theatre box office for all summer shows will open May 27th in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance adjacent to the Baker Center for the Arts on the Muhlenberg campus in West Allentown. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 2 hours before each performance of the season.
Gift Certificates: Give the gift of live musical theatre!
Gift Certificates for tickets to the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre may be purchased for any show of the current season – currently scheduled for 2008: Kiss Me Kate, Tommy and A Year with Frog and Toad – or for any number of subscriptions that will include tickets to the two main stage shows.
These Certificates may be redeemed at a later date by calling the Theatre Box Office or emailing boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu to reserve seats for one of the available performance dates of the show or shows indicated. Certificates may be packaged as "four tickets to Kiss Me Kate" or "two 2-play season subscriptions," as an example. Each individual theatre ticket is $34 (Senior ticket, $30 and Youth ticket, $21), and each 2-Play Subscription is $54 (Senior $48, Youth $40).
Gift certificates may be purchased for holidays, anniversaries and birthdays throughout the year. To order, call 484-664-3087 or email boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu. Gift certificates can be picked up at the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance during regular office hours by appointment.
 The Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre is a major employer of artists and musicians each season. The company holds open auditions for Equity and non-Equity artists, and offers employment in design & technical positions; stage and musical directors, orchestra members and conductors, and
stage managers.
Casting for roles on stage is determined by audition. Auditions are open to students as well as community performers. Auditions are held on campus the first week of February each season and all roles are generally open. The first audition is a prepared vocal audition and is followed by extensive callbacks for principal characters. Auditions for professionals are held in New York City in the spring for featured roles or roles not cast in the community auditions. Employment for all technical and administrative positions is by application and interview.
INTERNSHIPS
High school and college students may apply for full time positions with the summer company as interns or, if qualified, as staff members, in technical and administrative areas. Internships with the summer company are available in technical theatre, costume and property crews, communications and box office positions.Online Applications (pdf file) are available now and applications are due by March 1; please note the request for one advisor's letter of recommendation.
Interns work June through the first week of August in technical and administrative positions. Applicants need to be sixteen and older and prepared to work with the professional staff and demanding schedule of the summer theatre. Interns receive a cash stipend to cover meals, and free dormitory housing is provided for anyone who does not live in the Allentown area.
Summer interns for the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre learn valuable skills, increased enthusiasm, and new confidence by working alongside college students, professionals from the College, and guest artists from New York. For questions about the internship program, email Company Manager Jess Bien.
CAMP IMAGINE
Camp Imagine! is a unique summer arts camp program designed to serve youngsters eager to experience the performing arts. This 4-week camp for middle school students meets Monday through Friday mornings with rotating classes in acting, dance, and music. These activities take place on the Muhlenberg College campus and are intended for those entering grades 7 through 9. Registration is free for students attending schools in the Allentown School District, and a limited number of paid registrations are available for other area students.
The camp is staffed with college majors in theatre, music and dance who are given specialized training and supervision to provide this service. The camp is sponsored annually by Air Products, Inc., Binney & Smith (Crayola), and Kraft, Inc. and other community gifts and grants, Email Marilyn Roberts for further information.
 THEATRE FOR CHILDREN
As part of the summer theatre season, Muhlenberg also offers a musical production for children which is directed and performed by alums and members of the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre company.
The target audience is children ages 5 to 12 and their parents, friends, grandparents, and mentors. More than 3,000 attend each season. Our mission is to offer children throughout the community an experience that will encourage a life-long enthusiasm for quality musical theatre and opera and help to build our audiences for the future.
In addition to offering affordable general admission ticket prices to these performances, we offer additional discounts for groups and non-profit organizations.
For information on group sales rates for children's theatre, email Jess Bien.
COMMUNITY
Audiences
Audiences for productions by the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre have been as enthusiastic as the critics! One of the first awardees of the City of Allentown's Arts Ovation Award for Excellence in the Arts, the company has continued as one of the region's most acknowledged cultural treasures. Producing full scale Broadway musicals with extravagant designs and full orchestras in the Empie Theatre, the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre plays to more than 20,000 people each season.
Giving
Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre is a non-profit organization. The public is invited to contribute to the summer theatre program by including a financial gift with their subscription ticket orders, by giving a direct gift or a corporate matching gift check, and by placing appropriate sponsorship display advertising in the summer theatre programs. Gifts to the college may be dedicated to any of the academic/cultural programs of the departments of theatre and dance, music, or art as well as to facility support for the Baker Center for the Arts and the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance. For further information on giving opportunities, email Marilyn Roberts.
Volunteering
The Summer Theatre invites members of the community to inquire about volunteer positions in ushering and house managing. The summer company operates from late May through early August, producing musicals in the Paul C. Empie Theatre, the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, and the Studio Theatre in the Baker Center for the Arts complex. Ushers are offered a complimentary ticket for the performance.
Parents and teachers in the Lehigh Valley may also volunteer to work with the resident staff in support of the outreach efforts of the summer program, particularly the 4-week Camp Imagine. For information, please email Marilyn Roberts.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
The Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre is a major employer of artists and musicians each season. The company holds open auditions for Equity and non-Equity artists, and offers employment in design & technical positions; as well as positions for stage and musical directors, orchestra members and conductors, and stage managers. Each year, the Summer Theatre employs up to 50 technicians, costumers, and administration personnel. Carpenters, electricians and properties people are needed for the productions, as well as light board operators, sound board operators and backstage crews. Costumers, first hand stitchers, and wardrobe running crew members are needed in the Costume Shop. Box Office associates, house managers, and publicity/PR people are needed in the Administratrive Offices.
Technicians and administrative salaries vary depending upon the position, though first-year carpenter/electricians and costume shop personnel start at $1,000 for the summer. Free dormitory housing is also provided for anyone who does not live in the Allentown area. To inquire about available employment opportunities for this season, email Jessica Bien.
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484.664.3333 (Box Office)