The Millsaps Players celebrate their 80th season this year with an exciting schedule of mainstage productions and theatre events. The organization has an impressive history; the Millsaps Players were the first theatre group in Jackson to perform for an integrated audience and the first college group in America to produce My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Robert and Elizabeth.

"We have a rich, long history of producing ground-breaking theatre for local audiences," said Brent Lefavor, associate professor of theatre at Millsaps. "We are pleased to commemorate our anniversary year with a wonderful season that continues our tradition of high standards and artistic excellence."

• September 18-21
A Lesson Before Dying by Romulus Linney (based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines)
The Millsaps Players present this staged reading in concert with the Jackson/Hinds Library system and their "One Jackson, One Book" program. In A Lesson Before Dying, Jefferson, an innocent young man, is condemned to death in backwoods Louisiana in 1948. His godmother asks a local schoolteacher for help, and an unlikely relationship results.

• October 23-26
Fiddler on the Roof, by Stein, Bock, and Harnick
Tevye the dairyman, his wife Golda, and their five daughters are a hard-working Jewish family in Czarist Russia. The family lives as their forefathers did, observing the ways handed down to them and following the dictates of tradition. However, the old ways no longer suffice, and Tevye and his friends must become part of the changing world around them.

• October 30-November 2
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival
Join us for the American College Theatre Festival, which will feature approximately 10 full-length mainstage shows!

• November 21-23
Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer
The mirth in this long one-act hinges on a highly theatrical concept: characters supposedly in the dark are brilliantly illuminated on stage; when the lights are supposed to be on, the actors are in the dark. An unscrupulous sculptor has embellished his apartment with furniture and objects d'arte "borrowed" from the absent antique dealer next door. The campy neighbor returns just as a blown fuse plunges the apartment into darkness and Brindsley is revealed teetering on the verge of ripe farce. Seated guests, unexpected visitors, lurking phone cords and other snares in the "dark" impede his frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored.

• December 4, 5, 10, and 12
Puppet shows: Peter and the Wolf and The Nutcracker Suite
Both of these enchanting puppet shows are designed by Peter and Jarmila Zapletal. The pair have won countless awards for their puppetry work, including regional and national Emmy awards. Both productions are exciting ways to introduce children to timeless stories, classical music and the art of puppetry. More than seventy puppets and animated objects will come to life in the productions, creating a whirlwind of colors to bring laughter and the joy of the Christmas season to children's faces.

• February 19-22
Papa Married a Mormon by Charles Whitman
Based on the novel of the same name by John D. Fitzgerald, Papa Married a Mormon is a true story of the old Utah frontier when Mormons and miners were struggling to forge a new life. It's the story of a boom town populated with Evangelists, gamblers, gunmen and Indians. And it's the heart-warming story of the venturesome Fitzgerald family, where Catholic, Mormon and Methodist were lovingly united by the belief "that all religions are but windows of the same church."

• April 15-17
Puppet show: Hansel and Gretel
Based on the German folk tale collected by the Grimm Brothers, the story of Hansel and Gretel chronicles the adventures of two siblings lost in a dark forest. The Sandman, angels and an evil Witch are presented with actors, masks and puppets, coming to life in a wash of magic and color. Designed for children ages four to 94, the production is a fitting complement to "Glory of Dresden" exhibit scheduled in Jackson during the spring.

For more information about the upcoming season, call (601) 974-1321 or visit the Millsaps Players web site.