'Little House' highlights Ordway's new theater season

Dancing
The cast of "Little House on the Prairie" during the world premiere of the musical last year at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. The show will be staged this year at the Ordway in St. Paul.
Image courtesy of the Guthrie (Photo © Michal Daniel, 2008)

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul has announced its 2009-2010 season.

It features four major productions -- Tony-award winning "August: Osage County," "Beauty and the Beast," "South Pacific," and the new musical "Little House on the Prairie," starring actress Melissa Gilbert.

Ordway President and CEO Patricia Mitchell says she's confident "Little House," despite its recent run at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, will do well at the box office.

Ordway Center
The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, in downtown St. Paul.
MPR Photo/Bo Hakala

"It was so popular at the Guthrie, and this is the launching of the national tour -- there is actually new musical material in it. So I think we will both have returning fan, and frankly, new audiences who couldn't get in the last time."

Mitchell says the Ordway will be dark in the summer for a time in order to rebuild its main stage, but other than that, the center has not made any cuts to its season.

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