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Riverland Theatre’s second production of the season is “The Spotlight,” created from scenes, monologues and songs performed by Riverland Theatre students. “The Spotlight” will feature performances from shows such as “Compleat Stage Beauty,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “Bent,” “The Last Five Years,” “Romantic Comedy,” “Covenant,” “Nice Girls Dancing to Good Country Music,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Of Mice and Men,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Cherry Orchard,” “I Hate Hamlet,” “The Wild Party” and more.

Susan V. Hansen directs. John Deyo is the technical director, and Brian Johnson is the musical director. “The Spotlight” features Ethan Brandt, Maggie Bremner, Jadon Fimon, Jannel Howard, Antonio Moralis, Tehya Orr, Molly Robins and Caden Strampe.

“The wonderful part about ‘The Spotlight’ is that students get to work on pieces that we might not normally produce at Riverland,” Hansen said. “They get to push their boundaries as actors, and the audience gets to see sides of them we have not had an opportunity to experience. The audience also gets a little taste of a variety of shows!”

“The Spotlight” was born out of an effort to support Riverland Theatre students intending to compete at the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) held each January. Representatives from each region move on to the National Festival at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“It’s kind of like the NCAA for theatre students,” Hansen said.

“The Spotlight” will be performed Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Frank W. Bridges Theatre on Riverland’s Austin East Campus. Individual tickets to The Spotlight are $13. Tickets are on sale at www.riverland.edu/tickets. The online ticketing system allows customers to pay by Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover. The on-campus box office will be open for in-person sales in the theatre lobby one hour prior to each performance. Riverland students receive two free tickets with a valid student ID. Contact the box office at 507-433-0595 or by emailing boxoffice@riverland.edu.