The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Vermont’s oldest professional theatre, announces a blockbuster summer filled with award-winning plays and musicals. “The 2007 season was our most successful in years,” reports WPTC Producing Director Steve Stettler, “and we’ve really pulled out all the stops to continue the excitement in 2008.”

The company’s Main Stage season at the Weston Playhouse begins on June 24 with the recent Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Doubt by John Patrick Shanley. Set in a parochial school in 1964, Doubt is the story of Sister Aloysius, a hard-nosed principal whose concerns about a young priest send unintended ripples of doubt throughout the community. The most-produced play in America in 2007-2008, Doubt will run for two weeks in Weston, through July 5.

Next on the Main Stage, the WPTC will produce the New England Regional Premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical, The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas. Heralded by the New York Times as “the most intensely romantic score since West Side Story,” The Light in the Piazza follows Margaret Johnson and her daughter, Clara, as they discover the power of love while on a trip to Italy. A sell-out when performed in concert on the Playhouse stage in 2005, the musical returns to Weston as a full production running three weeks, from July 10 to 26.

The legendary musical, Les Misérables, written by Alan Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, will have its long-awaited Vermont Premiere at the Weston Playhouse beginning July 31. The unforgettable tale of the life and loves of the escaped prisoner, Jean Valjean, Les Miz boasts such memorable songs are “Who am I?,” “Master of the House,” “On My Own” and “One Day More.” One of the largest productions ever to be mounted on the Weston stage, Les Misérables will run for four weeks, through August 23.

Last on the Main Stage season is William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy, As You Like It. “All the world’s a stage” in this ever-popular romance set in the magical Forest of Arden. The lovers Rosalind and Orlando, the clown Touchstone, and the melancholy Jaques are just a few of the colorful characters in this work of soaring verse, riotous humor and delightful song. As You Like It plays August 28 to September 6, followed by school performances and a New England Tour.

The theatre’s popular Other Stages series complements its 2008 Main Stage offerings with two productions performed in the intimate setting of the Weston Rod and Gun Club. Families with young children will delight to the New England Premiere of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, adapted by James E. Grote and George Howe from the Caldecott Award-winning book by Doreen Cronin with illustrations by Betsy Lewin. This delightful 60-minute musical about Farmer Brown and his frustratingly literate barnyard will be performed by Weston’s talented Young Company from June 18 to July 6 at family-friendly times and prices.

The Obie-winning hit, No Child… by Nilaja Sun, will follow on the Other Stage from July 23 to August 10. Based on the author’s experiences in the New York City public schools, No Child… follows the ups and downs of a teaching artist who is hired to stage a play with a notoriously unruly class. In a tour-de-force reminiscent of I Am My Own Wife and The Syringa Tree, a single actor plays all the teachers, students, parents, administrators, the janitor and the security guard in this heart-warming and heart-wrenching play about the need for hope in everyone’s life.

Weston’s legendary Act IV Cabaret caps off the evening throughout the summer with an ever-changing music and comedy revue. Pre-theatre dinner will be served in the Cafe at the Falls restaurant, under the continued management of the Inn at Weston. Lobby exhibits, directors talks, performance guides, talkbacks with the cast, audio described and ASL-interpreted performances, picnics on the Village Green or by the millpond falls, and strolls to nearby shops, galleries and museums all contribute to an unforgettable day or night of theatre in picturesque Weston.

The theatre is offering specially priced “Anytime Tix” in time for holiday gift giving. These vouchers, redeemable for any regular performance in the 2008 season, are available in pairs for a limited time only. Call the box office at 802-824-5288 to order. Visit the WPTC Web site at www.westonplayhouse.org for further information about the 2008 season including the lively Stage Door enrichment series, held throughout the winter and spring in area libraries, bookstores, cafes and movie theatres.

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