F.A.C.T. announces plans leading up to its anniversary

Fairfield Area Community Theatre has announced its slate of shows for the next two years as it approaches its 25th anniversary of its revival in the summer of 1989.

This summer, F.A.C.T. invites the community to the Walton Club for ?Gilligan?s Island: The Musical.? The creator of the iconic TV show, ?Gilligan?s Island: The Musical?  is written by the father/son team of Sherwood Schwartz and Lloyd Schwartz and its 19-song score is composed by the husband/wife team of Hope Juber and two-time Grammy winner Laurence Juber.

The musical begins with the familiar theme song ? voted the No. 1 TV theme of all time ? and follows the hilarious misadventures of the beloved castaways.

Auditions for the show will be in March. It will be directed by the team of Jim Edgeton, music director, and Scott Slechta, artistic director.

It will be staged as a dessert or dinner show June 13 through June 17. Kirk Harris, Walton Club manager, said there is a chance dessert may be Ginger and Mary Ann?s Coconut Cream Pie and dinner may be a Hawaiian luau.

The summer of 2013 will be a revue of F.A.C.T.?s 25 years of producing and staging summer community theatre.

The summer of 2014 will be a revival of Iowa?s own, Meredith Willson?s, ?Music Man.?

F.A.C.T. first staged ?Music Man? at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, with Connie Keller and Alan Amick in the lead roles of Marian the Librarian and Harold Hill; it was staged for the 10th anniversary at the Fairfield High School, with DeeAnn Lantz and Jeff Shepherd in the lead roles.

The two winter shows include a revue of the winter musical and an audience participation murder mystery.

Many activities and events are being planned for the celebration of F.A.C.T.?s 25 years of theatre.

It has been said that F.A.C.T. established theatre for Fairfield, and that F.A.C.T. put ?community? into community theatre, added Slechta.