The show will go on for Centerstage

Theater group announces 2018-19 schedule despite uncertainty with operation of Knutzen Family Theatre

Even though Centerstage’s future in the Knutzen Family Theatre is uncertain, the show will go on.

Centerstage Theatre has announced that its 2018-2019 season will be held in the Knutzen Family Theatre at Dumas Bay if talks with the city of Federal Way are successful.

In April, the city informed Centerstage it would let its contract to operate the theater expire at the end of June due to financial constraints the city faces. Centerstage staff and supporters remain hopeful that talks with the city will result in a financially viable way for the theater to stay in the Knutzen Family Theatre, according to a media release from Centerstage.

“Centerstage has been providing quality theater in the South Sound for four decades, and intends to continue to do so,” Dave Monteith, Centerstage board president, said in the release. “Because of the uncertainty of the current situation, we are pursuing all options to ensure the theater continues.”

The 2018-2019 season will open with the comedy “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940.” The holiday panto tradition continues with “Rapunzel.” Centerstage will continue its high school outreach, Page to the Stage, with the hilarious romp “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” The balance of the season will be rounded out with the musicals “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Trista Duval, Centerstage’s Artistic Director, said she is “excited to produce a season that celebrates the joy of storytelling and brings us together through art.”

Angela Bayler, Centerstage’s managing director, said she is thankful for the overwhelming level of support for the theater from residents of Federal Way and surrounding communities, adding that Centerstage needs the support of South Sound theatergoers now more than ever.