You don’t need to travel to Stratford or Toronto to see amazing theatre: we’ve got it right here in our great town! The Collingwood Summer Theatre Festival starts next month and it is something you truly don’t want to miss.

While The Historic Gayety Theatre holds shows all year, the Summer Theatre Festival features a number of plays that will literally knock your socks off.

Start the season off right at the theatre’s gala event, The Bowties and Bubbly Ball, held on May 5^th at the Georgian Bay Hotel.

The season starts off with a marital comedy – “Sexy Laundry” – which portrays a weekend in the life of Alice and Henry, a couple married for 25 years after Alice wants to spice things up a bit and Harry just isn’t game. This show isn’t truly for kids, as there is some adult humour, language and situations. Get your tickets for this show that will play from May 16^th until the 20^th.

The second show of the summer season celebrates everything that this great nation has to offer. In celebration of Canada’s 150^th birthday, “Oh Canada, We Sing For Thee” is basically a musical celebration that will feature music from Canada’s best musical icons like Shania Twain, Neil Young, Anne Murry and so many more. Check this one out from June 20^th until the 24^th.

“Barefoot in the Park” is the next play on the roster, a rendition of Neil Simon’s hit play and movie. Another marital comedy, this one features newlyweds contending with a life in their small and chilly Manhattan brownstone as they adjust to being married. This one plays from July 24^th until the 27^th.

Summer isn’t quite over when “Over the Rainbow: The Harold Arlen Story” plays from August 15^th until the 19^th. A musical tribute to the man who wrote the amazing music for the Wizard of Oz, this play will explore his life and music.

You definitely don’t want to miss the last play of the bunch – “Dean and Jerry: What Might Have Been” – a musical tribute featuring all the best hilarious bits and hits from Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Playing as the leaves start to fall, from September 12^th until the 16^th.

If you want to see all five plays this summer, your best bet is to buy a subscription, which costs $200 a person. If you think you may have to miss one, the 4-play subscription is also a fantastic deal at only $160. Single tickets are $45 each, which means you’ll save $20 on the best subscription. Student and youth tickets are only $20, so this is a great opportunity to enrich the lives of your children with some great theatrical performances. If you want to attend the matinees, you’ll save $7 off the cost of the single ticket and pay only $38. Groups of ten or more will also save with $35 matinee tickets and $40 evening tickets.