A caravan of Muskegon Community College (MCC) theater students will be making a brave trek to the Overbrook Theater on June 9 and 10, 2023 for an adventurous production that is designed, directed, and performed entirely by them. The Trail to Oregon, originally produced by Starkid productions, is a comedic musical parody of the cult classic video game “The Oregon Trail,” which tells the story of a dysfunctional family of settlers and the hardships they encounter as they attempt to travel down the Oregon Trail.
Student Director Rikki Ridout notes, “Audiences will enjoy the rapid-fire jokes, as these actors play with comedic timing and tirelessly hilarious script and score. The Trail to Oregon will be the greatest adventure that you didn’t sign up for.”
Not only is this production a wild ride that will keep you laughing from start to finish, it’s also an educational opportunity to develop skills of theater production. “Experience is the best teacher,” says the show’s producer and MCC Theater faculty, Les Rorick. “One of our aims in the MCC Theater Department is to equip the theater-makers of tomorrow to create transformational theatre. It’s important that students learn the skills and knowledge necessary to create successful work beyond the classroom. And that’s what this inaugural student lab production is all about.”
The Trail to Oregon will be the fourth show of MCC’s theater season and features several of the same student-artists who participated in the recent sell-out production of RENT at the Overbrook Theater.
The performances will be at 7:30 PM on June 9 and at 3:00 PM and 7:30 PM on June 10. Tickets, which are $10 and $5 for MCC students and staff, are available online at https://mccoverbrooktheater.ludus.com. Because The Trail to Oregon depicts explicit language, the suggested audience is 14-years-of-age and older.
Muskegon Community College offers 54 associate degree programs and 32 certificate programs in Muskegon, Newaygo, and Ottawa counties. Located on a 100-acre scenic campus, MCC is consistently recognized as one of the top community colleges in the state of Michigan.