Post Playhouse opening with three music groups

The Post Playhouse at Fort Robinson State Park will open its season Memorial Day weekend with three music groups that were popular with playhouse audiences last summer.

The weekend's performances will begin Friday, May 22, with the Frontier String Ensemble of Omaha, which consists of more than 30 violin and viola players between the ages of 6-17. Saturday will feature the harmony of the Bald Mountain Rounders, a Chadron bluegrass group. The Double D Wranglers, a yodeling cowboy band based in Ainsworth, will take the stage Sunday. Each show begins at 8 p.m.

Audience members who arrive early to Saturday and Sunday's shows will be treated to a "preshow" by the Frontier String Ensemble. The group will perform at 7 p.m. both nights.

The Post Playhouse, which is beginning its 42nd season, will again feature three theatrical productions on a repertory basis beginning in June and ending in August.

"Always ... Patsy Cline," will be the first of the Playhouse's three plays to open. It begins Friday, June 5. "Annie Get Your Gun" will open Friday, June 12, and "Hello, Dolly!" begins Friday, June 26. The season will run through Aug. 16.

Tom Ossowski, who served as the playhouse's artistic director the past two seasons, is also taking on production duties at the playhouse this summer. Ossowski, a native of Beatrice, is a professor at Florida State University.

Tickets may be obtained in advance by calling 308-432-6360. After Thursday, May 21, people may call the playhouse directly at 308-665-1976. A complete schedule, along with many other informative features, is available at the Playhouse's Web site, www.postplayhouse.com. The Playhouse is sponsored by Chadron State College, the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.