Canterbury Summer Theatre, one of the Midwest's oldest professional summer companies, will celebrate America's 250th birthday with a season of plays and musicals, with weekly performances beginning June 17 through August 8.
Drawing on talent from throughout the country, the Canterbury Resident Company will present audiences with a summer slate packed with comedy, music and drama, performed at Canterbury Theatre, located at 807 Franklin Street, in the Uptown Arts District of Michigan City.
Ray Scott Crawford returns for his 41st season as Artistic Director. Crawford is also Director of Theatre at Bossier Parish Community College in Louisiana.
Emilie Richardson and Jakob Innes in the 2025 Canterbury production of Baby
Canterbury Associate Artistic Director, David Graham, will helm the opener, A Steady Rain, a thriller whose Chicago beginnings led to a hit Broadway production, starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman.
Crawford will follow with the musical, Tintypes, a blend of the patriotic songs, romantic tunes, and ragtime, popular during the era between 1897 and 1914, and a show not seen on the Canterbury stage for over four decades.
Returning to Canterbury for his sixth season as Music Director, John Berst will also stage the musical comedy, Calvin Berger. Berst is part of the theatre faculty at the University of Miami.
The final two productions will be the 1950s musical revue, The Taffetas, and the Southern-fried comedy, Red, White and Tuna.
About the season, Crawford said: "This summer, as Canterbury gives a nod to the 250th birthday of the United States of America, each of our shows celebrates a very “American” theatrical point of view.
Our first show, A Steady Rain, explores the suspense and intrigue of two Chicago cops confronting a terrible secret. Next, we bring the music and cultural icons of the turn of the 20th century in Tintypes. With patriotic hits, ragtime ditties, romantic melodies (and some familiar historical characters) this show promises a bit of nostalgic magic.
We then present a modern American musical retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, this time in a high school setting. And following, we offer The Taffetas, a 50’s girl-group musical with all the favorite hits of the era. We wrap up the season with Red, White and Tuna —one of the popular series of rip-roaring Tuna comedies You won't want to miss a single show this summer!"
Canterbury theatre seating will be by general admission. Season ticket holders still may reserve specific seating, if the box office is notified in advance of the performances that they wish to attend.
Performance times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 PM, and Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 PM.
Tickets for all Canterbury productions, as well as season discount cards, can be reserved by calling (219) 874-4269, by e-mail at info@canterburytheatre.org. or online through Etix. Reduced ticket prices are available for seniors, groups and students.
Canterbury Summer Theatre is produced under the auspices of the Canterbury Guild, a nonprofit arts organization began in 1969 (as the Festival Players Guild) by Michigan City businessmen and educators with the goal of bringing professional summer theatre to the area.
In addition to its summer initiative, Canterbury has offered its Winter Arts series for over two decades, highlighting a variety of performing arts programming.
For more information, please visit www.canterburytheatre.org
The 2026 Canterbury Summer Theatre Season
A Steady Rain
By Keith Huff
June 17-20
Joey and Denny have been best friends since kindergarten, and after working together for several years as policemen in Chicago, they are practically family: Joey helps out with Denny's wife and kids; Denny keeps Joey away from the bottle. But when a domestic disturbance call takes a turn for the worse, their friendship is put on the line. The result is a harrowing journey into a moral gray area where trust and loyalty struggle for survival against a sobering backdrop of pimps, prostitutes, and criminal lowlifes. Following its premiere in Chicago, the play was produced on Broadway starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman!
Tintypes
Book by Gary Pearle, Mary Kyte and Mel Marvin
Music and lyrics by Various American Composers
June 24-July 3 (no show on July 4)
Tintypes is a tune-filled panorama; a musical melting pot; the Great American Songbook come to life. It offers snapshots – tintypes, if you will – of America in its last Age of Innocence. As our nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this Tony-nominated, nostalgic musical revue takes us back to turn-of-the-century America and is a brew of popular songs from 1890 to 1917. Tintypes is an epic work about the end of an era, filled with memorable songs of the era and both hilarious and moving storytelling!
Calvin Berger
Book, music and lyrics by Barry Wyner
July 8-18
Based loosely on Edmond Rostand's classic play, Cyrano de Bergerac, this musical comedy is the hip and hilarious story of unrequited feelings, love notes and physical insecurity among four high school seniors. At a contemporary high school, Calvin Berger is smitten by the beautiful Rosanna, but he feels insecure because of the size of his nose. Rosanna, in turn, is attracted to the good-looking newcomer, Matt, who is painfully shy and inarticulate around her, although the attraction is mutual. Hoping to get closer to Rosanna through his eloquent love notes, Calvin offers to be Matt’s “speech writer,” all the while ignoring the signals of attraction from another girl, his best friend!
The Taffetas
Conceived, written, and vocal arrangements by Rick Lewis
July 22-August 1
Featuring over 40 tunes from the pop charts of the 50’s, this nostalgic musical features a girl group, The Taffetas, out of Muncie, Indiana as they appear on a national network TV show in the 1950’s. The four sisters are small town folks, naive and vulnerable, hoping the Ed Sullivan show will launch their singing careers. We are catapulted back to a time of large hair, angora sweaters, hula hoops and poodle skirts—where teens were innocents in matters of love and sex!
Red, White and Tuna
By Ed Howard, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams
August 5-8
This side-splitting comedy takes the audience through a satirical ride into the hearts and minds of the lovable and eccentric citizens of Texas' third smallest town, Tuna. The 4th of July Tuna High School Class Reunion sets the stage for a show full of fireworks and fun from the land where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies!