Patti Restivo

Summer romance is blooming on a gorgeous fantasy island (or two) in the woods at Caledonia State Park, where Totem Pole Playhouse just opened “South Pacific”— Rodgers and Hammerstein II’s classic American musical that has wooed multiple generations for more than 80 years. With music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book

The legacy of Broadway’s “patron saint of laughter” is alive and kicking in Neil Simon’s hilarious “Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple” currently playing at Totem Pole Playhouse.  Based on the crazy chemistry that sparked between two wildly opposite personalities in the smash Broadway hit, “The Odd Couple,” in the mid

“America’s Summer Theater” continues its diamond anniversary season with a gripping performance of the acclaimed Canadian musical that has captured audiences across the globe in seven languages. “Come From Away” — with music, book, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein — claims dozens of international awards, including a Tony for Best Direction of

Youth stole the show along with the audience’s breath over the weekend as Gettysburg Community Theatre culminated its eight-week Musical Theatre Cabaret Class in “Broadway Rising” — an upbeat concert performed by students who helped design the cabaret. Directed and accompanied by Jamie Bowman and GCT Executive Director Carrie Conklin, the evening spotlighted solos, duets, and

Nestled in the green hills of Caledonia State Park, Totem Pole Playhouse’s doors opened for the summer Friday evening to a wild and wonderful ride to the1960s when a trailblazing young woman crashed the male-dominated rock scene.   “A Night With Janis Joplin” — the autobiographical show (written and created by Randy Johnson) which appeared on

Beneath the second star to the right and straight on ‘til curtain call, the amazing kids at Gettysburg Community Theatre are rocking the stage in a joyful evening of musical theater based on Scottish playwright and novelist J. M. Barrie’s beloved story about a flying boy who refuses to grow up. His play “Peter Pan”

The Gettysburg Community Theatre opened its 18th season Friday evening with a bold and beautiful production of “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” — the stage show based on Dahl’s beloved novel about a brilliant young girl with telekinetic powers who confronts the bullies in her world.  With music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and book by Dennis Kelly,

“Love Came Gently” to the Gettysburg community on the twelfth day before Christmas as the Gettysburg Civic Chorus presented its traditional streaming Christmas concert live at the Gettysburg Area Middle School. On Saturday afternoon, the auditorium filled with enchanted friends and family who came to celebrate the spirit of the season with likely the longest-standing music

“Disney’s Alice in Wonderland jr.” — Gettysburg Community Theatre’s 2025 Penguin Project show — lit its stage with sentiment as bright as the Gettysburg Christmas Festival happening a block away in Lincoln Square this weekend. Directed by Chad-Alan Carr assisted by Kevin Foster, a troupe of special needs actors (some as young as 10) and

The downtown streets of Historic Gettysburg are decked out handsomely in anticipation of the Gettysburg Christmas Festival, an annual three-day celebration that drew 15,000 visitors last year to “the Boro’s” small-town charm.   But even before the lovely tree lighting ceremony this Friday (12/5) in Lincoln Square kicks off, or before Santa, carolers, reindeer and a

Things have turned seasonally wild again at the Gettysburg Community Theatre. In what looks like an annual GCT tradition, Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show LIVE” — the stage musical that inspired a famous film adaptation 50 years ago (and waves of cult followers since) — opened this week on York Street. In tribute to

Gettysburg Community Theatre changes pace with the season in its lighthearted production of Brian D. Taylor’s “The Dummest Play Ever”— an oxymoronic sketch comedy presented as the community theater’s senior production. Published by Pioneer Drama Service, the humorous show has been performed in schools and community theaters across the United States and Canada. It is

According to Gettysburg Film Commission President Bo Brinkman, “you can throw a rock (anywhere) in Gettysburg” and you’ll hit a historian. That certainly was the case Wednesday evening at the historic G.A.R. Hall on Middle Street, where a roomful of local history and film buffs attended a sneak preview of the Commission’s latest project, “A

As the sweltering dog days of summer — which ancient astronomers attributed to the rising of the “dog star,” Sirius — begin to wane, Gettysburg Community Theatre is stepping back more than a hundred years to celebrate the true story of Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921), a starry-eyed American pioneer who revolutionized modern astronomy’s understanding of

At the peak of its diamond anniversary summer season, Totem Pole Playhouse is stirring sweet memories of a past generation’s best music in a powerful performance of legendary songwriter Carole King’s rise to fame. “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” — with book by Douglas McGrath and songs by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann, and

There’s an exciting mystery afoot in Caledonia State Park, and it has nothing to do with another sighting of Sasquatch as the Totem Pole Playhouse presents Patrick Barlow’s “The 39 Steps,” a madcap spy thriller inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense film. More than a century ago, Scottish novelist John Buchan created the play’s hero, Richard

The Totem Pole Playhouse is shining a neon light on its 75th anniversary season in Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” which opened Friday evening in the woods at Caledonia State Park.  Adapted from the 1980 hit movie starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton, the musical — with book by Patricia Resnick and music

Vivid rainbow banners on the exterior of the community theater on York Street shout out to Pride Month as summer stumbles its way into historic Gettysburg. Inside, Gettysburg Community Theatre’s “Pippin” — with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson — leaps into a circus-inspired evening of song and dance

Ominous weather couldn’t dampen the fresh creative energy that sprang to life Friday evening at the Totem Pole Playhouse, where the summer theater opened its 75th anniversary season with Roger Bean’s wildly popular “The Marvelous Wonderettes” — an all-star jukebox musical comedy spanning a decade of 1950-60s classic pop music. Originally produced in 1999 at

The sun broke through the rain clouds Saturday afternoon to shine a light toward the second opening night of Gettysburg Community Theatre’s “Disney’s The Jungle Book KIDS,” directed by GCT alumni Jessi Gillingham. Imagination soared as a large cast of excited young thespians strutted their talent in the classic tale of Mowgli, a human boy

Capping an evening of cocktails, dinner and interesting general business at Destination Gettysburg’s annual meeting March 31 at the Gettysburg Hotel, local business owner and nationally acclaimed artist Wendy Allen accepted the “Jim Getty Spirit of Gettysburg Award” — a distinguished honor that has been awarded annually for almost a decade. Allen is the ninth

The Adams County Farmers Market hosted a festive celebration of its growth and success at ACFM’s Annual Meeting 2025 at the Barn Resort on March 12. ACFM’s stated mission — “to provide equitable access to fresh, nutritious food and support economic growth by strengthening the bond between agriculture and the community through our direct-to-consumer farmers

The Majestic Theater is well on its way to fulfilling a vision to bring outstanding international artists to Gettysburg while experimenting with important content that highlights the creative potential of its newly renovated flex cinema. As the first in a series of live shows about women musicians scheduled to appear there over the next few

Behind the wooden door of Gettysburg Community Theatre, “The Time Machine” — a new play inspired by H. G. Wells’ 1895 dystopian sci-fi novella — appeared onstage for the first time on the East Coast this weekend. The play launched as a world premiere just last May at the Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy, Utah.

Fine food and live entertainment at the Lodges of Gettysburg are attracting fun-loving locals to escape to nature in its pristine setting overlooking Gettysburg’s hallowed ground. On 63 acres nestled atop one of Gettysburg’s highest ridgelines with views of Little Round Top and Big Round Top, the Lodges — once the site of Camp New

“Love’s Pure Light” shone on the faces of everyone in attendance at Gettysburg Area Middle School as the Gettysburg Civic Chorus sang its heart out in the group’s annual (streaming) Christmas concert Sunday afternoon. Directed by retired local music teacher Bill Serfass and accompanied by Jamie Bowman (with ten musicians on drums, strings, flute and

In tune with the wild side of Halloween, Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show LIVE” — the audience-interactive musical that has inspired waves of cult followers — opened Thursday night at Gettysburg Community Theatre. The provocative rock show premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1973, winning the Evening Standard Theatre Award for

The day after the Northern Lights made a stunning appearance around Gettysburg, Agatha Christie’s enduring mystery thriller “The Mousetrap” opened downtown at the Gettysburg Community Theatre on York Street. First presented as a half-hour radio play in 1947, Christie grew the chilling tale — based loosely on the tragic real-life death of a British boy

Cruising to London from New York by way of Gettysburg Community Theatre, legendary songwriter Cole Porter’s bubbly “Anything Goes” overshadows the fading days of summer with delightful madcap antics and seriously good music. With its original book by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, the popular musical premiered on Broadway at what