County Stage Company is busy preparing a 10-week theatre festival to unfold across the County this summer.

Stage productions of Bittergirl, The Musical, Flowers, and the family-friendly Snow White all have extended, overlapping runs in July and August.

The repertory season is bookended by the Haymaker Comedy Festival, punctuated by the Scripts and Sips series, and features a two-day performance of the acclaimed Fringe Festival show MONKS.

An ensemble of arts professionals — actors, directors, designers, and a dedicated production team — will be based locally for the entire season. That’s a first — and while accommodations have proven a challenge, Artistic Director Heather Braaten notes, “it’s well worth the effort to have the entire company working together here all season.”

The powerhouse production is Bittergirl, an infamous Canadian musical by Annabel Fitzsimmons, Alison Lawrence, and Mary Francis Moore, about three women who all get dumped. The Company is putting on seven performances at The Regent in July and August. 

“It started as a play, was written up into a book, and finally workshopped into a musical featuring a range of familiar hits, from doo wop to disco, including I Will Survive, Too Many Fish in the Sea, and Be My Baby.”

“There’s a live band right on stage. You don’t get more energetic than that.” 

Musical Director Sam Hirst called on local musicians, who created “The Jilted Lovers Band” for the production.

“It’s a great night out for the girls of course, but it’s pretty universal — it’s a great night out for anybody. It’s just as much a date-night out as anything else. It’s extremely well written and funny,” said Ms. Braaten, who is also the director.

Local stage and screen actor Alexander Crowther plays all three of the exes.

A highlight of the festival is its overlapping cast members. Almost everyone from the cast of Bittergirl shows up again in Flowers, which explores the story of the Dionne Quintuplets.

The company includes Dora Award-winning Lindsey Middleton, stage and screen actor Madison Hays-Crook, Kait Post, and T’karanto’s Breanna Maloney. Another cast member, Susan Del Mei, played Fraulein “Fritzie” Kost in Shatterbox Theatre’s production of Cabaret the Musical last year.

“Flowers was a bucket list show for me,” says Ms. Braaten, who also directs this one. “It’s an absurd story; they led such strange lives. Their home was turned into a theme park, the house was like some kind of museum. Or zoo.”

Separated from their overwhelmed parents when they were babies, the five identical quintuplets, who were born in 1934, became an international sensation. Taken into the custody of the Ontario government, they were raised by a team of doctors and nurses in what became a theme park, called Quintland, which attracted millions of visitors.

The sisters were on daily public display until they were returned to their parents when they were nine years old.

“People would come and watch them, and from an early age they say they learned how to put on a show,” says Ms. Braaten. The production takes place, fittingly, at Mount Tabor.

Another highlight is Snow White, designed to include everyone in its exuberant action. Two actors play Snow, the wicked Queen, the hunter, and all seven dwarves. “It’s not just energetic,” says Ms. Bratten. “It’s acrobatic.”

Outreach projects include theatre workshops for youth following some of the performances of Snow White. County Stage is also offering free tickets to those 25-and-under to most shows. “We are actively pursuing the formation of a County Stage Young Company to provide performance opportunities for local youth. That’s still in the early stages of course, but it’s something dear to my heart.” 

See the County Stage website for all the details and for tickets.