Our History
June 1, 2001. “Hey, let’s put on a show!”
You could almost hear Judy Garland convincing Andy Rooney only this time it was Holli Martin trying to convince John Jatcko and Bill Sullivan who were understandingly skeptical. Doubts notwithstanding, auditions were held on July 14th and on September 21, 2001 the curtains rose on Steel Magnolias in the Highland Elementary Auditorium. Hard Road Theatre Productions was born.
The group’s first success was quickly followed in January with The Odd Couple which proved equally successful. It was now time to venture into a musical. Having no air conditioning, the auditorium would not be adequate for a summer production, so Hard Road, in July 2002, moved to the High School Kennel and presented Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in this unique venue. All performances were presented to standing room only crowds. The Kennel would later host other classic musicals such as The Music Man and Guys and Dolls.
In 2004, the season was expanded to include a kid’s show with Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr. with great success. The kid’s productions later saw classic shows as Disney’s 101 Dalmatians Kids, Disney’s Jungle Book Kids, Willy Wonka Jr., Seussical Jr. Lion King Jr., Mary Poppins Jr. and most recently Frozen Jr. Student participation and turnout for these show has been one of the most successful programs that Hard Road produces each year.
Wanting to expand into the auditorium in the summer months, Hard Road was the recipient of generous funding from several generous patrons to help finance the air conditioning of the Elementary Auditorium. With this generous support, the first summer show in the auditorium, Grease, opened in July 2005.
Over the last 20 years, Hard Road has staged some of the area’s most exciting live theater. Some of Hard Road’s more memorable shows include; Nunsense (several versions), I Love You , You’re Perfect, Now Change, Little Shop of Horrors, High School Musical, Oklahoma, Twelve Angry Men, 1940’s Radio Hour, Godspell, Young Frankenstein and 9 to 5. Not that there aren’t many, many more recent shows like Sister Act, Shrek and Mamma Mia. As we kick off our 20th season we look forward to producing more quality shows for the Highland community!
Hard Road Theatre Productions was founded as a non-profit community theater organization committed to providing the Highland area with high-quality, affordable, live theater productions. Have we succeeded? You decide!
2024 Season
Contact Hard Road
Hard Road Theatre Productions may be reached through this website or through our social media accounts.
If you'd prefer to send something to us by mail, you can reach us at the address below:
Hard Road Theatre Productions
PO Box 68
Highland, IL 62249.
E-mail: hrtptix@gmail.com
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