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Fri., Feb. 12, 7:30 pm
Sat., Feb. 13, 11:00 am  SOLD OUT
Sun., Feb. 14, 2:00 pm SOLD OUT
Sun., Feb. 14, 4:00 pm
Sat., Feb. 20, 11:00 am SOLD OUT
Sat., Feb. 20, 1:00 pm
Sun., Feb. 21, 2:00 pmSOLD OUT
Sat., Feb. 27, 11:00 amSOLD OUT
Sat., Feb. 27, 1:00 pm SOLD OUT
Sun., Feb. 28, 2:00 pm SOLD OUT

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Book, Music and Lyrics by Eric Lane Barnes.
Based on the book by Virginia Lee Burton.
Cover from “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” by Virginia Lee Burton.
© 1939 by Virginia Lee Burton, renewed 1967 by Virginia Lee Demetrios. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
All rights reserved.

Feb. 12-28, 2010 • Wachovia Playhouse
Front Orchestra $18.00 │ General Section $14.00

ADDED SHOWS! Feb. 20, 1:00 pm and Feb. 27, 11 am

Mike Mulligan and his beloved Steam Shovel, Mary Anne, have been together for many years. They’ve dug holes for famous canals, railroads, highways, airports and skyscrapers. But times have changed and newer, fancier shovels have become fashionable, leaving Mike and Mary Anne out of work and down to their last dime. Their final hope could be the little town of Poppesville, which needs a basement dug for its new City Hall. Mike and Mary Anne are determined to get the job, but first they have to outbid the Diesel Shovel, the Electric Shovel and even the state-of-the-art, cappuccino-making Nucleonic Diggatron! Virginia Lee Burton’s 1939 classic tale of hard work, determination and friendship comes to life in Eric Lane Barnes’ delightful musical, in which we learn that the newest, biggest or most expensive isn’t necessarily the best. Performed by the Tarradiddle Players.

For Ages 3+/Grades PreK+
Best enjoyed by Preschool and Elementary ages

Signed language performance for
hearing impaired on Sat., Feb. 27, 1 pm

Coming to the show? Check out our Family Play Guide for trivia,
games and activities to share with your family before the show!

"Actors are exceptional, production a pure delight ... Mike Mulligan has beautiful lessons about friendship and defying the odds."
-- Julie Reed, The Charlotte Observer
(Full Review)

“… top-grade Tarradiddle …
Grab a kid and go see this.”
-- Perry Tannenbaum, Creative Loafing (Full Review)

“This longtime children’s favorite,
first published in 1939, has never
lost its appeal.”
– School Library Journal