Southern Theaters Shine

For theater lovers, southern Indiana offers an opportunity to include several exciting plays in one summer vacation. With the support of the University of Indiana, two unusual and historic theaters continue their traditions.

The Lincoln Amphitheatre , the only completely covered amphitheatre in the United States, begins its summer season with Young Abe Lincoln (photo above) by Billy Edd Wheeler., from June 27 through August 10. On July 11 Fiddler on the Roof, a very successful Broadway musical, will open and continue through August 16. The performances of the two plays will alternate. For more information call Stacy Brown at (812)465-7110.

The 1,500-seat facility is located on Highway 162 in Lincoln State Park, five miles south of Interstate 64 and across the highway from the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial containing a museum, a working farm and the gravesite of Lincoln’s mother.                                                                                    New Harmony Theatre

The other landmark is The New Harmony Theatre at 419 Tavern Street in New Harmony. Now in its sixteenth season, it began this summer with The Foreigner by Larry Shue, a popular modern comedy, June 13-29. Following this comes Tennessee William’s The Eccentricities of a Nighingale, a romantic drama, July 11-27. Their season ends with a musical, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine by Dick Vosburgh, playing August 1-17. For more information call (812)682-3115 or (877)NHT-SHOW. Vacationers may want to schedule time to tour historic New Harmony, the site of two 19th century utopian experiments, to browse in its quaint shops and to walk the labyrinth.

While you’re in the area:

·Colonel William Jones Home in Gentryville where Lincoln slept in 1844

·Buffalo Run Farm, Grill and Gifts, Highway 162, Lincoln City

·Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Saint Meinrad, one of only nine archabbeys in the world.

·Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand one of the largest Benedictine communities of women in the U.S. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

·Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus (Click here for update on Holiday World)