PA Shakespeare Festival Kicks Off Tonight

The Bard is back in Southern Lehigh.

The  opens tonight at .

The festival, whose mission is to inspire through classical and contemporary plays, kicks off with the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical South Pacific.

The festival runs through August and will also include Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, The Comedy of Errors, The Two Noble Kinsmen and Sleeping Beauty, as well as the return of the popular play, Shakespeare for Kids. This year will also have two "one-night-only" performances -- William Michaels: Broadway in Concert and The Great Divorce.

For the first time, the festival welcomes an actor from the Broadway version of a show to the stage. William Michaels will reprise his role as Emile de Becque in South Pacific, which will run from June 15 through July 3 on the Main Stage. The cast also includes Daytime Emmy-nominated (and DeSales graduate) Marnie Schulenburg as Nellie Forbush. Schulenburg  in January to speak to theater majors at her alma mater about pursuing their passion. 

South Pacific, based on a novel by James A. Michener, tells the tale of a U.S. Navy nurse who falls in love with a plantation owner with a sordid past. It includes several classic tunes such as "I'm Going to Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair" and "Bali Ha'i." 

 Tickets run $36 to $39 tonight and Thursday for previews, and $41 to $53 during the run. Discounts are available for seniors and students.