BHS to Hit 25K Ticket Milestone with "Kiss Me, Kate"

, an institution that has been lauded for its technological advances in education, is on the forefront of another noteworthy milestone.

As the curtain opens at the Fogelberg Performing Arts Center on Friday, March 23, the school will not only perform the Tony award-winning musical production, Kiss Me Kate, but the school's 25,000th ticket sold over the past ten years will be imminent.

Artistic and music director John Middleton-Cox has been at the reigns of the productions for nearly all ten years. Some may say he is an innovator in the world of high school productions, nurturing some fantastic talent and bringing to the Burlington community shows that are provocative, endearing and just plain entertaining and done so through methods used in the big theatres.

Among these shows have been Jekyll & Hyde, Les Miserables, The Wizard of Oz, Titanic and .

Selling 25,000 tickets over a ten year span is no small task. In 2002 approximately 900 general seating tickets were sold for Fiddler on the Roof by what some may refer to as old-fashioned publicity practices and general seating. As the years progressed the numbers grew at an impressive rate which can be attributed to reserved seating, electronic ticket sales, social networking sites, e-bulletins and other electronic methods for publicity.

Rather than a three-show run over one weekend, the spring production has been stretched to five performances over two-weekends. Last year tickets sales reached a single-production record high of 4,027 with the family favorite, Beauty and the Beast.

Part of the allure is the professional stature of those working behind the scenes, bringing a high level of expertise, knowledge and unwavering dedication to their particular job. Among them are Maureen Tierson-Krebs of The Costume Shop who has created hundreds of costumes for the productions including the  Shakespearean attire used in the Taming of the Shrew scenes in Kiss Me, Kate; Peter Waldren of Merrimack College who has designed and built the sets for BHS over the past several years; Leanne Reardon who has brought life to the stage through her creative and memorable choreography; Chet Maguire who has brilliantly photographed each production and produced the billboards used for advertising; Alan McRae who has videotaped and edited the shows for historical purposes; and Kate McMahon who is Middleton-Cox's admin and, among many jobs, manages the box office.

The bottom line is that BHS has a musical theatre program that rivals no other in its ability to attract the masses and keep them coming back for more.

Burlington High School’s production of Kiss Me, Kate will be performed in the Fogelberg Performing Arts Center of the high school from March 23 and through April 1.  Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.BurlingtonTickets.org or by phone at 781-A-FUN-TIC (781-238-6842).