On March 3, Riverland Theatre will be hosting the award-winning professional theatre company Ten Thousand Things as they present their production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Meredith Willson’s classic American rags-to-riches story of a woman who can’t decide whether money or love is more important.

This classic musical is written by Meredith Willson and Richard Morris. Michelle Hensley directs the show, with sound and music by Peter Vitale. Maggie Chestovich and Tyson Forbes star as Molly and Johnny Brown, joined by H. Adam Harris, George Keller, Kimberly Richardson, Eric Sharp, Austene Van and Max Wojtanowicz. Sets are by Stephen Mohring, costumes by Sonya Berlovitz, and choreography by Kimberly Richardson.

The performance will take place on Tuesday, March 3 at 11 a.m. in the Riverland Library in the East Building of the Austin Campus. The performance is free to attend, but seating is limited and is first-come, first-served.

Ten Thousand Things productions bring high-quality, intelligent theater to people with little access to the wealth of the arts. This award-winning theater company invigorates ancient tales, classic stories, and contemporary plays through its search for honest, open interactions between actors and audience. Theater-goers experience the immediacy and vibrancy of theater through a performance in which there is no stage and actors perform in the middle of the audience, inches away from patrons. With minimal sets and costumes, the finest quality actors in the region fully engage the audience by distilling the story to its essence. The company and its Artistic Director, Michelle Hensley, are recipients of numerous awards, including the Sally Award for Vision, “Best Theater Artistic Director” from the Star Tribune and the Francesca Primus Prize for outstanding contribution to the American theater by a female artist.

The show began its tour to correctional facilities, low-income centers, schools, and shelters on Jan. 29, with the opening public performance at Bedlam Lowertown Thursday, Feb. 12; subsequent public shows Feb. 13-15 at Open Book; Feb. 19-22 at Plymouth Congregational Church; Feb. 26-March 1 and March 5-8 back at Open Book.

“For me, the central question in this story comes when Johnny Brown asks Molly, ‘What would be enough?’ And she has no idea,” says Hensley. “Like many Americans, Molly is constantly unclear about whether love or money is more important, and especially for our audiences who have gone through life with very little material comfort, this isn’t an easy question to answer. I love how the musical lets us look at this question in a delightful and whimsical way.”

Riverland’s Theatre Department is a high-energy performance-oriented program. Plays produced vary from classical tragedy to modern comedy and from full-scale large cast musicals in intimate small cast plays. Students are encouraged to get involved in all areas of theatre production including, but not limited to, acting, stage managing, set building and painting. Strong academic offerings provide challenges in and out of the classroom.

Riverland Community College, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, is a community college that has inspired personal success through education for 75 years. Approximately 4,900 students are served annually through a wide range of credit-based educational opportunities. An additional 5,400 students are annually served in non-credit courses. Campuses are located in Albert Lea, Austin, and Owatonna, Minn. Riverland may be found on the Internet at www.riverland.edu.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system includes 24 two-year community and technical colleges and seven state universities serving more than 420,000 students. It is the fifth-largest higher education system of its kind in the United States.