The southwestern hills have been alive with the sound of music for 49 years.
Super Summer Theatre has become a pillar of the local performance community. Nestled in Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, it debuted in 1976, its first performances drawing maybe a couple hundred people, who took in family-appropriate stage productions under the stars.
Those crowds have since grown -- up to 1,000 a night and more than 1.3 million since 1976. Four large-scale productions complete the May-September season. That's pretty impressive for a nonprofit wholly run by volunteers -- and in an arts scene where success and longevity are hard-fought.
This year, Super Summer Theatre celebrates its 50th season, kicking off on May 28 with Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which returns to the SST stage 25 years after the last time it was staged there. Three of SST's summer 2025 productions have been performed at the Ranch before, and one — The SpongeBob Musical — makes its company debut in July.
While the shows have their pull, what ultimately brings the crowds is seeing live theater outside at the Ranch, said SST production chairperson and board treasurer Christy Miller.
"It is all about the whole experience, from getting out there with your blanket and picnic basket and chair and finding your spot on the lawn and enjoying the park, buying something from the food vendors, enjoying your family and your friends — then you settle down for a beautiful show under the stars."
Three notable events helped SST evolve over the years. The biggest was in 1987, when SST raised $350,000 from the community to build a proper stage and adjoining facility. "We started on a platform, actually in a meadow, where every night you would [have to] reconstruct everything, because it blew all over the desert," said Miller. "That was a real game changer for us because it allowed us to have some dressing rooms and a stage to put sets, and to have lights and better audio."
Then, in 2013, they raised money to upgrade the audio and lighting system. The following year, they opened the Super Summer Theatre Studio on South Valley View for not only rehearsal and production needs, but also a performance space for other local theater companies.
SST has prioritized collaboration with other theatrical groups in the valley; nearly 40 of them have staged productions for SST at the Ranch. "We want [SST] to be a space where people can grow and learn," said Miller. "So we hope that more and more production [companies] will look to try to present something at Super Summer Theater. That's what we're all about. We want opportunities and new growth in the community to hopefully foster more arts within the community."
Christy Miller, production chairperson and board treasurer, Super Summer Theatre
