ASHTABULA — It all began in May of 1967 when the Ashtabula Fine Arts Center and the Ashtabula Playhouse announced that a summer theater program would be started in Ashtabula.

The first season was held in a circus tent at Lake Shore Park with patrons seated on red circus folding chairs. In following years, the theater moved to Walnut Beach. In 1980, through the generosity of the Civic Development Corp., Straw Hat Theatre made its move to the grounds of the Ashtabula Arts Center, where it has been entertaining summer audiences ever since.

This year, Straw Hat Theatre will open its 42nd theater season June 6.

“We have been planning our summer season for several months and we have put together a great line-up of shows that will please all ages,” says spokeswoman Pamela Hammond.

“In every season, we try to bring our audience favorite shows that they love seeing over and over again like ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Grease.’ At the same time, we want to give them a chance to see new things. There are many shows that are wildly popular in New York or elsewhere around the country that local audiences never get to see unless they travel to those bigger cities,” Hammond said.

“The Last Five Years” will play for two weekends on June 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, and 14. This one-act musical was written by Jason Robert Browning and first appeared off-Broadway in 2002. It has quickly become one of the most beloved new musicals around. The story explores a five-year relationship between a rising novelist and a struggling actress and underscores the truth that even in the closest of relationships, each person can see the world in a very different way. The production is directed by Connor O'Brien.

The following weekends, “Little Mary Sunshine” by Rick Besoyan will delight family members of all ages as it spoofs the old-time operetta that kept our grandparents riveted to their movie house seats. As a group of brave-hearted rangers hunt down the Indian, Yellow Feather, sweet little Mary must face her own dilemma.

She has purchased a Colorado mountain inn from the government using earnings from the sale of her home baked cookies.

But alas! Mary hasn't sold enough cookies and now the bad government is going to foreclose! Mary's plight worsens when she is kidnapped by Indians and can only hope that the rangers will save her in time. Directed by Steve Rhodes, “Little Mary Sunshine” turns

back the clock to a world of beautiful heroines, dastardly villains, shining heroes and down-to-the-wire rescues. This fun and funny tale can be seen June 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, July 3, 4, and 5.

Next up will be a tale that will wake the dreams and imaginations of the child in us all when Straw Hat Theatre stages “Alice In Wonderland.”

Written by Sally Netzel and Beatrice Wolf, this musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's famous story will bring to life all of Carroll's beloved

characters July 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25 and 26. Directed by Linda Fundis, “Alice in Wonderland" will be filled with delightful scenes and

songs, said Hammond.

It's the rock 'n' roll era once again as "Grease" brings back Rydell High's spirited class of '59; gum chewing, hubcap stealing, hot rod loving boys with D.A.'s and their wise cracking girls in bobby sox and pedal pushers!