Wann returns for fifth season with NSU's Stars in the Summer

(Tahlequah, Okla.)--Longtime fans of Northeastern State University's Stars in the Summer series will see a very familiar face when attending shows at the NSU Playhouse during the 2012 season.

Melodie McCay Wann of Tulsa is a fifth year performer for Stars in the Summer. After four seasons of performing at the Shawnee Street Theatre, she will take the stage at the Playhouse.

"This year, the exciting challenges will be different," Wann said. "Not only has the show format changed, we are also in a new venue with several new cast members."

While she no longer lives in Tahlequah, Wann said she wanted to return to the Stars in the Summer stage.

"I've spent so many years doing these productions because of the wonderful people I get to work with," she said. "Many of my closest friends come from being a part of River City Players. I love being a part of this tradition and getting to do what I love sing and dance."

Though she came to NSU from Tulsa, Wann has deep roots in Tahlequah. Her family has attended Northeastern for generations.

"My great-great-grandmother started the line of Northeastern graduates in my family," Wann said. "She attended the Cherokee National Female Seminary in the 19th Century. My great-grandmother, grandmother and aunts attended NSU, which makes me the fifth generation to be a part of the university's history."

At NSU, Wann was a member of the GoVertigo Dance Company and served as assistant director of the local Boys and Girls Club and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries. She graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education, which she is putting to good use.

"I just completed my first year as a teacher at Stonebridge Academy in Okmulgee where I teach pre-k through 6th grade music and dance," she said. "I have the best job on earth!"

Wann has also achieved a milestone in her personal life. She recently married.

"I met my husband, Casey Wann, at NSU in 2007 during my freshman year," she said. "We were both students studying to be teachers, and now we are both teachers."

Presented by the NSU College of Liberal Arts and the Sequoyah Institute, the Stars in the Summer series will present "Downtown Country Classics" on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and "River City Classics" on Saturdays at 2 p.m. The "Stars in the Summer Celebration," a special show marking 30 seasons of the River City Players and Downtown Country, will be performed Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.

Performances continue through August 4.

The NSU Playhouse is on the northeast corner of Downing Street and Muskogee Avenue in Tahlequah.

Ticket prices are adults $12, NSU alumni and employees $10, seniors 60-over and groups of 12 or more $8, students and children $6. An early bird discount of $1 is awarded on all tickets booked for June performances.