John Goodman Amphitheatre set to open during Tent Theatre season

Missouri State University announced its John Goodman Amphitheatre would open this fall during the 60th season of Tent Theatre.

The university's popular annual Tent Theatre is scheduled to debut in June, with "Xanadu" slated to take place at Craig Hall's Coger Theatre. That venue also will host a late June and early July staging of "Moon Over Buffalo." The season's final show in September, "Crazy for You," is set to be the first at the John Goodman Amphitheatre, according to a news release.

“We’re thrilled to unveil and treat our Tent Theatre patrons to the first-ever show in the impressive modern John Goodman Amphitheatre,” MSU President Clif Smart said in the release. “The centerpiece of the new Judith Enyeart Reynolds Arts Park, this vibrant space is a game- changer for performing arts and community engagement on campus.”

The amphitheater is named after celebrity alumnus John Goodman, an actor who visited the university in 2019 to help launch the school's $250 million Onward Upward campaign. Goodman at the time said he contributed an undisclosed amount to the campaign.

The MSU Board of Governors last year approved Carson-Mitchell Inc. as general contractor for the project, which calls on a 7,700-square-foot, open-air steel structure with fixed tiers for 350 removable seats and a permanent Tent Theatre stage, according to past reporting. Carson-Mitchell submitted the low bid of $5.1 million for the project designed by Patterhn Ives LLC.