To kick off it’s 16th Season of Off-Broadway excellence, the Fredericksburg Theater Company presents the award winning musical comedy Stiles & Drewe’s extraordinary musical Honk!

A warm and witty musical retelling of the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale “The Ugly Duckling”, Honk! will be performed at the Steve W. Shepherd Theater (1668 HWY 87 S. Fredericskburg) weekends from June 29th to July 15th. Performances are at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday and at 2:00pm Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online beginning June 18th at fredericksburgtheater.org by calling 888-669-7114 or by visiting the box office located at 306 E. Austin, Fredericksburg.

This winner of the 2000 Laurence Olivier Award for London’s Best New Musical (beating the Lion King and Mama Mia for the Prize). is a story of love and acceptance that cleverly illuminates the challenges of being different.

“Honk! provides a solid wholesome message of acceptance, compassion, and understanding, mixed with clean comedy, and well arranged songs” said Artistic Operations Manager and Production Director, Kerry Goff.

It’s a familiar theme, with amped-up charm. Meet Ugly (played by Will Vaughan), an aesthetically challenged farmyard fowl, in a predicament. A bit different, both in looks and sound (he “honks!” when all the others “quack”), he is misunderstood, teased, even preyed upon by a villainous Cat (Pierre Minjauw). But Ugly is courageous and determined, “holding his head up high” in the face of adversity. He escapes the claws of the devious Cat, but finds himself lost, lonely and on a desperate search for home. Through an unforgettable cast of characters on his journey, Ugly discovers that everyone can find love, “warts and all”.

“With a talented cast of 40, a 10 piece live orchestra, a set that goes wall to wall, floor to ceiling and costumes to set every imagination in motion, this is a production for the entire family: from gosling, to gander, to great-gander” said FTC Executive Director Julie Voorhees.