Performers rehearsing for the Sherburne Music Theater Society's production of "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" in 2024. The SMTS and Sherburne Community Chorus 2025 performance season will include free community concerts, a summer play, story and play readings, and holiday productions. (Photo from the Sherburne Music Theater Society Facebook page)

CHENANGO COUNTY — The Sherburne Music Theater Society (SMTS) and the Sherburne Community Chorus are preparing for their 2025 performance season, which will include a wide variety of productions, from musicals to staged readings to community sing-alongs.

SMTS is a Sherburne-based nonprofit first established in 1973 that aims to bring theater and music to the Chenango County community, and give community members the chance to be a part of it.

The organization has established a relationship with the Earlville Opera House, located at 18 East Main Street in Earlville, where they will be performing many of their productions and shows.

Kicking off the season will be the free Sherburne Community Chorus Spring Concert on May 7, directed by Kylie Davis. This year's concert theme will be Faith, Hope, Life, and Love.

"[Davis] told me that they’re using a whole wide selection of music, from choral music to Broadway to baroque to music theater, folk, spiritual type stuff. So it’s a wide variety of music," explained SMTS Co-President Colleen Law-Tefft.

Next on the roster is the Sherburne Music Theater Society's major production for the year, "August: Osage County," directed by Donna Moren, on August 1, 2, and 3.

"August: Osage County" is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play directed by Tracy Letts. The tragicomedy takes place in the country outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and follows a dysfunctional family as they navigate addiction, death, complicated family dynamics, and more.