Totally 80

Reno Little Theater is 80 years old. The octogenarian theater company is launching its new season with a birthday party scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 11, at 6:30 p.m., at the company's still relatively new building, 147 E. Pueblo St., which opened in 2012.

“It's really exciting for us to celebrate milestones, and when we were in our 75th [season], our focus was on getting this building open, so we really didn't get to party as much as we were hoping to,” said McKenzi Swinehart, RLT's director of programs and development. “So we decided for the 80th to make sure we had a good celebration.”

The event will begin with a cocktail hour, including champagne and hors d'oeuvres. At 7:30 p.m., there will be performances from scenes and musical numbers from what Swinehart describes as “shows that have some kind of significance in RLT history that people might not know about.” This includes a duet from The Boyfriend, which, in 1958, became the first musical produced at RLT.

The theater's lobby will be decorated with items from RLT's archive housed at the University of Nevada, Reno's special collections, including dozens of old photos and newspaper articles and reviews.

The performances will be followed by a dance party. Swinehart said that cocktail or vintage attire is recommended. For tickets or more information, visit renolittletheater.org.