Twelfth Night Productions (TNP) is proud to open its spring production, The Miss Firecracker Contest, by Beth Henley on Friday April 9 at the Youngstown Cultural Center in West Seattle.

The Miss Firecracker Contest is set in the small town of Brookhaven, Mississippi and centers around its annual beauty pageant, the titular Miss Firecracker Contest. Young and attractive Carnelle is trying out for the pageant as a way to elevate her somewhat tarnished reputation. Together with her recently returning cousins, Elain and Delmount, she is determined to leave her small town life behind her in a blaze of glory. Meanwhile, Popeye, her seamstress, has fallen in love with the deeply intense Delmount, but hides her feelings behind stories of her eccentric life. Once they all make it to the contest, they meet up with Mac Sam and Tessy, two characters who have an intimate knowledge of two of our protagonists. It all comes to a head with the crowning of the one and only Miss Firecracker and the yearly fireworks display.

The Miss Firecracker Contest runs in a special limited engagement at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in West Seattle. Show times are: April 9, 10, 16 and 17 at 7:30 PM and April 11 and 18 at 3 PM. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors and are available online at brown paper tickets (www.brownpapertickets.com), at Square One Books at Jefferson Square (4724 42nd Avenue SW) and at the Youngstown Theater (4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106) on performance days.

Twelfth Night Productions (www.twelfthnightproductions.org) is a non-profit arts organization and anchor tenant at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (www.youngstownarts.org). Established by educators in West Seattle over twenty years ago, Twelfth Night has been active in charitable and neighborhood improvement projects such as The Compass Center and Delridge Neighborhood Development Association. The organization has raised tens of thousands of dollars for local charities, and offers theater training and mentorship to all members of the community, free of charge. Recent productions have included The Music Man, Once Upon a Mattress, True West, Fiddler on the Roof, The Dining Room, The Foreigner, Oklahoma!, DeathTrap, Crazy for You, and Bullshot Crummond.