The Town of Normal Parks and Recreation department has a permanent outdoor ampitheatre, just down the road from Uptown Normal.
It’s nestled in a lovely park, with a large grassy area for folks to bring chairs and blankets, and sits just off the Constitution Trail, which is a sort of amazing joint project between the Town of Normal and City of Bloomington, that allows you traverse most of the Twin Cities. It’s how I got to my friends’ houses when mom couldn’t drive me!

The theatre opened in 2008, and is the home of the High School Summer Theatre Program as well as a host of cultural events from Normal Live.
Beginning Thursday, August 10th, the Coalescence Theatre Project will be presenting the musical Once on This Island. The theatre project has a mission to “utilize theatre to understand, acknowledge, and dismantle all forms of systemic oppression as we explore identity and our place in a global community.” They specifically select plays created by people from underrepresented communities.
You can find the full schedule of events, which will run through the end of September, on the Town of Normal website.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we had such a thing here?