A 127-seat house on Old Mission Avenue opens its thirty-fifth season Thursday night

The Limelight Theatre opens its thirty-fifth season Thursday night at 7:30, in a room that seats 127 people, at 11 Old Mission Avenue, where the parking is free and the box office answers the phone four hours a day.

The show is Catch Me If You Can, the musical, on the Inez McDonald Main Stage. It runs through Sunday, Sept. 27, closing on a 2 p.m. matinee. The theatre rates it PG-13.

Eighteen people are in the cast. Dawn Knipe directs, Jeff Dodd is music director and Jonathan Chapman choreographs. That is a large company for a house this size, and in a 127-seat room with a single-level tiered floor, the back row is not far from anybody.

The price, since nobody else prints it

Single tickets are $35 or $40 depending on the show.

A Single Subscription is eight tickets for $275, which the theatre’s own page works out to $34 apiece. A Double Subscription is sixteen tickets for $550. So the subscription saves a dollar against the cheap seat and six against the expensive one, and what it really buys is eight nights instead of one decision.

Then there is the card fee, and this is worth reading twice.

Near the top of the box-office page, under a heading marked Important Notice, the fee is given as 5.0% plus 0.85 cents per ticket. Further down the same page, in the frequently asked questions, the fee is given as 5% plus 0.75 cents per ticket. The two numbers are on one page, about a screen apart.

Both versions agree on the part that matters most: checks and cash are exempt. Cash has to be exact.

Five percent of a $40 ticket is two dollars. On a pair of subscriptions it is more than money you would leave in a tip jar. Bring a check.

The two rooms

The main stage is named for Inez McDonald, whom the theatre describes as a centenarian and local philanthropist. It seats 127 on one level, tiered, with front-row wheelchair-accessible seating and multiple aisles.

The Matuza Black Box seats 90, general admission, and reconfigures. It is named for Ray and Linda Matuza, whose donations, per the theatre, helped get the Limelight up and running in 1993.

Two houses, 217 seats between them, running a nine-title season. Sell out both rooms on the same night and you have entertained 217 people, which is the arithmetic of community theatre and the reason a season subscription is a different kind of purchase than a concert ticket.

What the season actually is

Two stand-up bookings and a youth-education production inside the same season as a Harper Lee adaptation and an R-rated musical. A company that programs Matilda in February and Bonnie and Clyde in January is not trying to be one thing.

Performances generally run Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The theatre says shows often sell out and recommends buying ahead.

Practical, because the room is small and the rules follow from that

Arrive thirty minutes before curtain. Late seating is at the theatre’s discretion, and latecomers may be held until an appropriate pause or until intermission.

Parking is free in the theatre’s lot, and free street parking is available on Mission Avenue and San Marco Avenue.

Outside food and drink are not permitted. Concessions are, in designated areas. No photography, video or audio recording during a performance.

Every patron needs a ticket regardless of age unless a listing says otherwise, and age recommendations sit on each show’s ticket page rather than in one list.

Exchanges are possible depending on availability, must be requested at least 24 hours ahead, and may carry a fee.

The box office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 904-825-1164, and takes messages outside those hours.

Who is paying for it

The Limelight is a 501©(3), and the funder line at the bottom of every page on its site names the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, the St. Johns Cultural Council, the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, and South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Cultural Council and the Tourist Development Council are the same two names printed on the free Sing Out Loud after-parties later this month. Bed-tax money and cultural-grant money are underwriting a September in which a great deal of what is on offer in this county is either free or thirty-five dollars.

Curtain is 7:30 Thursday. The lot is free and it is small.