Skylight Opera Theatre, the Milwaukee company devoted to musical theatre and opera, will open its 2000-2001 season with Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins.

Milwaukee favorite Tony Clements will star as the spelunker whose entrapment in a cave caused a media circus in the 1920s. The musical kicks off a five-show season that will also include Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (opening Nov. 24); Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (opening Feb. 2, 2001); Hiram Titus' Rosina, continuing the stories of characters in The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro (opening March 23, 2001); and All Night Strut!, the revue of '30s and '40s music (opening May 18, 2001).

Under artistic director Richard Carsey, Skylight Opera, performing in the intimate, tiered, European style space called the Cabot Theatre, has earned its biggest crowds and the most attention ever in its 42-year history. Richard Wargo's Ballymore (drawing on Brian Friel's works) had its world premiere there in 1998-99 and the 1999-2000 season is attracting record-breaking crowds.

Paul Barnes will direct Floyd, with Carsey serving as music director.

For more information about the 2000-01 season, call the Broadway Theatre Center box office at (414) 291-7800. -- By Kenneth Jones