The organization sold or distributed about 25,000 individual tickets for the 21-performance season, which opened July 7 and closed Sept. 10.

Included in that 25,000 were more than 2,700 tickets that were given away for free through Woodminster's "Kids Come Free" program. Anyone 16 or younger who is accompanying a paying adult received a free ticket to any performance.

This year's free children's attendance was the highest in the nine-year history of "Kids Come Free." The closing show, "Beauty and the Beast," was the most popular ever for this program, with nearly 1,300 children attending for free.

The major corporate sponsor for the 2006 "Kids Come Free" program, as well as the sole sponsor for "Kids Come Free to Beauty and the Beast," was Chevron. Other important "Kids Come Free" sponsors this year were Target, The Mechanics Bank, and Rotary Club of Oakland Sunrise. The Woodminster Summer Musicals are co-sponsored by the city of Oakland's Parks and Recreation Department.

Woodminster's 2006 season was also one of the largest in history in terms of the sheer number of performers.

"Ragtime," which opened the season, had 61 in the cast, the second-highest in the 40 year history of the theater. "The Most Happy Fella," in 1969, holds the record with 71. "The King and I," performed this August, had 54 in the cast including 23 children ages 12 and younger. The Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast," which closed the season, had 46.

The public is invited to help choose the three shows that will make the 2007 summer season by visiting www.woodminster.com and navigating to the proposed list of shows and voting for their favorites.

The Woodminster Summer Musicals are performed under the stars at Woodminster Amphitheater, an open air performance facility in Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland hills.

Producers Associates, Inc. was founded in 1967 by James and Harriet Schlader to provide affordable live summer family entertainment in the East Bay, and to foster a love of live theatre. For the past 40 years, the organization, in partnership with the Oakland Park and Recreation Department, has been producing summer musicals at Woodminster Amphitheater. Today it sells more tickets per year than any other resident performing arts group in the city.