Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre (MSMT) has been through several permutations during the course of its 36 seasons, which opens with “Gypsy,” June 15 - July 3, and continues with “In The Heights,” July 13 - 31, and the children’s show, “Growl!,” June 29 - July 30.

For a good decade, from its founding in 1981, which included “The Mikado,” through the 1990 season, with “H.M.S. Pinafore,” Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, was the go-to place for Gilbert & Sullivan afficiandoes, neophytes and acolytes.

The 1990s saw MSMT mount two big musicals per season: for example, “Evita” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” 1995; “42nd Street” and “Oliver!,” 1996; “Man of La Mancha” and “Into the Woods,” 1997; “Anything Goes” and “South Pacific,” 1998, and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Guys and Dolls,” 1999.

MSMT founder Charles Richter switched it up again in 2000, adding a third show for the season, which continued through 2007. In 2008, a children’s show occupied the third slot, which continues through the 2016 season.

In the past few seasons, MSMT has alternated a big traditional music from Broadway’s Golden Age of Musicals with a more nontraditional musical. Last year it was, “The Music Man” and “Avenue Q.” In 2014, it was “A Chorus Line” and “Monty Python’s Spamalot.”

When I asked Richter about this apparent theatrical dichotomy, he demures: “We’re just trying to vary the repertoire. If there’s one thing that drives our plays’ choice is we try to do work that’s very high-quality.

“At the bedrock of our repertoire have been the Golden Age Musicals, and Gilbert and Sullivan, who had a profound influence on the writers of the Golden Age of Musicals, by the way.

“The more contemporary work that we do are the more contemporary voices in the new musical theater, and the best material.”

The one constant, of course, is Richter.

“Thirty-six years with no breaks ... and I’m still here,” he quips.

Richter takes the reins of “Gypsy,” relishing his directorial duties because it returns two of his favorite actors to the MSMT stage: Mia Scarpa (Dolly in last seasons’s “Hello, Dolly!”) as Rose and Jarrod Yuskauskas (Horace Vandergelder in “Hello, Dolly!”) as Herbie.

Says Richter: “‘Gypsy’ is considered the greatest of the Golden Age musicals. It’s certainly the most dramatically-compelling, in my opinion, of the works created for the American musical stage.

“Obviously, they’re building on the tradition of Rodgers and Hammerstein, who developed what we think of as the integrated musical, where the songs drive the story. On a certain level, ‘Gypsy’ takes that to a whole other level.

“What the tradition established was an emphasis on storytelling and fully-rounded character development. What [librettist W.S.] Gilbert [along with composer Arthur Sullivan] did was invent the idea that a musical theater piece should not be just a group of operatic arias shoved together. A lot of the musical theater work that preceded Gilbert wasn’t about anything. The libretto begins to become the dominant part, and the music serves the libretto. It embraces storytelling and character as its major components.

“This [‘Gypsy’] is a show that was created by Arthur Laurents [book], Stephen Sondheim [lyrics] and Jule Styne [music], but probably most importantly, the original production was directed by Jerome Robbins [also choreographer]. It’s the same creative team, with the exception of [Leonard] Bernstein writing the music, that created ‘West Side Story.’

“Even with Rodgers and Hammerstein, you have the comic-relief character. There are certain forms that they don’t give up. They’re still sticking to a certain formula, whereas in ‘Gypsy,’ it’s: How am I going to tell the story in the most effective way, without resorting to formula, and using the musical theater form to deepen the experience for the audience? They’re using music and dance and everything to serve the story in a sophisticated way.

‘Gypsy’ is considered the most highly-regarded musical ever written. It was ahead of its time. It made demands on its audience of that time. This searing psychological drama about a mother-daughter relationship. Musicals were about people getting married. They were upbeat and had happy endings. ‘Gypsy’ kind of has a happy ending. This was not typical in 1959.

”’Fiddler on the Roof’ is also a Jerome Robbins’ masterpiece. He was the force in the creation of these shows, who asked the difficult questions and moved these works to another level aesthetically. ‘Tradition’ ... This is the question that Robbins was asking [with ‘Fiddler’]: What are we doing here?”

What Richter and his production team are doing is working hard. MSMT previously presented “Gypsy” in 1993.

“‘Gypsy’ has 19 scenes. Every scene has a different set. Instantaneous costume changes need to take place. The design meetings are extremely long. I think it’s going to be quite spectacular.”

For “Gypsy,” Michael Schnack is music director and conducts the 13-piece orchestra, Karen Dearborn is choreographer, Campbell Baird is set and costume desinger and John McKernon is lighting designer.

“They’re really classics of two different generations,” Richter says of “Gypsy” and “In The Heights” by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Miranda is the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama recipient for his phenomenal Broadway smash musical, “Hamilton,” nominated for 16 Tonys.

For “In The Heights,” Miranda received the 2008 Tony for Best Original Score and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

“Lin-Manual Miranda is moving the musical to yet another level, again building on that tradition. He’s found a way to connect that musical tradition to a contemporary audience in a new and exciting way.”

For “In the Heights,” James Peck is director, Ed Bara is music director, Samuel Antonio Reyes is choreographer, John Raley is set designer, Lex Gurst is costume designer and McKernon is lighting designer.

“‘Heights’ has a really strong ethnically-diverse cast. The cast includes young actors from the Dieruff High School 2015 production of “In The Heights.” The MSMT production is the Valley debut of “In the Heights” by an area professional theater.

“I think our audience is really going to go for it. It’s a big musical that has a big heart and has a lot to say about contemporary life and about what America is today.

“We are in another Golden Age. Some of the most successful shows in the history of Broadway are running right now. And it’s not just because of the higher prices.

“In the [Muhlenberg] summer theater, we look for pieces, be they Gilbert and Sullivan, be they Golden Age, be they contemporary pieces, that embrace this idea.

“I’m the one who basically picks these plays. I get suggestions from people. I have a deep appreciation for this heritage. I think it’s imporant that we keep this heritage alive.”

Fortunately, for Richter and MSMT, his choices have worked out well. “‘The last couple years have been very successful at the box ofifce. ‘Dolly!’ sold out. ‘Spamalot’ sold out.

“We’re not a commercial theater. We’re a nonprofit. But we have to think about who’s going to buy tickets. About 70 percent of our expenses we’re covering at the box office, which is much higher than most theaters. We can’t rest on our laurels. We always have to do something that is engaging our audience.

“Even though we’ve been around for 36 years, we try to get the best people.”

Many Muhllenberg College Theater Department graduates are in MSMT shows. “It’s wonderful for us working with our alums, who have been successful.”

The theater deprtment has 250 theater majors, 100 dance majors and 27 full-time faculty and staff. It’s the largest department at Muhlenberg. The department attracts students from 22 states.

“The idea of the traditional summer theater in most communities has been supplanted by higher-level operations. In real tourist areas, you’ll have what you call straw-hat circuits,” says Richter, who early in his career worked at the former Lakewood Musical Playhouse, Barnesville, Schuylkill County. “We were doing fully-staged musicals in six days.

“In many ways it’s good for the area,” Richter says of the contemporary Lehigh Valley summer musical scene. “The Valley is blessed with a lot of talented theater people who have made the Lehigh Valley their home.”

The quality of theater in the Lehigh Valley had better be good, though. Says Richter:

“We are particularly challenged here because Broadway is just a Bieber bus ride away. We can offer convenience, lower prices, but we have to maintain quality because the audience is very sophisticated.”

Tickets: muhlenberg.edu, 484-664-3087