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May 11th, 2008 - 10:21 pm |
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THE NERD (Comedy)
June 8 - June 18
By Larry Shue
(information from: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.)
One of the funniest plays ever written, this extraordinarily inventive, side-splitting comedy was first presented by the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, then produced in Great Britain, then went on to Broadway.
The action centers on the hilarious dilemma of a young architect who is visited by a man he's never met but who saved his life in Vietnam-the visitor turning out to be an incredibly inept, hopelessly stupid "nerd" who outstays his welcome with a vengeance.
THE STORY: Now an aspiring young architect in Terre Haute, Indiana, Willum Cubbert has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he has never met but who saved has life after he was seriously wounded in Vietnam. He has written to Rick to say that, as long as he is alive, "you will have somebody on Earth who will do anything for you"-so Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly at his apartment on the night of his thirty-fourth birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless "nerd"-a bumbling oaf with no social sense, little intelligence and less tact. And Rick stays on and on, his continued presence among Willum and his friends leading to one uproarious incident after another, until the normally placid Willum finds himself contemplating violence-a dire development which, happily, is staved off by the surprising "twist" ending of the play.
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Raggedy Ann and Andy (Children's Theatre)
June 22 - June 26
By Patricia Thackray
Based on the Bobs-Merrill book
Raggedy Ann, America's most endearing and enduring folk doll, comes to life in this production that captures the imaginations of children and adults alike. This freewheeling romp combines creative staging with an action-packed plot and lively audience participation. Through it all shines the gentle, loving spirit of Raggedy Ann. The story unfolds in a special playroom where wonderful, magical events transpire. A newcomer has arrived in the playroom, a fancy French doll named Babette. But that very evening, a certain prince Leonard-the-Looney-Hearted comes riding by on his hobby horse and whisks her away to Looney-land. Raggedy Ann knows what she must do! Andy and she climb out the window into the "deep, deep woods" to fetch Babette back home.
The production marks the 90th anniversary of writer/illustrator Johnny Gruelle's patent of the well-loved Raggedy Ann design, which led to the writing of countless adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy. |
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DINNER WITH FRIENDS (Adult Drama)
NOTE: Adult Language, Adult Situations
June 29 - July 9
By Donald Margulies
Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize
(information from: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.)
THE STORY: As described by New York Magazine: "Two married couples have been best friends for years. In their Connecticut home, Karen and Gabe, international food writers, are giving a dinner for Beth and Tom, which he doesn't attend. It emerges from the heartbroken Beth that he has left her for another woman. Gabe and Karen are almost as crushed, having expected to grow old and fat together, the four of us. When Tom shows up at his home in the next scene, late at night, he is enraged that Beth broke the news of their breakup in his absence. Late as it is, he rushes over to his friends in the next scene to present his side of the story.
Act Two begins with another dinner, twelve and half years earlier, in a summer house on Martha's Vineyard, where Karen and Gabe are introducing Beth to Tom. Then we skip five months after the events in Act One, as Beth reveals to Karen…that she has fallen in love with an old friend whom she intends to marry…Later that day, in a Manhattan bar, Tom, a lawyer, tells Gabe about his [newfound] happiness, to which Gabe reacts sourly. Still later that night, Gabe and Karen are going to bed in the Vineyard house, and discuss the Tom-and-Beth situation, as well as their own [marriage]…clinging to it like the shipwrecked to their raft...
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THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (abridged) (Comedy)
July 13 - July 23
By Adam Long, Reed Martin, & Austin Tichenor
Additional Material by Matthew Croke
information from Broadway Play Publishing, Inc.
The good book just got better! It's apocalypse now as those cultural guerrillas, authors of The Compleat Works Wllm Shkspr; Abridged, have set their reductive sites on The Bible. Can bolts of lightning be far behind?
Yes, it's an affectionate, irreverent roller coaster ride from fig leaves to Final Judgment as the Playhouse troupe tackles the great theological questions: Did Adam and Eve have navels? Did Moses really look like Charlton Heston? And why isn't the word "phonetic" spelled the way it sounds?
Whether you are Catholic or Atheist, Muslim or Jew, Protestant or Purple People Eater, you will be tickled by the Paul Bunyan Playhouse's romp through old time religion. Remember... Someone is watching.
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LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC (Romantic Comedy)
July 27 - August 6
By Arlene Hutton
A funny, touching portrait of two people searching for happiness, this simply staged romance played to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Off-Broadway.
THE STORY: In December 1940, an east-bound cross-country train carries the bodies of the great American writers Nathanael West and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Also on board is May, who shares her seat with a charming young flyer, Raleigh. Religious and bookish, May plans to be a missionary. Raleigh has been given a medical discharge and, inspired by West and Fitzgerald, is heading to New York to be a writer. Raleigh and May discover they are from neighboring Appalachian towns, and he decides to change trains for Kentucky, promising to take May to the next Nibroc Festival. Scene Two finds May and Raleigh at the festival, but a year and half later. Unfit for war, and needing to support his parents, Raleigh has been working in a Detroit factory. May is teaching school and dating an itinerant preacher. When Raleigh confronts her, May admits her prejudices against his family. It is not until the following spring as they sit on May's front porch, watching a lumberyard fire in the distance, that the two are finally able to resolve their differences and discover the depth of their feelings. May accepts Raleigh's sudden proposal to elope, as the sky grows red like a sunrise.
"...a gently charming little play, reminiscent of Thornton Wilder in its look at rustic Americans who are to be treasured for their simplicity and directness…" -AP. "NIBROC's jokes are funny and its couple endearing because their emotional struggles ring true." -Time Out. "You could easily enjoy another few hours of this." -NY Times. "…a blissfully sweet romantic play quite unlike the typical fare offered in theatres these days." -NYTheatre.com. "A character study that has originality and charm…Hutton's attention to detail (in character and period) plus her wonderfully authentic ear augurs well for her plays to come." -BackStage. "It is beautifully written…Every line is a heartbeat." -Financial Times.
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INTO THE WOODS (Musical)
August 10 - August 20
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James LaPine
(information from: Music Theatre International)
An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch...who raps? They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of "The Princess Bride" becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.
Sondheim's timeless yet relevant piece is a rare modern classic.
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