Fall 2011
The Foreigner
By Larry Shue
(Comedy)
Following its premiere in Milwaukee, the play, directed by Jerry Zaks, opened on November 1, 1984 at New York City's Astor Place Theatre, where it ran for 686 performances. It eventually won two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production.
THE STORY: Set in a resort-style fishing lodge in rural Georgia, the comedy revolves around two of its guests, 
Englishman Charlie Baker and Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur. Charlie is so pathologically shy that he is unable to speak. As way of explanation, Froggy claims his companion is the native of an exotic country who does not understand a word of English. Before long, Charlie finds himself privy to assorted secrets and scandals freely discussed in front of him by the other visitors. These include spoiled but introspective heiress and Southern belle Catherine Simms and the man to whom she is somewhat reluctantly engaged, and impregnated by, the Reverend David Lee, a seemingly humble preacher with a dark underside. Her younger brother, Ellard, a chubby and somewhat "slow" boy (often thought of as a young Forrest Gump) is a simpleton who tries to teach Charlie how to speak English. Owen Musser, the racist county property inspector, plans to oust property owner Betty Meeks and convert the lodge into a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan.
Holiday 2011
Packer Fans from Outer Space
By Frederick Heide and Lee Becker, music Frederick Heide,
additional music by James Kaplan.
(Musical Comedy)
Originally produced by the American Folklore Theatre in Door County, Wisconsin in 2002, Packer Fans went on to play in Green Bay and received this high praise -- "Packer Fans From Outer Space is a wonderful show and should be seen by everyone in Wisconsin, as well as our 'naturalized' brethren around the U.S. who share our devotion to Packers football," says Packers Executive Vice President John Jones.
THE STORY: Based (very) loosely on actual events, PFOS follows the exploits of Juddville fruit farmer Harvey Keister. Harvey, a big fan of the Green Bay Packers, is called upon by a group of Packer aliens to save their planet from the evil Space Bears. Marge, his Chicago Bears-loving wife, fears for his sanity. The actual events that were the inspiration for this offbeat musical are several UFO sightings over the skies of Door County in the Spring of 1952, and the 1953 tie game between the Packers and the Bears.
Winter 2012
Proof
By David Auburn
(Drama)
Proof was originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on 23 May 2000. It then went to Broadway on 24 October 2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. In 2001, it received the following awards – Drama Desk Award for Best New Play, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, New York Drama Critic’s Circle Best Play, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Tony Award for Best Play. It was released as a movie in 2005, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
THE STORY: The play concerns Catherine, the daughter of Robert, a recently deceased mathematical genius and professor at the University of Chicago , and her struggle with mathematical genius and mental illness. Catherine had cared for her father through a lengthy mental illness. Upon Robert's death, his ex-graduate student Hal discovers a paradigm-shifting proof about prime numbers in Robert's office. The title refers both to that proof and to the play's central question: Can Catherine prove the proof's authorship? Along with demonstrating the proof's authenticity, the daughter also finds herself in a relationship with 28-year-old Hal. Throughout, the play explores Catherine's fear of following in her father's footsteps, both mathematically and mentally.
Spring 2012
Madwoman of Chaillot
By
Jean Giraudoux
(Comedy)
Written in the 40s during the Nazi occupation of Paris, Theatre Arts magazine described the play as "one part fantasy, two parts reason." The New York Drama Critics' Circle hailed the 1948–50 production as "one of the most interesting and rewarding plays to have been written within the last twenty years", "pure gold, with no base metal", and having "an enveloping and irresistible humor."
THE STORY: The story is of a modern society endangered by power and greed and the rebellion of the "little people" against corrupt and soulless authority. It is a surprisingly timely play. Venture capitalists trample over rich and poor alike. Oil fuels war. Greed is good. Sound familiar? The Madwoman of Chaillot is a delicious fable about filthy-rich and corrupt wheeler-dealers who think they have discovered oil under the heart of Paris. They're willing to destroy the city to harvest the black gold. But their plans are foiled by a marvelously eclectic band of Bohemians, beggars and slightly daffy street-folk. An incredibly funny and moving play filled with hope and light, and with a very contemporary bite!
