ORANGEVILLE - The Mighty Richland Players, Orangeville, and Winneshiek Playhouse, Freeport, are combining resources again this year to present "The Cheddar Curtain, 2011," a new and original production. The show also marks MRP's theatrical introduction to 2011 and its eleventh season.
Like last year, the show is original, written by local playwrights, and based loosely on northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin culture and heritage. This year's show introduces several new playwrights, directors, and actors as well as bringing back some local favorites.
The stories cover the 1850s to the present. The various plays within a play include "A Long Life Ended," the biography of Samuel E. Deal, a long-time resident of early Stephenson County, originally written by the long-time editor of the Orangeville Courier, Harry Hartzell. "Sam's Challenge" is a "might-have-been" history of Ulysses Simpson Grant in pre-Civil War Galena, written by local playwright Peter Woodruff. "Workmen," a modern day skit, portrays what many think is accomplished by those tasked to pick up litter along the roadside. "Are We There Yet" is a historic comedy of an 1860s train trip to Warren, written and directed by Kim Sigafus of Warren.
"Episode with a Vagabond" is a soliloquy, reconstruction of works, by a popular writer of the late 1800s, someone known to have frequented the area. Entering the 1900s, the show presents "If I Were Not Upon the Stage," a 1920s vaudeville reconstruction, a show that quite possibly played in many of the small town local theaters. The show concludes with "Elvis Has left the Building," a present day comedy about apartment living written by playwright Mike Willis from Sinsinawa.
Directors and the casts for the various vignettes come from throughout the region. The unrelated eight vignettes will be introduced by Carl and Joan Sanford, who have been performing with MRP for 10 ten years.
"The Cheddar Curtain, 2011" will be presented in Orangeville at the Mighty Richland Players Theater, 203 W. High St., as dessert theater at 7 p.m. Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26. Tickets cost $15.
It will also be presented as dinner theater at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, March 27 at the same location. Tickets cost $35.
For tickets, call the Monroe Arts Center at (608) 325-5700; credit cards accepted.
The show will also be presented at the Winneshiek Theater at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. Tickets are available for $12 by calling (815) 232-7023 or via e-mailing at tickets@wplay.org.
Like last year, the show is original, written by local playwrights, and based loosely on northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin culture and heritage. This year's show introduces several new playwrights, directors, and actors as well as bringing back some local favorites.
The stories cover the 1850s to the present. The various plays within a play include "A Long Life Ended," the biography of Samuel E. Deal, a long-time resident of early Stephenson County, originally written by the long-time editor of the Orangeville Courier, Harry Hartzell. "Sam's Challenge" is a "might-have-been" history of Ulysses Simpson Grant in pre-Civil War Galena, written by local playwright Peter Woodruff. "Workmen," a modern day skit, portrays what many think is accomplished by those tasked to pick up litter along the roadside. "Are We There Yet" is a historic comedy of an 1860s train trip to Warren, written and directed by Kim Sigafus of Warren.
"Episode with a Vagabond" is a soliloquy, reconstruction of works, by a popular writer of the late 1800s, someone known to have frequented the area. Entering the 1900s, the show presents "If I Were Not Upon the Stage," a 1920s vaudeville reconstruction, a show that quite possibly played in many of the small town local theaters. The show concludes with "Elvis Has left the Building," a present day comedy about apartment living written by playwright Mike Willis from Sinsinawa.
Directors and the casts for the various vignettes come from throughout the region. The unrelated eight vignettes will be introduced by Carl and Joan Sanford, who have been performing with MRP for 10 ten years.
"The Cheddar Curtain, 2011" will be presented in Orangeville at the Mighty Richland Players Theater, 203 W. High St., as dessert theater at 7 p.m. Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26. Tickets cost $15.
It will also be presented as dinner theater at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, March 27 at the same location. Tickets cost $35.
For tickets, call the Monroe Arts Center at (608) 325-5700; credit cards accepted.
The show will also be presented at the Winneshiek Theater at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. Tickets are available for $12 by calling (815) 232-7023 or via e-mailing at tickets@wplay.org.
