MOUNT CARROLL — Timber Lake Playhouse (TLP), the premier professional summer theatre of northwest Illinois, opens its 60th Anniversary Season in June with some changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the slower than expected roll-out of the vaccine. “Since the projections don’t put us to full vaccination in Illinois until the end of the summer, TLP has had to make some changes in programming to assure our ability to provide entertainment this season,” said Executive Director, Dan Danielowski.
“With many theatres around the country announcing that they will not open until September and others scheduling concert-style productions prior to that,” said TLP Artistic Director, Paul Stancato, “we had to make some difficult decisions in regards to programming.”
TLP had to look at shows that could be done with a smaller cast size, less technical and support staff, and shows that could be produced safely and economically considering the new COVID protocols.
“It’s very likely Illinois will continue in Phase 4 throughout the summer,” said Danielowski. “That leaves us with reduced audience size due to social distancing in the theatre, additional cleaning and sterilizing procedures and some difficult safety protocols we’ll have to put into place for our patrons and staff due to the pandemic.”
The new line up for the summer begins with A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. The summer continues with Pippin, the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Robber Bridegroom, and Ain’t Misbehavin’. In Sept., TLP will bring The Buddy Holly Story to the stage. The Buddy Holly Story is not included in the basic subscription price.
TLP has moved the world premiere of What a Wonderful World to perform at Christmas. “Since this is a Christmas show, moving it to the Christmas slot seemed the appropriate thing to do so we could give this production the full TLP treatment,” said Stancato.
Local auditions scheduled for March 27 and 28 are canceled. Local auditions will be rescheduled for roles in What a Wonderful World sometime in early fall. Annie, Legally Blonde, Eleemosynary and Plaid Tidings have all been rescheduled for the 2022 season.
Subscription tickets to see all six summer productions are available. Individual tickets for all shows including What a Wonderful World are also on sale. Subscriptions or individual tickets may be purchased online at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org.
As plans for the summer continue, concerts, youth productions and special events will be announced and can be seen online at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org.
