Davidson Theatre

Our 2011-2012 Theatre Season -

ZINK: The Myth, The Legend, The Zebra

• Friday, October 7 at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, October 8 at 2 p.m.
• Sunday, October 9 at 2 p.m.
  

Zink is about true courage in the face of unpredictable
predators. In an age where too many are quick to confront fears and
differences with senseless violence, Zink exemplifies the
importance of tolerance and acceptance. Imaginative, funny, and
heartbreaking, this allegory features a pre-teen girl with leukemia and
a herd of talking African zebras whom she meets when she is diagnosed
with her life-threatening illness. The zebras include street-smart Ice
Z, grandfatherly Papa Zeke and pompous Zilch, along with Shlep, a furry
green monkey who's certain he's also a zebra. The zebras recount to her
their legend of Zink, a mythical polka-dotted zebra once an outcast but
later a hero. As Becky's condition worsens and she is mistreated by
some classmates, she zaps back and forth between real life and the
zebra world, until the shattering, breathtaking, and uplifting climax.
Never maudlin, Zink is a "clear case of theatrical risks bringing great rewards" (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). "Brilliantly exposes important themes while avoiding cliches. Superb" (Milwaukee Shepherd). Suitable for ages 8 and up.

General admission - all seat $5.00

JOIN US FOR OUR AFRICAN SAFARI after Saturday and Sunday's performances.  Meet the characters, tour the jungle, have animal treats, and more. $2.00 per child - no pre-registration necessary.

Kent Ludwig's hilarious comedy - LEADING LADIES

• Friday, November 11 at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, November 12 at 7 p.m.
  

In this hilarious comedy by the author of Lend Me A Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo , two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so
down on their luck that they are performing "Scenes from Shakespeare"
on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When
they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her
fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass
themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble
is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't
nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo
falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady's vivacious niece,
Meg, who's engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there's a wide
world out there, but it's not until she meets "Maxine and Stephanie"
that she finally gets a taste of it.

"Ken Ludwig is a national
treasure. He has almost single-handedly kept alive the sense of humor
of Philip Barry, Billy Wilder, Preston Sturgis, George S. Kaufman, and
the Marx Brothers. With Lend Me a Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo,
Ludwig established himself as the American playwright to look to for
the fast and furious comedic stylings of those masters...Slapstick
goofiness, scrambled Shakespeare, and good-natured laughs make Leading Ladies an irresistible treat." - Montana Reperatory Theatre

"Ludwig's newest farce is so funny, it will make sophisticated and
reasonable men and women of the 21st century cackle till their faces
hurt." - Houston Press

"Leading Ladies is consistently funny-indeed, increasingly hilarious as it progresses." - Houston Chronicle

"Look
for Leading Ladies to become a staple of summer stock and community
theatres. And, mind you, I mean that as a compliment." - Variety

"Ken Ludwig gives the audience something powerful and potent:
laughter and a guiltless evening of Theatre-going." - Village News

"Leading Ladies is a highly combustible and continuously hilarious new comedy by Ken
Ludwig, Broadway's reigning gagmeister." - Cleveland Plane Dealer

General admission - all seats $5.00

11-12 Play - Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs

• Friday, January 27 at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, January 28 at 7 p.m.

Here is part one of Neil Simon's autobiographical trilogy: a
portrait of the writer as a young teen in 1937 living with his family
in a crowded, lower middle-class Brooklyn walk-up. Eugene Jerome,
standing in for the author, is the narrator and central character.
Dreaming of baseball and girls, Eugene must cope with the mundane
existence of his family life in Brooklyn: formidable mother, overworked
father, and his worldly older brother Stanley. Throw into the mix his
widowed Aunt Blanche, her two young (but rapidly aging) daughters and
Grandpa the Socialist and you have a recipe for hilarity, served up
Simon-style. This bittersweet memoir evocatively captures the life of a
struggling Jewish household where, as his father states "if you didn't
have a problem, you wouldn't be living here."

"Brings a fresh glow to Broadway...In many respects his funniest, richest and consequently the most affecting of his plays."-New York Daily News

"Simultaneously
poignant and funny. The characters are fully dimensional, believable...
An outstanding show...the best seen on Broadway in too long a time."-Variety

"Hilarious comedy...His finest play...A delightful and enriching experience."-CBS-TV

General Admission - all seats $5.00

9-10 Play - The suspenseful & evocative Picnic at Hanging Rock

• Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m.

Mystery by Laura Annawyn Shamas. Based on the book by Joan Lindsay.

For
a group of Australian schoolgirls, a romantic Valentine's Day outing
ends in an intriguing mystery. What has happened to the three seniors
and the mathematics teacher on top of the jagged peaks of Hanging Rock?
Based on the Joan Lindsay runaway bestseller Picnic at Hanging Rock—also
the source of the acclaimed Peter Weir film—this exciting new play
explores a baffling disappearance which takes its toll on a small
community in the Australian countryside. Who in the large cast of
fascinating characters is responsible for the crime? Is it Mrs.
Appleyard, the matron and headmistress of the college who nips brandy
on the sly? Does the young, beautiful French teacher Mademoiselle De
Poitiers know more than she will say to the police? And what about the
two young men who watch the girls climb the mountain? Why do they
return to the rock after the police investigation? Or maybe one of the
eight remaining schoolgirls conspired against the others … A delicate
look at crisis, greed and honesty at the turn of the century, Picnic at Hanging Rock invites
its viewers to examine the people of Woodend and the consequences of
their actions. Hauntingly and ironically, the play shows that what
seems pristine and proper on the outside may not be free of moral
corruption on the inside. The final climactic twist is shocking and
bittersweet, with an impact that is unforgettable. 

General Admission - All seats $5.00

SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH THE GIGGLE FACTORY

• Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m.

First, watch a stage show that features our Giggle Factory clown routines, noisy stories, and student-directed skits.  Next, adjourn to our Commons for good old fashioned carnival games like cake walk, go fish, toss across, ring toss and more.  Great family fun for young children, their siblings, and their parents.

General Admission - $3 for teens and adults; $1 for children 12 and under

Damn Yankees (spring musical)

• Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, April 28 at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, April 29 at 3 p.m.

This musical was based on The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglass Wallop.

Real-estate salesman Joe Boyd is a fanatical follower of the Washington Senators, much to the dismay of his wife Meg. He hates those "damn Yankees" for continually winning the pennant, and in an incautious moment swears he'd sell his soul to prevent them from winning it again. Here comes Mr. Applegate, dapper and smooth, who offers to take Joe up on the offer by transforming him into a great long-ball hitter for the Senators. Joe agrees, but because he isn't sure if he wants to leave his wife for good, he negotiates an escape clause--if he doesn't want to give Mr. Applegate his soul by Sept. 24, he can keep it. Applegate transforms Joe into young, strong Joe Hardy and introduces the nervous player to Van Buren, the manager of the Senators. Initially skeptical, Van Buren is won over and signs Joe to the team.

Joe Hardy is an immediate sensation as he helps the Senators turn their season around, but he dislikes the media attention, particularly that given by nosy reporter Gloria Thorpe, who digs into his background, trying to find out more about him. He also finds that he misses Meg a great deal and ends up renting a room from her, though Applegate tries to prevent this. Applegate also imports his most effective seductress, Lola, to tempt Joe further. But Joe resists her considerable charms, and Applegate chastises her. In fact, Lola is genuinely attracted to Joe in a friendly way and decides to do what she can to help him.

Meanwhile, Gloria can't find anything on Joe and comes to the conclusion that he's really Shifty McCoy, a baseball player from the Mexican League who takes bribes. The papers are about to break the story, and the baseball commissioner sets a hearing for Sept. 24 for Joe to prove who he really is. In the interim, the Senators lose a game without Joe, and Joe gets reassurance from Meg that she doesn't think he's McCoy. Applegate, for his part, is gloating because he plans for the Senators to lose so that Joe has to stay and play beyond the 24th. Joe comes to him, wanting out of the deal, but Applegate insists that the transformation can only take place at midnight; Joe has to opt out at five before midnight, stepping through a doorway to indicate his choice.

The hearing takes place, and Joe is vindicated, but he is unable to step through the door. Lola, having spiked Applegate's "demon rum" with sleeping pills, takes him out for a night on the town to celebrate the one good thing to have happened: the Senators will win the pennant. The next day, with the game underway and the Senators ahead by a run, Applegate arrives, furious and determined to make the Senators lose even if he has to sacrifice Joe. (He's counting on a lot of suicides when the Senators lose.) He transforms Lola to her ugly original self and Joe back to Joe Boyd just as he's about to catch a fly ball to win the game. But Joe Boyd manages to catch the ball, and he rushes back to Meg, where they cuddle as Applegate screams abuse at him.

Songs

Overture: Six Months Out of Every Year
Goodbye, Old Girl
Heart
Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo.
A Little Brains, a Little Talent
A Man Doesn't Know
Whatever Lola Wants
Heart (reprise)
Who's Got the Pain?
The Game
Near to You
Those Were the Good Old Days
Two Lost Souls
A Man Doesn't Know (reprise)
Finale

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CHECK OUT OUR SCHOOL'S PRODUCTION HISTORY

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