2011~2012 Season

The final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein was destined to become the world’s most beloved musical. When a postulant proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Upon returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain’s immediate service in their navy. The family’s narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. The motion picture version remains the most popular movie musical of all time. – Rodgers and Hammerstein

Winner of two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production. An inspired comic romp, equal in inventive hilarity to the author’s classic comedy The Nerd, the present play enjoyed a sold-out premiere in Milwaukee before moving on to a long run Off-Broadway. Based on what the NY Post describes as a “devilishly clever idea,” the play demonstrates what can happen when a group of devious characters must deal with a stranger who (they think) knows no English. “Something funny is going on in Milwaukee—to the delight of audiences at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.” —Variety. “I laughed start to finish at one comic surprise after another.” —The New Yorker. “…a constant invitation to relax and laugh at the foolishness of life…” —Village Voice. “Shue’s comedy is positively antic, yet pleasantly seasoned with a few dashes of sentimentality…He has raided comedy’s storehouse…” —Bergen Record.Dramatists Play Service

At first the Sycamores seem mad, but it is not long before we realize that if they are mad, the rest of the world is madder. In contrast to these delightful people are the unhappy Kirbys. The plot shows how Tony, attractive young son of the Kirbys, falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore home on the wrong evening. The shock sustained by the Kirbys, who are invited to eat cheap food, shows Alice that marriage with Tony is out of the question. The Sycamores, however, though sympathetic to Alice, find it hard to realize her point of view. Meantime, Tony, who knows the Sycamores are right and his own people wrong, will not give her up, and in the end Mr. Kirby is converted to the happy madness of the Sycamores, particularly since he happens in during a visit by an ex-Grand Duchess, earning her living as a waitress. No mention has as yet been made of the strange activities of certain members of the household engaged in the manufacture of fireworks; nor of the printing press set up in the parlor; nor of Rheba the maid and her friend Donald; nor of Grandpa’s interview with the tax collector when he tells him he doesn’t believe in the income tax.

Dramatists Play Service

Leiber and Stoller, as much as anyone, virtually invented rock ‘n’ roll, and now their songs provide the basis for an electrifying entertainment that illuminates a golden age of American culture. In an idealized ’50′s setting, the classic themes of love won, lost and imagined blend with hilarious set-pieces and slice-of-life emotions. Featuring nearly 40 of the greatest songs ever recorded, SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE isn’t just great pop music – it’s compelling musical theatre.

Scout, a young girl in a quiet southern town, is about to experience the dramatic events that will affect the rest of her life. She and her brother, Jem, are being raised by their widowed father, Atticus, and by a strongminded housekeeper, Calpurnia. Wide-eyed Scout is fascinated with the sensitively revealed people of her small town, but, from the start, there’s a rumble of thunder just under the calm surface of the life here.

The black people of the community have a special feeling about Scout’s father and she doesn’t know why. A few of her white friends are inexplicably hostile and Scout doesn’t understand this either. Unpleasant things are shouted and the bewildered girl turns to her father. Atticus, a lawyer, explains that he’s defending a young Negro wrongfully accused of a grave crime. Since this is causing such an upset, Scout wants to know why he’s doing it. “Because if I didn’t,” her father replies, “I couldn’t hold my head up.”

When she asks why take on such a hopeless fight (the time of the play is 1935) he tells her, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason not to try.” He goes on to prepare Scout for the trouble to come. “We’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends.”

Things do get bitter; to the point where Atticus props himself in a chair against the cell door of the man he’s defending and confronts an angry mob. Horrified Scout projects herself into this confrontation, and her inconvenient presence helps bring back a little sanity. Atticus fights his legal battle with a result that is part defeat, part triumph. As Atticus comes out of the courthouse, the deeply moved town minister tells Scout, “Stand up. Your father’s passing!”