Shows Archive - Page 129 of 130

Big Fish a musical with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by John August. It is based on Daniel Wallace’s 1998 novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, and the 2003 film Big Fish written by John August and directed by Tim Burton.

Edward Bloom has lived a full and fantastical life, populated by witches, giants, and mermaids, marked by true love that stops time in its tracks, and framed by heroics that push the limits of believability. His adult son, Will, is no longer amused by his father’s fantastical tales, insisting on a rational rather than a fantastical account of one’s life. When Edward’s health declines, and Will learns that he and his wife, Josephine, will have a son of their own, Will decides to find out his father’s “true” life story, once and for all.

Big Fish is a heartfelt, powerful, and truly magical musical about fathers, sons, and the stories that we use to define our identities. With spine-tinglingly beautiful music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, and a funny, heartwarming book by John August, Big Fish is a magnificent “big fish” of a tale, itself — spectacular, fantastical, and overflowing with love.

This musical is Rated PG.

The second musical of the 97^th season was “Big Fish”. “Big Fish” a musical with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by John August. It is based on Daniel Wallace’s 1998 novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, and the 2003 film Big Fish written by John August and directed by Tim Burton.

Big Fish is a heartfelt, powerful, and truly magical musical about fathers, sons, and the stories that we use to define our identities. “Big Fish” is a magnificent “big fish” of a tale, itself — spectacular, fantastical, and overflowing with love. The second musical of the season was a first-time presentation of the 2013 musical, “Big Fish”. The story shifts between the two timelines. In the present-day real world, sixty-year-old Edward Bloom faces his mortality while Will prepares to become a father himself. In the storybook past, Edward ages from a teenager, encountering a Witch, a Giant, a Mermaid, and the love of his life, Sandra. The stories meet as Will discovers the secret his father never revealed.

Suddenly catastrophe hit the nation and the Community Players when the seriousness of the Novel Corona Virus Pandemic also is known as COVID-19 became known. The entire country now braced for a shut-down of all business except for essential services.

The show learned just before the opening that COVID-19 had begun to spread in an uncontrolled manner throughout the country, much as the Spanish Flu of 1918 had done. Just before the pay-what-you-can performance on March 15, the Players learned that an announcement would be made on March 16, and the state of Illinois businesses could be shut down to reduce the spread of the virus.

On March 16, the Governor ordered everyone to shut down beginning at 5 p.m. on March 17. All businesses and non-essential services (groceries, gas stations, hospitals, medical personnel) were to close and individuals to shelter-in-place at home.

Our Box Office worked extremely efficiently to get as many patrons as possible for the pay-what-you-can night and the opening Friday and Saturday to attend ahead of the shutdown. We would have to close on Saturday night after the performance.

The devastating thing is that this unique musical had just begun to sell tickets, but was stopped in its tracks. We shall never know other than the three nights patrons could see the show just what audiences thought. It would be the second show in Players 97-year history that a review would never appear for the show. Fortunately, the show was both photographed and videoed for the Community Players archive.

Our Town is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and also won a Tony Award for Best Revival. It tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover’s Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens.

Throughout the play, Wilder uses metatheatrical devices, setting the play in the actual theatre where it is being performed. The main character is the stage manager of the theatre who directly addresses the audience, brings in guest lecturers, fields questions from the audience, and even plays some of the roles. The play is performed without a set on a mostly bare stage. With a few exceptions, the actors mime actions without the use of props.

This play is Rated PG-13. Parental guidance is suggested due to complex themes.

“Our Town” was the second play and a revival for the 97^th Season. The show was first performed for Community Players in 1939. “Our Town” is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and also won a Tony Award for Best Revival.

It tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover’s Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens. Throughout the play, Wilder uses metatheatrical devices, setting the play in the actual theatre where it is being performed. The main character is the stage manager who directly addresses the audience, brings in guest lecturers, field questions from the audience, and even plays some of the roles. The play is performed without a set on a mostly bare stage. With a few exceptions, the actors mime actions without the use of props.

The play is Rated PG-13. Parental guidance is suggested due to complex themes. The show received praise for all areas of the production: directing, acting, and technical work. Audience members after the show would stop and talk to cast members about the show and that by seeing the production express their feelings about the play and in particular this production.

Willkommen! Cabaret is an 8-time Tony Award winning musical that takes place in Berlin, Germany in the midst of a post-World War I economic depression, is transitioning from a center of underground, avant-garde cultural epicenter to the beginnings of Hitler’s totalitarian regime and the rise of the Nazi Party.

Into this world enters Clifford Bradshaw, a struggling American writer looking for inspiration for his next novel. On his first night in Berlin, Cliff wanders into the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy nightclub overseen by the strange, omniscient and gender-bending Master of Ceremonies, “the Emcee.” Here, Cliff meets Sally Bowles, a vivacious, talented cabaret performer, and an utterly lost soul. In addition to a budding romance between Cliff and Sally, is the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her elderly suitor Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor. The club serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany.

As time passes the situation in Berlin changes from exciting and vital to ominous and violent. With a distinctly Brechtian dose of provocation and a score featuring songs that have become classics of the American Musical Theater, Cabaret is a fierce, meaty musical that pushes the boundaries of the form and literally holds “the mirror up to nature.”

Cabaret is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was adapted from the short novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood.

This musical is Rated R. Due to adult content, themes, and language this show is not recommended for children.

The first musical for the 97^th Season was a revival of the Tony-Award winning musical “Cabaret”. The show was first performed at Community Players as the opening show of 1988-1989 Season.

The 2019 production used the revised script. In a night club in Berlin, as the 1920′s are drawing to a close, the Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience to the show and assures them that, whatever their troubles, they will forget them at the Cabaret. Her songs provide wry commentary throughout the show.

This musical was Rated R. Due to adult content, themes, and language this show was not recommended for children the revised version from 1998 was selected this time around. The reviewer proclaimed, “One reason Cabaret’s message is as relevant as it ever, whether it is the rise of authoritarianism around the world or various forms of using “the other” as a scapegoat.” “Cabaret” remains an important message of what can happen when we look the other way. The show was well-received from the audiences and the reviewer.

Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on October 23, 1963, and closed on June 25, 1967, after 1,530 performances. It was Neil Simon’s longest-running hit, and the tenth-longest running non-musical play in Broadway history.

Corie and Paul Bratter are a newlywed couple. For their first home, they live in an apartment on the top floor of a brownstone in New York City. Corrie is optimistic about their future together, while Paul, the more anxious and grounded half of the couple, worries about the various flaws in the apartment, such as a hole in the skylight, their leaky closet, and the lack of a bathtub. Shortly after moving in, Corrie attempts to set her mother up with their eccentric neighbor Mr. Velasco. During the course of four days, the couple learns to live together while facing the usual daily ups-and-downs. Corrie wants Paul to become more easy-going: for example, to run “barefoot in the park”.

This play is Rated PG.

The opening production of the 97^th season was a second-time revival of Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park.” The first production had been during the 1969-1970 season. A revival of the show was produced during 1987-1988 Season. It was just before the show opened that new air conditioners were installed. The older ones had been in service since the 70^th Season.

The show was well-received from the audiences and praised for the quality of the actors. Times have changed and for this production, Players’ social media site offered several contests that were held to identify the actor by their bare feet and also to identify in what park the actor was located