Isadoora Theatre Company’s ninth season runs from October 2010 through May 2011, beginning with a special Halloween season production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
A new adaption by Jeffrey Hatcher of R. L. Stevenson’s classic novella will be staged at the Third Avenue Playhouse October 28 – 31 and November 4 – 7. Directed by Henry Timm, the show is heralded by the Arizona Daily Star as, “not your grandfather’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Hatcher has written a play that honors the original, but gives a more complex interpretation of the dual nature of man. The dark intensity of the drama is unrelenting, even through the well-timed laughs.
In February, Isadoora will return to Birch Creek Music Performance Center’s Juniper Hall, when they present the debut of a new musical by James Valcq and Laurie Flanigan, O Pioneers! Adapted from the Willa Cather novel of the same title, O Pioneers! centers around heroine Alexandra Bergson, the daughter of an immigrant farmer in the Nebraska frontier who takes over the family farm after her father’s death and, through hard work and revolutionary ideas, eventually prospers on her father’s land.
Door County audiences will recognize Cather as the author of last winter’s Big Read novel, My Antonía, and will remember Flanigan as a long-time actor with American Folklore Theatre and co-writer of the AFT musicals Loose Lips Sink Ships and See Jane Vote. Valcq, who will serve as both director and musical director for the show, has numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway credits as both conductor and musician, and won the Richard Rodgers Production Award for The Spitfire Grill in 2001, which he co-wrote with the late Fred Alley.
Isadoora’s 2010-11 season will conclude with Marsha Norman’s ‘night, Mother, which will play in the Ephraim Village Hall in May. Norman’s Pulitzer-winning work explores the relationship between a mother and daughter as the daughter calmly plans her own suicide. Even with the heavy subject matter, Norman manages to interject some macabre humor through sharp dialogue.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will play at the Third Avenue Playhouse in Sturgeon Bay October 28 – 31 and November 4 – 7. Tickets ($14 Adults/$10 Students) may be purchased in advance by contacting TAP directly at 920.743.1760 or by visiting their box office at 239 N. Third Ave. during business hours, 10 am – 3 pm Monday through Friday.
O Pioneers! will show in Juniper Hall at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor on February 17 – 20 and 24 – 27. Auditions for Oh Pioneers! will be on November 28 and 29 with call backs on November 30. Rehearsals will begin on December 3. Those interested in auditioning should please “save the date” and watch for more details coming soon.
Performances of ‘night, Mother will be May 19 – 22 and 26 – 29 at the Ephraim Village Hall. All three shows play Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm with Sunday matinees at 2 pm.
Isadoora Theatre provides theatrical experiences of intellectual integrity fulfilled by open self-examination and artistic risk for the educational and cultural enrichment of our community. Find out how to join Isadoora in their mission to celebrate theatre through its basic elements of movement, music, story and thought by emailing info@isadoora.com or calling 920.493.3667. Visit them online at www.isadoora.com and “like” them at www.facebook.com/isadoora for online updates.
