Across A Distance

World Premiere
by Nick Lantz; music by Scott Gendel
directed by Kelly J. G. Bremner

Mitchell Theatre

co-sponsored by the UW School of Music, the  McBurney Disability Resource Center the Office of the Provost for Diversity and Climate and the Arts Institute with support from the Evjue Foundation and the Anonymous Fund.

This project is funded, in part, by grants from the Madison Arts Commission and Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
 
The disparate worlds of Deaf performance and opera come together for this world premiere. Across A Distance is a multimedia bilingual (English and American Sign Language) performance piece that tells the story of two people, two islands, and the path to their connection.  Join them as they discover what happens when the magical first blush of love gives way to the challenges of uniting two different lives and realities.

September 17,18,23,24,25 at 7:30 pm;  September 19 at 2 pm
post-performance panel discussion 9/19

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The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck, adapted by Frank Galati
directed by Norma Saldivar

Hemsley Theatre

This 1990 Tony award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s iconic American novel recounts the powerfully and painfully familiar story of the Joad family’s forced migration to California after the dust bowl. Through great loss, unending hope, devastating disappointment, and remarkable resiliency, the narrative of Tom, Ma Joad, and Preacher Casy explores one family’s struggle to find home and hope during the Great Depression.

October 1,2,7,8,9,14,15,16 at 7:30 pm; October 10 at 2:00 pm

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Valparaiso

by Don DeLillo
directed by Jeremy Thomas Poulsen

Mitchell Theatre

Indiana, Florida, and Chile all have a Valparaiso, and in this dark comedy, Michael visits all three during a routine business trip gone awry. This mix-up catapults Michael to celebrity status, and he details his misadventure to every media outlet that will listen. However, things in the media aren’t always as they seem and slowly Michael reveals a different, darker side of the Valparaiso story. This revelation leads to a series of events that change Michael’s life in ways he could never have imagined.

October 22,23,27,28,29 November 4,5,6 at 7:30 pm; October 31 at 2:00 pm

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The Yum Yum Room

 by Stephen House
directed by Andy Wiginton

Hemsley Theatre

appropriate for ages 15 and up; mature themes and language

Single dad. Teenage boy. Growing up. First love. Small town. Secret place. Get away. Must escape…The Yum Yum Room. In its United States debut, Australian playwright Stephen House tells the gritty coming-of-age story of Tom, a young man who has lost all interest in school and just wants to be a DJ. Then Tom meets Annabelle, and Annabelle changes everything. In the season’s Theatre for Youth production, The Yum Yum Room honestly examines the beauty and pain of first love and highlights the struggle many young people experience in defining themselves through the claustrophobic world of small town life.

November 12,13, 20 at 7:30 pm; November 14 at 2:00 pm

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The Rocky Horror Show

by Richard O’Brien

Wisconsin Union Theatre

Let’s do the Timewarp Again! Thirty-six years after Richard O’Brien’s high-camp spoof of 1950’s B-movies debuted in London, audiences are still hot for a little Frank-N-Furter action! Watch as Magenta, Riff-Raff, Columbia and the rest of the Transilvanians scare (or seduce…) the pants right off Brad and Janet! Wear your costumes, bring your hotdogs, water pistols, and newspapers, and give yourself over to “absolute pleasure.”

March 3,4,5 at 7:30 pm; March 4, 5 at midnight

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Eurydice

by Sarah Ruhl 
directed by Molly Richards

Hemsley Theatre

In this poetic reexamination of the Orpheus myth, Sarah Ruhl explores love and loss through the experiences of Eurydice. After mistakingly taking a letter from her Father, Eurydice plunges into the Underworld. As Orpheus, Eurydice’s beloved fiancé, seeks to rescue her from death, Eurydice must choose between her love and her father. This deeply moving tale explores the anguish of reflecting on lost love and the painful work of moving forward.

April 1,2,7,8,9,14,15,16 at 7:30 pm; April 10 at 2:00 pm
pre-performance lecture 4/7/11; post-performance discussion 4/14/11

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You Can't Take It With You

by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
directed by Ron Himes

Mitchell Theatre

Bringing two families together is rarely an easy task, but for Alice Sycamore and Tony Kirby, the task is downright impossible! Reacquaint yourself with the zany Sycamores and uptight Kirbys in Moss Hart and George Kaufman’s classic 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, You Can’t Take It With You. Hilarity ensues as Alice and Tony navigate pyrotechnics, wild orchid cultivation, income tax evaders, and ex-Russian royalty to unite their odd relations for the sake of love.

April 15, 16,21,22,23,28,29,30 at 7:30 pm; April 24 at 2:00 pm

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