Waukesha Civic, SummerStage Join Forces on 'Island'

<strong>Waukesha Civic Theatre</strong> is<strong> </strong>collaborating with <strong>SummerStage of Delafield </strong>on a production of <em>Once on This Island</em>,<strong><em> </em></strong>a one-act musical based on a novel by Rosa Guy. The show opens this weekend.<em><br /><br />Once on This Island<strong> </strong></em>tells the story of a peasant girl on a small tropical island ruled by four gods: Mother Earth, the God of Water, the Demon of Death and the Goddess of Love. The peasant girl uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes. This message should be particularly relevant, given our current divisive political climate and the upcoming election.<br /><br />Beyond that, this is a short musical that never made it to the big time, which makes it a really interesting choice for suburban summer theater. Directed by Joe Nolan, the show features a good-sized cast and a chorus of children. The project will first be staged outside, at SummerStage of Delafield, before finishing its run indoors at Waukesha Civic Theatre.<br /><br />Waukesha Civic Theatre/SummerStage of Delafield's production of <em>Once on This Island<strong> </strong></em>runs July 27-29 at Lapham Peak State Park. For ticket reservations at Lapham Peak, call 262-337-1560. The show will be staged Aug. 3-19 at Waukesha Civic Theatre (264 W. Main St., Waukesha). For ticket reservations at the Civic Theatre,<em> </em>call 262-547-0708.<strong><br /><br />Theater Happenings</strong><br /><br /> <ul> <li>This week, <strong>The World's Stage Theatre Company </strong>debuts a fully staged production of Courtney Stirn's <em>Professor Lonsdale</em>.Angela Fingard directs the one-weekend-only production July 26-29 at the Tenth Street Theatre. For ticket reservations, visit <a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/260489" target="_blank">www.brownpapertickets.com/event/260489</a>.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>The <strong>Milwaukee Comedy Festival </strong>takes place Aug. 3-11 in the space at Next Act Theatre (255 S. Water St.). The seventh annual installment of the festival, which runs for nine days, will feature sketch comedy, improv, stand-up (including an appearance by Will Durst) and comedy workshops. For ticket reservations, visit <a href="http://festival.milwaukeecomedy.com" target="_blank">festival.milwaukeecomedy.com</a>.</li> </ul>