The Dig runs June 27-July 20, 2019 at Third Avenue Playhouse (239 N. Third Ave., Sturgeon Bay).
Florentine Opera’s Summer Residency Program Artists perform their first concert together, ‘Summer Love,’ as part of the company’s ‘@ The Center Series.’
Theater
The Comedy of Errors
One of William Shakespeare’s early plays, The Comedy of Errors is also his shortest. It relies on puns, mistaken identity and fundamentally farcical situations for its humor. All its action takes place during the course of a 24-hour period. Order is utterly overthrown when two pairs of twins, separated as infants, find their paths crossing to not merely their own confusion but also to the confusion of everyone else they encounter. A series of mishaps ensue, including arrest, beating, a near-seduction and accusations of theft, madness and infidelity, until the truth at last untangles the misunderstandings. Given the set-up, so ripe for comedy, it should be no surprise that The Comedy of Errors has proven to be a long-standing audience favorite of The Bard’s, and it has found itself adapted into the operatic, musical and feature film genres.
Optimist Theatre’s production will be co-directed by Ron Scot Fry and ML Cogar and feature (among its quite large cast) James Pickering, Robert Spencer, Connor Blankenship and Tami Workentin. This is an outdoor, free event; attendees are encouraged to picnic and enjoy the grounds (there are plenty of picnic tables and grassy areas) or enjoy concessions provided by Sazama’s Fine Catering.
June 27-July 13 (excluding Thursday, July 4) at the Peck Pavilion of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St. For more information, visit optimisttheatre.org.
The Dig
Third Avenue Playhouse (TAP) is Door County’s newest professional theater company (founded in 2000); its lovely 84-seat Studio Theatre is but seven years old. TAP is also the county’s only year-round theater, offering, as they say, “intimate plays in an intimate setting.” Their two-play summer season opens with Marie Kohler’s The Dig, directed by Alex Coddington.
In this compelling drama, a young girl becomes separated from her older brother when he sets off on an archeological dig in Lebanon. While there, however, he suffers from a damaging psychological breakdown that changes him forever. The Dig’s action takes place in the 1950s, ’60s and ’90s, dramatizing the young woman’s belated sense of loss and acceptance of who her brother has become. One of the most prominent writers of local theater (and the play’s creator), Marie Kohler, will be in residence for this production.
June 27-July 20 at Third Avenue Playhouse, 239 N. Third Ave., Sturgeon Bay. For tickets, call 920-743-1760 or visit thirdavenueplayhouse.com.
Music
“Summer Love”
The Florentine Opera Company recently announced its 2019 Summer Residency Program Artists; these are sopranos Olivia Doig and Grace Wipfli, tenor Nathaniel Catasca and baritone Ian Murrell. In its third year, the company’s artists have been selected through a competitive audition process. Throughout June and July, these vocalists will perform a variety of music throughout the Milwaukee area and beyond; many of these community performances are free to the public. They’ll also perform two @ The Center Series concerts, the first of which is titled “Summer Love.”
The Florentine’s @ The Center Series concerts generally comprise opera’s greatest hits as well as gems from musical theatre and Tin Pan Alley, all selected with an overarching theme. It’s obvious from this first concert that love will be in the air in the company’s Riverwest headquarters which, as the sun sets, transforms into an intimate, black box theater perfect for such lighter fare.
June 28-29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Wayne and Kristine Lueders Florentine Opera Center, 926 E. Burleigh St. For tickets, call 800-326-7372 or visit florentineopera.org.
Special Event
“A Fringe Festival?”
Thoroughly in line with a tradition of similarly diverse multi-disciplinary arts festivals held in cities around the world, Milwaukee Fringe Festival offers a diverse assembly of artists. The festival’s goals? As its website explains, the aim is “to invigorate Milwaukee’s culture, engage the youth of Milwaukee and inspire them to participate in the arts, attract artists from outside of Milwaukee to our city and create a sense of community for artists of all ages, ethnicities and disciplines.” People need to know such a festival is taking place in their community, and a party is a great way to do just that.
The Fourth Annual MKE Fringe Fest, taking place in August at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, will be presented under the direction of John Schneider, Eric Engelbart, Matt Kemple, Karen Raymond and Katie Rhyme. Things kick into high gear with a “three-hour afternoon party” aimed at “helping people understand what a fringe festival is [and] why it’s valuable for Milwaukee to have one,” says Schneider. “The setting is a big, open, stand-alone, glass-walled building just a few yards from the river walk on Commerce Street just off Pleasant Street. There will be performances, informational talks, food, a cash bar and an interesting crowd of artists,” he says.
If you plan to attend the MKE Fringe Fest Fundraiser—Sunday, June 30, 2-5 p.m., 1720 N. Commerce St.—send an e-mail to info@mkefringe.com. For tickets and more information about this year’s festival, visit mkefringe.com.
