Ice fishing tends to be one of those winter activities that the uninitiated find intensely bizarre . . . a bit like curling. Indeed, the idea of cutting a whole in the ice in a four-walled wooden closet with no floor in the middle of a desolate lake probably comes from a very, very frozen and possibly deranged people, but in parts of Wisconsin it make perfect sense. The strangeness of the activity probably has a lot to do with the continued success of Guys On Icean ice fishing musical that makes it to the Stiemke Theatre again this winter. The Kaplan and Alley musical opens its next production tonight. Running through January 4th, the latest production stars Lee Becker, Paul Helm, Steven M. Koehler, Doug Mancheski and Matthew Webb. After closing here, the show begins a statewide tour with its first stop in Green Bay on January 22nd. The tour ends in Oconto Falls on February 28th. Wisconsin’s probably the best place to do such a tour, but give the guys credit for sticking around here. I’m told productions of the show went over extremely well in the warmer climate of places like Florida and California . . . like it or not, this is one of Wisconsin’s biggest contributions to national musical theatre. It’s a fun show worth a glance for anyone unfamiliar with it.
