Photo Credit: Len Villano
World premieres, old favorites and even a one-man production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet will help Door County theatrical troupes return to the stage this summer. After a 2020 season of dark houses, ghost lights and online productions, performers sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic will once again trod the boards live and in person for locals and vacationers alike.
But the return comes with caveats and concessions. COVID protocols still apply, which means masks for audience and staff members alike—actors are excluded—and appropriate social distancing. Except for Northern Sky Theater, which is offering a full season of shows, other troupes are returning slowly, if at all. And, as with other arts forms, online productions seem to have become part of present and future performance packages.
Northern Sky returns with five different productions—three in its Peninsula State Park amphitheater and two in its indoor Gould Theater & Creative Center in Fish Creek. Both venues will operate with reduced seating capacity and tickets will be available only through advanced sales. This season’s shows include:
Northern Sky Outdoors
• The Fisherman’s Daughter
A preview production by Door County playwright Katie Dahl, who also wrote the music and lyrics. She pens a 1908 tale about two sisters who confront their differences when Wisconsin’s governor turns their homestead into part of Peninsula State Park. You can’t find a more locally sourced story than this one. It runs June 14-July 10.
• Tongue ‘n’Cheek
With book and lyrics by the late Fred Alley and music by James Kaplan, this was Northern Sky’s first book musical. It’s a tale, according to the theater, of “flipping pancakes, curing ailments and waltzing until the last cow comes home.” It runs July 12-August 7
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• Whatever Happened to Karl Janko?
The world premiere performance, with book, music and lyrics by Matt Zembrowski, is a comedic musical mystery about the disappearance of a man from his small Wisconsin hometown. Everybody knows what happened, and they’re all wrong. It runs from August 9-September 18.
Northern Sky Indoors
• Not Even Remotely
Another comedy, this time about two actors who try to launch a lavish musical production of Frankenstein and end up creating a two-person online show. With book, music and lyrics by Richard Carsey and Stephen Kovacs, the play’s world premiere performances run in virtual previews May 30-June 3, and then live on the Gould stage July 12-August 7.
• Naked Radio
A small local radio station, gobbled up by a corporate parent, cuts loose when a snowstorm separates it from its preprogrammed feed, with the DJs rediscovering their spontaneity and joy in serving local listeners. With music by Paul Libman and book and lyrics by Dave Hudson, the 2017 hit runs August 23-November 6. Details: northernskytheater.com.
Bard in the Woods
Door Shakespeare, the play’s the thing, and this year there is only one play—a one-person version of Hamlet, the Bard’s most complex, psychologically intriguing and longest play. Actor Ryan Schabach stars as the tragic Prince of Denmark, as well as 16 other characters in a production directed by Michael Stebbins, the company’s artistic director and an alumnus of UW-Milwaukee’s Professional Theater Training Program.
Originally scheduled for a full production in 2020, Door Shakespeare’s 25th anniversary year, Stebbins instead opted for the one-actor version adapted from the original work by Guy Roberts, artistic director for Prague Shakespeare. It’s a shorter version, faster moving and yet totally true to Shakespeare’s play, Stebbins says.
“For folks who haven’t seen a one-person play, it can be exciting, highly entertaining and quite a ride for all involved,” he adds. “I think this is a wise choice for Door Shakespeare this summer.”
Hamlet runs June 30-August 17 in the garden theater at Björklunden in Bailey’s Harbor, and Covid protocols apply. The production also will be streamed online. Details: doorshakespeare.com.
Waiting for Peninsula Players
For, Peninsula Players, founded in 1935 and considered America’s oldest professional Peninsula Players resident summer theater, it appears 2021 will not be a lot like 2020. No new productions have yet been announced for the company, which is awaiting approval from both Actors Equity and the Society of Directors and Choreographers, not based on the content of its shows, but on the ventilation issues within its theater, also located between Egg Harbor and Fish Creek. An abbreviated season is in the works.
“We’re a 16-acre campus with a hotel and a restaurant and we operate on a different set of standards,” says Brian Kelsey, the company’s managing director. “Our theater seems like is outdoors, but it’s technically indoors and has no HVAC system because it’s designed only for summer use.”
The lack of a ventilation system makes it hard to reach COVID compliance, but Kelsey says the company is optimistic that it will move forward once its facility has been approved. Should that happen, the audience and staff will then also have to be masked and observe social distancing rules.
“Are we looking to reopen? We’re trying,” he adds. “We expect to offer an abbreviated season, so please just keeping checking our web site for further announcements.” Details: peninsulaplayers.com.
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PlayWorks Continues
Third Avenue Playhouse, an indoor venue in Sturgeon Bay, will finish off PlayWorks 2021, an extended series of online play readings begun in February with Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (June 4) and Kenneth Jones’ Two Henrys (June 18). The troupe has spent much of the past year involved with the $3.5 million renovation of its theater and will not mount summer season. Details: thirdavenueplayhouse.com
