Star Spangled Girl at Concordia

There’s no question that the single best university theatre program in town is that of UWM. I say this, of course, as a neutral graduate of UWM’s psychology program. (With a focus on cognitive and behavioral neuroscience…you know…we were running rats around little obstacle courses and then looking at the changes in the dendritic structures of the Purkinje cells in the paramedian lobule of the cerebellum…that sort of thing...) As nice as it is to see a remarkably well-round production of a show staged by UWM with people who have an active interest in becoming stage performers, it’s always nice to see things play out differently on different college campuses as well. Theatre is just as crucial for people who have no intention of ever trying to make a life out of it. It’s always interesting when the opportunity arises to see the dynamic that comes from other students in other disciplines appearing in shows . . . 

Concordia University offers audiences just such an opportunity this weekend as it presents its production of Neil Simon’s The Star-Spangled Girl. Kind of a weird stab at political commentary from Neil Simon, the 1966 play has a couple of progressive guys working on a counter-cultural magazine who both fall for an attractive, young woman who has moved in. The woman in question is a right-wing republican. 

Not exactly a huge university for theatre, the Concordia cast features an interesting mix of students. The attractive republican Sophie is played by Christin Lewis--a sophomore in the Occupational Therapy program. The two men who fall for her are played by Senior Justice and Public Policy/Computer Science major Alex Wasemiller and Communications major/ Concordia Falcons Football Defensive End Kyle Billman.

Concordia Universty Wisconsin’s production of Star Spangled Girl runs December 1^st -4^th at Concordia’s Todd Wehr Auditorium.  For ticket reservations, visit Concordia University Online.