The cost of a tank of gas will probably exceed the price of tickets, but these are still the months when some Chicago theater lovers consider taking road trips in search of bucolic theatrical fare. Because summer theaters — many of them longstanding operations — ring the metropolitan area, here’s a selective guide to some possible destinations for the 2000 season.
– If you are searching for high-quality Equity theater offering the chance to see multiple productions in a single trip, your best bet is probably the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wis. (608-588-7401). The limited number of area motels often fill up on peak weekends (and matinee performances can be uncomfortably warm) but these irritations, like the bugs, are generally minor ones. Located near several other visitor attractions, Spring Green offers the theater lover — especially the lover of classical theater — an overall package that’s hard to beat.
This year’s season (the troupe’s 21st) at A.P.T. includes Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “A Winter’s Tale,” George Bernard Shaw’s “The Devil’s Disciple,” Nikolai Gogol’s “The Government Inspector,” and “Pheadre” by Jean Racine. The company includes several Chicago-based actors. The titles rotate — this weekend, for example, you can see both Shakespeares and the Shaw.
Built in 1977, the outdoor facility has been improved considerably in recent years, but it’s still a rugged experience requiring a short hike from the parking lot. Located close to Madison, Wis., Spring Green is about three hours from Chicago.
– So what’s new and different at Peninsula Players (920-868-3287) in Door County? Such qualities are not prized in the North Woods of Wisconsin.
“I wish I could say there was something different going on,” says general manager Todd Schmidt, “but we’re really just doing what we’ve done very well for the past 65 years.”
Tradition is a big part of the appeal of this summer operation, located between Egg Harbor and Fish Creek, Wis. The season is composed of accessible fare suitable for the whole family. Currently playing is “Over the River and Through the Woods,” a comedy about four Italian grandparents and a grandchild who wants to move away. Later in the summer, you can see Agatha Christie’s “Witness for the Prosecution,” the farcical “See How They Run,” and “Far East,” a play penned by A.R. Gurney. The actors, most of whom work in Chicago during the winter months, often come back to Door Couunty for several seasons. Amazingly, Bob Thompson, who appears in “Over the River,” first worked at Peninsula in the 1938 season.
Since there’s a hard roof but canvas sides to the theater, Peninsula Players is something of a cross between outdoor and indoor entertainment. But thanks to the large number of Equity contracts and a good measure of financial stability, the standards tend to be rather higher than at some other summer operations. Located on the shores of Green Bay, Peninsula Players is about five hours’drive from Chicago and can easily be combined with the several other attractions offeredn scenic Door County. Unfortunately, perhaps, you can only see one show per visit (there’s no rotating repertory here).
“There’s nothing Disneyified about our place,” Schmidt says (he recently also became the new managing director at the Apple Tree Theatre in Highland Park). “We’re an authentic North Woods experience. Part of the show is getting a drink in the beer garden and watching the sun set over the bay.”
– With the opening of the new Theatre at Ewing, these are heady days for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (309-438-2535), which was founded in 1978 and continues its association with the theater department at Illinois State University. Historically, the Bloomington-based ISF has been perceived as a good notch below the major Shakespeare festivals in such locations as Colorado and Alabama, but the new facility is intended to be the first step towards an upgrade in scale, artistry and reputation.
Replacing the long-time “temporary structure” on the grounds of Ewing Manor, the new permanent facility employs more up-to-date stage technology. ISF is still raising some of the funds needed to equip the space but has generally boosted its production values and offered more Equity contracts for 2000.
Opening on June 30 and running through early August, this year’s season (which features several Equity players) consists of “The Taming of the Shrew,” “The Three Musketeers” and “King John.” Since artistic director Cal Maclean was responsible for “Ghetto” at Famous Door Company, you can expect to see in the casts such familiar Chicago actors as Roderick Peeples. Bloomington is a three-hour drive from the Chicago area.
– The Red Barn Playhouse in Saugatuck, Mich. (616-857-7707) has been open every summer for the past 52 years. Co-owner Kyle Latshaw says that her theater has long favored the slogan “Quality Theater in a Rustic Setting,” but, over the years, they’ve also tried “What a Way to End a Day” (a reference to the large amount of other leisure activities in the area).
This is traditional summer stock, peppered with musicals. “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” opened Thursday and plays through July 16. Later in the summer you can also see “Guys and Dolls,” and, in August, a less familiar show from Louisville called “Zara Spook and Other Lures” (it follows a group of women on a bass-fishing trip). Chicago actors show up regularly at this mainly non-union theater. It’s about a three-hour drive, but watch the difference between the central and eastern time zones if you’re going. “A lot of our Chicago visitors forget they lose an hour when they come to Michigan,” Latshaw observes. “They show up at 8:30 for an 8 o’clock show.”
– Some 20,000 people a year attend summer shows at the 39-year-old Timber Lake Playhouse (815-244-2035), a traditional Equity stock house in Mt. Carroll, Ill. This year’s light but quite ambitious season includes, in order, “Jest A Second” (currently playing, and directed by its author, James Sherman), “City of Angels,” “Ten Little Indians,” “The King and I” (directed by Jane Brody, a Chicago talent agent), and Ken Ludwig’s “Moon Over Buffalo.”
About two-and-a-half hours from Chicago, Timber Lake can be easily combined with a trip to the antique haven of Galena (which is about 40 minutes from the theater). According to Missy Hartman, business manager and public relations director, this year’s acting company “comes from all over the place.” Now in his third season, artistic director Brad Lyons (who has worked extensively at the Pheasant Run Theatre in St. Charles) lives in a cabin behind the theater, as do most of the performers.
“We’re actually a big professional theater in the country,” says Lyons. “A lot of summer stocks are in converted barns and are kind of small. Not us. We have a 60-foot turntable and a two-story high proscenium.”
Should all 371 seats in the theater be sold out, Hartman promises, folding chairs are always on offer. When people drive a long way to see a show, Timberlake does not care to disappoint.
