Not familiar with Theatresports? Here’s a description from Atlas: “In this classic short-form format, two teams of improvisers face off in a series of games and scenes in competition for the approval of audience judges. You’ll have a blast yelling suggestions for and maybe even participating in this fast-paced, hilarious show.”
Tickets to see Atlas Improv Co. cost less than most movie tickets: They’re $6 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid i.d. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved in advance with a credit card by calling 259-9999. Reservations are strongly recommended.
After working all day on a project unrelated to Madison on the Cheap, one of us (and it wasn’t Izzy the Intern) finally checked the e-mail and discovered a treasure trove of recent photos of Tom Wopat and the cast of the Four Seasons Theatre production of “South Pacific,” currently on stage at the Wisconsin Union Theatre.
Clearly, FST Managing Director Sarah Marty was trying hard to convince us to remind you that there are tickets to this staged concert version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic available for as little as $15. She was also clearly responding to our complaint that the photograph of Wopat she’s sent earlier was the one he’d used in 2008 when he performed in the FST production of “Follies.”
While pondering whether to write about “Some Enchanted Evening” or just “… Wash That Man Right Outa of My Hair,” we received an e-mail from an MOTC fan who was sitting in the audience, watching Wopat live. She told us she couldn’t keep her eyes off him (but how then did she text us from her iPhone?). We took this as a sign that we should let you know how you can see Wopat — and the other talented members of the cast — this weekend.
The remaining performances of “South Pacific” are at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 21st and 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 22nd in the Wisconsin Union Theatre., 800 Langdon Street. You may purchase tickets online or telephone (608) 265-ARTS (but there aren’t many left, so hop to it whether or not you’re “Younger than Springtime”).
Wopat will also be a featured guest on Michael Feldman’s “Whad’Ya Know?” live broadcast at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 21st in the Mitchel Theater in Vilas Hall. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online (service charge applies).
One of us will soon be counting sheep; the other (that would be Izzy) is going to search for his autograph book. Izzy wants to add Wopat’s autograph to his collection; so if you see a geeky-looking guy with an old-fashioned autograph book trying to get Wopat’s attention, you’ll know it’s probably our irrepressible intern.
“Cheap” is a relative term and so when three of the funniest guys in the Madison area team up for an interactive theater production that features prizes and celebrities, we think a $20 ticket might be a good investment for some of the money we’ve saved using coupons and eating free junk food.
According to actor Patrick Fernan, a three-time “Jeopardy” winner ($50,000), “Michael Bruno and Tony Reitano the two guys who created/ developed it both have been on game shows and have worked on game shows, so together we have been involved with six different shows (“Millionaire,” “Jeopardy,” “Win/lose/draw,” “25,000 Pyramid,” and a couple of other very short-lived ones).’
The Music Theatre of Madison (MTM) production of “The Wild Party” opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Bartell Theatre and runs through Saturday, June 5th — and from all that we’ve heard and read, this promises to be a wild evening in a theater that has a bar and lets you bring your drinks inside the auditorium
From MTM’s Facebook page, we’ve learned that this is “good natured, old fashioned, well rendered, one gendered, soft hearted, well mannered lesbian love story.” And from Madison A.V. Club writer Andrew Winistorfer’s article on “The Wild Party,” we’ve learned that, “If the promise of a musical exploring the depths of the grimy side of the Roaring Twenties isn’t enough, know this: A bathtub full of illegal gin, a murder, and a musical number set during an orgy figure prominently.”
Tickets for “The Wild Party” are $15 and are available online from Brown Paper Tickets. If you dress in a ’20s costume, you’ll get for $5 off your ticket if you purchase it at the door.
Furthermore, if you were one of MTM’s first 200 Facebook fans, you can get your discount code for “The Wild Party” by emailing MTM at mtmadisoninfo. Madison on the Cheap told you about this special offer (tickets for just $5) last year — and we hope some of you took advantage of this opportunity,
One more thing you should probably know (or have figured out by yourself): This show is not appropriate for children under 15.
Act soon if you want to purchase discounted tickets to American Players Theatre (APT) in Spring Green. Order by June 4th, 2010 and you can take 20% off the price of every single show ticket. You’ll also receive 30% off the price of fall shows when you purchase them along with your summer shows.
PlayTime Productions, a local organization that creates community theater by children for children, will present “Sleeping Beauty” at a wide variety of locations in the Madison area in the next several weeks. The production offers a contemporary twist on a classic tale, accompanied by an original musical score.
This week performances are scheduled at the following locations:
Mount Horeb High School, 305 South 8th Street 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13th
Admission: $3 donation
Waunakee Public Library, 710 South Street 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14th
Admission: $3 donation
Harambee, 2202 South Park Street 7 p.m. on Friday, April 16th
Admission: $3 donation
Monona Grove High School, 4400 Monona Drive 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17th (gala benefit at 6:30 p.m.)
Admission: $5 donation
Not familiar with Theatresports? Here’s a description from Atlas: “In this classic short-form format, two teams of improvisers face off in a series of games and scenes in competition for the approval of audience judges. You’ll have a blast yelling suggestions for and maybe even participating in this fast-paced, hilarious show.”
Tickets to see Atlas Improv Co. cost less than most movie tickets: They’re $6 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid i.d. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved in advance with a credit card by calling 259-9999. Reservations are strongly recommended.
If you can’t make this show, don’t worry: There are lots of additional opportunities to see Atlas Improv Co. in action: They perform every Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Yola’s Cafe and every Saturday night at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the Electric Earth Café, 546 West Washington Ave.
Children’s Theater of Madison is offering a delicious deal for you and your “youth group friends” during its production of “Narnia” the musical based on “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” which runs from April 9th through April 18th in the Overture Center Playhouse, 201 State Street.
On Thursday, April 15th, if you gather 10 or more of your “youth group friends” to attend the 7 p.m. performance, tickets are only $10 per person. Also included in the deal are 2-for-1 bowls of noodles at the State Street Noodles Company restaurant (across from the Overture Center) and a post-performance talk back with the cast and director.
It’s not entirely clear what “youth group friends” means: Must these friends be members of a structured organization such as a Girl Scout Troop, a soccer team, or neighborhood organization? Or can they be your kids and a bunch of their friends? For additional information, as well as to make reservations, contact Pat at CTM: (608) 255-2080.
Photo of playwright David Schanker courtesy of Forward Theater Company
Forward Theater Company wants you to attend a staged reading of “Kiritsis,” a new play by David Schanker, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday March 20th in the Rotunda Studio in the Overture Center.
Forward Theater Advisory Company member Sam White is directing the staged reading, which features Forward Theater Advisory Company member James Buske, and Madison actors Pepper Stebbins, Sarah Hoover, and Damon Butler.*
Based on the description provided by Forward Theater’s marketing director, Gwen Rice, the play sounds very intriguing. Here’s what she told us:
“‘Kiritsis’ is based on one of the most notorious events in Indianapolis history – the February 1977 abduction of the mortgage broker who foreclosed on Tony Kiritsis’s 17-acre property where he hoped to build a strip mall. Kiritsis paraded his hostage through downtown Indianapolis with a sawed-off shotgun wired to the back of his head, then held him at gunpoint in his apartment for three days, all the while venting his frustration on live radio and ultimately in an obscenity-laced rant on live television. The incident mesmerized the city and the nation, and – two years before the Iran hostage crisis – it was one of the first cases in the world of a kidnapper using broadcast media to send a message. In Kiritsis’s view, his was the story of a “little man” whose dream was crushed by the rich and powerful, and the event turned Kiritsis into a folk hero emblematic of the 1970s, when the economic recession, Watergate, and our retreat from Vietnam left many Americans with a feeling of depression and malaise.”
And she told us this, too: “[A] staged reading, which is essentially an opportunity for the playwright and the audience to get a sneak peek of a theater production. The actors have rehearsed, and they have delved into the script, often with the playwright by their side to make notes, small changes, or clarifications. But there is limited blocking, few props or costumes, and the actors read their lines from scripts.”
This all sounds great, but we had to pause when we learned that general admission tickets will only be available at the door “for a suggested donation of $12.”
Suggested donations make us nervous because we’re never certain if they’re voluntary or coercive. We’ve endured too many withering glances and outright rejections from haughty museum officials who wanted us to donate or else. That’s why we asked Rice for a bit of clarificiation; here’s what she told us: “… sure we’d love for people to pay $12 apiece (or more!) but if folks want to pay less, they are welcome to. We’re just happy to have the audience there. It’s a great way for students to see a play “in process” for not a huge sum of money. Perfect for your audience!”
*Donning a hat which has long been retired for just a minute, we’d like to say that it’s been a while since we’ve seen Damon Butler on stage, but we’ve always admired his intense, often over-the top portrayal of quirky characters: His performance alone is usually worth the price of a ticket (or voluntary donation).
And now for a few words from the folks at Broom Street Theater: “There’s a killer on the loose and nobody knows who it could be. Fingers get pointed at some of the community’s children. Could an innocent child be guilty of such heinous acts? Is it the evil gardener? Discover the answer in “Muffy the Bitch,” one of the plays from Broom Street’s 40 plus years’ worth of theatrical entertainment.
See the movie about the play when Broom Street Theater presents “Muffy the Bitch,” a video/DVD of a live performance of Callen Harty’s 1997 play inspired by “The Bad Seed,” at 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 7th. The screening is part of BST’s Sunday Night at the Movies Screenings, held the Sunday after each new play opens throughout the season
Admission is free, but a $5.00 donation is suggested (and they may pass the hat, too).
Broom Street Theater is located at 1119 Williamson Street (it has never been located on Broom Street).
NB: The 1997 production featured actors Jackie Baker, Alan Bickley, Maritza Bryant, Ron Collins, Luke Delwiche, Mark Edwards, Buck Hakes, Lauri Harty, Shelley Johnson, Amanda Jones, Jamie McCanless, and Isa Norwood and was directed by Harty. According to a contemporary review by Nadine Goff, “Muffy the Bitch is 85 minutes of fun, laced with lots of bad puns, a few malapropisms and a tasty sprinkling of piquant social commentary.” She called Amanda Jones as Muffy “perfect” and went on to say of the other actors, “Harty has managed to recruit a virtual galaxy of stars.”
Frugalistas who love theater know there are lots of ways to score cheap tickets. One of the easiest is to attend almost any performance that isn’t on a Friday or Saturday evening. For example tickets to Stage Q’s production of “Sappho in Love” are $15 on Fridays and Saturdays, but only $10 on Thursdays and Sundays.
Here’s a brief summary of what “Sappho in Love,” which opens on Friday, February 12th and runs through Sunday, February 27th at the Bartell Theatre is all about (at least according to the Stage Q press release we received):
“… written by the popular Carolyn Gage (Ugly Ducklings, Second Coming of Joan of Arc) and directed by StageQ favorite Katy Conley, [it] is a lesbian midsummer night’s dream with the goddesses of celibacy, love, and marriage competing for Sappho’s attention amid poetry contests, meteor showers, lessons on lesbian love-making, romantic trysting, mix-ups and disguises. Wet and wild romantic comedy!”
“Sappho In Love” stars Molly Vanderlin as Aphrodite, Laura Spring as Hera, Leonie Dolch as Artemis and Boye as Sappho, along with Kristin Forde, Petrovnia McIntosh, Juli Branch, Marian Herzog, Nikki Weinfurtner, Christine Esche, Rachel Granda-Gluski, Sabra Katz-Wise, Vanessa Vesperman, Shelly Murray, Luv Seamon, Thia Triggs and Michelle Morency.
Stage Q gives you the option to purchase your tickets online or reserve them online. If you want to avoid paying a service charge, we recommend using the latter option.
Update 2/14/2010: Very positive review in Isthmus (“…this is a funny and entertaining production, and a packed house rightfully gave it an enthusiastic ovation.”)
E. Patrick Johnson will perform “Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South,” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9th in The Play Circle at the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street. The production is free and open to the public.
Johnson’s solo performance is based on stories he collected for his new book, “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South,”an oral history of black gay men who live in the southern United States. It covers some of the themes discussed in “Sweet Tea,” with Johnson performing the narratives of nine men.
Johnson is a professor of African-American studies and professor, chairman and director of graduate studies in the performance studies department at Northwestern University.
Patrick Sims performs in front of a projected image of James Cameron; Photograph by Jonathan Gramling, used with permission
Actor Patrick Sims portrays 18 different characters in his one-man play, “10 Perfect: A Lynching Survivor Story,” which will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 5th and Saturday, February 6th in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Avenue.
The play is based on the life of James Cameron, the survivor of a 1930 lynching, who later founded the now-closed America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee. Sims, who met Cameron in 1998, is an assistant professor of acting/multicultural theater.
Sims has organized a post-performance panel to discuss issues raised in the play, including race and racism. Sims and director Sheri Williams Pannel will be joined by Cameron’s son Virgil; Sandy Adell, a professor of literature in the Department of Afro-American studies; Martine Green, a graduate student in theater research; and Fran Kaplan, a screenwriter from Milwaukee. The panel will be moderated by Linda Greene, Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin – Madison
Tickets to “10 Perfect” are free and available at the Vilas Hall box office, 821 University Avenue; the Campus Information Center in the Red Gym, 716 Langdon Street; and the Welcome Center, 21 North Park Street during regular box office and business hours.
The play contains adult themes and language and is intended for mature audiences.
Fans of actor James DeVita who missed his one-man show, “In Acting Shakespeare,” last year when it was produced at American Players Theatre (APT) in the newly opened Touchstone Theater, may want to consider driving to Spring Green to see an encore performance at either 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 6th or 2 p.m. Sunday, February 7th at The Gard Theater.
These two performances are a benefit for the Rural Musicians Forum* — and ticket prices are considerably lower than the $45-$57 charged at APT. For these two performances, tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. However, tickets may not be purchased online. They are available for in-person purchase at three locations in downtown Spring Green: The Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany Street; Nina’s Department and Variety Store, 143 West Jefferson Street; and The Flower Shop and Village Gifts, 102 East Jefferson Street.
The Gard Theater is located at 111 E. Jefferson Street.
*Rural Musicians Forum is an organization of musicians and music lovers whose mission is to produce live concerts and to support the continued presence of quality music in the lower Wisconsin River Valley area.
Ticket prices are as low as $10 for Forward Theater Company’s production of Christopher Durang’s black comedy, “Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them” running from December 30th to January 17th, 2010 in the Playhouse at the Overture Center.
The $10 tickets are available for students and seniors (62+) who attend one of the two preview performances scheduled for December 30th and January 2nd. If you do not fall into one of those two categories, tickets for the previews are $20 (balcony) and $30 (main floor). But wait! There’s another option: Pending availability, there will be $15 rush tickets available for all performances.
Previews (and preview tickets) and rush tickets for the general public have been rare on the Madison theater scene and Forward Theater Company (FTC) should be commended for making them available. It’s also savvy marketing strategy.
Preview performances are routine at companies such as Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and American Players Theatre, but have not been a staple in Madison. A preview performance is technically not quite finished: A director may use audience reactions or other criteria for making slight changes in the production prior to opening night. Traditionally, preview performances are NOT open to reviewers.
Rush tickets are usually available the day of the performance. According to the Overture Center Box office, $15 rush tickets to “Why Torture is Wrong” will be available 2 hours before a performance. The important thing to note is that FTC is NOT restricting rush tickets to students. If seats are available 2 hours before a performance, anyone will be able to purchase them.
There are lots of things we don’t know about Music Theatre of Madison’s upcoming production of “Wild Party.” But there is one thing we know for sure and that’s how to get a reduced-price ticket to the show: Become a Facebook fan. The first 100 fans will get $5 tickets to “Wild Party.” The second 100 fans will get $10 tickets.
If you belong to Facebook, you should be able to find MTM’s Facebook page here. That link may have to be changed when they pass that all-important 100 fan threshold: Then MTM will be able to claim a unique Facebook URL.
But let’s return to “Wild Party” for just a bit: Here’s what we know and don’t know about this upcoming production:
DON”T KNOW exactly when it’s going to be staged (probably summer 2010).
DON’T KNOW whether the MTM production is going to follow in the footsteps of original Broadway production, that featured Mandy Patinkin and Eartha Kitt and music by Michael John LaChiusa; or the subsequent Off-Broadway production that featured Taye Diggs and music by Andrew Lippa.
DO KNOW it sounds like a fascinating production — and we’re eager to take a closer look at the book version illustrated by Art Spiegelman.
Disclosure: Madison on the Cheap has an affiliate relationship with the Amazon.com. If you click through on some of the links in this post and purchase a book or recording we will receive a small commission. We only post what we think are good deals, but once in a while it’s nice to share something that may generate some money for our coffee fund.
The Bricks Theatre is hosting a holiday party from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15th at Genna’s Lounge, 105 West Main Street, to promote it’s upcoming production of “Santaland Diaries,” featuring Peter Hunt.
Based on an essay by David Sedaris, “Santaland Diaries” is about Sedaris’s experience working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s.
The Bricks production will run for only two performances: 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 20th at The Frequency, 121 West Main Street and 7 p.m. on Monday, December 21st at The Brink Lounge, 701 East Washington Avenue. Both performances are adults only and may be a bit spicier than the Laboratory Theater production currently playing at the Bartell Theater through December 19th,
As a special bonus, anyone who brings 6 or more cans of non-perishable food items (to donate to the food pantry at the Goodman Community Center) to the party on Tuesday at Genna’s gets one free ticket to the Dec. 20th performance of “Santaland Diaries.”
If you missed the Sycamore Street Ensemble production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” in McFarland last week, you have two more chances to see it — but this time you’ll have to journey to the Middleton Performing Arts Center (PAC), where it’s being performed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 12th and 2 p.m. Sunday, December 13th.
Inspired by Frank Capra’s classic American film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” this stage version, directed by Katrina Brunner, tells the story of George Bailey’s life as a live 1940s Radio Broadcast.
Take your seat as a member of the studio audience to relive the beloved tale of regret and redemption told through insightful storytelling, familiar characters and engaging sound effects. And hang onto your seat, too, since this production features some of the Madison area’s best comic actors — and lots of other talented actors as well.
The cast for “It’s A Wonderful Life includes Michael Brunner, Leslie Esser-Reitano, Tony Reitano, Patricia Whitely, Michael Bruno, Monica Lyons, Lee Waldhart, Brian Hagen, and Patrick Fernan. Paul Cargill will perform all the live sound effects.
This weekend’s performances are co-produced with Middleton Players Theatre and feature The Angel Choir and the Middleton High School Musicians.
Tickets are $15.00 for adults, $10.00 for seniors (65+) and students, and $6.00 for children six and under and may be purchased online. A $2 per ticket refund will be given at the door for donations of two or more non-perishable food items.
Inspired by Frank Capra’s classic American film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the Sycamore Street Ensemble, under the direction of Katrina Williams Brunner, will recreate the story of George Bailey’s life as a live 1940s Radio Broadcast at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 4th at the McFarland High School Auditorium, 5101 Farwell Street.
Take your seat as a member of the studio audience to relive the beloved tale of regret and redemption told through insightful storytelling, familiar characters and engaging sound effects. And hang onto your seat, too, since this production features some of the Madison area’s best comic actors — and lots of other talented actors as well.
The cast for “It’s A Wonderful Life includes Michael Brunner, Leslie Esser-Reitano, Tony Reitano, Patricia Whitely, Michael Bruno, Monica Lyons, Lee Waldhart, Brian Hagen, and Patrick Fernan. Paul Cargill will perform all the live sound effects.
The production comes complete with hot chocolate and lots of holiday cheer! Arrive early at 7 p.m. in the high school food court for refreshments and live caroling by student choir members.
Tickets are $10.00 for adults, $8.00 for seniors and students, and $4.00 for children six and under and may be purchased online.
All proceeds will benefit McFarland Community Food Pantry (MCFP). Donations of non-perishable food items are also encouraged and will be accepted at the door.
For additional information, contact Dean Pribbenow at (608) 838-8968 or email mcfp.fundraiser
For one night only, Music Theatre of Madison (MTM) is giving performers an opportunity to sing songs from roles they will NEVER play and you’re invited to join in the fun.
At 7 p.m. on Friday, December 4th, MTM is presenting “Miscast” at the First United Methodist Church at 203 Wisconsin Avenue.
“Join us for this night of great singers singing great songs…some beautiful, some just plain silly,” says MTM founder Meghan Randolph. Among the evening’s highlights will be a white soprano singing “And I Am Telling You” from “Dreamgirls;” a 12 year-old boy singing about “Late December back in ‘63;” and a baritone in his 30s singing “On My Own” from “Les Misérables.”
Admission is free, but cash donations are encouraged. Donations will be split between Music Theatre of Madison and the First United Methodist Church food pantry.
Remember the candy you used to buy growing up? Buy them now from Candy.com
Categories
DISCLAIMER
We post deals as we find them, but schedules sometimes change and everything has an expiration date. Prices and promotions are always subject to change without notice. It's always wise to call ahead and make certain a bargain is still available or an event has not been canceled.
an oral history of black gay men who live in the southern United States. It covers some of the themes discussed in “Sweet Tea,” with Johnson performing the narratives of nine men. 
or 
or download individual songs as MP3s.
