Neil Simon, Agatha Christie, Elvis works among those coming to the Peninsula Players stage in 2024
FISH CREEK – Peninsula Players Theatre brings a warm comedy by one of America's greatest playwrights, the Midwest premiere of a screwball comedy, a rockin' musical, an award-winning poignant romance and a "new" Agatha Christie mystery to its 89th season, which the company announced Wednesday.
The 2024 season at America's oldest professional resident summer theater will run from June 18 through Oct. 20 in the company's all-weather, 600-plus-seat pavilion on the shore of the bay of Green Bay.
"This line-up of shows is sure to provide audiences with big laughs, great music, a bit of mystery and perhaps even a tear as we come together to celebrate our human connection through theater," artistic director Linda Fortunato said in a news release. "We look forward to sharing these dynamic, thought-provoking and entertaining works."
The five-show season is:
'I Ought To Be In Pictures,' June 18 to July 7
Neil Simon, who's responsible for writing some of America's most popular stage and movie comedies ("The Odd Couple," "Barefoot in the Park," "The Sunshine Boys"), penned this play about a burned-out Hollywood screenwriter who reunites with the estranged teenage daughter who's looking for help launching her acting career. It premiered in Los Angeles in 1979, hit Broadway a year later and was adapted for a movie of the same title starring Walter Matthau in 1982.
'The Angel Next Door,' July 10 to 28
It's the Midwest premiere of a new madcap comedy by Paul Slade Smith, who's acted on the Players stage and written two comedies that Players has produced, "Unnecessary Farce" and "A Real Lulu" (now titled "The Outsider"). Smith's new work, adapted from Ferenc Molnár's classic Hungarian farce "Play at the Castle," creates comic chaos when playwrights, actors and other guests at a Newport, Rhode Island, mansion experience an unexpected incident that threatens to ruin the show they are creating, so everyone must act fast to save the day.
'Million Dollar Quartet,' July 31 to Aug. 18
This jukebox musical, with book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, is based on the day in December 1956 when rock 'n' roll pioneers Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis found themselves together by chance with legendary producer Sam Phillips in the recording studio at Sun Records in Memphis, leading to perhaps the most famous jam session in music history. This look back at the young artists on the verge of making rock history features some of their most famous hits, like "Great Balls of Fire," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Hound Dog" and "I Walk the Line," as well as group numbers.
'Mary's Wedding,' Aug. 21 to Sept. 1
Playwright Stephen Massicotte penned this love story that begins the night before the title character's wedding in 1920, when her dreams take her back in time to her relationship with a young prairie farm boy who leaves to fight in World War I and never returns, but who remains alive through their letters and her imagination and memory. The romantic drama has won numerous awards in Canadian theater circles and been produced across Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain.
'The Stranger,' Sept. 4 to Oct. 20
Agatha Christie adapted her own 1924 short story "Philomel Cottage" into this play in or before 1932, but it seemingly was forgotten and never published until 2017, finally premiering in Saratoga, New York, in 2019. In this psychological thriller, Enid questions her seven-year engagement and is looking for a bit of spark in her lackluster life, when the charming Gerald Strange, who shares her longing for adventure, enters her life. But is he the answer to Enid's wishes or a path to disaster?
Peninsula Players has presented hundreds of world premieres, pre-Broadway tryouts, classic dramas, comedies and musicals since 1935, when it was founded by a brother-and-sister team, Caroline and Richard Fisher. Its location along the shore of Green Bay allows patrons to relax and picnic on the grounds while watching the setting sun over the waters of the bay and enjoy the ambiance of the beer garden and other gardens before performances in the all-weather stagehouse.
Peninsula Players Theatre is at 4351 Peninsula Players Road, Fish Creek. Cast and crew members for the season, ticket prices, curtain times and other information on the 2024 season will be announced on the Pen Players website in the coming weeks. Season ticket sales open in January, with individual ticket sales starting March 1. Groups of 15 or more can make reservations by calling the box office on weekdays, and gift certificates are available online. For more information, call 920-868-3287 or visit peninsulaplayers.com.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Peninsula Players brings Agatha Christie and Elvis to its 2024 season
