Tag: Theater

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APT: This Wonderful Life

So what do you do if your favorite holiday movie is ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and you are an actor who’s not working this holiday season because…you know. You grab hold of ‘This Wonderful Life’ by the throat and you take us all on a wonderful roller coaster of memories and observations and wonder.

This is the second of the virtual performances being presented by the American Players Theatre for the 2020 Holiday Season. The text is by Steve Murray and directed by William Brown. And ALL of the characters are impossibly and incredibly played by Nate Burger, who loves the movie more than any of us!

Now I know that we aren’t being deprived of the ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ movie experience the way we are missing live theater…but that’s absolutely no reason to miss this!!

First thing you do is visit the APT website and purchase a ticket. And then plan when you want to set aside eighty uninterrupted minutes necessary to take this all in and commence with the requisite laughter and tears. The video will be available until end of day December 29th, so plan accordingly.

And then just before you hit play on the video…forget everything you know about ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ the movie and be prepared to relearn and relive the experience of seeing it the first time. Believe me, Mr. Burger will give you every complexity of the story either by playing the character, acting out the various conversations, or through any number of strange interludes. And you will get more than the story this time…but also some timely comments about culture and society and economics that are writ large in the movie but is often overlooked for the story…so be forewarned…there is more than meets the eye here!

Nate Burger (as himself) screen grab from the trailer

This is an amazing adaptation…and Nate Burger as all 55 characters just throws himself into each and everyone. And if you followed my suggestion to forget everything you remember about the movie, you will laugh here. You will cry here. You will say to yourself, how could I have forgotten that? And more importantly, you will say, how did I not see that or feel that before? Because you will feel and say and wonder all of those things.

This production again proves that American Players Theatre has made these small virtual theatrical presentations their own. And they couldn’t have found a better production to stage this year and oh my goodness…they couldn’t have found a better actor for the role as Nate Burger. This presentation of ‘This Wonderful Life’ should become a holiday staple just as its inspiration, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ is.

And marvel at the special effects and revel in the credits! LOL!

Here’s the trailer to get you in the spirit:

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APT: Holidames: Tangled In Tinsel

This was absolutely an hour well spent on a dreary December afternoon. While we are all safe at home and missing all of our seasonal favorites, Colleen Madden, Sarah Day, and Tracy Michelle Arnold are determined to make us merry, make us reminisce, and make us appreciate what we do have. And what we do have at hand in ‘Tangled In Tinsel’, is a unique and original and utterly entertaining virtual theater piece. As I have previously written, The American Players Theatre has taken the possibilities in Zoom and made them their own…and one of the pieces here even extols the ‘pleasures’ of Zoom.

But hopefully, I won’t give too much away here, but this is unexpected pleasure. A grab bag of original skits…some traditional…some very modern…and many very timely.

clockwise from top left: Tracy, Sarah, and Colleen!

This screen shot is from the opening segment where our actors lay the groundwork for their presentation…and share some comic and some poignant stories about their past lives in versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’! Oh what fun.

And interspersed we have a number of very effective readings of winter time poetry, ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (my favorite part), and the story of the Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus….and Christmas carols!!

Of course Scrooge makes an appearance engaged in conversation with his nephew, Fred. And you will easily forget that we have two women playing traditional male roles here. You are just mesmerized but the story and the presentation, and that old bias just slips away.

left to right: Scrooge and Fred!

And who woulda thunk, but with all of the time on her hands, Mrs. Cratchit now has a vlog and a very special guest in Mrs. Fezziwig! Hilarity ensues although there is some serious content here…although done in good cheer! And a surprise guest…who I won’t give away…they bring their whole here and the original ‘A Christmas Carol’ back to point.

And oh my goodness, you couldn’t ask for three more talented actors, who obviously enjoy working together…even though far apart…and I was just amazed as they all moved from conversation to drama to comedy to song…and excelled at each phase! Thank you Sarah, Tracy, and Colleen for your talents, spirit, and the willingness to bring this to us all.

As I said above, the APT has truly found Zoom to its liking and I could see this becoming a part and parcel of their future. So although I look forward to traipsing up the hill again next year, I could see spending another future winter day with the APT crew online.

The Holidames: ‘Tangled In Tinsel’ is available on line from now through December 29th. You can order access via the APT website to get a link to the video. Once you activate your ticket you have 24 hours to watch the presentation. Tickets run $24 but there is a discount if you also order the APT’s ‘This Wonderful Life’ at the same time.

In the meantime, here’s the trailer:

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American Players Theatre Virtual Holiday Offerings!

It looks like the holiday season in Wisconsin has two additional bright spots as the American Players Theatre is set to offer TWO virtual holiday offerings.

The first one is a new take on a traditional holiday movie favorite, It’s A Wonderful Life. Titled This Wonderful Life, it’s an adaption of the screenplay. Here’s the details directly from APT:

This Wonderful Life

By Steve Murray

Conceived by Mark Setlock, adapted from the screenplay It’s a Wonderful Life by

Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling.

Directed by William Brown

All the characters of Bedford Falls wrapped up like a gift and presented by Nate Burger. He’s a man giddily obsessed with It’s a Wonderful Life and he’s thrilled to read us each and every part, adding sparks of wit and wisdom as he goes. Playing multiple characters is one (or a few) of Nate’s favorite things, and he imbues each role with the whole of his heart. A story for these times, and all times, kindling our hearts with gratitude for the treasures right in front of us.

And then for something completely different, APT offers this world premiere show!

APT’s Holidames: Tangled in Tinsel

Developed by Tracy Michelle Arnold, Sarah Day, Keira Fromm and Colleen Madden

Directed by Keira Fromm

Join APT royalty Sarah Day, Tracy Michelle Arnold and Colleen Madden for a world-premiere show. There will be singing. There will be celebration. There will be holiday hilarity, and poignant prose spun from Christmases past. It’s a patchwork quilt of seasonal cheer, each square a joyous celebration. We can’t think of a better trio to lighten your lockdown – sure to warm your soul like a fireside toddy.

And for a bit more insight on these plays and additional reasons to partake, here’s a note from Brenda DeVita:

Artistic Director Brenda DeVita said, “We’ve been working on these shows for a while, and pouring our hearts and souls into them. And I think they offer the perfect amount of emotional lift during a holiday season that’s going to be unlike any we’ve ever experienced. The artists are having so much fun with that you’re really drawn into this bubble of joy with them. Sarah and Tracy and Colleen, in Holidames – it’s got that old-school variety show feel. And it’s utterly ridiculous. And then it will move you to tears. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever done – it’s candy, and we should all be able to have as much candy as we want right now, right? And Nate in This Wonderful Life, playing all the roles from It’s a Wonderful Life, and watching him switch from character to character seemingly effortlessly. And just putting his whole heart into this story; the one we watch every year because it tells us that our life matters – to us and to the people around us. And I think we should embrace as much of that feeling as we can this year.”

These shows promise to be a lot of fun and as we’ve seen this summer and fall, the APT has mastered the art of virtual theater, so I am looking forward to these. But these are APT’s first ticketed virtual events, so you will want to make plans to order tickets so that you won’t be disappointed! Here’s the basic information:

Tickets will go on sale online only on Wednesday, December 1 at 10 AM Central Time at americanplayers.org/tickets.

Once tickets are purchased, patrons will receive an email with a link to the play(s) and redemption code(s). Once the code is redeemed, the play will be available to view for 24 hours. The plays will be available on the Broadway on Demand website from 12:01 AM on December 2 until 11:59 PM Central Time on December 29, 2020.

For more information, click here!

And don’t forget to catch their fall Out of the Woods offerings that are still available for free via Wisconsin PBS: The Sins of Sor Juana, Nat Turner in Jerusalem, and Smart People.

Happy Holidays!