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Curtains are Rising

Photo Kevin O'Riley

Springfield Little Theatre's High School Musical is one of the highlights of the season.

Only by looking at a list of shows slated for this fall can you truly understand the opportunity we have to enjoy live theatre in Springfield. Not one but two legitimate new stages—Swan Rep and Vandivort 2nd Stage—have been added to the mix, while both Vandivort and Springfield Little Theatre boast very strong lineups, as do the always-excellent college programs. The Swan Rep’s focus on classics aside, the next few months has an emphasis on humor, horror, or pop culture adaptations. Here are the high points.

Now playing:

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

September 5-20, Vandivort Main Stage
Director: Robert Bradley
The sanity of married couples has never been more on display, or more raw, than in this Tony Award-winning play by Edward Albee. Intimate and cringe-worthy at times, the story focuses on bitter older couple who use younger dinner guests in a psychological chess game against one another. Mature themes and language abound.

September:

The Glass Menagerie

September 11-28, Swan Repertory Theatre (Skinny Improv stage)
Director: George Cron
This Tennessee Williams classic is a cautionary tale for spinsters everywhere. The story centers on a disabled young woman, her desperately overbearing mother played by guest artist Sara Ann Parker, from New York), her disillusioned brother and an unsuspecting dinner guest. This is the first non-Shakespeare Festival show for the Swan Rep.

Psycho Beach Party

September 11-27, Vandivort 2nd Stage
Director: Tim Caldwell
Vandivort 2nd Stage’s debut show (Vandivort backers took over management of the former Springfield 2nd Stage earlier this year) is a mash-up of ’60s beach bashes and mind-thrillers (think Shag meets Psycho). The heroine is a would-be surfer chick who can’t decide if she wants to be the girl next door or a sexual predator.

High School Musical

September 12-28, Landers Theatre
Director: Beth Domann
The always-spot-on team of Domann and SLT house choreographer Lorianne Dunn are back for this much-anticipated season-opener, sure to have every ‘tween and teen in Springfield clamoring for a seat. If you know a kid (or have been one in the last five years), you probably know the songs and characters by now; there’s no shame in singing along.

October:

The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Heroines

October 2-12, MSU Balcony Theatre
Director: Stacy Parker Joyce
The season-opener from the MSU Department of Theatre and Dance is this tongue-in-cheek look at the lives of some of the Bard’s perhaps-glossed-over female characters (he’s not all about Brutus/Cassius sexual tension, you know). What would Ophelia, from Hamlet, say if given a chance? Lots, probably, and she wouldn’t need a damn skull to get her point across, either.

Honk Junior

October 9-19, Springfield Little Theatre
Director TBA
Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling gets a contemporary spin, but the lesson is the same: It’s not on the outside, but on the inside, that counts. That, and puberty rocks.

Dracula

October 10-26, Vandivort Main Stage
Director: Nathan Shelton
Some shots of the makeup for this show are circulating, and we promise it’s not for the faint of heart. This promises to be a sexy, gory spin on Bram Stoker’s classic, featuring a large cast, video production, and original music. The show’s web page promises “graphic content and partial nudity”. Wicked.

Private Lives

October 16-November 2, Swan Repertory Theatre (Skinny Improv Comedy Theatre)
Director: Jeff Jenkins
Ex-spouses unknowingly book adjoining suites, and discover they still care for one another. An enduring 1930 work from writer Noel Coward.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Oct. 29-Nov. 2, MSU Balcony Theatre
Director: Michael Casey
Helped by a small how-to guide of the same name, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying focuses on the no-holds-barred ladder climbing of an ambitious company man. Examines the ruthless world behind cubicle walls, with a dose of humor thrown in.

November:

Fuddy Meers

November 6-22, Vandivort 2nd Stage
Director TBA
The plot synopsis sounds like it was the inspiration for 50 First Dates; an amnesic woman wakes every day with the world a blank slate. What happens, then, when such a person is kidnapped? This show will explain.

Misery

November 7-23, Landers Theatre
Director: Nathan Shelton
Shelton takes on his second horror classic in as many months in Misery, based on the Stephen King novel about a novelist held hostage by a crazed fan. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role in the film version. This is among King’s most realistically frightening visions.

Twelfth Night

November 13-22, Drury’s Wilhoit Theatre
Director TBA
Surprisingly this is the only Shakespeare on the fall lineup. Drury’s theatre department presents the Bard’s shipwrecked-damsel comedy with a full student cast.

Annie

November 21-December 13, Vandivort Main Stage
Director TBA
Oh, those red heads. Join Little Orphan Annie, Daddy Warbucks (note: NOT Dick Cheney) and the crew in the show that seems to pop up somewhere in Springfield every few years.

December:

Narnia

December 4-14, Landers Theatre
Director TBA
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe gets the stage treatment for the holidays at SLT. The most famous in C.S. Lewis’s series of books will feature all the magic you’ve come to expect: never-ending furniture; regal lions; talking beavers. Don’t miss the show.

Striking 12

December 4-21, Vandivort 2nd Stage
Director TBA
A super-musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, complete with a soundtrack by GrooveLilly. Yep. GrooveLilly.

A Christmas Carol

December 18-21, Swan Repertory Theatre (Gillioz Theatre)
Director: Jeff Jenkins
Anticipation is high for this show, which will feature the Broadway-credentialed talents of Robert Westenberg (Drury’s new theatre guru) as star (Scrooge) in addition to an all-star cast of locals. Probably the must-see holiday event of the season, particularly at the stunning Gillioz.