Forest Roberts Theatre Season Announced

The four productions in Forest Roberts Theatre's 2008-09 "Brave New World" season include a comic romp, a playwriting award winner, a musical about a midnight-wary maiden and "the last of Shakespeare's great plays."

The season opens Oct. 1-4 with The Foreigner by Larry Shue. First produced at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in January 1983, it was named one of the best regional theater plays for that season and later picked up two Outer Critics Circle Awards as best new American play and best off-Broadway production. The Foreigner demonstrates what can happen when a group of devious characters must deal with a stranger who (they think) knows no English.

Tracks in the Snow by Neil McGowan of Hermosa Beach, Calif., is the winner of the 2008 Mildred and Albert Panowski Playwriting Award. It is described as "at once a gripping drama and a coming of age love story."

A sneak preview of the play—in the form of a staged reading—will be presented at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 26, in the Black Box Theatre (McClintock 105). Admission is free and a talk-back session will follow the performance. The Forest Roberts Theatre production will run Nov. 12-15.

The second half of the season opens with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella Feb. 17-21. This musical adaptation by the famous duo was originally created for television. It starred Julie Andrews and was watched by 107 million viewers during its 1957 network premiere. The soundtrack includes such songs as "Ten Minutes Ago I Saw You," "My Own Little Corner," "Impossible" and "A Lovely Night."
          

The final production, April 21-25, is William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It weaves romance, fantasy, treachery, comedy and magic into an evening decorated with some of Shakespeare’s most quotable poetry. The character Miranda's observation at the end of the play provided the theme for this year's lineup:

            “O, wonder! 

            How many goodly creatures are there here!

            How beauteous mankind is!  O brave new world

            That has such people in’t!”

Season tickets are available through Sept. 5. Prices are $36 for the general public and $25 for NMU students. To request a brochure, stop by the Forest Roberts Theatre from 1-4:30 p.m. weekdays or call ext. 2082. Season tickets are also available from EZ Tickets in the Superior Dome. For more information on the season, visit Forest Roberts Theatre.