Staged Readings

Shall We Join the Ladies?
By JM Barrie
Directed by Jim O’Connell

For the guests at the country estate, the past week has been delightful. Tomorrow morning, they will bid their host adieu. But at the farewell dinner, they learn why they were invited and that one of them harbors a gruesome secret. Hang on for the confrontation scene – with a twist!

Trifles
By Susan Glaspell
Directed by Laurie Schmeling

“It was such a – funny way to kill a man.” Minnie Foster Wright sits in jail, accused of murdering her husband. Officers and neighbors search the old farmhouse for evidence pointing to a motive. Will they know it when they see it? An American classic by pioneer feminist author and playwright, Susan Glaspell.

By Steve Martin
Directed by Dana Dancho

This long-running off-Broadway absurdist comedy places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian café in 1904, just before the renowned scientist transformed physics with his theory of relativity and the celebrated painter set the art world afire with cubism.

Book, Music and Lyrics by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond
Directed by Mark Hanson
Music Directed by Kyle Norris

In this hilarious and outlandish story, the lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a roller coaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to play “the game” for a second chance at life. This popular musical is a funny, moving look at what makes a life well-lived! 

An evening of original and inventive choreography by promising young dance artists. Dance majors and minors use the powerful expression of the human body to share personal memories, tell stories, and express universal emotions.

By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Greg Pragel

She Kills Monsters tells the story of Agnes Evans as she leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, however, she finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge. This dramatic comedy filled with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture, pays homage to the geek and warrior within us all.

Enjoy an evening of exciting works by UWSP faculty and special guest artists. Highlighting the human body’s capacity for complexity and dynamism, these new dances celebrate the range of dance as an art form. From the deeply expressive, personal gesture to the virtuosic athleticism of pure technique, these four new works invite you to consider how we connect to and understand the world both within and around us.

Music and Lyrics by Marsha Norman
Music by Lucy Simon
Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Directed by Mark Hanson
Music Directed by Kyle Norris

This enchanting children’s literature classic is re-imagined in brilliant musical style. Mary Lennox, an 11-year old girl orphaned in India, who returns to Yorkshire, England, to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle and the ghosts of the past who dwell in the house. The estate’s many wonders include a mysterious locked secret garden which beckons to Mary to find the key to its door and bring the garden back to life.

By Sophie McIntosh
Directed by Serena Alexander and Laurie Schmeling

This new play by UWSP BA Drama Aluma Sophie McIntosh (’20) follows the personal and existential crises of five camp counselors in mid-apocalyptic Maine. Facing questions of self, connection, and survival, these young women are living on the edge of adulthood and civilization.

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Continuity by Ned Sherrin
Directed by Mark Hanson

Simple and unpretentious, this Tony Award-winning musical is a perfect introduction to the work of contemporary master Stephen Sondheim and a must see for any true Sondheim fan. Celebrating the wit and genius of musical theatre’s most influential artist, “Side By Side By Sondheim” strings together a collection of some of Sondheim’s most iconic works. San Francisco-based artist Jacqueline De Muro is a featured guest artist and shares the stage with a stellar cast of UWSP musical theatre students.

By Agatha Christie
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Brimming with intrigue, sophisticated humor, and surprising twists, Agatha Christie’s iconic murder mystery is the world’s most successful and longest running play. Come discover what London’s West End audiences have been enjoying (and keeping secret) for the past 72 years!

For more than 30 years, “Afterimages” has been a showcase event in the Theatre and Dance season. The only production fully produced and conceptualized by students, this dance concert features original choreography by dance majors and minors in a variety of dance styles including ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, modern, and tap.

A Staged Reading
By William Gibson
Directed by Greg Pragel

Not much is known about the life of William Shakespeare, whom some consider to be the greatest playwright and poet in the English language. With scant information to lead him, celebrated playwright William Gibson (“The Miracle Worker”) crafts a delightfully imagined and witty look into the young life of a budding poet extraordinaire.

By W. S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
Directed by Mark Hanson

A hilarious farce of sentimental pirates, bumbling policemen, dim-witted young lovers, and an eccentric Major-General. Set sail with this most popular of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operas which hasn’t been seen on the UWSP stage for nearly twenty years. You won’t want to miss the most famous patter song in musical theatre history!

Featuring new choreography by Michael Estanich, Sarah Olson, Pamela Luedtke and guest artist Jeffery Patterson

Enjoy the power and beauty of dance in an evening of new work created by UW-Stevens Point dance faculty and guest artists. Each choreographer reveals an individual point of view through the dynamic and intricate organization of bodies moving through space. “Danstage 2025” invites you to experience all that we feel and what words cannot express.

By Scott Kaiser
Directed by Dana Dancho

In Scott Kaiser’s sequel to William Shakespeare’s beloved early ‘rom-com’ “Love’s Labour’s Lost”, four young couples reunite after four turbulent years in hopes of rekindling their romances that were dashed at the end of Shakespeare’s play due to the sudden death of the King of France. With many a twist and turn, this delightful comedy will have you guessing from beginning to end.

A Staged Reading
Directed by Jim O’Connell

Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of short free verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of the fictional Spoon River, Illinois. They are spoken from beyond the grave by former residents of the dreary, confining small town.

Directed by Laurie Schmeling and Sarah E. Ross

Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, dreaming of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. The Moors is a dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.

Directed by Mark Hanson

In this scented case of mistaken identity and letter writing, two feuding perfume clerks have no idea that they are in love. Set in a 1930s European perfumery, we meet shop clerks, Amalia and Georg, who, more often than not, don’t see eye to eye. After both respond to a “lonely hearts advertisement” in the newspaper, they now live for the love letters that they exchange, but the identity of their admirers remains unknown. Join Amalia and Georg to discover the identity of their true loves… and all the twists and turns along the way!

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

A Staged Reading
Directed by Greg Pragel

“Eurydice” reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus’s infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bridge, but through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, plot twists, and a script written to be a playground for designers, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.

Directed by Tyler Marchant

Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors’ lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.

Inspired by a true story, BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past—and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tightly in its grasp, BRIGHT STAR is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP Dance Program faculty Michael Estanich, Jeannie Hill, Sarah Olson, and a nationally recognized guest artist that displays the remarkable versatility of the UWSP Dance Program. The concert demonstrates the vast range that dance encompasses– in style, intention, feeling, and purpose. The dances created are rich investigations of the questions that we ponder in life and each one reveals, through the moving body, something special and unique.

A Staged Reading
Adapted for the Stage by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Laurie Schmeling

Winter, 1934: The Orient Express departs Istanbul for Paris. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the luxurious train in its tracks. At daybreak, an American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercules Poirot to identify the murderer – before they can strike again.

By Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

Directed by Mark Hanson
Music Director Luke Shepherd

A Christmas Carol is a spectacular adaptation of Charles Dickens’ well-known story by Broad-way heavy hitters, Alan Menken (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors) and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical, Once on This Island). The story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly visits has delighted audiences for generations! Join us this holiday season for this family friendly musical.

Staged Reading
By George Orwell
Directed by Greg Pragel

George Orwell’s satire on the perils of Stalinism has proved magnificently long-lived as a parable about totalitarianism anywhere and has given the world at least one immortal phrase: “Some are more equal than others.” The animals on a farm drive out their master and take over and run the farm for themselves. The experiment is successful, except that someone must take the deposed farmer’s place. Leadership devolves upon the pigs, which are cleverer than the rest of the animals. Unfortunately, their character is not equal to their intelligence.

Moliere, translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur
Directed by Elizabeth Parks

Outraged by the empty flattery and dishonesty of men, Alceste declares he will speak only truth—no matter who it may offend. Philinte counsels him to temper his rashness, but Alceste claims he can no longer tolerate the two-faced conventions of the world. Ironically, Alceste is enamored with Celimène, whose malicious tongue and unceasing flirtations make her the embodiment of everything Alceste professes to loathe. Upon discovering Celimène’s scathing commentary on her lovers, Alceste rejects her affection and declares that he will renounce the world and seek a place where honesty can still flourish.

Based on the motion picture Amélie written by Jean-Pierre Leunet and Guillerme Laurant
Directed by Mark Hanson

Amélie is an extraordinary young woman who lives quietly in the world but loudly in her mind. She covertly improvises small but surprising acts of kindness that bring joy and mayhem. But when a chance at love comes her way, Amélie realizes that to find happiness she’ll have to risk everything and say what’s in her heart. Be inspired by this imaginative dreamer who finds her voice, discovers the power of connection, and sees possibility around every corner.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

A Staged Reading
By Christopher Chen
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Inspired by E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India, the play follows the delicate, often impossible friendship between a local doctor and an expat teacher in a fictional, oppressed country, exploring how deep-rooted power imbalances infect personal dynamics.

By Lolita Chakrabarti
Co-directed by Parke Fech and Kendra James

The story begins at a London theatre in 1833, as the famous lead playing “Othello” has collapsed on stage. His replacement is a young black American actor, causing tension as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom. Based on the real life of Ira Aldridge, a professional actor who performed throughout Europe from 1824 until his death in 1867, Aldridge is the only black actor honored with a bronze plaque at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Mark Hanson

“Into the Woods” weaves together the stories and memorable characters of several classic fairy tales, including “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Cinderella” and “Rapunzel,” while introducing new characters. Premiering on Broadway in 1987, it was revived in 2002. A Disney film adaptation was released in 2014, featuring Meryl Streep, James Corden and Emily Blunt among the main characters.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

Staged Reading
By Michael Cristofer
Directed by Jim O’Connell

The show tells the stories of three terminally ill patients who live in cottages near a hospital and are visited by family and friends. It treats facing mortality as another stage of life, O’Connell said, as it was written in response to a new concept at the time – hospice, and the opportunity to die at home rather than a hospital.

Written and Directed by Elizabeth Parks

In “As We Climb,” a young woman has run away. As her grieving father and community are left behind, they must face their own experiences of systemic sexism and oppression and consider the ways in which they perpetuate these broken systems.

Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Joe Masteroff
Directed by Mark Hanson

Set in the Kit Kat Klub in Berlin, the show focuses on two couples – American writer Cliff Bradshaw and English cabaret performer Sally Bowles, and German boarding house owner Fraulein Schneider and her elderly Jewish suitor Herr Schultz. The club’s emcee takes the audience through the show.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

A Staged Reading
By Robert Ford
Directed by Jared Hanlin

Rosemary Dunn is not your typical English widow – she communes with the spirits of famous dead composers. She offers legendary artists, such as Liszt, Beethoven, and Brahms the opportunity to complete their unfinished symphonies, to share them with the world, and to spread the news of the afterlife.

Music and Book by James Valcq
Lyrics and Book by Fred Alley
Based on the Film by Lee David Zlotoff
Directed by Mark Hanson

A torn page from an old travel book sparks parolee Percy Talbot to journey to a small town in Wisconsin. There she finds a new life working at the Spitfire Grill. The folks in this depressed town have more to worry about than Percy’s past, but fear and hesitancy turn to friendship when Percy schemes to revive the old grill by raffling it off. The entry fee is one hundred dollars, and the best essay on why you want the grill wins. Soon mail is arriving by the wheelbarrow full, and things are definitely cookin’ at the Spitfire Grill.

By Adam Szymkowicz
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Long ago Happy left the Clown Bar and the organized clown crime world to work for the good guys. Now his junkie brother Timmy has been murdered and Happy returns to his old life to ask a few questions. But can he go home again without getting sucked into the seedy clown underbelly of vice and violence? Can he survive the gun toting clowns who used to be his friends or Blinky, the lady clown he left behind?

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

Staged Reading
Written by Sophie McIntosh
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Written by a current UW-Stevens Point drama major, the play tells of a Hollywood makeup artist who becomes entangled in a relationship with the person whose injuries she is using as a model for her next horror movie.

Based on a novel by Jane Austen
Adapted by Kate Hamill
Directed by Guest Director Erin Nicole Eggers

A drama created from Jane Austen’s classic novel follows the Dashwood sisters as they navigate life after the death of their father. When reputation is everything, how do you follow your heart? A modern twist on the Jane Austen classic.

Music and Lyrics by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus
Additional Songs by Stig Anderson
Book by Catherine Johnson
Directed and Choreographed by Jeannie Hill

Featuring songs by ABBA, the musical centers on ’70s girl Donna raising a ’90s era daughter who wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. If only her mother would tell her who he is!

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Jared Hanlin

Set in the Mississippi Delta of the 1950s, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a time capsule of the southern culture of the time. Plantation owner Big Daddy Pollitt is marking his 65^th birthday, while his alcoholic son, Brick, and daughter-in-law, Maggie, battle each other and Brick’s older brother and his wife. The play won Williams the Pulitzer in 1955 and in 1958 it became an Academy Award-nominated film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

By Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy
Directed by Mark Hanson
Music Directed by Kristin Stowell
Choreography by Jeannie Hill

The off-Broadway rock musical is set at Westerberg High School, where a shoulder-padded, scrunchie-wearing trio, each named Heather, are the hottest and meanest girls in Ohio. Another student, Veronica, seems to fit in with them until the mysterious J.D. leads her down a different path

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By Adam Szymkowicz
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Set in a small town named Colchester, the play allows local photographer Suzanne to give audiences a peek into the lives of her neighbors. She captures glimpses of romance in a town where the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs.

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jared Hanlin

The play centers on a Scottish general, Macbeth, who hears three witches prophesy that he will be king. He and his wife stop at nothing to make that happen, leading them down a path of guilt and madness. The UW-Stevens Point production sets the action in post-apocalyptic Scotland, where the destruction of the world has caused people to return to a violent, feudal society.

By Jeremy Sams
Music by Michel Legrand
Based on the original French libretto by Didier Van Cauwelaert and the short sotry “Le Passe-muraille” by Marcel Ayme
Directed by Mark Hanson

Set in Paris, “Amour” is the story of Dusoleil, an unassuming, shy office clerk who falls in love with Isabelle. When he discovers he has the power to walk through walls, he becomes a Robin Hood figure and captures the nation’s attention, as well as Isabelle’s.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

By Frank Winters
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

In “Student Body,” a group of college students finds themselves facing a moral dilemma when they view a video from a party they attended. They are locked in an intense ethical argument about how to treat a sexual assault that happened in their midst. Does someone know more than they are willing to admit? Should they report it to police? Seemingly obvious answers become complex as they argue about what to do with the video. It becomes clear everyone has something to lose.

By Eric Idle and John Du Prez
Directed by Mark Hanson

Adapted from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Spamalot” parodies the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as well as other Broadway musicals and well-known Monty Python skits. Python actor Eric Idle wrote the play and lyrics and co-wrote the music with John Du Prez. The 2005 Broadway production won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and received 14 Tony Award nominations.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

Based on the tales of Ovid
Written by Mary Zimmerman
Directed by Alan Patrick Kenny

The UWSP production brings Ovid’s classical Greek and Roman tales—such as Midas, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Alcyone and Ceyx—into a contemporary light. A signature element of Mary Zimmerman’s original script is its non-naturalistic, highly theatrical setting: the entire stage features a large, shallow pool of water. This watery environment acts as a literal and metaphorical tool, representing both the maritime origins of the stories and the fluid, ever-changing nature of the human condition.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

By Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Tyler Marchant
Music Direction by Mark Hanson

The story follows confirmed bachelor Robert and his observations on the pros and cons of marriage through his interactions with his five married, best-friend couples, all while celebrating his 35th birthday.

By Paul Slade Smith
Directed by Tyler Marchant

A fast-paced, door-slamming comedy set in an economy motel, two rookie cops attempt to videotape an embezzling mayor meeting his accountant. Chaos ensues with mistaken identities, stolen money, a mysterious Scottish hitman, and missing clothes.

Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Book by Harvey Feinstein
Directed by Alan Kenny

A classic musical that tells the heartwarming and hilarious story of Georges, a St. Tropez nightclub owner, and his partner Albin (the club’s star drag performer). Chaos ensues when their son announces his engagement to the daughter of a conservative, right-wing politician.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By Mort Shuman and Eric Blau
Composer Jacques Brel
Music Director Luke Shepherd

A tribute to Brel’s storytelling and the impact of his music, exploring themes of love, death, and war. The show features a collection of Brel’s songs, each telling a story and examining the complexities of the human heart.

By William Gibson
Based on the autobiography by Helen Keller
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

“The Miracle Worker” tells the story of Helen Keller, who lost her hearing and sight in infancy. As a young girl, Helen is introduced to Annie Sullivan, a teacher educated at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, and her life is forever changed.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

By Federico García Lorca
Translated by Langston Hughes
Adapted by Melia Bensussen
Directed by Jared Hanlin

A tragic drama set in rural Spain that engages with themes of love, honor, and violence within a society ruled by rigid traditions. The story follows two star-crossed lovers, the Bride and Leonardo Felix, who insist they must marry despite an existing feud between their families. The Bride abandons her husband, the Bridegroom, on their wedding day to run away with her former lover, Leonardo Félix. The aftermath of their actions results in violent clashes between their families.

Adapted and Directed by Tyler Marchant

A look “behind the curtain” to see how plays are actually made. Director Tyler Marchant wrote the piece himself, and it portrays a group of actors taking part in rehearsals for Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. He says the set you’ll see is not a performance space, but a working space. “The idea is to let audiences have fun with finding out what is the drama of the rehearsal room and how does that catapult a production to an opening night?”

Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Directed by Mark Hanson

A musical comedy about the ins and outs of big business in the early 60s, the show offers a jazzy Broadway score, humorous dialogue and toe-tapping, Bob Fosse-style dances to songs like “Coffee Break” and “I Believe in You.” It follows window washer J.P. Finch, played by Drew Swenson of Moorhead, Minn., as he quickly charms his way into the role of company vice president. 

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

One of Shakespeare’s most popular works, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” follows two couples as they flee into the woods to avoid arranged marriages. They find themselves entangled in a war between the king and queen of the fairies, love potions, an amateur acting troupe and a clever, mischievous fairy named Puck.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

Book by Peter Duchan
Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Directed by Alan Patrick Kennhy

Set the night before President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the story centers on three young marines who have a secret competition on the final evening out before they are deployed to Vietnam. Corporal Eddie Birdlace, played by Sam McLellan of Wautoma, meets an idealistic waitress named Rose, played by Haley Haupt of Brookfield. Despite his ill intent, Eddie learns a lesson that will stay with him in years to come.

By D.W. Gregory
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

Set in the 1920s, “Radium Girls” is about a real-life scandal that shocked America, said theater professor Steve Smith, the show’s director. Grace Fryer (played by Tatyana Nahirniak of Cottage Grove) and some of her co-workers become ill with radiation poisoning. She had direct contact with radium-based paint at her job, where she paints luminescent dials for watches. Her fight for worker’s compensation made big changes in workplace safety and child labor laws.

Book by Rachel Seinkin
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Directed by Mark Hanson

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” debuted on Broadway in 2005 and centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the bee with the goal of bringing home the title and trophy.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

Directed by Jennifer Stoessner
Music Director Luke Shepherd

Everything changes for 17-year-old Laura when her mother dies in a car accident. Thrust into caring for her younger sister and brittle father, she sneaks away on a road trip with a fellow cheerleader. Not suitable for young children.

Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Music Composed by Cy Coleman
Adapted from Play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
Directed by Alan Patrick Kenny

Part operetta, part screwball comedy and part farce, the play takes audiences all aboard a train where a theater impresario tries to convince a glamorous film star to appear in his next production.

The annual dance concert features new works by faculty and a guest choreographer.

Adapted from Greek Play by Sophocles by Jean Anouilh
Directed by Jared Hanlin

An epic battle of wills over affairs of the state, the divine and family, this ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles is set after a civil war in ancient Thebes. Not suitable for young children.

By Willy Russell
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

At her bachelorette party in a Liverpool dance club, Linda wonders if her marriage to Dave is a mistake. When Dave and her old boyfriend show up at the same club, the explosive results change her life forever in this darkly comic play by Willy Russell, writer of “Educating Rita.

Music by Richard Rogers
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Directed by Alan Patrick Kenny

Called “the best musical of the 20^th century” by Time Magazine, “Carousel” centers on a tempestuous love affair between a gruff carnival barker and a young millworker.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By Arthur Miller
Directed by Jared Hanlin

Taken from court documents and true accounts, “The Crucible” brings to vivid life the Salem witch trials of 1692. Written in 1952 as an allegory for McCarthyism, playwright Arthur Miller’s tense, spine-tingling play continues to force its audiences to re-evaluate the power of fear in our society.

Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Music Composed by Tom Kitt
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Winner of three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2009, “Next to Normal” has been called “a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals.”

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

Written by Oscar Wilde, this romantic comedy is about two men pretending to be the same man in order to woo two young women. Its high farce and witty dialogue has made this one of Wilde’s most popular plays. Professor Stephen Trovillion Smith will direct and act in what will be UW-Stevens Point’s entry in the American College Theatre Festival.

Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music Composed by Stephen Flaherty
Directed by Bradley Vieth

A musical murder mystery, “Lucky Stiff” takes audiences along to experience the glamour and glitz of Monte Carlo through a vacation with Uncle, who isn’t exactly alive. He enjoys himself just the same in this adventure complete with mistaken identities, slamming doors and 6 million dollars’ worth of diamonds.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By Paula Vogel
Directed by Jeffrey Stephens

A theatrical, funny yet devastating tale of survival, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Paula Vogel has narrator Li’l Bit recall her youth in rural Maryland during the 1960s through a series of flashbacks. As it explores the psychologically complex relationship between a seducer and the seduced, it is for mature audiences only.

By Charles L. Mee
Directed by Tyler Marchant

An originally Greek play set into modern times, “Big Love” tells how 50 brides try to escape 50 grooms in pre-arranged marriages, raising issues of gender, politics, love and domestic violence along the way. 

The annual dance concert featuring faculty choreography and special guest artists.

Adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meeham
Directed by Alan Patrick Kenny

This humorous musical, adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meeham from Brooks’ 1968 film of the same name, is the story of two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by overselling interests in a Broadway flop. Not recommended for young audiences, this will be Assistant Professor Alan Patrick Kenney’s debut production at UW-Stevens Point.

By John Millington Synge
Directed by Jeffrey Stephens

The Playboy of the Western World” is set in a small isolated village on the west coast of Ireland where a young man enters a pub and soon tells everyone he’s killed his father. How the townspeople react is a surprise. A dark, dark comedy, it’s a deeply poetic play with a lot of lush, colloquial expressions influenced by the Irish flair for storytelling.

By Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan
Lyrics by Dick Scanlan
Music Composed by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Tim Howard
Choreography by Jeannie Hill

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” tells the story of a small-town Kansas girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City in 1922 to find a rich husband. She sets her sights on her boss, Trevor Graydon, but instead finds herself falling for the flapper lifestyle and the carefree Jimmy Smith. She also has to rescue her new friend, Dorothy Brown, from the clutches of their landlady, Mrs. Meers.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By Larry Kramer
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

“The Normal Heart” focuses on how gay activist Ned Weeks strives in vain to bring attention to a then-unknown disease that is killing many of his friends and members of New York’s gay community. Along with friends, he starts an organization to bring the crisis to the attention of the media and government, and they begin working with Dr. Emma Brookner. Weeks also faces some of his own personal crises during this time.

By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Tyler Marchant

Universally thought of as one of the greatest plays in the American canon, “A Streetcar Named Desire” is the story of Blanche DuBois (played by Mona Maclay of Richland Center), a woman trying to find her place after losing the family home in Mississippi. She moves to New Orleans to stay with her sister, Stella (played by Kate VanderVelden of Belgium), and brother-in-law, Stanley (played by Jake Horstmeier of Random Lake), where all is not as it appears to be.

Original Play by Frank Wedekind
Book and Lyrics Adapted by Steven Sater
Music Composed by Duncan Sheik
Directed by Jessica Lanius

“Spring Awakening” tells the story of a group of young people growing up in Germany in the late 1800s who are dealing with the angst, hormones and emotions brought on by adolescence. Surrounded by adults that won’t discuss sex, they use song to express themselves and release their trapped feelings.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.

By Russell Vandenbroucke
Directed by Stephen Trovillion Smith

Soldier’s Circle is a documentary-style play based on the real-life blogs, letters, and experiences of American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. It explores the psychological toll of deployment, the disconnect between military and civilian life, and the day-to-day struggles faced by service members navigating a grueling conflict.

Book, Music and Lyrics by Rupert Holmes
Directed by Roger L. Nelson

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a hilarious, interactive murder-mystery musical based on Charles Dickens’s final, unfinished novel. Set in a Victorian music hall, the audience acts as detectives, voting on key plot details and the ultimate killer—making the ending different every single night.

Afterimages is an exciting and unique experience in the Department of Theatre and Dance. It features original choreography by dance majors and minors who are eager to experiment with their artistry and uses dance to explore their relationship to the world around them. This shared artistic experience focuses on student involvement and allows for collaboration and contribution from all aspects of our department. The choreographers, dancers, designers, and technicians are all UWSP Theatre and Dance students!

By John Cariani
Directed by Tyler Marchant

John Cariani’s Almost, Maine is a romantic comedy comprised of nine loosely connected vignettes. Set in a remote, mythical town in Maine on a deeply cold winter night, the play follows various residents as they experience the magical, life-altering power of love under the Aurora Borealis

By Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Tim Howard

Sunday in the Park with George is a Pulitzer-winning musical exploring the cost of artistic creation. Act I follows French pointillist painter Georges Seurat in 1884 as he obsessively creates his masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Act II shifts to 1984 to follow his cynical great-grandson seeking inspiration.

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Matthew Crider

William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy about Petruchio’s quest to “tame” the outspoken and rebellious Katherine. To win a dowry and allow Katherine’s gentle younger sister, Bianca, to marry, Petruchio uses psychological games to bend Katherine to his will, culminating in her public submission.

An exciting evening of new works created by UWSP faculty and featuring additional work by a special guest artist.