Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness
Alan Talaga
Meaghan Heires and Anthony Cary (from left) in "Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness."
Meaghan Heires and Anthony Cary (from left) in "Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness," Broom Street Theater, 2023.
media release: After selling out every show of its original Madison run, the original play Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness goes on the road to Minneapolis, MN; Indianapolis, IN; and Madisonapolis, WI. (Okay, the last one is just Madison but we wanted to keep the ‘apolis’ going.)
Described by Madison Magazine as “packed with gags... as well as high-octane fight scenes and cinematic set changes,” Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness, written by Alan Talaga and directed by Doug Reed, is a post-apocalyptic tale that takes place ten years after the collapse of society. All that remains of humanity is a scattering of isolated villages. From the ashes, one brave woman tries to restart civilization by building a place where people can once again come together: a shopping mall. But the warlords who thrive in chaos want to destroy this new mall before it can even open. To save the mall, to save humanity itself, she will need to find and recruit the greatest mall cop the world has ever known.
Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness will be participating in the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival for five shows at Minneapolis’s Strike Theater. Then, the production will travel to the 2024 IndyFringe festival for three shows at Indianapolis’s IndyFringe Basile Theatre. Additionally, the production will return to Madison’s Broom St Theater for four shows for Madison locals who couldn’t see the show the first time or just want to see it again.
This is the first play by Alan Talaga, a Madison comedian and writer. While he has never seen either of the Paul Blart films, Talaga says he was inspired by the trend of media franchises that won’t let their heroes retire. "From Captain Picard to Indiana Jones, we’ve seen every aging pop culture hero trotted out for one last adventure. I thought it would be funny to give that legacy sequel treatment to Paul Blart." says Talaga.
Director Doug Reed was amazed by how much the play resonated with audiences. “During the original run, we had to turn people away every single night. We had audience members drive for hours to see the show. Long-time Blart fans loved it, people who never heard of the old movies loved it," says Reed, “We knew this play had legs and I knew we could take this on tour.”
Bringing the script to life onstage is a talented cast that includes: Reed, Amy Rowland, Meaghan Heires, Alyssa Stowe, Sibley, Shivam Patel, Casey Brown, and Anthony Cary as the mysterious Booker Walden. Reed says, “We have a number of actors reprising their roles from the original production. But we’ve also added some new actors who are making choices that keep the show fresh and alive.”
Performances and Ticket Links
Broom St Theater - Madison
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
Sunday, July 28 - 4:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, August 18 - 4:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Strike Theater - Minneapolis, MN
Tickets: https://minnesotafringe.org/
Friday, August 2 - 10:00 PM
Saturday, August 3 - 8:30 PM
Thursday, August 8 - 5:30 PM
Saturday, August 10 - 7:00 PM
Sunday, August 11 - 1:00 PM
IndyFringe Basile Theatre - Indianapolis, IN
Tickets: https://indyfringe.org/
Thursday, August 22 - 9:30 PM
Friday, August 23 - 6:30 PM
Saturday, August 24 - 2:00 PM
Find tickets to all tour dates at: https://linktr.ee/