Headliners

Summer theater ranges from failed movie revamps to blockbusters like 1776. Which could be the next best thing to tickets for Hamilton.

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Summer used to be the slow time for theater. Not anymore. Here are some headlines for the headliners I’m looking forward to in the Madison area as the weather gets warmer and the days get longer. Make time for these shows, in between trips to the farmers’ market, cookouts in the backyard and staking out a good spot for the fireworks.

Music Theater of Madison brings Little Miss Sunshine to life

Movie audiences got to know the Hoover family in the 2006 dramedy starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin. The dysfunctional group was eccentric, deeply flawed and fiercely committed to one another, and it was a box office and critical success.

But what works in the movies does not always work onstage. When William Finn and James Lapine (A New Brain, Falsettos, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) took on the quirky family story it should have been Broadway gold. Instead, the show closed after only a month.

Enter Music Theatre of Madison, a company that embraces offbeat, edgy and obscure musicals, giving them new life on a smaller stage. Executive director Meghan Randolph will direct the production, featuring local theater luminaries Liz Griffith and Paul Milisch, along with a bevy of young “mean girls” who harass the adorable misfit Olive, played by 9-year-old Abigail Dalton. And even if she doesn’t win the coveted title of Little Miss Sunshine, audiences can be assured that she will win the day.

Capital City Theatre showcases Broadway performers in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

CCT founder Andrew Abrams left Madison for a stint in the Big Apple a few years ago, but now he’s back, bringing big musicals to his hometown, featuring talent he scouted in New York City. For this summer’s blockbuster, Capital City will present a staged concert of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in Overture’s Capitol Theater, for one weekend only. Part classic novel, part Disney musical, the show focuses on the love story between the famously deformed bell ringer Quasimodo and the beautiful Romani girl Esmerelda in 15th-century Paris. Julian Decker and Syndee Winters, the two leads, have Broadway, national tour, and regional credits, including stints in Les Miserables, The Lion King and Ragtime. In fact, Decker has played the titular hunchback before. Not to be outdone, Winters took a turn as all three Schuyler sisters in Broadway’s Hamilton and was part of the recent TV production of Jesus Christ Superstar. These superstars will be backed up by dozens of locals — a 50-member supporting cast and chorus, and a 24-person orchestra. With Brian Cowing directing, we can all look forward to hearing “The Rhythm of the Tambourine.”

Four Seasons offers a fantastic, fun history lesson in 1776

In the wake of the award-winning mega-hit Hamilton, there has been renewed interest in all things founding fathers and the American Revolution — making the musical 1776 by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone a perfect candidate for revival. 1776 chooses John Adams as the protagonist, and focuses on his efforts to get the Declaration of Independence signed by representatives from all 13 colonies. Along with Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin have big roles, and as written, the rest of the large cast is filled out with old, white guys. Only two women — Martha Washington and Abigail Adams — are included in the drama, set during that famous, stifling summer in Philadephia’s Independence Hall. But using gender- and color-blind casting, the Four Seasons production will be both inclusive and diverse, featuring female performers in many key parts.

Directed as a staged concert by Forward Theater artistic director and self-described political junkie Jennifer Uphoff Gray, the show will seat the 26-member cast onstage in front of a 24-piece orchestra. The actors will perform with books in hand and have limited choreography, but the country’s origin story is sure to shine bright, showcasing Madison musical theater favorites Jace Nichols, Tom Hensen, Clare and Scott Haden, Donavon Armbruster, Sean Langenecker, Peter Hunt, Erin McConnell and Sarah Streich, among others.

Did somebody say, “Feed me?” UW-Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors shows the darkly comic side of horticulture

As a “horror comedy rock musical” that features an enormous blood-thirsty plant as a main character, Little Shop of Horrors is in a class by itself. Based on a low-budget movie from the 1960s by the same name, Little Shop was transformed into a musical in the early 1980s by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, long before they were composing Disney classics “Under the Sea” for A Little Mermaid or “Be Our Guest,” for Beauty and the Beast. It quickly became as popular with high school drama departments and community theaters as it was on Broadway, where it ran for five years. In addition to the man-eating plant, a sadistic dentist, a doo-wop trio of narrators, a silly blonde, a meek and unlikely hero and an evil florist, the show contains the classic songs “Suddenly Seymour” and “Someplace That’s Green.” Shad Willingham will direct and choreograph the show, while Lisa Mueller acts as music director for the cast of UW-Madison undergraduates.

It’s always a great night at American Players Theatre

There are very few theater companies whose work can be highly recommended across the board regardless of the play being performed. APT is one of those companies. With a core group of unparalleled actors — many of whom have made Spring Green their artistic and family home — and a legacy of presenting superlative productions of the classics, APT will provide an extraordinary and accessible experience for students, families, casual theater goers, and drama snobs alike. With the addition of the indoor Touchstone Theatre, patrons have the choice of seeing Shakespeare as the sun sets on the pastoral landscape or experiencing a more intimate, often more modern play in air-conditioned comfort. At the top of my list this summer are Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Athol Fugard’s Blood Knot and Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday. Some are funny, some are overtly political, some deal with race; all of them deal with complex human characters in extreme situations. I already have my picnic prepped. I can’t wait.

Celebrate the Bartell’s 20th season with Temps! The Musical!

Back in Mercury Players’ inaugural season at the Bartell, the company decided to mount a quirky, original musical about the mind-numbing work, constant humiliations and general desperation of temporary workers. The indignities of these meager wage earners had been catalogued in a zine by Madisonian Jeff Kelly called Temp Slave. That became the inspiration for the musical, by husband-and-wife team Andrew Rohn and Catherine Capellaro (now Isthmus arts & culture editor). Two decades later, the creators of the Off-Broadway hit Walmartopia and leaders of the disco band VO5 are revisiting their first stage triumph, now called Temps! The Musical! You should too.