STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — There’s still two final chances to see the latest UW Stevens Point Theatre and Dance production of “On The Twentieth Century.”
The show began last weekend, and has two shows remaining Friday and Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the UW Stevens Point Jenkins Theatre.
UW Stevens Point professor Alan Patrick Kenny is the Director for the show, which features plenty of music and laughter. It’s a crazy comedy, and a little bit of a mock opera as well. It’s a fantastic show that’s never done very often, based on the old screwball comedy Twentieth Century, which some of your audience might have seen in 1932.”
The story is about a flamboyant theatrical producer who tries to convince his now-famous former protege to come work with him, so he can stage a successful show and get the creditors to leave him alone. Kenny says the show is set on the Twentieth Century, which was a train that used to run from Chicago to New York overnight. “This is the 1930’s version, so think art deco, think a lot of chrome, think of that streamlined look, and we have to put a whole train on the Jenkins Theatre stage, which is just fantastic, and our scenic designer Greg Kay has done a remarkable job.”
Kenny says there are 29 actors on stage plus additional technical assistants and stage hands. He says some of the students that made Carousel! a success last year are also in this production. “It’s absolute fluff and hysterical fun, and a lot of ridiculous characters singing at the top of their lungs in a three-octave range, while shouting out Shakespearean level insults. If you think of “Kiss me Kate” and you think of that kind of great musical comedy, it’s that plus that screwball comedy flare.”
On the Twentieth Century tickets are $19 for adults, $18 for seniors, $14 for youth and $4.50 for students with UW-Stevens Point ID. Tickets are available at the UW-Stevens Point Information and Tickets Office, located in the Dreyfus University Center concourse, by calling 715-346-4100 or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu.
(Listen to our interview with Alan Patrick Henry on our website, here.)
