Home Fires

Written by Jack Heifner             Directed by Brian Brady

October 10—14 & 17—21

This is the story of a Texas woman trying to raise her three teenage children during hard times in World War II. The play examines family, home, honor and dreams during a time when everyone had to "make do or do without." Sonny, the teenage son, is afraid to go off to war. When Maggie, a new boarder, opens his eyes to his musical talents, Sonny fights with his mother and runs away, thus evading his draft notice. As the play moves through five years, all the characters face many obstacles, not the least of which is keeping their faith in spite of severe disappointments.

Don’t Hug Me! (Reprise)

Book and Lyrics by Phil Olson     Music by Paul Olson       Directed by Anne Jorgenson Green

One Weekend only!   November 8 – 10

It’s a love story with singin’ and stuff! Don’t Hug Me takes place in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota. It’s the coldest day of the year and cantankerous bar owner, Gunner Johnson, wants to sell the business and move to Florida. Clara, his wife and former Winter Carnival Bunyan Queen, wants to stay. Bernice Lundstrom, the pretty waitress, wants to pursue a singing career. Her fiancé, Kanute Gunderson, wants her to stay home. It’s a battle of wills, and when a fast-talking salesman, Aarvid Gisselsen, promises to bring romance into their lives through the ‘magic’ of karaoke, all heck breaks loose!

   Written by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy     Directed by Brian Brady  

Starring Amanda Irvine & Amanda Pitzer

November 15-17

In the opening scene, two Supreme Beings plan the beginning of the world with the relish of two slightly sadistic suburban wives decorating a living room. Once they’ve decided on the color scheme of the races, a little concerned that white people will feel slighted being such a boring color, they create sex and the sexes. Afraid women will have too many advantages, the Beings decide to make childbirth painful and to give men enormous egos as compensation. From this moment, the audience is whisked through the outrageous universe of Kathy and Mo, where two actresses play men and women struggling through the common rituals of modern life: teenagers on a date, sisters at their grandmother’s funeral, a man and a woman together in a country-western bar. With boundless humor, PARALLEL LIVES reexamines the ongoing quest to find parity and love in a contest handicapped by capricious gods—or in this case, goddesses. FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY.

Don’t Hug Me! Christmas Carol

Book and Lyrics by Phil Olson     Music by Paul Olson      Directed by Dennis Haney

December 5—9 & 12—16

It's Christmas Eve in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota and cantankerous bar owner Gunner Johnson gets in an argument with his wife, Clara, tells her he’s skipping Christmas, he storms out of the bar, goes snowmobiling across the lake, falls through the ice on his skidoo and goes into a coma. He comes back in his dream where he's visited by folk legend, Sven Yorgensen, who plays the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future. Sven takes Gunner (Scrooge) on a journey similar to that in Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol" only very different. Will Gunner come out of his coma and find redemption with Clara at The Bunyan? Find out.

The Kitchen Witches

Written by Caroline Smith   Directed by Tom Chase & Jim Quarnstrom

January 30 - February 3 & 6—10

Isobel Lomax and Dolly Biddle are two "mature" cable-access cooking show hostesses who have hated each other for 30 years, ever since Stephen Biddle dated one and married the other. When circumstances put them together on a TV show called The Kitchen Witches, the insults are flung harder than the food! Dolly's long-suffering TV-producer son Stephen tries to keep them on track, but as long as Dolly's dressing room is one inch closer to the set than Isobel's, it's a losing battle, and the show becomes a rating smash as Dolly and Isobel top both Martha Stewart and Jerry Springer!

Blithe Spirit

Written by Noel Coward     Directed by Amanda Irvine

March 26—30 & April 2—6

The play tells how novelist Charles Condomine invites into his placid country home an eccentric, breezy lady medium in order to learn the language of the occult. Little does Charles or his lovely second wife, Ruth, dream that the séance staged by the medium will summon back Charles' first wife, now "passed over" for seven years. But the lady from beyond, still handsome, still mischievous, appears and torments Charles by reminding him of their days and nights together. Only Charles can see or hear her. A floating vase, handed to her out of thin air, finally convinces Ruth that Charles is not losing his mind that his first wife is indeed in the room. The first wife has a ghostly plot in mind: if she can get Charles into an automobile accident and make a ghost of him, life in the spirit world will have more appeal for her. Mistakes occur, however, and it is Ruth who takes the fatal automobile ride and passes on only to return with the first wife to plague the utterly bewildered astral bigamist! How Charles manages to extricate himself from these two very blithe spirits makes a hilarious conclusion to this very unusual farce.

Late Night Alternative: VROOOMMM! A NasComedy

Written by Janet Allard & Michael Bigelow Dixon        Directed by Michele Renner

April 15-19

Holly 'Leggs' Nelson, the first woman on the NASCAR circuit beats the pants off the boys. 'Hotshot,' last year's Rookie of the Year, might have a thing for 'Leggs.' Toss in sabotage and sinister deception, and you have this comedy about the fast-paced life on the car-racing circuit. FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY.

The Hand That Cradles the Rock

Written by Warren Graves    Directed by Deb Carpenter

May 7—11 & 14—18

When Ross Cameron's first novel sold his wife Alex gave up interior design to become a mother. When his second novel is rejected, Alex returns to the working world and he stays home to watch the baby. Female assertiveness and a male's fears for his masculinity have never been funnier than in this popular summer stock and dinner theater comedy that plays the role reversal theme from every angle.

Buy tickets for "The Hand that Cradles the Rock Here!