Northern Michigan University Theater & Dance has released the lineup of eight productions that will be featured during the 2023-2024 season. The kick-off event is the "Wildcat Theatre Follies," a showcase of students performing scenes, songs, monologues and dance pieces.
The comedic musical “Monty Python's Spamalot," which offers a parody of Arthurian legends, will follow from Oct. 12-14 and 19-20. It is based on the 1975 film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
“Clybourne Park,” which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as a 2012 Tony Award for Best Play, will be staged Nov. 2-4 and 9-11. It is presented in two acts set 50 years apart. The first takes place in 1959, as nervous community leaders anxiously try to stop the sale of a home to a black family. Act two is set in the same house in the present day, as the now predominantly African-American neighborhood battles to hold its ground in the face of gentrification.
Charles Dickens' classic tale, “A Christmas Carol” will ring in the holiday season Dec. 7-9 and 14-16. The story of the miserly Ebeniezer Scrooge will be brought to life as he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner as well as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
CO/LAB Company, a dance production showcasing choreography and performances by NMU students and faculty, will run Feb. 1-3. On Feb. 10, Eisenhower Dance Detroit will present a show in Forest Roberts Theatre as well.
Another parody, this one based on the Harry Potter book series, will be presented Feb. 22-24 and Feb. 29-March 1. “Puffs,” or “Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic,” is about a group of people who attended the same school of magic as “a certain boy wizard.” This play is “a tale for anyone who has never been destined to save the world."
“Anything Goes” is the final production of the academic year. The classic musical from 1934 is coming to Forest Roberts Theatre April 11-13 and 18-20. The show is about the antics aboard an ocean liner from New York to London, and introduced songs such as “Anything Goes” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.”
Tickets will become available closer to the season at tickets.nmu.edu.