Season 55: Tragedy Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight!
June 27 – August 11, 2024
Subscriptions & Single Tickets on sale Now!
TAM’s Tragedy Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight 55th Anniversary Season celebrates and pokes fun at Shakespeare in many forms; from the bickering middle-aged and awkward young lovers in Much Ado, to Anne Hathaway’s ode to her life with the greatest playwright to ever set pen to paper in Shakespeare’s Will, to the comic masterpiece of two buffoonish brothers wrangling over how best to bring-up their wards in Moliere’s comic romp, The School for Husbands, and finally Souvenir, the musical story of Florence Foster Jenkins and her long-time accompanist who took the opera world by storm but not always in a sensitive way. TAM’s 2024 Season is roller coaster of a ride through decades of comedy. So buckle up for a magical mystery tour of love, longing, and laughter.
Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Confirmed bachelor and soldier Benedick and bright and, often belligerent, Beatrice are obviously meant for one another. Their young proteges, Hero and Claudio, exude love as fresh as springtime dew. But fate has other plans for these two couples, and while Benedick and Beatrice’s friends try to trick the pair into admitting their feelings, the deceitful Don John tricks Claudio into believing that Hero has been unfaithful. It’ll take a wild mix of games, pranks, a disrupted wedding, a faked death, and the utter ineptitude of the local constable to set true love on the right course. Much Ado About Nothing is a sparkling screwball comedy filled with colorful characters, passionate poetry, and Shakespeare’s wittiest wordplay.
Souvenir
by Stephen Temperley
For more than half a century the name Florence Foster Jenkins has been guaranteed to produce explosions of derisive laughter. Not unreasonably so, as this wealthy society eccentric suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano when she was in fact incapable of producing two consecutive notes in tune. Souvenir, by turn hilarious and poignant, tells her story through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon; following the genesis of their partnership from its earliest days to their infamous concert in Carnegie Hall and its aftermath. With each new imagined triumph Florence’s confidence soars. Faced with her boundless certainty, Cosme comes to revise his attitude, not only towards her singing but to the very meaning of music itself. A musical odd-couple for the ages.
Shakespeare’s Will
by Vern Thiessen
Meet Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare’s wife, defiantly graceful, unsparingly brave, proudly imperfect. As Anne mourns her husband, avoiding reading his will, she unpacks their relationship before our eyes; revealing secrets and passions from the day they met, to the day he died. As the multiple layers of the play’s title are revealed, we are irreversibly immersed in Anne’s story: her sacrifices, her wisdom, her sexuality and, last but far from least, her ongoing efforts to remain faithful to herself. Shakespeare’s Will sheds light on unexplored aspects of Hathaway’s life by looking through the eyes and heart of the woman who spent a lifetime with, and without, the great poet. This work is the celebration of a life unbowed by tragedy and unapologetic in the face of public scorn.
The School for Husbands
by Molière
Brothers Sganarelle and Ariste are entrusted with the upbringing of two orphaned sisters in this fast and funny Molière adaptation. While Ariste lets his ward, Leonor, have total freedom, Sganarelle keeps his Isabella locked up in preparation for the marriage he is planning. Still, Isabella falls in love with Valere, a man she sees passing below her balcony. Through intrepid plotting, Isabella passes messages to her intended through the unwitting Sganarelle, even dressing up as her loose-behaving sister to trick Sganarelle into supporting her marriage to Valere.
FALL SHOW
Always… Patsy Cline
Created and Originally Directed by Ted Swindley
September 12 – 22, 2024
This heartfelt celebration, full of emotion and down-home country humor, is sure to leave you tapping your toes to songs you know and love! Featuring hits such as “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and “Crazy,” Always… Patsy Cline is based on the true story of Cline’s friendship with her biggest fan, Louise Seger. After Cline’s tragic and untimely death, Louise reminisces on their happenstance friendship, her love for the singer, and the letters they wrote one another over the years, which Patsy consistently signed “Love Always…Patsy Cline”.