The UW-Platteville Heartland Festival, UWP’s summer arts festival, has announced the casts for the 2008 performance season. This season marks the eighth outing for the annual arts festival.
“I am very excited for this season to get started,” reports John Hassig, Executive Director of the Festival and Performing & Visual Arts, Programs & Facilities at UWP. “It seems like we just closed last season, but we open our first show very shortly. It is another ambitions season for us with four productions, but we have assembled four amazingly talented casts.”
The opening show in the 2008 season is Wake Me When I’m Dead. The entire O'Malley family has gathered for Uncle Sean's wake. Shocked as they are by the old boy's sudden and unexpected departure, they're determined to give him a send off as only an Irish family can. But there's a mumbling within the clan that the death might not have been an accident. Rumors are flying about changes in the will, and Sean's outrageous claims about the end of the rainbow. The cast includes Bill Haskins of Lancaster, Marcia Russell of Platteville, Michael Rangel of Prairie Du Chien, Brigid Kelley of Dubuque, Ryan Bartscher of Byron, IL, Jay Cullen of Dublin, OH and Jason Slattery of Berea, OH. The performance is directed by Heartland regular Vivienne Elborne (Pump Boys and Dinettes, Nunsense, Nunsense 2, Little Shop of Horrors, Greater Tuna) of San Antonio Texas.
“Wake Me When I’m Dead is definitely a new sort of show for us,” explained Hassig. “We have done pre-show dinners but with this one dinner is an integral part of the performance. It’s very interactive but no one will be put on the spot!” Since all tickets to Wake Me When I’m Dead include dinner, tickets should be purchased one business day in advance. A limited number of tickets will be available on a walk-up basis. Doors will open at 30 minutes before show time for seating. The performance opens on Friday June 13.
The second show will be the musical comedy "I Love You, You're Perfect...Now Change". This celebration of the dating game takes on the truths and myths behind that contemporary conundrum known as "the relationship." The cast features Kelsey Klug of Platteville, Abby Schultz from Dubuque, Paul Helm of Wind Lake, Aaron Sitrick of Beloit as well as Marci Russell and Jason Slattery. The performance opens on June 20. Pre-show dinners are available on July 12 and July 18. Vivienne Elborne directs.
The characters of Arnold Lobel come alive in the musical "A Year with Frog and Toad"; an inventive, exuberant and totally enchanting experience. This wonderful show remains true to the spirit of the original stories as it follows two great friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the rather grumpy Toad through four fun-filled seasons. The cast includes Cullen and Bartscher in the title roles with Klug, Schultz and Helm playing various animals of the forest including birds, snails, turtles and more. Ann Farrelly, Assistant Professor of Theater at UW-Platteville directs.
The final production of the season will be the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber masterpiece "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this delightful musical parable. The cast features Aaron Sitrick in the title role with Abby Schultz and Kelsey Klug as the Narrators. The spectacular show features a cast of 80 including Lydia Baus of Bloomington, Tianna Conway, Alyssa Reynolds, Michael Loeffelholz, Ally Averkamp , Lily Averkamp, Breanna Line, Katie Loeffelholz and Anthony Zilliox of Cuba City, Matt Finkenbinder of Darlington, Madalyn Pfohl, of Dickeyville, Kasia Gneiser, Logan Manders, Taylor Manders of Dubuque, Grace Hammermeister of Fennimore, Maggie Schmitt and Elyssa Vondra of Lancaster, Angela Melby and Christine Melby of Monfort, John Hassig , Kia Gronski, Kady Beekman, Lizzie Hansen, Tiffany Lange, Lori Hillery, Susan Cramer, Cyrena Sexton, Brenna Long, Zack Winkler, Brandon Pink, David Schoonover, Ryan Currie, Craig Schlagel, Daniel Ellis, Amanda Valiquette, Jamie Van Haren, Marrisa Wagner, Aubrea Wagner, Avinash Sukhwal, Sarah Anderson, Taylor Beebe, Quinn Collins, Tessa Collins, John Cramer, Tom Cramer, James Etukudo, Jenna Faber, Olivia Ficke-Anderson , Regan Geigle, Baille Hunt, Amaya Jarding , Quinn Kafar, Sarah-Kate Kenney, T.J. Kenney, Autumn Skye Kivi, E.J. Kruser, Jessica LeGrand, Kaitlyn Loeffelholz, Phoebe Moore, Cassidy Roth, Mattea Scanlan, McKenzie Scanlan, Rachel Schaefer, Miranda Sexton, Alex Sonsalla, Audrey Sonsalla, Alissa Stanley, Ben Wilson, Emma Wilson, Madeline Wilson, Vanessa Woodworth, and Allison Woodworth of Platteville plus Brigid Kelley, Jason Slattery, Ryan Bartscher, Jay Cullen, Michael Rangel. Paul Helm, who directed Seussical the Musical in the 2007 season, directs.
The Festival will continue its repertory schedule with all four productions running on a rotating basis through August 3rd. Travelers have the option of spending a weekend in Platteville and being able to see four different performances in two days. Evening performances have been changed to 7:30pm with matinees at 2pm. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday. For a complete schedule visit the Festival website www.uwplatt.edu/arts/heartland.or call the Box Office to request a brochure to be mailed to you.
Tickets are available through the University Box Office. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday 9am-5pm and can be reached by calling (608)-342-1298. The University Box Office is located in the ground floor of the newly renovated Ullsvik Hall University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus on the intersection of Hickory and Main streets. The CFA Box Office location opens 1.5 hours before scheduled performances. Tickets are also available online 24/7 at http://tickets.uwplatt.edu.
