Musical comedy coming to Niswonger

The next two weekends offer two different types of stage productions, but both filled with comedy and music.  This Sunday, appropriately so, the Church Basement Ladies come to Van Wert again to present Church Basement Ladies: A Mighty Fortress is Our Basement.  These ladies of the church basement have been to the Niswonger before and always leave us in stitches; probably because so many of us can relate to them so well.

As I understand this latest version, the ladies of the Lutheran Church are going to marry one of their own girls to a Catholic boy.  The Lutheran ladies must go to the Catholic Church basement to give the reception.  Well … you can imagine what kind of shenanigans and situations might arise from this experience!

The popularity of these shows have required us to present two of them.  We are offering a 3 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 evening show.  The afternoon show is sold out, but if you really want to experience some good, wholesome laughter this Sunday, you can still get into the 7:30 p.m. show.

We follow the Church Basement Ladies with a hilarious look at the King’s Navy in Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. This production comes to us from the New York City-based Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Most of their productions are done at Symphony Space, located at Broadway and 95th in New York City; however, we are fortunate to have them bring this treasured comedic operetta on the road with the full production.

The Koch Orchestra Pit will be lowered and filled with a large orchestra and the Central Insurance Stage will be filled with singers, character actors, and beautiful scene drops, making this a huge production.

Many have commented that they performed HMS Pinafore and other Gilbert & Sullivan productions while in high school. The Gilbert & Sullivan productions are musically challenging because they take skilled singers to pull it off effectively.  We don’t see many high school productions anymore, which makes it even more enticing to see this professional production with skilled singers and actors, many of whom have been in Broadway and Opera productions in New York City.

We have just a week and a half before we draw names on April 1 for non-profit organizations wishing to serve food as a fundraiser with the Fountain Park Summer Music Series concerts.  Call (419.238.1743), email (paul@vanwertcountyfoundation.org), or stop by (138 E. Main St.) to provide us with contact information about your organization.

Brochures for the Fountain Park Summer Music Series are being prepared and should be available soon.  I will let you know when they are completed.  Think summer; and in the meantime, I hope to see you at the upcoming shows, ready to laugh and enjoy!

FINÉ.