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If you haven’t sampled the area’s community theater scene lately, the stars have aligned for a mega-dose of options that show the diversity local live plays provide. You can traipse through Oz with Dorothy, go back in time with with America’s founding fathers, or revel in the hospitality of the Beast’s animated candlestick.
And while it’s across the county line, for one night only on June 28, the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble is staging the experimental play “White Rabbit, Red Rabbit,” done by a single actor with no rehearsal, no director and a script he never read, kept in a sealed envelope on stage until the play starts.
The area is remarkably blessed with an abundance of people eager to put the time and effort into productions of wide-ranging works, and it is worth reminding readers of that local asset. Lest we forget, culture does not bypass “coal country.”
You are encouraged to check out the other acts in different venues and formats, of course. While, as the Bard said, “the play’s the thing,” it is not the only thing. But it’s a mighty dominant one right now.
The what, where and when of offerings in this last week of June is impressive:
• The Wizard of Oz. The Music Box players on Hughes Street in Swoyersville are staging the musical 80 years after the classic movie debuted, Fridays through Sundays, to June 30. You can do just the show or come early for the dinner. Call 570-238-2195, or visit them online at musicbox.org. Catch the heartless tin man, brainless scarecrow and cowardly lion. Oh, and Toto too!
“What makes the elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage!”
•Beauty and the Beast. Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre (537 N. Main St.) through June 30, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Call 570-823-1875 or visit them at ltwb.org. Yes, Belle gets caught up in the mystery of the Beast’s curse, Gaston gets mindlessly macho, and the Beast finds true love as the last petal on that magic rose falls.
“Soup du jour, Hot hors d’oeuvres, Why, we only live to serve. Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious. Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes! They can sing, They can dance, After all, Miss, this is France, And a dinner here is never second best! Go on, unfold your menu Take a glance and then you’ll Be our guest!”
• 1776. The Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts on Broad Street in Hazleton, through July 7, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Call 570-454-5451, or visit online at ferraracenter.org. John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and the original giant signatory himself, John Hancock, join the Continental Congress to usher in a new nation with wit and music, including a round of trying to hand off responsibility for the Declaration of Independence to each other.
Franklin: “Mr. Adams I say you should write it, to your legal mind and brilliance we defer.” Adams: “Is that so? Well, if I’m the one to do it, they’ll run their quill pens through it, I’m obnoxious and disliked you know that sir.” Franklin: “Yes I do.”
• White Rabbit, Red Rabbit. As explained, there is no preview to give, nor lines to quote. Call BTE at 570-784-8181, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, or go online at bte.org.