Lauren VanSpeybroeck, courtesy of Nick West PhotographyAs with many things in life, it can be blamed on a friendly purple dinosaur.

Steven Sepson and Sean Lynch in Die FledermausMy enjoyment of Die Fledermaus, presented by Opera @ Augustana and Genesius Guild, started with the first notes heard by the orchestra playing Johann Strauss' operetta. The beauty of this ensemble's seemingly flawless performance caused my spirit to swell with delight, and added to the experience of sitting in Lincoln Park's outdoor theatre, watching the stars appear and listening to the sounds of nature. Due to the mixture of the open-air atmosphere and the richness of Strauss' splendidly well-performed composition, I was overwhelmed during Saturday's performance with a sense of art and culture - and all this before a single note was sung.

Sarah Ade Wallace, Bryan Woods and Tommy Ratkiewicz in I Take This ManTo be frank, I didn't find the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's comedy I Take This Man all that funny, at least not consistently. However, playwright Jack Sharkey's plot - about a single woman who brings home an unconscious Boston Marathon runner in order to finally have the romance she's long wanted - is incredibly interesting, particularly considering the gradual pace at which Sharkey's story unfolds, leaving you constantly wondering what will happen next. I may not have laughed as much as Sharkey would have liked, but I was certainly entertained during Thursday's performance.

Calvin Vo and Bryan Woods in The AcharniansThis year's end-of-season Greek comedy by Genesius Guild, The Acharnians, is high on political humor, musical numbers, and sharply funny barbs at the expense of local organizations - especially Genesis Health System and Trinity Regional Health System (now UnityPoint Health) - and the cities of Moline, Davenport, and Rock Island. And I was smiling from ear to ear during almost the entirety of Saturday's performance, tickled by the clever jokes, amusing songs, and even the groan-worthy puns.

Anna Tunnicliff, Neil Friberg, Bryan Woods, and Torey Baxa in The FrogsSince first experiencing one of Genesius Guild's end-of-season comedies two summers ago, I've eagerly anticipated playwright/director Don Wooten's witty work each subsequent year. His sharp, humorous, sometimes biting rewrites of Aristophanes comedies abound with political, pop-culture, and theatre references at the local and national levels. And while I've not had the honor of being personally referenced in one of his jokes - at least not while I was present - this year's The Frogs features hilariously pointed jabs at almost every theatre company in the Quad Cities area, with Saturday's performance the funniest of the three annual Guild spoofs I've yet seen.

Amanda Wales, Michael King, and Andy Curtiss in Measure for MeasureThree hours goes by quite quickly during Genesius Guild's well-paced, oftentimes hilarious production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. While the piece is considered a "problem play," as the script defies the expectations of a traditional comedy, director Jeff Coussens highlights the work's ample amounts of humor, particularly in the production's first half. And with Coussens and his cast punching up every punchline through inflection and a sort of "nudge-nudge, wink-wink" attitude, I ended up laughing harder at Saturday's presentation, I believe, than I've ever laughed while watching a Shakespeare performance.

Guys & Dolls ensemble membersOn any given day, the musical I consider my all-time favorite will either be Sweeney Todd or Guys & Dolls ... unless that day is the day after I've seen a production of Guys & Dolls, in which case it's the clear winner. Heaven knows there are plenty of entertaining, tune-filled warhorses from Broadway's golden era, but do any of them have the effervescent fizz and pop of composer/lyricist Frank Loesser's 1950 triumph, a beautifully constructed musical comedy so funny and clever and sweet that it can keep you happy and humming for hours - like, 100 hours - after it ends?

Aristophanes' The WaspsIt's not easy for me to review Genesius Guild's The Wasps, as this comedy does not rely on quality acting, the focus of most of my reviews. (In truth, the actors who don't try to be hilarious and don't attempt great acting here are more successful at being funny than the few that do.) Don Wooten's direction also doesn't matter as much for The Wasps as directing would in, say, King Lear. As was stated in the pre-show speech, this is sort of the Guild's end-of-summer party, with the audience invited to watch the actors intentionally make fools of themselves. And happily, this party is utterly ridiculous and, at times, raucously funny, and elicited waves of laughter through Saturday night's crowd.

James Alt and Pat Flaherty in King LearThere may be some of you who hear the title King Lear and, knowing only of the play's reputation as the mack daddy of all Shakespeare tragedies, immediately presume that any evening production of the piece will last well into the next morning. Allow me, then, to quell your fears: Saturday's Genesius Guild staging of the Bard's opus began promptly at eight o'clock, and after the night's presentation had concluded, I was back in my car by 10:55.

Pat Flaherty in King Lear"I think it came from going to church," says area actor Pat Flaherty of his childhood interest in theatre. "Because I'd go to church, and I'd see this guy who was holding everybody's interest through the whole service. It was very dramatic - they'd light the candles and ring the bells and everything - and for a while I thought I wanted to be a priest because of that.

"It turned out I just wanted to be on stage."

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