DECORAH, IA (10/02/2014)(readMedia)-- Michael Ehrecke, Luther College senior of Davenport, Iowa, and Lis Athas, Luther College senior of Blue Grass, Iowa, will perform as Nurse in Luther's Visual and Performing Arts production of "A Thread in the Dark," by Hella Haasse.

"A Thread in the Dark" is the story of an individual challenging gods, heroes, myths and monsters in pursuit of truth. In the story, Ariadne watches her father, King Minos, send 14 young men and women into the labyrinth as sacrifice to the minotaur each year. Horrified, Ariadne feels helpless to act, until Theseus is called in as a sacrifice. Buoyed by her love for Theseus, Ariadne finds the courage to demand that her father spare the lives of this year's 14. Instead, she soon discovers that deep within the labyrinth, there are secrets and terrors more horrible than monsters.

The performances, held in the Jewel Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the Luther campus, are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, and 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11.

Ehrecke, the son of Mark and Nancy Ehrecke, is majoring in theatre at Luther. He is a 2011 graduate of Davenport West High School.

Tickets for the performances are $12 for adults, $5 for children five and under. Tickets can be purchased at Luther's ticket website, www.tickets.luther.edu, by calling the Ticket Office at (563) 387-1357, or by visiting the Luther Ticket Office, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9-10:30 a.m. and 11a.m.-3 p.m.; and Tuesday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with extended hours on Thursdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

"A Thread in the Dark" is directed by guest director, Ylfa Muindi.

Recently Muindi wrote and performed her one-woman show, "Typhoid Fever", as part of Chicago's long running fringe festival, Rhino Fest. She regularly collaborates with Redmoon Theater, which used her puppets for "Astronaut's Birthday" at the Museum of Contemporary Art. In Chicago she has also worked with Collaboraction, Curious Theater Branch, Rough House, Screen Door Productions and the Whiskey Rebellion.

Muindi's unique style is evident in all her productions. She says, "I utilize puppetry, spectacle, and robust physical performance to tell stories in ways that overcome the barriers created by language, ability and societal norms."

October 1, 2014 - Iowa City, Iowa - This fall, Riverside Theatre brings to Iowa City KIMBERLY AKIMBO, David Lindsay-Abaire's quirky comedy, directed by Sean Christopher Lewis.

Kimberly is your regular teenager, except that she has an age-advancing genetic disease, an alcoholic father, a pregnant, hypochondriac mother and a pesky criminal aunt.  Now she is facing the most terrifying thing of all... the possibility of first love.

Featuring Jody Hovland as Kimberly, with Tim Budd, Carrie Houchins-Witt, Kristy Hartsgrove Mooers, and Frankie Rose.  Budd, Houchins-Witt, Hovland and Mooers were all seen in the cast of Lindsay-Abaire's GOOD PEOPLE last January at Riverside.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO runs Thursday-Sunday, October 17-November 2, 2014.  Tickets: Adults, $28-30; Youth, $18, Student Rush, $20.   Details at riversidetheatre.org, or by phone at 319-338-7672.   Riverside Theatre is located at 213 N. Gilbert Street, Iowa City, Iowa.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO is the second show of Riverside's 34^th season of professional theatre.

ABOUT THE PLAY

"It's rare to find a play that is both incredibly poignant on topics like loneliness and love but that can still stay completely hysterical and surprising throughout." -Sean Christopher Lewis, Director 

Moving suddenly to Bogota (pronounced buh-GO-da), New Jersey in the 80's is tough, especially with a dysfunctional family, especially as a teenage girl with an extremely rare age-advancing disease.  But Kimberly has more to deal with than being 16 and looking 70 - her family is hiding a secret and is hoping that they'll be safe in Bogota....

The play contains coarse language.

The Characters:

Kimberly Levaco (Jody Hovland):  A sixteen year old girl who has an age-advancing genetic disease.  Besides trying to do her schoolwork like a normal teenager, she's dating a boy for the first time... and helping her homeless aunt commit a little fraud.

Pattie Levaco, Kimberly's Mom (Carrie Houchins-Witt):  A very pregnant, sharp-tongued hypochondriac with casts on both arms (carpel tunnel surgery) who is hiding a very big secret from the world.

Buddy Levaco, Kimberly's Dad (Tim Budd): A good natured alcoholic who loves his family but while at the bar forgets important domestic details, like dinner, and Kimberly's birthday.

Jeff McCracken, Kimberly's love interest (Frankie Rose): An awkward teenage boy in Kimberly's class who plays Dungeons & Dragons and studies the "puzzleistic arts", especially anagrams, and who has a big crush on Kimberly.

Debra, Kimberly's aunt (Kristy Hartsgrove Mooers): Homeless, foul-mouthed and resourceful, Debra follows the Levaco family from town to town causing criminal mischief.  Though she is unstable, she is emotionally close with Kimberly.

The play is brought to life by professional designers Courtney Schmitz (Scenic & Lighting Designer), Sarah Pipho (Costume Designer), and Sean Christopher Lewis (Sound Designer & Director).

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Sean Christopher Lewis is a director, actor and playwright. His work has won the Kennedy Center's Rosa Parks Award, NEA Voices in Community Award, Smith Prize, Barrymore Award and numerous other awards. With Riverside he has directed Mary's Wedding, Goat Show, Marion Bridge, Venus in Fur, The Syringa Tree and Manning Up. He has also directed for the Centre X Centre International Theatre Festival in Rwanda and at the Institut Del Teatre in Barcelona. Lewis is the artist director of Working Group Theatre.

KIMBERLY AKIMBO PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Fri 10/17, 7:30pm

Sat 10/18, 7:30pm

Sun 10/19, 2:00pm

Thurs 10/23, 7:30pm

Fri 10/24, 7:30pm

Sat 10/25, 7:30pm

Sun 10/26, 2:00pm

Thurs 10/30, 7:30pm

Fri 10/31, 7:30pm

Sat 11/1, 7:30pm

Sun 11/2, 2:00pm

RELATED EVENTS 

Post-performance Talkbacks:  Sunday, October 19 & Friday, October 24.  Stay after the show on these dates to discuss the play with the actors.

For its tenth production, the QC Theatre Workshop is staging a creepy and hilarious off-Broadway hit just in time for Halloween - Bat Boy: The Musical. Running October 24 through November 9, this campy, critically-acclaimed title is only the second musical to be produced during the company's history, and among its 10-person cast, nine of Bat Boy's performers will be making their debuts on the Workshop stage.

Bat Boy: The Musical will be presented at the QC Theatre Workshop (1730 Wilkes Avenue, Davenport, IA) Fridays through Sundays, October 24 through November 9. Friday and Saturday performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 7 p.m., and the Sunday shows start at 3 p.m., with doors opening at 2:30 p.m. Due to its occasional violence and some mild language, the musical is recommended for patrons of middle-school age or older.

Winner of the "Best Off-Broadway Musical" citation at the 2001 Outer Critic Circle Awards, Bat Boy: The Musical found its origins in the famed, fabricated Weekly World News articles about a half-bat/half-boy who was found living in a cave in rural West Virginia. Using these stories as their inspiration, composer/lyricist Laurence O'Keefe (Legally Blonde: The Musical) and book writers Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming constructed a riotous, spooky, and surprisingly touching tale of a misunderstood creature, the family who takes him in, and the townsfolk who want him destroyed.

With The New Yorker describing the show as "a giggly cult hit," and with CurtainUp praising its "peppy and melodic pop-rock score," Bat Boy is a musical that the Workshop's Artistic Director Tyson Danner - who also serves as the production's music director - has long wanted to stage.

"I have adored this crazy show for years, and have been waiting for the chance to produce it on our stage. And after Last Call was such a hit last year, we know our audiences are eager for more musicals," says Danner.

James Fairchild serves as Bat Boy's director and has extensive experience in stage musicals, having appeared in the Workshop's Last Call: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim, the District Theatre's Avenue Q and Rent, and the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Fiddler on the Roof, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, and The Full Monty. His directing résumé, meanwhile, includes presentations ranging from the musical A New Brain to the comedy A Tuna Christmas to the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Doubt.

Portraying the title character is area actor Calvin Vo, who previously played Bay Boy in Augustana College's 2012 presentation of the show. With his other area credits including roles in Countryside Community Theatre's South Pacific and Genesius Guild's Twelfth Night and Coriolanus, Vo served as sound designer for the Workshop's How I Learned to Drive but is now making his acting debut on the Workshop stage - along with eight other members of the show's 10-person cast.

"The Quad Cities has a wealth of hilarious, talented actors - many of whom don't get enough opportunities to perform," says Danner. "We're thrilled to have so many new faces involved. Every show we've produced has had at least actor new to our stage, and this time we get nine!"

Included among Bat Boy's ensemble are: Jenny Winn (Quad City Music Guild's Les Misérables; the District Theatre's Company); Becca Meumann Johnson (Music Guild's Legally Blonde: The Musical; the Center for Living Arts' All Shook Up); Kailey Ackermann (Augustana's Bat Boy; the Center for Living Arts' Rent); Macy Hernandez (Augustana's The Secret Garden and The Arsonists); Aaron Lord (the Center for Living Arts' Spring Awakening and Bare); Brant Peitersen (Countryside's Shrek: The Musical); Keenen Wilson (Columbia College

Chicago's Guys & Dolls); and 16-year-old Ty Lane (Bettendorf High School's The Music Man; Davenport Junior Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream).

Bat Boy's cast is rounded out by Workshop veteran Mike Schulz, whose most recent credits include roles in 'Art' and True West, and the show's pianist is Marcia Renaud, the music director and organist at Salem Lutheran Church in Moline who also serves as accompanist for the Quad City Singers.

"It speaks to the quality of our work thus far that so many experienced artists are interested in working at the Workshop," says Danner. "It is very challenging to find staff locally, but show after show we wind up with fantastic artistic leadership - and this show is a real standout in that regard."

As with the Workshop's nine previous productions, Bat Boy: The Musical will be presented under the Workshop's "Pay What It's Worth" pricing policy in which guests see the play first and then pay on their way out, allowing viewers to determine what the experience was worth to them personally. This innovative strategy was designed to create a wholly accessible theatrical experience for patrons regardless of financial means, and the policy's great success - ever since the Workshop's 2012 debut presentation of Red - has allowed it to continue for Bat Boy.

For reservations and more information on Bat Boy: The Musical, please call (563)650-2396 or e-mail info@QCTheatreWorkshop.org, and visit QCTheatreWorkshop.org and Facebook.com/QCTheatreWorkshop.

Bat Boy: The Musical Performance Schedule

Friday, October 24, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 25, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 26, 3 p.m.

Friday, October 31, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 2, 3 p.m.

Friday, November 7, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 9, 3 p.m.

QC Theatre Workshop

1730 Wilkes Avenue, Davenport, Iowa, 52804

(563)650-2396

info@QCTheatreWorkshop.org

QCTheatreWorkshop.org

Facebook.com/QCTheatreWorkshop

Xanadu is a 1980s Roller Disco Glitter Explosion!

City Circle Acting Company of Coralville will present the Broadway hit musical Xanadu for six performances October 10-19 at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.  Adapted from the Universal Pictures cult film by Douglas Carter Beane and featuring music by Jeff Lynne (of the Electric Light Orchestra) and John Farrar, Xanadu follows the journey of the magical and beautiful Greek muse Kira, who descends from Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California in 1980 to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time - the first roller disco! But when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation and chaos abounds.  The musical adaptation contains all the great Electric Light Orchestra and Olivia Newton-John music from the film, plus four additional classic songs.

Xanadu was a surprise hit on Broadway and one of the best-reviewed musicals of 2007.  The New Yorker called it "ridiculously brilliant" and The Washington Post called it "the most infectious show to land on Broadway since Spamalot."

Director Christopher Okiishi promises a top-flight comic cast of City Circle veterans and newcomers for this production, including Victoria Vaughn as Kira and Skyler Matthias as Sonny.  "This hilarious musical is loosely based on the cult classic film, but has a brand new, much better script that actually makes sense," says Okiishi.  "It's like a mash up of Percy Jackson and Dance Fever.  Or Clash of the Titans and Donna Summer with some Queen thrown in.  Only much, much funnier."

The production will feature a special appearance by members of the Cedar Rapids Rollergirls and Iowa City Roller Derby teams and is sponsored by TheLuxeZone and Mike & Jan Finlayson.

With its message of following your dreams despite the limitations others set for you, Xanadu is hilarity on wheels for the whole family.  (Contains one instance of profanity.)

Performances are October 10-19, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm.  Tickets ($12-$27) are available at coralvillearts.org, by phone at 319.248.9370, and in person at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts box office (1301 5th Street) and Coralville Recreation Center (1506 8th Street).

City Circle Acting Company is a community theater organization in residence at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.  Since 1997, City Circle's mission has been the production of high quality dramatic, musical, and performing art pieces for the enjoyment of the public.  Upcoming City Circle productions include A Year with Frog and Toad (December 12-21) Black Comedy and The Real Inspector Hound (February 13-15), and Into the Woods (April 24-May 3).

Owned and operated by the City of Coralville, the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts is dedicated to enriching the community and contributing to the vitality of Coralville by offering an accessible, affordable venue for a variety of performances, presentations, and public and private events.  The 472 seat theater opened August 26, 2011 and has hosted performances from City Circle Acting Company, Orchestra Iowa, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Dan Knight, Lola Astanova, Lorie Line, Judy Carmichael, Jim McDonough, Nolte Academy of Dance, and many others.  Coralville schools are also able to use the Center free of charge up to three times per year; 15 school events took place at the Center in the 2013-2014 school year. The Center was named 2012 Member of the Year by the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.