“Escape to Margaritaville,” June 2 through 12

Thursday, June 2, through Sunday, June 12

Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL

With its delightful assemblage of songs including “Fins,” “Volcano,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” and the iconic "Margaritaville," the Jimmy Buffett celebration Escape to Margaritaville opens the 2022 season at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, this uplifting musical stage treat lauded by the Hollywood Reporter as "the theatrical equivalent of sipping on a frozen drink while lying on a beach chair in the blazing sun."

Singer/songwriter/author Jimmy Buffett has become a legend of popular culture as the composer of such classic songs as Margaritaville, Come Monday, and Cheeseburger in Paradise. He has recorded more than 50 albums, most of which have gone gold, platinum, or multi-platinum, and his sold-out concert tours are an annual rite of summer passage for his legions of fans, affectionately known as Parrot Heads. Born in the Gulf Coast town of Pascagoula, Mississippi, he was raised in Mobile, Alabama, is a fourth-generation sailor and fisherman, and is also a frequent traveler to remote and exotic places of the world. As a best-selling author, Buffett is one of only nine authors in the history of the New York Times Bestseller List to have reached number one on both the fiction and non-fiction charts, and the artist has received two Grammy nominations, numerous Country Music Association Awards, and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The new musical Escape to Margaritaville celebrates the music and island-living lifestyle of Buffett beginning with his original story, and includes both new songs and the most-loved Buffett classics, with the most famous of them all – “Margaritaville” – a tune inducted into the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame for its cultural and historic significance.

Described by USA Today as “a little slice of paradise,” Escape to Margaritaville is being directed, in its regional debut, by Nick Dalton, with its choreography by Rebecca Fraiser and musical direction by Michael McBride. The cast features Timber Lake's 2022 Resident Company, as well as Mt. Carroll alumni Darren Mangler and Altamiece Cooper. Among Dalton's creative team, Josh Iacovelli serves as scenic designer, John Burkland as lighting designer, Terrie Miller as costume designer, Callie Hester as props designer, Tyler Malone, as sound designer, and Alex Gendal as projection designer. As the playhouse's artistic director Paul Stancato states, “To bring this fun, laid-back musical to TLP is something we felt we all needed in today's world. There's no other way to kick-off our 2022 season, and I'm looking forward to seeing all the Parrotheads at the playhouse with their 'Fins' up."

Escape to Margaritaville runs at the Mt. Carroll theatre June 2 through 12, with scheduled performances at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is $25-35, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.