"The Robber Bridegroom" at the Timber Lake Playhouse -- August 5 through 15.
Thursday, August 5, through Sunday, August 15
Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL
Boasting a book and lyrics by Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winner Alfred Uhry, and based on a novella literary legend Eudora Welty, the Tony Award-winning musical The Robber Bridegroom, from August 5 through 15, serves as the latest summer presentation at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, the show praised by the New York Times for its “rambunctious rhythms … visual wit, and gleefully macabre gags.”
A rousing, bawdy Southern fairytale from the acclaimed author of Driving Miss Daisy, and showcasing memorable compositions by Robert Waldman, The Robber Bridegroom features one of the only genuine bluegrass scores ever heard in a Broadway musical. Set in 18th-century Mississippi, the show follows Jamie Lockhart, a rascally robber of the woods, as he courts Rosamund, the only daughter of the richest planter in the country. The proceedings go awry, however, thanks to a case of double-mistaken identity, as well as an evil stepmother who's intent on Rosamund's demise, her pea-brained henchman, and a hostile talking head-in-a-trunk. Audiences, meanwhile, are treated to a rollicking country romp, one that earned a Best Actor Tony Award for Broadway star Barry Boswtick and was described by Entertainment Weekly as "a goofy, high-spirited hootenanny," as well as "a mighty Mississippi of fun."
Directing The Robber Bridegroom for the Timber Lake Playhouse is the theatre company's longtime executive director Dan Danielowski, who also helmed last winter's holiday production Christmas Kaleidoscope and played the leading role of Tevye in Timber Lake's 2018 presentation of Fiddler on the Roof. Michael McBride serves as music director and Emma Rasek as choreographer, and Danielowski's cast includes Jack Hale as the Robber Bridegroom Jamie Lockhart, Quinn Martin as Rosamund, Darren Mangler as the rich planter, and Margot Frank as the evil stepmother Salome. Timber Lake's entire resident company rounds out the remainder of the ensemble, and as the theatre's artistic director Paul Stancato adds, "The Robber Bridegroom boasts some of the most authentic bluegrass music to emerge from a Broadway musical. I am excited for our audiences to hear it live. I have had a long relationship with this show, and am pleased to bring this story to our TLP audiences.”
The Robber Bridegroom will be staged August 5 through 15, with scheduled performances at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is $20-30, and more information is available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
