Peninsula Community Theatre opens its 64th season this weekend with a musical that pokes fun at Shakespeare.
“Something Rotten” is set in the 1590s when brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are trying to write a play but are in Shakespeare’s shadow. They get inspiration when a local clairvoyant tells them that future plays will have singing, dancing and acting all together. That is when they decide to write the first musical.
Written by Karey Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell and Wayne Kirkpatrick, it is “hysterical,” said director Marie Miguel, who teaches theater at Indian River High School in Chesapeake.
“There’s a lot of laughter which we need in this day in age,” she said.
There are 23 cast members and seven artistic staff, all volunteers.
“Mud Row” is about two generations of sisters in the east end of West Chester, Penn. Elsie and Frances must work their way through class, race, love, and family. Elsie hopes to move up economically through marriage. Meanwhile, Frances joins the fight for civil rights.
Decades pass when the next generation, estranged sisters Regine and Toshi, must deal with their shared heritage and their relationship.
The Theatre’s third production, a comedy called “Drinking Habits,” takes place in a convent with two nuns of Perpetual Sewing who make and sell wine to keep the convent open.
“That’s slightly illegal,” said John Wilt, President of the Peninsula Community Theatre.
Two journalists, Paul and Sally, who were once engaged, aim to expose them. They go undercover as a nun and priest and the nuns become paranoid and believe Rome sent spies to shut down the operations.
Studs Terkel’s best-selling book goes to the stage with “Working.” The Tony-nominated play showcases several people with occupations that are often taken for granted like teachers, restaurant servers, millworkers and homemakers. It shows humanity despite the weight of the jobs.
The classic play has been updated for the modern age and allows the audience to see actors and technicians working to produce the show. It features new music from Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda along with song writers Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, James Taylor and Micki Grant.
A communal home for intellectually disabled men is the setting of “The Boys Next Door.” Set in New England, four men are supervised by Jack Norman, who in addition supervising the men, works in a doughnut shop.
It’s a story of the daily lives of four men where little things sometimes become big things and are often funny. One resident, Lucien, believes he can read and comprehend the big books he carries around. Ringleader Arnold is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer with anxiety. Barry has schizophrenia and fantasizes he is a golf pro.
“This brings to the surface that even the mentally challenged have hopes and dreams like the rest of us,” Wilt said.
Peninsula Community Theatre presents their shows at the Village Theatre in Historic Hilton Village Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
“Something Rotten” runs July 26-Aug. 17; “Mud Row” runs Oct. 4-Oct. 20; “Drinking Habits” runs Dec. 6-Dec. 22; “Working” runs Feb. 28-March 16, 2025 and “The Boys Next Door” runs May 2-18, 2025.
For tickets and more information, visit the Peninsula Community Theatre online.
