Eclectic TAP Season Begins April 4

The Third Avenue Playhouse (TAP) season starts on April 4 with Steven Dietz’s Shooting Star. The romantic comedy/drama featuring Doug Mancheski and Amy Ensign is about two people – romantically involved years ago – who meet again unexpectedly many years later while snowed in at an airport.

Beginning May 16, Alan Kopischke stars in the one-man play The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne. In it, a detective unravels the story of Leonard Pelkey, a tenaciously optimistic and flamboyant 14-year-old boy who goes missing.

A newly revised version of The Dig by Marie Kohler starts June 27. The cast, all new to the TAP stage, includes Peter Reeves, Karen Moeller, Chris Sheard and Bill Bolz. The play covers 30 years as Mattie tries to track down why her archeologist brother suffered a life-changing breakdown during a 1968 dig. Guest director Alex Coddington will direct with show, with Kohler in residence.  

July 25 is the opening night of La La Lucille, marking the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin’s first Broadway musical. TAP’s production will be the first since its 1919 premiere! The cast includes Drew Brhel, Adam Estes, Ryan Cappleman, Samantha Sostarich, Alex Sabin, Zachary Dean, Lydia Rose Eiche, Meghan Jarecki and James Valcq.  

Comedian Will Durst returns to TAP with a newly revised version of his one-man show, BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG, for four performances only, Sept. 4-7. It’s a tribute to the history, growth, joys, achievements and looming terrors of the Baby Boom generation.

Tomfoolery, a musical revue of the work of famed satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer, opens Sept. 12 with cast members Joel Kopischke, Carmen Risi, Bradley Halverson and Ryan Cappleman.  

Discounted season tickets and regularly priced individual tickets are now on sale at ThirdAvenuePlayhouse.com or by calling 920.743.1760. Pay-what-you-can nights are held on April 3, May 15, June 26, July 24 and Sept. 11.