Firestone Theatre kicks off its latest season with the laugh-out-loud farce The Fox on the Fairway. The play features a funny and furious plot as well as rapid-fire jokes and lots of silly slapstick. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. on October 4, 5 and 6, 2018. Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door and $10 for reserved, VIP seating.
The Fox on the Fairway is a tribute from Ken Ludwig to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s. It takes audiences on a hilarious romp, which pulls the rug out from underneath the stuffy denizens of a private country club. Filled with mistaken identities, slamming doors and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it's a furiously-paced comedy that recalls the Marx Brothers' classics -- a charmingly madcap adventure about love, life and man's eternal love affair with ... golf.
The cast of The Fox on the Fairway is led by senior Brandon Meeker (Justin). He is supported by juniors Morgan Bedilion (Pamela), Onaniah Garrett (Muriel), Jonathan Green (Dickie), Oscar Laakso (Bingham) and Jeanne Luster (Louise). The Fox on the Fairway is under the direction of Mark A. Zimmerman. Senior John Kraus is designing costumes under the guidance of Firestone alumnae Marissa Jones. Junior Grant Crawford serves as the lighting designer. Junior Sarah Sterns serves as the sound designer. Junior Jillian Foster serves as the props designer. Elynmarie Kazle serves as the production manager. James Welch serves as the technical director. Junior Hannah Burford serves as the stage manager. She is assisted by sophomore Joyous White.
Ken Ludwig is a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright whose work is performed throughout the world in more than 30 countries and more than 20 languages. He has written 24 plays and musicals, with six Broadway productions and seven in London's West End. His Tony-winning play Lend Me a Tenor was called "one of the classic comedies of the 20th century" by The Washington Post. His other plays and musicals include Crazy For You (five years on Broadway, Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical), Moon Over Buffalo (Broadway and West End), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Broadway), Treasure Island (West End), Twentieth Century (Broadway), Leading Ladies, Shakespeare in Hollywood, The Game's Afoot, The Three Musketeers, The Beaux' Stratagem, Baskerville, and A Comedy of Tenors. He holds degrees from Harvard and Cambridge University. Ken's plays and musicals are produced somewhere in the United States and abroad every night of the year.
The remainder of the fantastic Firestone Theatre season consists of the one-of-a-kind comedy Rhinoceros by Euguene Ionesco (October 25-27, 2018), the loving and funny Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling (November 15-17, 2018), the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry (December 6-9, 2018), an unpredictable Evening of David Ives: the One-Act Play Festival (January 10-12, 2019), and the beautiful and magical Big Fish by John August and Andrew Lippa (March 1-9, 2019). Details about the 2018-19 theatre season may be found online at FirestoneTheatre.com.
A reasonably priced subscription is available for the main stage shows and more. An adult subscription may be purchased for as little as $30, which represents a 50 percent savings for the season. A student subscription may be purchased for $20. A reserved, VIP subscription may be purchased for $40 and includes a reserved seat for each of the main stage shows, entry to the second stage performances, and access to a special VIP room before and at intermission of each main stage performance. Subscriptions and single tickets may be purchased for all Firestone Theatre productions at the school, by mail or online via FirestoneTheatre.com.
Firestone Theatre is the award-winning play-production component of the Akron School for the Arts housed at Firestone Community Learning Center. A recent Firestone production of Chicago won four Dazzle Awards (including best show) at the Cleveland High School Musical Theatre Competition sponsored by Playhouse Square. Firestone Theatre was named an "Outstanding School" by the Educational Theatre Association in 2013. The curricular track of Firestone Theatre is accessible to all rising ninth-grade students via open enrollment and a formal audition.