Fish Creek, Wisconsin – Peninsula Players Theatre, America’s oldest professional resident summer theater and Door County’s theatrical icon, is delighted to announce that theater fans of BroadwayWorld.com (Appleton region-professional) voted Peninsula Players productions of “Alabama Story” as Best Play and “The Full Monty” as Best Musical as well as awarding members of the acting company.
The Midwest première of “Alabama Story” by Kenneth Jones was directed by Brendon Fox and was also awarded Best Actor in a Play for Harter Clingman’s portrayal of Thomas Franklin, the steadfast assistant of head librarian Emily Wheelock Reed who becomes the target of a segregationist senator. “Alabama Story” was inspired by true events of a senator’s campaign to purge a controversial book from the state library and Reed’s fearless defense of the book. The book in question was “The Rabbit’s Wedding,” a picture book aimed towards children aged three to seven, illustrated by Garth Williams (best known for his illustrations of “Little House on the Prairie” and “Charlotte’s Web”). The book tells the sweet story of two little rabbits, one black and one white, who lived ‘happily ever after’ in the friendly forest.
The Peninsula Players’ production of “The Full Monty” by Terrence McNally and David Yazbek based on the Oscar winning film was voted as Best Musical. “The Full Monty” was directed by Artistic Director Greg Vinkler and actors Peggy Roeder and Harter Clingman were voted as Best Actress in a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. Roeder’s portrayal of the saucy, showbiz-wise Jeannette who helps the men prepare for their stage debut left a pleasing and lasting impression upon audiences as did Clingman’s portrayal of the sweet unemployed mill worker, Malcom, who still lives and cares for his mother. Several other Peninsula Players company members were also nominated for their work in the 2016 season.
“The honors that were bestowed on us for a dramatic new play and a contemporary pop-rock musical affirm what I have known for a long time,” said Vinkler, “which is that patrons, devotees and supporters of Peninsula Players deeply cherish and value both the artistic craftsmanship our company displays in the telling of stories and the great variety of theatrical works the theater has produced for 82 years. We are very grateful to have been nominated and humbled to be showered with such warm accolades. All of us at Peninsula Players would like to say thank you not just to those who applauded our work but to all those who took the time to vote for all of these wonderful venues around the area because they believe in and recognize the value of theater and the arts in their lives.”
Peninsula Players is a unique professional theater in the country for its diverse productions, continuing loyalty to a resident company and its beautiful setting on 16 wooded acres along the cedar-lined shores of Green Bay. In the past 82 years, the theater has become a Door County landmark and its cornerstone arts institution, attracting audience members from throughout Wisconsin and across the country. For more information on the Peninsula Players 2017 season visit www.peninsulaplayers.com or call the Box Office at (920) 868-3287.