The thermometer may have its ups and downs, but Verge Theater is celebrating Spring with a collection of productions that will definitely raise the temperature on stage!
Since April is the cruelest month, Verge brings to the stage the hilarious and irreverent Barbeque Apocalypse, by Matt Lyle. Three couples gather on the back deck of a very modest suburban home for a mid-summer barbecue where the hosts, Mike and Deb, struggle with feelings of inadequacy about their home decor, their clothes, their careers, their culinary skills, and pretty much everything else. Throughout the first act, feelings are hurt over petty gossip, inconsequential concerns, physical slights, and pop cultural deficiencies. The superficial, neuroses-laden interpersonal squabbles bubble over to a flash of inept violence when one of the guests makes what we learn is just one in a series of passes at Deb. As the act closes, the group discovers the rest of the world has been literally falling apart during their little, terrible barbecue.
Act Two takes place on the same deck for another barbecue to celebrate their one-year post-apocalypsiversary. In a year where the only way to measure success is survival, roles have reversed, and we explore how each character’s basic nature has allowed them to adapt and thrive or has pushed them to the brink of extinction. Barbeque Apocalypse runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, April 27th–May 12th. Tickets are $14 in advance, or $16 at the door.
The Bozeman Improverts are at it again with Improv on the Verge Monday nights, i.e. the biggest laughs for the fewest bucks! Guaranteed to be a hilarious start to your week, popular improv games are played in the style of Whose Line is it Anyway?, as well as long-form improv. Everything is created on the spot and based on audience suggestions. Come enjoy cheap thrills for your laugh hole! Upcoming shows are April 23rd and May 7th at 7pm each evening. Tickets for Improv are $7 in advance, or $9 at the door. These shows are recommended for ages 17+.
And on the family stage, Judith Viorst’s musical adaptation of her own book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day heads to the theater. With fun and funny music by Shelly Markham, and co-directed by Teen Theater alumni Gabe and Isaac Gilbertson, this will be a ride you don’t want to miss!
Alexander is having a bad day. A terrible day. A horrible day! To be quite honest, it’s a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. But then, everybody has bad days sometimes. In this delightful adaptation, Viorst sets Alexander’s rather trying life to music and brings to the stage one of America’s feistiest characters. Not only does Alexander wake up with gum in his hair, but his mother forgets to pack him dessert, and his best friend decides he’s not his best friend anymore. And if that’s not bad enough, Alexander’s brothers don’t have any cavities but – he does. And just when it can’t get any worse, there are lima beans for supper and – yuck! – kissing on TV. It is enough to make anyone want to go to Australia.
Alexander’s struggles with life’s daily dramas will not only entertain but educate young audiences as they identify with Alexander and the obstacles he encounters, encouraging them to share their feelings and to realize that bad days happen — even in Australia.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day runs Saturdays at 3pm through April 28th. Tickets are $7 in advance or $9 at the door. Children 2 and under are admitted FREE!
Finally, Verge’s high school teens have been hard at work on their Spring production – Cowardy Custard, a Noël Coward revue! This kaleidoscopic revue tells the story of Coward’s life through song and biographical snippets. The Coward numbers featured are songs and scenes from his works of the 1920s to the 1960s, including “You Were There,” “Mad About the Boy,” “The Stately Homes of England,” “I Wonder What Happened to Him?” and, perhaps most memorably, “Marvellous Party”! The revue also contains sketches and previously unpublished material, excerpts of plays and dialogues, material from Coward’s autobiographies and some of his poems.
Cowardy Custard runs for only three performances, Friday through Sunday, April 20th–22nd. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7pm, followed by a 3pm Sunday matinee. Tickets are $7 in advance and $9 at the door.
Visit www.vergetheater.com for reservations and further information about these and other upcoming productions. Advance tickets are also available in store at Cactus Records. See you at “The Little Black Box on the Edge (of Bozeman)!”