The Big Bang

May 8^th, 9^th, 10^th ; 16^th, 17^th

⚲Jerry Mathis Theatre, Sauk Valley Community College

Main Stage Production

Performed by its wacky creators off-Broadway, this frenetic entertainment is long on shtick and historical hilarity. It is staged as a backers’ audition for an $83.5 million, 12-hour stage history of the world from creation to the present. Eighteen side-splitting numbers portraying Adam and Eve, Attila the Hun, the building of the pyramids, Julius Caesar and Columbus, among others, give potential investors a taste of the impending extravaganza. In the process, the opulent Park Avenue apartment “borrowed” for the occasion is trashed as the two snatch its furnishings to create makeshift costumes while singing and clowning their way through inventive recreations of the past, stopping occasionally for a little supplicating showbiz patter.

THE BIG BANG is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals http://www.concordtheatricals.org

A Very Willful Murder

June 6^th & 7^th

⚲Dixon Elks Lodge 779

When the wealthy Charmichael Wesson is found beaten to death by a fire poker in his home, his unlikely assortment of beneficiaries are gathered together for the reading of the will. The catch? Suspecting his upcoming demise, Charmichael has hidden his will, forcing his friends and family to solve clues in order to discover who he left his money to. With a house full of heirs desperate for their fortune and Charmichael’s killer still on the loose, it’s a race against the clock to find the hidden will before everyone else – or die trying.

Everybody’s Favorite Mothers

June 26^th and 27^th

Main Stage Production

Everybody’s Favorite Mothers is a celebration of unconditional love and unlikely activism started in the summer of 1972 when Jeanne Manford marched in a parade with her gay son. She carried a home-made sign boldly declaring her support – and a new kind of movement was born. Jeanne and her husband Jules went on to co-found a support group for parents, an organization that would eventually become known around the world as PFLAG.

EVERYBODY’S FAVORITE MOTHERS is produced by special arrangement with James Still and Michael Moore Agency

Guys and Dolls

July 10^th, 11^th, 12^th

⚲The Dixon Historic Theatre

Main Stage Production

Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City, Guys and Dolls is an oddball romantic musical comedy. Gambler Nathan Detroit, who runs an illegal floating craps game, makes a bet with Sky Masterson that he can take Sarah Brown, a missionary to Havana. Meanwhile, Nathan’s long-suffering fiancée, nightclub singer Adelaide, wants him to finally marry her, leading to a chaotic mix of romance, high-stakes bets, and comedic situations. Hit songs include “Luck Be a Lady”, “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat”, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before”, and more.

GUYS AND DOLLS is presented through special arrangements with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www,mtishows.com

The Oxymorons Improv Troupe

July 17^th

⚲Mad Water Saloon

Looking for something different to do with your Friday night? Enjoy weird, wacky, off-the-wall humor? Well then, The Oxymoron’s show on Friday, July 17th, may just be perfect for you. Subtlety is dead… come get slapped in the face by the power of improv. Follow us through a winding journey of crazy characters and outlandish situations that take us to completely unpredictable places… no one knows what will happen – not even us! 

The Winter’s Tale

August 8^th and 9^th

⚲The Outdoor Stage, Sauk Valley Community College

Main Stage Production

The jealous King Leontes falsely accuses his wife, Hermione, of infidelity with his best friend, and she dies. Leontes exiles his newborn daughter, Perdita, who is raised by shepherds for sixteen years and falls in love with the son of Leontes’ friend.

Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles

September 25th, 26th, and 27th

⚲Jerry Mathis Theatre, Sauk Valley Community College

Main Stage Production

When Sir Charles Baskerville dies under terrifying circumstances on his Devonshire estate, local legend blames a curse involving a supernatural, demonic hound. Fearing for the safety of the new heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr. James Mortimer enlists Sherlock Holmes to investigate. Holmes sends Dr. Watson to Baskerville Hall to guard Sir Henry while secretly conducting his own covert observations on the foggy moors.

Retold by two actors portraying over twenty parts with broad license, clever comic irreverence, audience interaction, spoof commercials, and live stage sound effects, Her Majesty’s Radio Theatre brings the suspense, sounds, and silliness of Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles home to Dixon, Illinois.

We Still Got It Senior Showcase

October 4^th

Variety Show

Rating: PG

After the SOLD OUT performance last season, Dixon Stage Left is thrilled to announce Sauk Valley’s ONE and ONLY, “SENIOR THEATRE!” is at it again! “WE STILL GOT IT!” is an all-new variety showcase with multi-talented seniors, performing at their very best! Singing, comedy, jokes, poetry, improvisation and much more! DSL’s Senior Theatre stars ages 55 and up! If you are 54 years old, you are too young for this group!” Don’t miss this magical tribute to our seniors that all ages will enjoy!

A Christmas Story

December 18^th, 19^th, & 20^th

Main Stage Production

Humorist Jean Shepherd’s memoir of growing up in the Midwest in the 1940s follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun under the tree for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher, and even Santa Claus himself at Higbee’s Department Store. The consistent response: “You’ll shoot your eye out!” All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family’s temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas, the school bully; the boys’ experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie’s father winning a lamp shaped like a woman’s leg in a net stocking; Ralphie’s fantasy scenarios and more. A Christmas Story is destined to become a theatrical holiday perennial.

Produced by special arrangement with. THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC., of Woodstock, Illinois