TADA Productions Show List Includes World Premiere of Happy Days Musical

Tada Productions

Coming off a strong opening for the front part of 2010 with such shows as Almost Liza, The Marvelous Wonderettes, and Always…Patsy Cline, The TADA Theatre announces additional upcoming main stage productions for the months ahead. One of the funniest plays ever written opens on the TADA stage on April 15 as Larry Shue’s fast paced comedy The Nerd takes to the boards featuring a stellar comedic cast.

In May, a special event of stand-up comedy and hypnosis take to the main stage as the TADA Theatre welcomes Doug MacCraw. This is the most professional, fast-paced comedy hypnosis show in the country. Doug has appeared on Comedy Central, ABC’s Heartland Live and FOX’s Night Shift.

The summer will showcase two musicals in the months of June and August. The first is one of the most popular shows in regional theatre celebrating its 20th anniversary. The heavenly musical Nunsense will run throughout the month of June. A hilarious musical makes its Lincoln debut as Midlife! The Crisis Musical opens in August! This hysterical musical celebrates all those who have walked into a room and then asked themselves, “What did I come in here for?” From reading glasses and mammograms to weekend warriors and proctology exams—all are lampooned with a Saturday Night Live “non-sensibility” in this comical, and at times touching, musical. Played in the same vignette style as TADA’s “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!” this show will make you glad you came to the theatre and discovered that MID-LIFE is something to smile about!

In the first of several special announcements, the murder mystery comedy, Bard of Blood, makes its world premiere at TADA on September 30th. Written by TV Icon, legendary producer and award winning playwright Lloyd Schwartz, Bard of Blood is a real who-done-it that centers around a theatre company doing a fund-raiser by performing scenes from Hamlet and soon one by one the cast and crew meet their demise. Mr. Schwartz will make a special appearance in conjunction with the show’s opening and will work alongside TADA for the world premiere as well as speaking at a collaborative function at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. Schwartz commented on the world premiere collaboration from his offices in Los Angeles, California, “After TADA produced Gilligan’s Island: The Musical, I couldn’t wait for this fine company to do another of my plays. I am thrilled that my new murder mystery comedy Bard of Blood will have its world premiere in Lincoln, and I can’t wait to be there to see it in person. I love the professionalism of TADA and look forward to spending time with as many of the Nebraskans as I can,” says Schwartz. Besides his extensive career in all media, Mr. Schwartz has had 32 produced plays. He won Valley Theatre League Awards for best comedy for Much a Dieux and for best lyrics and book for his musical You & Me. Two of his historical plays, The Great Adventure, about Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, and An Evening with John Wilkes Booth, have enjoyed great acclaim. With his wife, Barbara, Lloyd co-founded The Storybook Theatre of Los Angeles twenty-three years ago, and has written, composed, and/or directed all 17 of their original productions. He has personally won 15 Valley Theatre League Awards for those shows, and he and his wife have been honored by the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the City of Los Angeles for their contributions to the youth of Los Angeles as well as winning one of the inaugural Red Carpet Awards from Women in Theatre.

In November and December, the TADA Theatre will do a split run of the popular musical Smoke On The Mountain. Mix the style of a Broadway musical with Prairie Home Companion, drop in some tunes heard in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and you have the makings of this wonderful show that is the second-most performed play in regional theaters. It’s the summer of 1938 and the congregation of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in the hills of North Carolina is in for a special treat! Reverend Oglethorpe, played by veteran stage and screen actor Cork Ramer, has invited the somewhat wacky singing Sanders Family to get the spirit moving! The audience is invited to pull up a pew and join in the rollicking good time. Ramer, a seasoned acting professional who has toured in such shows as 1776 and as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol will return to TADA after having played the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. His film credits include playing the role of Jessica Lange’s father in O’ Pioneers and he recently voiced the role of the Purple Pie Man in a Strawberry Shortcake film.

Another actor returning to TADA for a special production is Michael Tully. Tully wowed crowds as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast and as Anthony in Sweeney Todd. This time he will portray one of television’s most iconic figures “The Fonz” as TADA, after months of negotiations, snags the rights to produce Happy Days – A New Musical! TADA continues its tradition of producing premiere musicals as one of the first theatres in the country granted the rights to produce this exciting production! Based on the hit Paramount Pictures’ television series, Happy Days – A New Musical reintroduces one of America’s best loved families, the Cunninghams, as well as the gang at Arnolds, and the days of 1959 Milwaukee complete with varsity sweaters, hula hoops, and jukebox sock-hoppin’. With a book by the legendary Garry Marshall and music and lyrics by Oscar Award-winning composer Paul Williams, you are sure to say, “Goodbye gray skies, hello blue, as Happy Days are here again!”

“We feel that this line-up gives our patrons a very good variety of shows as well as some exciting opportunities for the theatre and all of its participants,” says Artistic Director Robert D. Rook. “We are very excited to bring shows like this to the stage.”

The TADA Theatre, located in the historic Haymarket district of Lincoln, Nebraska, opened in July 2008 and has since played to often sold-out houses as well as receiving several community awards and national recognition for its productions. Tickets and more information can be found on-line at http://www.tadatheatre.info or by calling 402-438-TADA (8232).