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‘A Mad, Magical Midsummer’ to debut in June

 

TRYON–Solstice Theatre, who brought A Mad, Mad Madrigal to Tryon in 2019 and co-produced last year’s Enchanted April, is bringing a concert reading of a brand new, original comedy musical to the Tryon Fine Arts Center in June. 

Writer/producers Laura Depta Peal and Stan Peal have long dreamed of creating a companion piece to their hugely popular Winter Solstice musical, A Mad, Mad Madrigal. The duo, who are also married, are thrilled to present their new Summer Solstice musical, A Mad, Magical Midsummer.

“We lived in Charlotte for about a decade in the early 2000s and ran a theater company there called Epic Arts,” said Solstice Theatre Artistic Director, Laura Depta Peal. “By far our most popular production was A Mad, Mad Madrigal, which is a wacky, Monty Python-inspired musical that celebrates the Yuletide season. We produced that play in 2003, 2004, and 2007 in Charlotte to sold-out houses each time. We remounted the show in Tryon in 2019, and it was really well received.”

The couple kept dreaming and creating, however, and they knew they wanted to write a companion piece to celebrate the Summer Solstice as well. “The two plays have their similarities,” said Peal, “but where the winter show is more Monty Python-inspired humor and takes place in a Medieval castle, the summer show has more Shakespeare-inspired humor and takes place in the fairy realm of Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Both are raucous comedies, however, with lots of sing-along songs and a Renaissance festival vibe.”

 The play takes place on a Midsummer night in the magical court of Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and her motley bunch of forest fey are busy preparing for the night’s festivities. Oberon, her wayward consort, is late again, but when he arrives this time he’s not alone! A young human woman has followed him into the fairy realm, and now she can’t get home. Led by the mischievous Puck and a very dusty ghost of Shakespeare, the goofy forest denizens hilariously hatch a plan to get the lost girl back where she belongs. Mixed-up Shakespearean shenanigans and Midsummer magic collide in this delightful musical celebration of summer!

There will be two performances only, on Friday and Saturday, June 23 and 24 at the amphitheater of the Tryon Fine Arts Center. The show time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and are available at tryonarts.org/partner-series.

 

Submitted by Laura Depta Peal