Iowa City, IA - Riverside Theatre will celebrate the opening of Guys on Ice: An Ice Fishing Musical Comedy with an outdoor fish fry on Jan. 14 from Noon-3 p.m.

Guys on Ice: An Ice Fishing Musical is a manly musical about two ice fishing buddies from Wisconsin. The show runs Jan. 20-Feb. 19, at Riverside Theatre, 213 N Gilbert St, Iowa City.

The fish fry will be held outdoors in the parking lot off 319 E Bloomington, behind Murphy-Brookfield Books.

Tickets for the fish fry are $10 for a meal of fried fish served with sides, dessert and hot beverages.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 319-338-7672 or by stopping by the box office at 213 N Gilbert St.

All proceeds from the event benefit Riverside Theatre.

October 12, 2011, Iowa City, IA -

Decorate your home with beautiful balsam items this holiday season!

Riverside Theatre is once again selling holiday wreaths. This year's offerings include a teardrop swag, wreath, and a centerpiece. Prices range from $20-$26.

All proceeds benefit Riverside Theatre.

All orders must be placed by Tuesday, November 1.

Orders will be available for pickup after Wednesday, November 16. Those who order will be notified by email when the orders have arrived.

For more information or to print an order form go to http://www.riversidetheatre.org/holiday-wreath-sale. Those with questions may email development@riversidetheatre.org.

October 3, 2011 - Iowa City, IA

An Irish orphan yearns to escape small-town life...by becoming a star.

Riverside Theatre, Iowa City's resident professional theatre company will present The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, October 28 through November 13. Ron Clark, Riverside's Resident Artist and Production Manager, directs. The Cripple of Inishmaan is a co-production with Cornell College.

In this wickedly hilarious Irish comedy, set in 1934 on the remote island of Inishmaan, Crippled Billy dreams of a world away from his adopted aunts, their tiny village store, and their nosy fellow villagers. When he hears that a Hollywood film crew is working nearby, Billy hatches a plot to land a part. What follows is a tale of adventure, loss and redemption.

"Cripple explores the widely held stereotypes about the simple joys of small-town life, and fills the stage with the dark humor that is essential for its characters to survive," Clark said. 

In its thirty-one year history, Riverside Theatre has produced a number of Irish dramas including Stones in His Pockets and Dancing at Lughnasa.  Additionally, the company has produced two other McDonagh plays: The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lonesome West.

"Audiences have raved about the work and thoroughly enjoyed the fine storytelling of these Irish plays.  The colorful and exuberant language and the carefully drawn characters are immensely appealing," Clark said.

The playwright, Martin McDonagh, is generally revered as one of the great contemporary voices of the Irish theatre. McDonagh is the first playwright since Shakespeare to have four professionally produced plays running simultaneously on London stages.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is the ninth collaboration between Riverside Theatre and Cornell College since 1996.

"The Cripple of Inishmaan is also a perfect fit for a co-production with Cornell College, where I have been an artist-in-residence for twenty-five years.  The roles break down very nicely to allow lots of great work for the student-actors while allowing Riverside to employ some of its best resident actors to play the more mature roles," said Clark.

The Cripple of Inishmaan features Riverside Theatre favorites Tim Budd and Kristy Hartsgrove, who were last seen in All My Sons as Dr. Jim Bayliss and Sue Bayliss.

The role of Crippled Billy will be played by Osean Perez, a senior at Cornell. This is Perez's first appearance at Riverside. Returning to Riverside will be Alec Hynes in the role of Babbybobby. Hynes is a junior at Cornell, who was last seen at Riverside as Eglamour in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at this summer's Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival and has previously appeared on Gilbert Street in the last co-production as Peter Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank.

The Cripple of Inishmaan also features scenic design by Christopher Domanski, lighting design by John Wilson, costume design by Jenny Nutting Kelchen, and sound design by Clark.

All music in the production is courtesy of The Beggarmen, one of the region's best Irish music ensembles. The Beggarmen will perform in concert at Riverside Theatre on Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the concert are $20 with all proceeds benefiting Riverside.

Tickets for The Cripple of Inishmaan range from $15-$28 with a $15 student rush available 20 minutes before the performance. Tickets may be ordered through the Riverside Theatre Box Office at 213 N. Gilbert St., (319) 338-7672 or online at www.riversidetheatre.org.

The Cripple of Inishmaan contains adult language.

This production is supported in part by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council.

Iowa City, IA - Riverside Theatre will celebrate its 31^st season opening with a reception at Chait Galleries, 218 E Washington St, Iowa City, on Sept. 1 from 5:30-7 p.m.

This event will be a chance to meet and mingle with playwright Megan Gogerty and the director Alexis Chamow of Feet First In The Water With A Baby In My Teeth, which opens at Riverside Theatre on Sept. 9.

Feet First In The Water With A Baby In My Teeth is a mostly-true story about a woman who gives birth and then a few years later becomes a mother. The show runs Sept. 9-Oct. 2, at Riverside Theatre, 213 N Gilbert St, Iowa City.

Suggested donation for this event is $10. Donations can be made at the box office prior to the event or at the door that evening. For more information contact the box office at 319-338-7672.

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