“Madagascar: A Musical Adventure at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse -- June 9 through July 2.
Thursday, June 9, through Saturday, July 2
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
One of the millennium's biggest animated-film hits enjoys a raucous, colorful, and tuneful stage presentation when Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse presents the venue return of Madagascar: A Musical Adventure, a delightful family treat, running June 9 through July 2, reuniting audiences with Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip-hip-Hippo, and all of their other Dreamworks favorites.
Madagascar finds friendly Alex the king of the urban jungle and the main attraction in New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends Marty, Melman, and Gloria have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided. Not content to leave well enough alone, though, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape – with the help of some prodigious penguins – to explore the world. Filled with outlandish characters, outrageous situations, and an upbeat score, Madagascar: A Musical Adventure was described by the Chicago Reader as “a zany, more kid-friendly riff on The Lion King,” with Chicago Theatre Review adding that “theatre-goers of all ages are bound to go wild for it.”
Directing Circa '21's latest family musical is Brad Hauskins, a longtime veteran of the theatre's performing wait staff of Bootleggers who has appeared in such family musicals as A Year with Frog & Toad, Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas, and Diary of a Worm, a Spider, & a Fly, and also directed the theatre's 2018 presentation of Madagascar. Alex the Lion is played by fellow Bootlegger and venue actor Nicholas Munson in a reprise of his 2018 role, with Bobby Becher, Sarah Hayes, and Hannah Broeils respectively cast as Marty, Melman, and Gloria. And roughly two dozen additional Madagascar roles are collectively enacted by a half-dozen additional talents: Carly Ameling, Derrick Bertram, Jake Daly, Kelsi Ford, Janos Horvath, and Kirsten Sindelar.
Circa '21 favorite Shelley Walljasper serves as the show's music director, with Robyn Messerly as its choreographer. Additional members of Hauskins' creative team, meanwhile, include costume designer Ellie Larson, production manager Jeremy Littlejohn, sound designer Sam Ramont, and technical director Nick Divarco, and Kendall McKasson, who acts as lighting designer, props designer, and stage manager.
Madagascar: A Musical Adventure runs on selected Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday from June 9 through July 2, with tickets to the 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. show-only performances $7.50-9.50. For more information and to reserve, call (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visit Circa21.com.
