Review: Discover two stellar troupes under the stars north of Wisconsin border

Why travel to theater in Wisconsin when perfectly excellent theater abounds in the Chicago area? Because there is something so rewarding, so engaging about sitting under the stars in a cedar forest or along a shoreline in natural beauty watching a show.

And what theatrical seasons await us just north of the border! Two Wisconsin companies, American Players Theatre and Peninsula Players, are consistently known for their excellence and professionalism, and have announced their summer seasons. Both companies perform in outdoor amphitheater venues, as well as smaller indoor theaters for audiences from all over the United States.

American Players Theatre, located in Spring Green, is set on 110 acres of hilly woods and meadows. Its newly renovated thrust stage amphitheater holds 1,148 patrons, while the indoor, more intimate Touchstone Theatre holds 200. American Players Theatre produces nine plays in rotation, June through November, with an annual budget of $6 million, and an annual attendance of over 100,000. Not too shabby for a group that in 1978 investigated 43 sites, and settled on the former Lockman Farm in Spring Green after one of the group walked to the base of a steep hill and his voice reached those above with uncanny clarity.

American Players staged its very first production on July 18, 1980, Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and has continued ever since. Even during COVID, American Players produced virtual plays, readings and interviews until its live return to the stage in 2022.

American Players opens its 2023 season on June 10 with “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” and continues with “The Liar,” “Our Town,” “Anton’s Shorts” and “Romeo and Juliet” at the Hill Theatre. The indoor Touchstone Theatre will stage “The Royale,” “Once Upon the Bridge,” “Mala” and “Proof.”

Tickets for the general public go on sale April 24. American Players Theatre recently was honored by Midwest Living magazine as “the best theater in the Midwest.” Brenda DeVita returns as artistic director.

Farther afield, Door County’s well-known professional theater company, Peninsula Players, holds the distinction of being America’s oldest resident summer theater. Beginning 88 years ago “simply with two planks and a passion,” the first show, Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever,” premiered July 25, 1935, behind the Bonnie Brook Cottage/Motel in Fish Creek. Under the direction of the Fisher family, the company’s success outgrew the back lot, and in 1937, the Fishers purchased the 16-acre Wildwood Boys camp that continues as its present site along the Green Bay shoreline. (Noted actor Sam Wanamaker helped build the stagehouse in 1937; at that time, he was an apprentice actor. Not so surprisingly, later on Wanamaker was instrumental in helping reconstruct Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.)

Peninsula Players’ 88th season will feature the world premiere of Sean Grennan’s new play, “A Rock Sails By” (June 13). This is the fourth play by Chicago native Grennan to make its world premiere at Peninsula Players; previous plays include “Making God Laugh,” “The Tin Woman” and “Now and Then.” The season continues with “Blithe Spirit,” “Dames at Sea” and “Trying,” closing in October with “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville (A Sherlock Holmes Mystery).” Linda Fortunato follows Greg Vinkler as artistic director.

Hundreds of Illinoisans make the trek north every summer to attend American Players and Peninsula Players productions. For many years, it has been an enjoyable and much anticipated staple of my own summer travels. Of course, there are disadvantages such as weather and bugs, but both venues provide bug spray at entrances and weather accommodations. And sometimes, thanks to Mother Nature, there isn’t the same control of acoustics as there would be indoors. But who doesn’t love the evening call of birdsong, and don’t you remember how much we loved it when our teachers took us outside for class? There is something so rewarding, so magical about theater in the fresh air; I hope you experience it this summer.

(Both venues are wheelchair accessible and have assisted-listening devices. Gift shops and food venues are also on-site.)

• Regina Belt-Daniels will be found this summer under the stars at several of the aforementioned plays. When not writing theater reviews, she can be found somewhere backstage, onstage or traveling with her husband.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: American Players Theatre

WHERE: 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green, Wisconsin

INFORMATION: 608-588-2361, www.americanplayers.org

WHAT: Peninsula Players

WHERE: 4351 Peninsula Players Road, Fish Creek, Wisconsin

INFORMATION: 920-868-3287, peninsulaplayers.com