“Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art”
— Konstantin Stanislavsky

2025 Drama Banquet

That’s a wrap on an incredible year for Appleton North Theatre!

On Saturday May 17, we gathered to celebrate our amazing students at our annual banquet—a night filled with laughter, memories, heartfelt awards, and unforgettable skits that captured the spirit of this season.

A special congratulations to our seniors—your dedication, creativity, and leadership have left a lasting impact on this program. We can’t wait to see where your talents take you next. You’ll always have a place in our theatre family.

Scholarship and Award Winners for 2025:

David Hartman Memorial Scholarship: Maggie Hendrick

Hannah Twomey Award: Emmy Streu

Roger Danielson Award: Bennett Boggs, Phillip Moran & Rain Branstetter

Claire Williamson Award: Kai Handwerker

Dramatic Arts Award: Fern Frey, Maggie Hendrick & Charlie Hintz

To every cast member, crew member, pit musician, parent volunteer, and supporter: Thank you for making this year one to remember! Your hard work, passion, and love for the arts continue to inspire. Here’s to the magic we made this year—and the stories yet to be told!

2025 Summer Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors

Registration now OPEN! - Course registration link: https://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/families/education-resources/summer-school/registration

Arabian Nights

North’s 2025 spring production will be Tony Award-winning playwright Mary Zimmerman’s ARABIAN NIGHTS.  Zimmerman’s acclaimed adaptation of this classic of world literature weaves ancient tales of wonder into a rich and poetic testament to the transformational power of storytelling.  King Shahryar marries, loves, then kills a young woman each night—until he encounters Scheherezade.  For one thousand and one nights, he delays her execution as he eagerly awaits her next tale of love, hilarity, or sorrow.  Wonderfully visual and theatrical in its approach, Zimmerman’s work features many of the lesser known tales from the ARABIAN NIGHTS,  both comic and serious.    Authentic Arabic music as well as Middle Eastern dance and movement help to create the rich cultural backdrop of ancient Baghdad.  The play reminds us of the connection between the ancient world of the NIGHTS and our own– offering the hope that is inherent in the stories we create together. North theatre director Ron Parker stated, “This is such an amazing piece—a collection of stories that are at moments hilariously funny and at others intensely touching—just like the original 1001 Tales from which they come.  It really is a theatrical banquet for the eyes and ears!”  North’s production will feature audience members seated directly upon the stage in a “studio environment” to make them part of the action and storytelling.  The New York Times called Zimmerman’s adaptation,  “A storybook world come to life. . .The Arabian Nights is a celebration of the salutary powers of storytelling. . .of the rich, inexhaustible multiplicity of a narrative tradition.”  USA Today said, "There's a saying that nobody can read the entire Arabian Nights without dying of pleasure. In Zimmerman's production, that seems a possibility.”

Performance times are:  May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at 7:00 p.m. and May 3rd and 4th at 1:00 p.m.   General admission is $10.00.   Tickets are available at the door one hour before each performance.  Seating is limited to 120 per performance.   ARABIAN NIGHTS contains mildly mature content. Further information can be found on the North theatre website www.appletonnorththeatre.org or by contacting Ron Parker, director at parkerronaldc@aasd.k12.wi.us. 

HADESTOWN: Teen Edition

Thank you to everyone who supported our production of Hadestown: Teen Edition. Audience members raved!

Winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, HADESTOWN is an intriguing and beautiful folk opera that delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of immortal King Hades and lady Persephone — HADESTOWN invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz, Mitchell’s beguiling sung-through musical pits industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. The just released Teen Edition of HADESTOWN provides the full Broadway musical experience, edited slightly for high school performers.

 

Contact Information

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