Market House Theatre Opens its Own Deer Hunting Season with Comedy Escanaba in da Moonlight

Albert (Tom Dolan, left), Remnar (Dean Palmer, 3rd from left), and Jimmer (Michael Brewer, far right) make a traditional toast to “bagging a buck”  while Reuben (Steve Schwetman 2nd from left), tries to break with tradition since he has never gotten a buck.

Market House Theatre will present the outrageous deer hunting comedy ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT January 12-22.  Written by Jeff Daniels, the men of the Soady clan are gathered at their Upper Peninsula Michigan hunting cabin on the eve of deer season’s opening day.  Reuben Soady, played by Steve Schwetman, is about to turn 35 and has never “bagged a buck”.  Reuben’s Native American wife, Wolf Moon Dance, played by Emily Chapman Hensel is trying to help her husband shed the mantle of being “a buckless Yooper.”  Albert Soady, played by Tom Dolan, anchors the play—as father, as narrator, as keeper of the flame. Whether he’s giving his sons a history lesson or musing on his late wife’s virtues (“she had lips like a sturgeon”) he fills the audience in on what happened on that fateful night before deer season started.  Albert’s sons don’t fall far from the tree. Remnar Soady, played by MHT newcomer Dean Palmer, can’t stand it that Reuben may be jinxing them.  Jimmer Negamanee from Menominee, played by Mike Brewer shows up as part of the hunting party. His alcohol- and alien-addled speech is like a foreign tongue, which he acquired during his week in space when a “hoovering” UFO picked him up. Michigan DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Ranger Tom, played by Chip Bohle, bursts into the cabin having just experienced a vision.

You don’t have to be a Yooper (UP resident), or even a Michigander, to enjoy the fun Daniels pokes at both north and south. It’s all tempered with a sort of good humor and love for custom and legend that’s extremely appealing. ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT is directed by Ross Daniels, with Denise Bristol as Assistant Director/Stage Manager.

The play runs January 12-15 and 19-22, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday nights and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoons.  Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students 21 and under.  There will be an additional matinee at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, January 21, with all seats $15.  Tickets are available at the MHT box office (444.6828) at 132 Market House Square from noon to 5:00 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays or online at www.mhtplay.com. An $8 student walk-up ticket will be available 10 minutes before each show on a space-available basis.  College students should bring I.D.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports Market House Theatre with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.  MHT’s Season is also supported by the City of Paducah and Paducah Bank.