Aug
26
2009

The World Premiere of Guys And Does

Posted at 05:00 PM

In Section: Curtains Posted By: Russ Bickerstaff
 

The American Folklore Theatre has established quite a reputation for itself over the years. The rather narrow genre of Wisconsin-based musical comedy is now approaching its 40th year in existence. The theatre company that brought the world Guys On Ice, Lumberjacks In Love and Cheeseheads The Musical opens another Wisconsin-themed musical next week as it presents the world premiere of Guys And Does.

The new musical opens Friday September 4th and closes well in advance of the 2009 deer hunting season. It tells the story of a couple of hunters in Northern Wisconsin who run into a talking doe. I distinctly remember local sketch comedy group The Show  having done a much shorter comedy bit with a very similar premise for a few years now, but to be fair, the idea of anthropomorphizing hunted animals and having them interact with those hunting them has a long and distinguished history that includes The Fisherman And His Wife, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny and of course the ever popular Deer Avenger series of computer games. 

Guys And Does focuses on a pair of guys . . . an old paper mill worker who is going hunting with a man dating his daughter. It sounds like an interesting dynamic that could play out well when a talking doe enters the picture. The musical was written by Frederick Heide and Lee Becker with music by Paul Libman, the same team responsible for Cabin With A View and Muskie Love.

The show runs September 4th – October 24th at the Historic Ephraim Village Hall in Ephraim, Wisconsin.

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REPLY TO THIS COMMENT
Hi Russ, and thanks much for the mention of our new show, 'Guys & Does'. So far it's doing very well and consistently selling out here in Door County. A run further south is likely in the not too distant future. I just wanted to clarify a couple of points: First, I am a huge fan of The Show and its very talented (and attractive) cast of writers and performers. I had the pleasure of seeing the hunting sketch you refer to and it is hilarious. For the historical record, Doc Heide and I had been working on G&D for several months before The Show debuted that sketch. Needless to say, our lawyers are contacting theirs. Second, the team that wrote 'Muskie Love' and 'Cabin With A View' is Dave Hudson and Paul Libman. 'Guys & Does' is our first collaboration with Paul Libman. Doc Heide and I have also written 'Packer Fans from Outer Space' and 'Belgians in Heaven' with composer James Kaplan. One last and very minor thing. Our hunters encounter a talking white buck, not a doe. Anyone seeing the show will appreciate why this is the case, and when a white doe actually appears, it's the white buck who has business with her. Ahem. All the best, and many thanks for giving the show some space!

 

Unfortunately we were unable to get tickets for Guys & Does in Ephraim while we were there but heard that it will be in Milwaukee in December. At least 4 of us want to go see it there or somewhere nearer Chicago but I find no record of it playing so far. Do you know where and the dates or a place I could look to find out about it? Larry Sinyard

 

REPLY TO THIS COMMENT
Hi Larry. Sorry you weren't able to get in to see the show in Ephraim. Take heart, though, that you weren't alone. We turned away 3000 people this fall due to sell-outs. And yes, indeed, we are doing the show again in December, though in Green Bay, not Milwaukee. Look for us the first two weeks of the month at the Robert Lee Brault Playhouse. Thanks for your interest in the show, and I hope you can make it back up nort' to catch it!

 

 
 
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