Drama recalls horrors of Katrina

Jimmy Wilson, right, plays Charlie Brown, and Jarrod Alexander is Linus van Pelt in the BGSU production of 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.'

A drama inspired by Hurricane Katrina makes its regional debut next week at Ohio Northern University in Ada.

Lisa Brenner and Suzanne Trauth based Katrina: the K Word on interviews they conducted with New Orleans residents in 2007, two years after 80 percent of that city was flooded when the levees failed from storm surge and damage by the hurricane. Called poignant and uplifting, their drama features 12 main characters, some of whom flee the destruction, others who are unable to leave their beloved city. On their Web site, the authors state that although some of the characters are composites of various people, and some stories are simplified, nothing in the play is fictional.

John Grimsley of New Orleans, who lived through Hurricane Katrina, directs a cast composed of ONU students. Showtime is 8 p.m. Wednesday; a preshow discussion starts at 7:15.

Performances of Katrina: the K Word are at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Oct. 29, 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 31, and 2 p.m. Nov. 1 in Stambaugh Studio Theatre of Ohio Northern University's Freed Center for the Performing Arts in Ada, Ohio. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and non-ONU students, $9 for children, and $5 for ONU students. Information: 419-772-1900.

•The Waterville Playshop will open its 2009-10 season with Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate. The musical, inspired by William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew, will be directed by Bill Quinlan and star Elizabeth Cottle, Lindsey Denham, Zach Lahey, Sara Ledzianowski, Matthew Oster, and Matt Richardson. Performances will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Maumee Indoor Theater, 601 Conant St., Maumee. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. They are available at the box office or by calling 419-270-1204.

•John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men opens the theater season for the Monroe Community Players. Set during the Great Depression, the story focuses on George and Lennie, itinerant farm workers who travel from job to job and dream of someday owning their own place. For the MCP production, directed by Robert Yoman, Norb Nowak plays George and David Wahr is Lennie. Also in the cast are Lonnie Aldridge, Christopher Bell, John Coker, Ion Ellery Hallahan, Karl Hauser, Gary Jenkins, and Carolyn Sohoza. Performances will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Meyer Theatre of the La-Z-Boy Center on the campus of Monroe County Community College, 1555 South Raisinville Rd., Monroe. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. They are available at the box office or by calling 734-241-7900.

•The family favorite You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown opens tonight at Bowling Green State University. Originally produced in 1967, the show was updated in 1999, and this is the version that BGSU will present as it spends a day with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, and other characters in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The large cast includes Jarrod Alexander and Casey Toney of Toledo. Performances are at 8 p.m. today and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Eva Marie Saint Theatre in University Hall. Tickets are $12 for adults and students, $6 for children 11 and younger, and $5 for seniors 65 and older. Information: 419-372-2719.

•The Friends of the River Raisin Centre for the Arts in Monroe are again presenting The Rocky Horror Show as a fund-raiser for the center. Last year's production of the campy, mature-audiences-only sci-fi comedy was wildly successful, according to Calley Duffey, associate director of the center, so more shows were added this year. Tickets are $15 for all performances, which will be at 8 p.m. and midnight Saturday and Oct. 31 and 8 p.m. Oct. 30 in the center, 114 South Monroe St., Monroe. Information: 734-242-7722.

Contact Nanciann Cherry at:

ncherry@theblade.com

or 419-724-6130.