PEACH WEEKENDER | THEATRE

Fort Findlay Playhouse stages musical comedy

Cast members rehearse a scene in ‘‍Avenue Q,’ the musical comedy that teaches that adulthood is not as fun as it looks. The Fort Findlay Playhouse production opens tonight.

Avenue Q, the musical comedy that teaches that adulthood is not as fun as it looks, is presented beginning this evening by Fort Findlay Playhouse.

The show, which features human actors and puppets (with a nod to Sesame Street), takes a satirical look at young people in the big city coping with the trials of finding success and love in the real world.

The Broadway show has music and lyrics by Robert Lopez, who collaborated with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on The Book of Mormon, and Jeff Marx, with a book by Jeff Whitty, and orchestrations by Stephen Oremus. It won 2004 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book.

The story centers on Princeton, who takes his degree in English to New York City and finds an apartment in a neighborhood he can afford on Avenue Q, where he meets other young people with the same struggles.

The Fort Findlay Playhouse cast includes Adam Van Gorder, Laurie Dye, Samantha Henry, Meghan Koester, Jamie Rice, Mandy Wolber, Wes Vollmar, Wes Taylor, Dora Vollmar, Scott Edmonson, Alicia Blair, Patrick Davis, Lila Conley, and Anna Wank. It is directed by Aeryn WIlliams and produced by Bill Rayle.

The show may include puppets, but it is not for children — the script and the songs contain references to drinking, sex, and other adult situations; the Playthouse staff suggests going to avenueq.com for more information.

Performances of Avenue Q will be at 8 p.m. today, Friday, and Saturday, and at 5 p.m. Sunday at Fort Findlay Playhouse, 300 W. Sandusky St., Findlay. Additional shows will be at 8 p.m. Aug. 21, 22, and 23. Tickets, $15, can be purchased at artspartnership.com, 419-422-4624, or at the door. Unsold seats will be available at the door when the doors open a half hour before curtain time.

Stranahan tickets

Individual tickets go on sale Sept. 13 for The Book of Mormon, the hit musical that is part of the 2014-2015 Broadway in Toledo Series presented by the Theater League at the Stranahan Theater. Tickets for the other four shows in the series — Once, Camelot, Sister Act, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast — will go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday.

The Book of Mormon, a musical comedy that won nine 2011 Tony Awards including Best Musical, will be presented Dec. 16-21. The musical Once won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical; performances are May 5-10.

The classic musical Camelot will be staged Oct. 23-26, and Sister Act arrives April 8-12. The Theater League will present Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jan. 23-25.

Tickets will be available at stranahantheater.com and theaterleague.com, at the Stranahan box office, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., or 419-381-8851.

‘Sweet Charity’

The lively musical Sweet Charity will be presented at the Croswell beginning Friday. The classic show has song-and-dance numbers that include If My Friends Could See Me Now, Big Spender, and I’m a Brass Band.

Performances are at 8 p.m Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the theater, 129 E. Maumee St. in downtown Adrian. Additional shows are Aug. 22 at 8 p.m., Aug. 23 at 2:30 and 8 p.m., and Aug. 24 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets, $35 to $15, are available at croswell.org, 517-264-7469 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at the box office.

Send theater news two weeks in advance to at sbrickey@theblade.com.