Square Players one-man cabaret show premiers Friday night
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
The East Troy Square Players will present “I Love America, But It’s Complicated: Songs and Stories of Patriotism and Protest” Sept. 4-6 at Ivan’s Backstage, 2087 Division Street, East Troy.
The play will be directed by Charles Dimick.
Peter Donalds, a member of the band 4 Lane Hwy and an East Troy native, wrote the play and will be performing it at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 4 and 5; and 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6.
“It’s a one-man show, a series of monologues and songs, about the patriotism of protest,” Donalds said.
“I just want people to come with an open mind,” he continued. “I think people across the political spectrum will enjoy the show. It was important to me for it to be entertaining and not just a sermon. People will know my point of view by the time the show is over, but i think I’ll keep them guessing for most of it.”
The play includes original song by Donalds as well as music by John Prine, Phil Ochs, and Emmylou Harris, and classics from Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and more. Donalds will also play the keyboard, banjo, acoustic guitar, foot percussion and the keyboard during the musical production.
“I was working with Chuck Dimick on a show a couple months ago and we had the idea of doing a cabaret at around the protest songs and he said ‘Geeze this is enough for a one-man show,’” Donalds said. “I’ve always wanted to do this. I’m a writer and performer, but this is the first time I’ve put it all together into something likes this,” Donalds said.
He said he did a preview of the show in Milwaukee recently and was pleased with the response. “I had had people laughing at the right places and even crying some times and I thought ‘This is working.’”
Tickets are available at Ivan’s on the Square, the Square Players Facebook page or at www.brownpapertickets.com.
Ivan’s Backstage is adjacent to Ivan’s On the Square restaurant, which is taking reservations for dinner before the shows. Call (262) 642-7107 to reserve a table. Dimick recommends 5:45 p.m. reservations for the evening shows and 11:30 a.m. for our Sunday performance.
For more information about Donalds, visit www.peterdonaldsmusic.com.
