Cherry and Spoon: American Players Theatre, 2024

Cherry and Spoon

This year I made my second visit to American Players Theatre, the magical theater in the middle of the woods of Wisconsin. My friends at Minnesota Theater Love have been going for years, and finally convinced me to join them two years ago. I was enamored of the setting and the quality (and quantity) of work produced, and declared that "if Middle Earth had a theater, it would look like American Players Theatre," so I was happy to make the trip again after missing last year. And now I am thoroughly and irrevocably ensorcelled by the experience that is APT; I don't think I'll miss another year if I can help it. We saw five shows in three days, four of them outdoors, each better than the last. If you're a theater fan in the Midwest, put APT on your must-do list. A lovely four-hour drive from the Twin Cities through the corn fields and rolling hills of Wisconsin brings you to a two-stage, eight-show repertory theater than runs from June through September (with an additional indoor show in October). It's a gem that even the New York Times has visited - so why haven't you? This year we stayed at House on the Rock Resort which is the closest (and perfectly satisfactory) lodging to the theater at just about a mile away, but there are other hotels, B&Bs, and AirBnBs in the vicinity. Plus there are plenty of shops and restaurants in and around Spring Green to entertain you (although I do recommend making a reservation for Saturday night dinner, we visited four restaurants before we found one that could seat us). So make a long weekend of it, visit the truly bizarre funhouse that is House on the Rock (admission included if you stay at the Resort), take in the majesty of Taliesin (which I have yet to do), and enjoy some amazing theater, scenery, and cheese!

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