The Tavern
by Different Stages

Mar. 17 - Apr. 02, 2023
Fridays-Sundays

This rollicking melodrama, first produced in the 1920's, is set in (obviously) a tavern on a "dark and lonely road in the middle of the night." During a fierce storm (CRASH) the tavern owner (BANG!), his son and their servants give lodging to the Governor and his family, a vengeful woman (EEK!) and... a mysterious vagabond.

When THE TAVERN originally premiered in 1920, it utterly baffled most of the critics. But the play was championed by Robert Benchley who called it "the biggest night in my theatergoing career, for it marked the birth of something new on the stage, a gorgeous insanity from which it is to be hoped the drama as an institution will never recover," and Dorothy Parker, who proclaimed it an entertainment "sent from Heaven, via Mr. Cohan."  The play went on to become one of Cohan's greatest theatrical successes, one in which he toured the provinces for years once the original production had closed. 

Bob Abelman's review of THE TAVERN for The Austin Chronicle, March 23, 2023

Directed by Norman Blumensaadt (Shining City), The Tavern features Greg Ginther (The Thanksgiving Play), Ev Lunning (The Dresser), Michael Lucas (Heartbreak House), Tom Chamberlain (The Goat or Who is Sylvia), Annie Merritt (The Cricket on the Hearth), Kirstin Fern Johnson (Heartbreak House), Jessica Medina (The Cricket on the Hearth), Emily Villarreal (A Doll’s House), Robert Stevens (Great Expectations), Ty Wiley (The Grapes of Wrath), and Jack Baziuk (All is Calm) and Steven Fay (Heartbreak House)..

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The Tavern
by George M. Cohan
Different Stages

 

Different Stages will be producing George M. Cohan's The Tavern at Scottish Rite Theatre March 17-April 2, 2023 for ten performances.

A co-production with Austin Scottish Rite Theater. Performances are Fridays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Added performance Thursday March 30 at 7:30 Tickets are: $15, $25, $35 -- you pick your price for all performances.