Bravo: Season is counting down, but next batch of productions is sure to please

The clock, as they say, is ticking.

There are just three performances of the Warehouse Theatre Company’s spring offering “The 39 Steps” remaining. This fun and creative revision of Alfred Hitchcock’s film — which is itself a rewrite of the John Buchan spy thriller — closes Saturday night. And though performed in a black box space with no grand drape to raise or lower, Saturday night’s presentation will ring down the final curtain of a celebratory 75th season of plays at the Warehouse.

Actors, crew and audiences agree that “The 39 Steps” is great fun. It’s theater at its most frenetic and fundamental; a creative story told in a creative fashion, requiring what dramatists call “a willing suspension of disbelief.”

While the laughter and enjoyment of the WTC’s 75th season winds to a stop on Saturday, the excitement and anticipation of the 76th is already in full swing. The cast is set, and work has already begun on the summer show, the first of five crowd-pleasers in the Warehouse’s 2023-24 season.

That first production — a musical comedy sure to put smiles on the faces of theatergoers in July — is “Once Upon a Mattress.” As the story goes, many moons ago in a far-off place, Queen Aggravain decreed no couples could marry until her son, Prince Dauntless, found a bride. Princesses came from far and wide to win the hand of the prince, but none could pass the impossible tests given to them by the queen. That is, until the “shy” swamp princess, Winnifred the Woebegone, shows up. Carried on a wave of wonderful songs, this spin on the classic fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea” provides side-splitting shenanigans and fun for all.

September at the Warehouse will feature the Neil Simon comedy “Fools.” This is the story of Leon Tolchinsky, a young teacher who has landed a terrific job in an idyllic Russian hamlet. But when he arrives, it appears that his job may be harder than he thought. He finds people sweeping dust from the stoops back into their houses and others milking their cows upside down … to get more cream!

Leon learns that the town is under a 200-year-old curse of Chronic Stupidity. If he is to keep his job — and get the girl of his dreams — Leon must find a way to break the curse. Broadway lore has it that Simon penned this play with the intent of writing a flop. The laugh is on him, though, because with punchline after punchline, “Fools” is a comedy triumph.

The WTC will open its holiday presentation on the Friday after Thanksgiving again this year. Families and friends fresh off a day of Black Friday shopping will be welcomed to the theater for the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol.” This is a heartwarming local adaptation of Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey from an embittered, ungenerous, curmudgeonly miser to a caring, giving human being. This wonderful tale of redemption and hope will touch the hearts and minds of young and old alike. Jacob Marley employs the ghosts of Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come to transform Scrooge from a man bent on keeping mankind at its distance to one who embraces the world with bountiful happiness. This holiday treat is a delight for all ages!

Hitting the stage in February is the hilarious Larry Shue comedy “The Nerd.” The hero of this play, Willum Cubbert, is ecstatic. The man who saved his life in Vietnam — a hero whom Willum never actually met — is coming to town. Finally, he’ll have a chance to properly thank his savior!

But Rick Steadman, the brave and valiant soldier of Willum’s imagination, turns out to be a “nerd” with no social sense, little intelligence and less tact. Willum’s imagination and reality collide in hilarious ways as the curse that is Rick Steadman turns Willum’s world upside down.

If it weren’t for his untimely death in a plane crash at age 39, Shue’s name would likely be spoken with that of Neil Simon when listing influential American comedic playwrights. “The Nerd” is a testament to his skill; it is laugh-out-loud funny.

The WTC season will finish with a flourish next May as audiences take in the workplace revenge comedy of “9 to 5, The Musical.” It’s 1979. Women are just beginning to gain ground in the workplace, but most men there are long on sexism and short on respect. Violet, Judy and Doralee find themselves working for one of the most sexist, egotistical, lying, bigoted, hypocritical and least-respectful bosses ever. Determined to not just be “a step on the boss man’s ladder,” they unite to concoct a hilarious plan to even the score with their overbearing bully-of-a-boss. In a comical turn of events, they live out their wildest fantasies of revenge and success. Featuring great tunes from the Dolly Parton songbook, “9 to 5” is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Season coupons for the five shows are available now at the WTC’s website, or patrons may call the box office Mondays through Saturdays between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. this week to order packages.

From castle to cubicle, from curse to cure, the Warehouse Theatre Company’s 2023-24 season promises laughter and entertainment for everyone.

Oh, and that clock I mentioned? Well, that clock will keep on ticking.

• Vance Jennings is executive director of the Warehouse Theatre Company. The company contributes a column in Explore every four weeks.