Fantasy Island for Dummies
(low cut daydream too near, too near)
An avant musical devised from an 1980s episode of the iconic TV series FANTASY ISLAND about the pleasures and perils of wish fulfillment with a ventriloquist dummy. Devised in a collaborative exploration with Trap Door Theater actors, the piece is written by Ruth Margraff and directed by Kate Hendrickson, with original music composed by Pink Velvet. A 1980 “Fantasy Island” episode about a ventriloquist and her devious dummy inspires a voyage into suppressed identities, ancient Babylonian sex goddesses and a”perfect wife” struggling with her defiant side.
What People Are Saying
A fantastical show that is truly unique in the Chicago theatre scene! It’s so strange and that’s what makes it so fun and artful!
— Quinn Delany, Playlist.hq
Trap Door offers something truly fresh and interesting…Fantasy Island for Dummies is still more exciting, exploratory, and entertaining than most — so long as you’re willing to dive into the oddly fantastical.
— Tom Williams, Chic
…This show is so brave, so bold and so nuts that no other theater company in our town would touch it with a ten foot pole. As Ricardo Montalban tells Annette Funicello in the original episode: “This is Fantasy Island. Things are possible here that can occur in no other place.” The same is true, once again, for Trap Door Theatre.
— Emilio Williams, playwright
Credits
Written by: Ruth Margraff
Directed by: Kate Hendrickson
Cast
Holly Cerney
Casey Chapman
Skye Fort
John Kahara
Lyndsay Rose Kane
Emily Lotspeich
Chris Popio
Bob Wilson
Assistant Director / Stage Manager – Kristin Davis
Lighting Design – Richard Norwood
Set Design – AJ Tarzian
Costume Design – Rachel Sypniewski
Music Composer – Pink Velvet
Graphic Design – Michal Janicki
Sound Design – Mike Mazzocca
Movement Director – Kasey Foster
Makeup Design –
Props Design – Anne Sonneville
Commissioned by Trap Door Theater (Chicago)
September 29th - November 5th, 2016