By Rich Larson
The Northfield Arts Guild will open Caddyshakes, a parody of the 1980 comedy Caddyshack retold in the style of William Shakespeare, this coming Friday.
The production is the play’s Midwest premiere. Playwright and director Michael Schaeffer said he wrote the script while serving on the board of the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre in Alaska, which needed a fundraiser and had previously staged Shakespearean versions of “The Big Lebowski” and “Star Wars.”
“I wanted to tackle a movie that I loved and wouldn’t mind watching in like 30-second increments,” Schaeffer said on KYMN Radio’s “Art Zany” with host Paula Granquist.
Schaeffer said the script references each of Shakespeare’s 37 plays through insults, plot points or rhyming couplets. Bill Murray’s assistant greenskeeper becomes “Carliolanus,” and his poolside scene borrows from the “Is this a dagger” speech in “Macbeth.” Schaeffer said audiences who aren’t Shakespeare fans will still find “plenty of storyline and slapstick humor.”
Local audiences will also hear nods to the Dundas Yacht Club, Owatonna, Carleton College and St. Olaf College.
Andy Anderson plays the role Rodney Dangerfield made famous in the film. “I was very intentional that I was not going to be doing a Rodney Dangerfield impersonation,” Anderson said.
Joe Brennan, who works at Bread People in Northfield, is making his stage debut. “This is my first time being in a play,” he said. Brennan plays several parts, including the lifeguard and Ariel from “The Tempest,” and he works the puppet for the show’s famous gopher.
Each night, a different volunteer will play the apothecary, a golfer who stays on stage for several scenes. The cast includes nine local actors and four from Savage, Rosemount and the Twin Cities.
Performances run through Nov. 1. Shows on Fridays, Oct. 23 and 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31, begin at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, shows begin at 2 p.m. A cast Q&A will follow the Oct. 25 matinee. The Halloween performance will include an optional costume contest with a grand prize gift bag.
Organizers recommend buying tickets in advance at northfieldartsguild.org, as Arts Guild shows often sell out.
Rich Larson is the owner and General manager of KYMN Radio. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
