MADISON — Lakewood Theater is located off U.S.Route 201. For reservations or more information, call 474-7176 or visit lakewoodtheater.org.

“The Music Man” by Meredith Willson, Aug. 2-11.

An affectionate nod to Smalltown, USA of a bygone era, The Music Man follow fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he convinces the concerned parents of Iowa City that a trumpet to the lips can replace chalk on the fingertips. With real money for 76 imaginary trombones and 110 cornets, Hill plans to grab the next train out of town. He is stopped in his tracks by Marian Paroo, the town librarian and piano teacher. When he decides to linger to woo the aloof but lovely lady we meet the citizens of this apply pie American town. Suspecting that Hill doesn’t know a C-note from a hundred dollar bill, Marian resolves to unmask him until she realizes that he is bringing new life to the town and that she is falling in love with him. Songs include: Goodnight my Someone, ‘Til There Was You and Seventy-Six Trombones.

* “Murdered to Death” by James Gordon, Aug. 16-25.

The 1930s, a lovely day for an excursion in the English country. That charming mano house belongs to Mildred Bagshot, a dotty spinster who lives there with her mousy niece Dorothy and her deadpan butler, Bunting. He is loaded, too, much of the time. It looks like she has guests. Let’s peek in the window! There is frisky Colonel Craddock with his elegant wife Margaret. She looks unhappy. In the corner is Pierre, a shady French art dealer, and his companion Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington. And here comes Miss Maple … the village gossip and sleuth. They say when she appears death follows. Did you hear a gunshot? The laughs are thick and fast from the witty to the downright silly, and the twisting plot will keep you guessing until the very end. In this classic send up of an Agatha Christie play, the audience may die of laughter before the murderer is unmasked.

* “The House of Blue Leaves” by John Guare, Aug. 30-Sept. 8.

Writer John Guare has the nimbleness to run up and down the scaffold of gallows humor. The writing is lush with sad, ironic wisdom about fame, love and deluded values … at once a zany farce and a biting look at people chasing exulted dreams of glory into some dead-end alley of the soul. Artie Shaughnessy is a man with a dream. He is an aspiring song writer, spending his nights playing seedy, smoke-filled lounges. In the waking, working world, Artie is a zookeeper. He has a wife named Bananas and a girlfriend name Bunny. His wife is a schizophrenic and his girlfriend sleeps with him but won’ cook for him. On Oct. 4, 1965, both The Pope and a Hollywood producer pass through Queens and Artie Shaughnessy’s life putting his dreams on a collision course with a devastating, wildly funny reality.

* “Who Goes Bare,” Sept. 13-22.

Brothers Eddie and Brian own the nearly bankrupt Canyon Health Spa. During a three-day binge, Eddie gambled away the hotel. Mr. Butcher, a gun-toting thug, arrives to collect the deed. The pompous Brian arrives with Nancy McSmith, a prospective investor … and maybe more. A health freak who misunderstood Dude Ranch as Nude Ranch, Nancy disrobes. Eddie convinces Brian he must shed his clothes in order to seal the deal. Because they have not been paid the staff have quit except for a ditzy maid named Minnie who wants to be a masseuse and who is in love with a pirate she met at a costume party. Before the end of Act One Brian’s suspicious wife Joan arrives unannounced and short-tempered, kilt clad Angus McSmith arrives in Act Two. Add to the mix Maxie, a quick change artist looking for a quiet holiday, a closet, and lots of doors. Oh, yes … someone called the police. All is revealed … almost … before the final curtain.