Of Notoriety: Towle Theater launches 22nd season this weekend in Hammond with ‘The Mad Ones'
The Towle Theater is opening the first show of its 22nd season with the Friday opening night for 'The Mad Ones,' billed as 'a humorously touching musical' with music direction by John Philips and sponsored by Hammond Horseshoe Casino.
'The Mad Ones,' penned by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk, is directed by Dion Stover, who joined Towle as the new artistic director last summer opposite Emily Nelson as executive director.
'The Mad Ones' follows 18-year-old Samantha Brown as she sits in a hand-me-down car with the keys clutched in her hand. Caught between a yearning for the unknown and feeling bound by expectation, she telescopes back to a time before her world had fallen apart. As she sits in the driver's seat, she faces a choice: Will she follow in her mother's footsteps, or take the dare of her impetuous best friend and chart a new path?
Making their Towle stage debuts are Elizabeth Bushell, who hails from Wilmette, Illinois, opposite Tony Calkins, Madison Meeron and Lauren Reece, the latter three all cast members from Chicago.
Performances for 'The Mad Ones' are Feb. 28, March 1 and 2, and March 7, 8 and 9 with 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday performances and 2 p.m. Sundays. The box office opens one hour before show time. Tickets are $24 in advance and $28 at the door. Reservations must be paid for in advance, and tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Group rates are available. There is no late seating, and patrons are asked to arrive no later than 15 minutes before curtain. Patrons arriving after the curtain start time will not be seated until intermission.
After guiding Towle Theater since its founding in 2003, Jeff Casey and partner Kevin Bellamy spent last season transitioning from their administrative roles to secondary leadership positions in support of the Towle Board of Directors naming Nelson as the new executive director.
Last June, Towle Theater unveiled new plush seating for their tiered audience section while also adapting to the exterior landscape changes for street and building renovations by the city of Hammond. Located in downtown Hammond, patron parking is available in front of the building on Hohman Avenue as well as the gravel lot located on Sibley Avenue.
For more information and tickets call 219-937-8780 or visit www.towletheater.org.
Using the 2025 branding theme 'A Bold New Season,' season tickets are still available for all four shows for $75.
Among the remaining three show titles includes 'POTUS,' a comedy by Selina Fillinger May 2-11 using a fantasy spin on a White House tale of what would happen if the U.S. President was at the root of a public relations nightmare, and the seven brilliant women surrounding him in his orbit must 'save the day.'
'Superhero' by John Logan with music and lyrics by Tom Kitt will run July 18-27 to unveil this new musical following the life of Simon, a teenage comic book fan who retreats into an imaginary world after witnessing his father's death two years earlier.
'Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson' by Kate Hamil is a dark comedy Sept. 12-21 and intended to 'desecrate the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.'
A December holiday show run has yet to be announced.
The Towle produced their first full season in 2004, always located at 5205 Hohman Ave. in Hammond. The Towle Theater building occupies two former storefronts. During Hammond's heyday of the 1940s through 1960s, that building housed retail businesses, with many readers likely remembering the storefront signs of Manlie Jewelry and R&S Shoes.
The 'Towle Theater' name is in honor of Marcus Towle, who was the first mayor of Hammond, and he built what was once the Towle Opera House on this same site in 1903.
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