MILTON Rubber Ducky Winery and Country Market, formerly Northleaf, has something new for Milton: Dinner theater.
But if that conjures up images of a candlelight dinner with a cocktail followed by a scripted play or musical with a familiar title unfolding on a stage, youd only be partly right.
At the Duckery Lounge, located next door to the winery at 232 S. Janesville St., a dinner will be served on show nights, and there will be candles on the tables. There is a bar, but dont expect to order your favorite cocktail. Only elixirs are served in this 1880s themed lounge.
There is a show, but the title wont quite sound familiar or not at all, nor will it be scriptedat least not 100% scripted.
The biggest thing for people to understand is that this is not like a Shakespeare show on the stage, said owner Jason Dalke. This is 50% scripted and 50% improv.
Dalke and his wife Joelle purchased the winery earlier this year, which included the building where the shows are held. Built in 1872, its known as the Haven House, named after its first resident, H. M. Haven.
The actors are interacting with you, the guest, Dalke continued, so the more you play with them, the more they play with you.
On arrival, guests will step into a replicated 1800s apothecary which pays homage to Haven, Miltons first druggist. Then they pass through a curtain into the area where the dinner and show take place. The space is cozy and intimatea full capacity show accommodates 24 guests, all seated at tables for the duration of the evening. The room is too small for a stage, but there is a bar where scenes often unfold.
Each month, a new show is presented. The first ran for two weekends in November, and the second show, Havens Christmas Carol opened on Dec. 6. The stories revolve around Horace Haven but since very little is known about him, the story lines and the other characters are fictional. An obituary for Haven provided a few clues and a picture taken around 1873 on a glass slide shows a building beside the Milton House which is clearly marked Drug Store.
So, we ascertain a lot of information, said Dalke. Since pharmaceuticals were not available during Havens time, herbal elixirs would have been created to treat ailments.
During dinner shows, the meals are served as the story unfolds and are created to compliment the storyline. Elixirs are served rather than cocktails and they, too fit the story in some way.
In Havens Christmas Carol, the cast is on a search to find the three elixirs of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Since the cast and the audience interact, the audience unknowingly assists in determining the ingredients for the elixirs.
The cast consists of local actors with 16-year-old Ivan Klos playing Haven. Dalke said it was Ivans enthusiasm which landed him the role. Even after Dalke explained that the building needed repairs and that it would be months before it was ready, Ivan said he didnt mind. He was willing to work on the building in the meantime.
Hes the guy who pulled thousands of nails out of the floor to build the apothecary, said Dalke.
Doing such work on the property, both inside and out, entrenched Ivan in the character he plays, which Dalke said comes through during his performances.
The cast meets weekly to prepare the script and practice how it will unfold. Dalke likened it to writing a Seinfeld episode. We all work collaboratively among the eight of us, and were all typing in the same shared Google document, he said. Its like somebody might be crossing out what youre typing!
Once they have what Dalke calls a 50% script, theyll begin going through the physical motions of where they will be when they say the lines. Each actor has worked to develop their own unique character and bring it into the performance.
As each guest is seated, they are given a copy of The Milton Historic Times, created each month for the specific show performed. It includes the evenings menu, a summary of the performance and introduces the characters.
Dalke and the cast like to incorporate humor into the shows, some of which is improvised and momentarily breaks away from the time period. For example, when a character cant find any butter, another cast member responds by saying that they live in the country, and there must be a crock somewhere.
In this months performance, a young courier delivers packages, and a performer might make a subtle reference to two-day deliveries or a package being lost somewhere.
Dalke said that the response so far has been positive with shows typically selling out. Currently, the shows run two weekends per month on Fridays and Saturdays. In the opening weekend for Havens Christmas Carol, he added a Sunday matinee. We sold out of that show, he said. That actually sold out quicker than our Saturday night shows.
The Duckery Lounge is open weekends. The apothecary store carries a variety of candles, preserves and gift items. Food is also available. Learn more by visiting the Rubber Ducky Winery and Country Market website or their Facebook page.
