Lake Superior Theatre 2018
  • Lake Superior Theatre
  • Summer 2022
    • Something Rotten!
    • Nunsense
    • Comedy Tonight
    • My Son Pinocchio
    • Superior Memories
    • Franklin Park Band
  • Tickets
    • How To Buy Tickets
    • 2019 Ticket Order Forms
  • About Us
    • History of LSYY
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    • Superior Arts Youth Theater
    • Awards
    • Contact LST >
      • Support LST >
        • Donate
        • Donor Page
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  • Past Plays
    • 1999-2002 >
      • Points North
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Haywire
      • Escanaba in Da Moonlight
    • 2003-2004 >
      • Life on the Fly
      • Superior Heroes >
        • Captain
        • Peter White
      • Holdin Our Own
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Charlie Brown
      • Dear Edwina
      • Songs on the Shore
    • 2005-2006 >
      • Honk Jr
      • 1776
      • Songs for a New World
      • A Gala Day
      • A Funny Thing Happened
      • Into The Woods JR
      • The Christmas Schooner
      • Proof
    • 2007-2008 >
      • Anything Goes
      • Guys and Dolls
      • Keepers of The Light
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Escanaba in Love
      • Treasure Island a Pirates Tale
      • A Midsummer Nights Dream
    • 2009-2010 >
      • Guys on Ice
      • Anatomy of a Murder
      • Macsith
      • The Orphan Train
    • 2011-2012 >
      • Lake Stories
      • Little Women
      • Last Five Years
      • Twelth Night
      • The Lion the Slave and the Rodent
    • 2012-2013 >
      • A Thousand Clowns
      • Dandelion Cottage
      • A Night of Broadway
      • Mouse That Roared
    • 2013 Plays >
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Pirates of Penzance
      • Honk Jr
      • Superior Broadway
      • SPECIAL SHOWING: A Man Named Marquette
    • 2014 PLAYS >
      • PIPPIN
      • I Do! I Do! >
        • I Do, I Do Cast
      • NARNIA
      • KING LEAR
    • Summer 2015 >
      • SPAMALOT
      • QUILTERS
      • ONCE ON THIS ISLAND JR
      • AS YOU LIKE IT
    • Summer 2016 >
      • The Producers
      • James & the Giant Peach
      • Do Black Shoes Reflect Up
      • Butterflies Are Free
      • Julius Caesar
      • Auditions
    • Summer 2017 >
      • Grease
      • Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr.
      • Steel Magnolias
      • Hamlet
      • Superior Cabaret
    • SUMMER 2018 >
      • Beacon on the Rock
      • Superior Adventures
      • High School Musical Jr.
      • Godspell
      • Sandra Joseph
      • Broadway at the Boathouse
    • SUMMER 2019 >
      • Fiddler on the Roof
      • Spotlight on Marquette Artists
      • Into the Woods Jr.
      • Dixie Swim Club
      • Miscast Musical
      • Summer 2021 >
        • 2020 Boathouse Upgrades
  • FAQ

A Thousand Clowns

Picture
Unemployed television writer Murray Burns, lives in a cluttered New York one-bedroom apartment with his 12-year-old nephew, Nick (Barry Gordon). Murray has been unemployed for five months after walking out on his previous job, writing jokes for a children's television show called "Chuckles the Chipmunk". Nick, the illegitimate son of Murray's sister, was left with Murray seven years earlier.

Murray is a free spirit with an offbeat sense of humor. He phones the weather service to get the day’s forecast and carries on an extended conversation with the recorded message on the other end. He has been unemployed for several months, having quit his job as a writer for Chuckles the Chipmunk because he fears becoming trapped in normal middleclass life. Although he has been promising Nick that he will look for a new job, he has no intention of doing so today, because he is celebrating the birthday of Irving R. Feldman, the owner of his favorite delicatessen. Nick, who is twelve, has decided to skip school in honor of the occasion.


Picture
When social workers from the Bureau of Child Welfare come to investigate, he must decide whether to accept some level of conformity in order to show himself a fit guardian. The play is episodic and funny, as Murray meets all challenges to his lifestyle with irreverent humor. Before Murray and Nick can leave, they find at the door Albert Amundson, a social worker, and Sandra Markowitz, a psychologist, both from the Bureau of Child Welfare. Murray has been ignoring their phone calls and letters for eleven months, and they have come to see whether he is a fit guardian for Nick. Murray answers their serious questions with jokes and non sequiturs. Albert is earnest and stuffy, and he has no appreciation for Murray’s whimsical sense of humor. Sandra, on the other hand, finds Murray and Nick charming.

As Murray Burns is flat-out marvelous,. Burns dominates the play from start to finish, a character with a challenging range of action and emotion. He is real, and genuine every minute, and when he finally makes the changes he has to, including agreeing to go back to writing the children's show, it's not a defeat, it's a conscious choice that he makes, knowing it's the right one.

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  • Lake Superior Theatre
  • Summer 2022
    • Something Rotten!
    • Nunsense
    • Comedy Tonight
    • My Son Pinocchio
    • Superior Memories
    • Franklin Park Band
  • Tickets
    • How To Buy Tickets
    • 2019 Ticket Order Forms
  • About Us
    • History of LSYY
    • Videos
    • Reviews and Media Stories
    • Superior Arts Youth Theater
    • Awards
    • Contact LST >
      • Support LST >
        • Donate
        • Donor Page
        • Program Ads
        • Check
        • Credit Card
  • Past Plays
    • 1999-2002 >
      • Points North
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Haywire
      • Escanaba in Da Moonlight
    • 2003-2004 >
      • Life on the Fly
      • Superior Heroes >
        • Captain
        • Peter White
      • Holdin Our Own
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Charlie Brown
      • Dear Edwina
      • Songs on the Shore
    • 2005-2006 >
      • Honk Jr
      • 1776
      • Songs for a New World
      • A Gala Day
      • A Funny Thing Happened
      • Into The Woods JR
      • The Christmas Schooner
      • Proof
    • 2007-2008 >
      • Anything Goes
      • Guys and Dolls
      • Keepers of The Light
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Escanaba in Love
      • Treasure Island a Pirates Tale
      • A Midsummer Nights Dream
    • 2009-2010 >
      • Guys on Ice
      • Anatomy of a Murder
      • Macsith
      • The Orphan Train
    • 2011-2012 >
      • Lake Stories
      • Little Women
      • Last Five Years
      • Twelth Night
      • The Lion the Slave and the Rodent
    • 2012-2013 >
      • A Thousand Clowns
      • Dandelion Cottage
      • A Night of Broadway
      • Mouse That Roared
    • 2013 Plays >
      • Beacon On The Rock
      • Pirates of Penzance
      • Honk Jr
      • Superior Broadway
      • SPECIAL SHOWING: A Man Named Marquette
    • 2014 PLAYS >
      • PIPPIN
      • I Do! I Do! >
        • I Do, I Do Cast
      • NARNIA
      • KING LEAR
    • Summer 2015 >
      • SPAMALOT
      • QUILTERS
      • ONCE ON THIS ISLAND JR
      • AS YOU LIKE IT
    • Summer 2016 >
      • The Producers
      • James & the Giant Peach
      • Do Black Shoes Reflect Up
      • Butterflies Are Free
      • Julius Caesar
      • Auditions
    • Summer 2017 >
      • Grease
      • Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr.
      • Steel Magnolias
      • Hamlet
      • Superior Cabaret
    • SUMMER 2018 >
      • Beacon on the Rock
      • Superior Adventures
      • High School Musical Jr.
      • Godspell
      • Sandra Joseph
      • Broadway at the Boathouse
    • SUMMER 2019 >
      • Fiddler on the Roof
      • Spotlight on Marquette Artists
      • Into the Woods Jr.
      • Dixie Swim Club
      • Miscast Musical
      • Summer 2021 >
        • 2020 Boathouse Upgrades
  • FAQ