‘Flea In Her Ear’ closes University Theatre season

Mistaken identities, attempted indiscretions, high fashion and a hilarious cast of characters combine with uproarious results in the University Theatre’s last play of the spring season.

“A Flea in Her Ear,” an outrageous French farce, is transported to the wild 1960s in a modern translation by acclaimed Chicago director Frank Galati. Veteran University Theatre director Norma Saldivar heads a cast and production team as they take a no-holds-barred romp through the show.

Galati’s adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s farce follows Parisian businessman Victor Deboshe on a comic odyssey in his attempt to unravel a bizarre set of mistaken identities.

Deboshe’s wife, Yvonne Deboshe, who mistakenly believes he is having an affair, sets out to catch him in the act, luring him to the seedy Hotel Pussy a Go-Go, where the play’s hilarious plots and sub-plots erupt in farcical pandemonium.

The world of 1960s Paris is rendered in imaginative detail by veteran University Theatre scenic designer Kirk A. Domer and costume designer Shelley Alexander-Cornia. The two team up in their final UT production to craft a world of high fashion and surprise that contains the play’s action.

Composing original music for the production is Milwaukee-based composer of incidental and theatrical music, Josh Schmidt. His compositions have been featured in theatrical venues in Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago.

“A Flea in Her Ear” runs April 19-20, 25-27 and May 2-4 in the Mitchell Theatre, in Vilas Hall. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $14 general public, $10 UW–Madison students. Tickets and information, Vilas Hall Box Office, 262-1500.