Silver Star B&B Front Porch It’s not unusual for a bucket list to be tied to those landmarks that define a place. In Spring Green, it’s a performance of Shakespeare under the stars at the American Players Theatre; enjoy a gentle sleep at Silver Star B&B located on a bucolic 340-acre estate. In Green Bay, it’s a tour of the just-renovated Lambeau Field; spend the night at Astor House B&B. Run away to Circus World in Baraboo; overnight at Pinehaven B&B or Inn at Wawanissee Point.  Check those off the list! [caption id="attachment_1601" align="alignleft" width="252"] Silver Star B&B Deck[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1602" align="alignright" width="309"] Pinehaven B&B[/caption]  

You’ve heard of theatre in the round.  How about theatre in the forest.  Or in a tent.  Or on a lakeshore.  In Spring Green, the American Players Theatre is world renowned for its classical theatre performed under the stars in an amphitheater on a hill with trees all around.  In Door County, the Peninsula Players is America’s oldest professional resident summer theater, and there’s also American Folklore Theatre with musicals that are often Wisconsin-themed, and Door Shakespeare which stages its performances in a garden.  Lake Superior’s Big Top Chautauqua, Bayfield,  has a full summer season of plays and concerts and, yes, they are performed under a big tent.  In Mineral Point, there’s Alley Stage, and in Milwaukee the Peck Pavillion on the lakeshore has lots of free events.  Get outside, take a seat, enjoy the show, and then return to the B&B of your choice, knowing our member inns are also famous for receiving rave reviews.      [caption id="attachment_722" align="aligncenter" width="175"] Mineral Point is known for its artist's community and artisan shops ... just a short stroll from Brewery Creek. As its name implies, Brewery Creek is more than an historic inn - it's a brew pub, and restaurant known for a locally sourced menu.[/caption]

If your travels in the coming year take you to the Spring Green area of Wisconsin, then you must take in a performance of the American Players Theatre.  Wall Street Journal theater critic Terry Teachout named APT the Best Company and “The Cure at Troy” the Best Play of 2011.  Here’s an excerpt from the story:  Wisconsin's American Players Theatre, located in Spring Green, Frank Lloyd Wright's home town, has been putting on first-class productions in its 1,148-seat amphitheatre since 1979. When it opened a second indoor stage, the handsome 200-seat Touchstone Theatre, in 2009, APT decisively established itself as one of America's most ambitious and consistently impressive classical summer festivals. This year's offerings included an overwhelmingly moving small-stage version of "The Cure at Troy," Seamus Heaney's English-language adaptation of Sophocles' "Philoctetes," directed by David Frank, APT's artistic director. A perfect embodiment of the company's serious yet unpretentious style, "The Cure at Troy" was the best show of any kind that I saw in 2011.  The 2012 APT schedule has just been posted and includes Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “The Royal Family” written by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, among others.  Spend the night at Silver Star B&B Inn or Hill Street Bed and Breakfast, both with Spring Green addresses.