Actress to present one-woman show on Annie Oakley

Lise "Kat" Evans, an actress, playwright and teacher from Chicago, will perform a one-woman show, So Much a Lady: The Life of Annie Oakley, at  Northwestern College's England Proscenium Theatre on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m. 

The show, which Evans was commissioned to write and perform by Ohio State University for the Ohio bicentennial, will be sponsored by the Orange City Arts Council. Advance tickets are $4 for adults and $3 students. At the door, tickets are $6 and $5. Purchase tickets at the Dove Christian Bookstore or Orange City Arts Council, ocarts@orangecityiowa.com, 712-707-4885. (NWC students and employees get free admission with school ID.)

Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter and wild West show performer in the late 1800s, offered to fight in the Spanish-American War, but was told, "No, thanks." Oakley also worked to train women to use guns, but she was against women's suffrage. She was a fascinating person, said Evans, "a feisty, take-the-world-by-storm sort of person." And, like Evans, she had a strong moral center.

Evans played the role of Princess Jasmine in the Emerald City Theatre Company's production of Disney's Aladdin. She performed in The Threepenny Opera with the Hypocrite Theatre Company in Chicago, and also at her alma mater, Calvin College. In December she played several roles in A Christmas Carol at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Chicago.

Her residency, sponsored by the Orange City Arts Council, also includes master classes on creating a one-person show, to be held at Unity Christian High, Northwestern College and Dordt College in Sioux Center. She will also perform at Orange City Christian School and Spalding Catholic High School in Granville, and meet with speech students at Spalding.

Evans, a certified yoga instructor who teaches in Chicago, will also teach a yoga class on Wednesday, Jan. 26, from 5-6 p.m. at the Orange City Town Hall community room, sponsored by Orange City Recreation. Cost is $5. No reservations are necessary.