“Far from Broadway, Wisconsin has emerged as a top theatrical destination for critics, actors, and audiences,” the journalist Roger Rapoport recently wrote in AIR MAIL. This fall, one of the state’s most anticipated productions is Prelude to a Kiss, a new musical adaptation of Craig Lucas’s 1988 play. Nominated for a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize, Lucas’s work was also made into a 1992 movie starring Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan. The story centers on a young couple, Peter and Rita, who experiences a surrealistic twist on their wedding day. When an old man kisses the bride during the reception, their souls are swapped. Inspired by Lucas’s grief during the AIDS crisis, the narrative finds Peter faced with a young wife who suddenly thinks and acts like an old man. “It’s fun to be in a room with artists of a new generation, talking about expectations and awareness,” says Lucas, who is involved in this production, “and what I’ve learned over the years is, you’d be an idiot not to listen.” —Jeanne Malle