Lee Ernst’s Fight Club

Lee Ernst, the nearly 30-year veteran of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and American Players Theatre, is experiencing — for the first time in a while — something most artists deal with every day: uncertainty about the future.

He joined The Rep’s resident company 17 years ago — the same year as Joseph Hanreddy. But this season is Hanreddy’s last, and with a new artistic director, the fate of every resident is up in the air.

But Lee says Mark Clemens is “unanimously liked” by the company — and moreover, given the state of the arts in Milwaukee, it’s a “fortuitous time” for a shift in artistic thinking. Besides — Lee’s been lucky, and he knows it.

Mark and Lee speak candidly about the actor’s long career, his experience as a graduate student at the “wickedly intense” University of Delaware Professional Theatre Training Program, raising three kids whilst juggling the demands of a repertory career, Milwaukee’s untapped potential and what he does in his “free” time — besides teaching, volunteering and starting a fight club.

Won’t you listen?: Backstage with Lee Ernst

You can also subscribe to Backstage with Mark Metcalf through iTunes.

Lee Ernst currently appears in The Rep’s annual holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol at The Pabst, now through 12/27. Lee resigns his role as Scrooge this year to let Jim Pickering once again inhabit those grouchy shoes.

Next week on the podcast: we close out the year with podcast favorite David Begel. Tune in.

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