Theater
Milwaukee Rep Announces Latest Pay-What-You-Can Performances
If you’re looking for an affordable way to see some great live theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater offers Pay What You Can for select performances, you literally pay what you can afford for the ticket. (A minimum donation of $5.00 is suggested.) Tickets go on sale at 5:30 on the day of the Pay What You Can Performance. There is a limit of 10 tickets per person for the Quadracci Powerhouse performances and 4 tickets per person for the Stiemke Theater performances. Pay What You Can Performances for I JUST STOPPED BY TO SEE THE MAN are Wednesday, April 8th and Thursday, April 9th. Dates for THE CHERRY ORCHARD are Tuesday, April 14th and Wednesday, April 15th. I JUST STOPPED BY TO SEE THE MAN will be playing in The Rep’s Stiemke Theater, and THE CHERRY ORCHARD is in The Rep’s Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. All Pay What You Can Performances begin at 7:30. Both theaters are located at 108 E. Wells Street. For more information, please call The Rep’s Ticket Office at 414-224-9490. Enjoy!
Apr 7th, 2009 by Jon Anne Willow
Art and Performance April 2-8, 2009
Visual Art Art in Bloom, Milwaukee Art Museum. 4/2 through 4/5. Celebrating springtime, Art In Bloom showcases the talents of more than 40 renowned floral designers interpreting masterworks from the Museum’s Collection. This year’s expanded exhibition also includes lectures and workshops with celebrity floral designers and master gardeners, book signings, plein air painters, a multi-vendor indoor marketplace, a garden sculpture sale, and floral-inspired dining in the Café Calatrava Garden Room. Presenting lectures, demonstrations, and book signings will be Michael George—one of the most sought after floral designers in the United States; Milwaukee native Michael Weishan, former host of PBS television’s The Victory Garden; Portland-based vine expert Linda Beutler; landscape designer Craig Bergmann; Chicago Master Gardener and radio host Mike Nowak; local horticulture expert Melinda Myers; renowned children’s book author Lois Ehlert and many others. Awesome Art Sale, Racine Art Museum, 4/3 Due to overwhelming success, this awesome event is back with more artwork than ever! Many one-of-a-kind items priced as low as $20! Discover original, museum-quality artwork donated by collectors and nationally known artists from across the country. Purchase a great piece of art and know that you are contributing to the sustaining growth of RAM’s exhibition and education programs. This is a fabulous time to add to your art collection or start one now! For more info click here! Frankie Martin, Green Gallery West. 4/3 Get down with the (original) Green Gallery on their momentous fifth anniversary with an exhibition of new works by Frankie Martin, whose work was a part of the very first Green Gallery show. In Life or Death?, Martin will show new video work as well as paintings and video stills. Who Died? is a five part, non-linear narrative video that reinterprets popular representations of death and the transcendence of the human body. Some light paintings will accompany this piece. Frankie will also present part of her series Left Behind which features paintings and mobiles based on the idea of what normally gets discarded. To do this she stretches her drop cloths as finished paintings that expose the materials and process of the work done in her studio. Frankie also incorporates objects from her neighborhood or from her own garbage into the work. In Frankie’s words “the idea is that these things become non-things, then become re-contextualized as things again.” Frankie will also exhibit Born Again, a video in which Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is translated into the video format. Frankie Martin’s work has appeared in galleries all over the world, from Milwaukee to Oslo to Paris to San Francisco and New York, where she now lives. Bon anniversaire, Green Gallery! Marina Bychkova: Enchanted Doll, Villa Terrace, 4/8 Exploring the dark, dreamy side of folklore and fantasy, Bychokova transforms a children’s toy into an exploration and reinterpretation of femininity, tradition and fairy tales. Says the artist, ““Creating a visual narrative is the most intriguing way of articulating my ideas and a doll is a perfect medium because of its potential for such visual story. My […]
Apr 1st, 2009 by Ryan Findley
Same Time, Next Year
Romantic commitment tangles with social convention in a love story laced with humor. Same Time, Next Year, the latest selection from the Sunset Playhouse, continues to charm audiences with this complicated liaison that spans 25 years. The 1975 Drama Desk Award-winning play by Bernard Slade centers around two characters, Doris and George, who meet unexpectedly away from home and fall deeply and madly in love. Yet they are each married (to other people) and have children, a major inconvenience. The six scenes in two acts spans 1951-1975 revealing the growth that Doris and George experience as individuals and a couple while committing to meet once each year on the same weekend. Not only do they love each other, but each other’s families as well. This highly unconventional combination provides the framework that gives the production its heart. Even though this story decidedly resists social norms, this unlikely pair displays concern, dignity and humanity throughout the production. Sarah Laak Hughes and Cesar Gamino play Doris and George with all these essential qualities while imparting a genuine chemistry to their relationship, filled with sexual tension and affection, but appreciating each other as a man and woman. Although opening night provided a bit of nervousness in dialogue, the run will only become better. Several poignant scenes defy time, including those dealing with growing children, growing up and growing older, even struggling with death. Director Mark Salentine finds a balance between the humor and the guilt inherent in this obviously complicated situation that complements set and technical designer J. Michael Desper’s comfortable and pleasing guest cottage setting. Even new managing director Jonathan West appears to have touched the Sunset with his distinguished expertise as seen in the impressive quality of their last two productions. But ultimately, Hughes and Gamino discover the core of the script and believe throughout these many years that, “Life is saying yes… even when one’s life can be a mess.” Through each heartthrob and heartache, the positive energy of love and concern is demonstrated for all persons, including the spouses of the couple, Harry and Helen, which shines through the production and becomes applicable to any relationship. Kudos to Hughes and Gamino for giving Doris and George yet another 25 years on stage in Same Time, Next Year, however unconventional their romance might be. In life, everyone needs support and commitment from friends and others to get by in an often-heartless world, and this March at the Sunset Playhouse, love expresses itself in its own unique way. The Sunset Playhouse presents Same Time, Next Year until March 21. For information: 262.782.4430.
Mar 10th, 2009 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
The Elephant Child and Other African Tales
One of the only remaining auditoriums in the Milwaukee Public School System resounded with children’s voices last week. In Ivory Hall at Lincoln School for the Arts, Milwaukee Youth Theatre presented The Elephant Child and Other African Tales. Through the tradition of folklore, writer and editor Frederick KD Diggins reformatted stories from Rudyard Kiplings’s Just So Stories together with additional African legends to create this appealing children’s production. The ninety-minute performance included five folktales incorporating a beautiful borrowed set from Ko-Thi Dance Company that fills the stage with a massive tree hung with fiber sways resembling the jungle. This provided the perfect backdrop for the tropical printed skirts and knotted headpieces worn by the LCA African Dance Company. Skillfully choreographed by Shirley Gilbert, these dancers established a rhythmic and cultural link to the tales as well as serving to separate each scene from its predecessor. Accompanied by narration from an older actor, each tale revealed a moral or explained intriguing phenomena of the natural world, such as how the elephant acquired such a long nose (adapted from Rudyard Kipling). The actors spanned several age and experience ranges, portraying the tiniest mouse to a fierce crocodile in colorful and clever attire from Kim’s Costumes Limited. Several performers debuted on stage for the first time, while others demonstrated additional stage presence including Deonata Griffin and Daphne Cain. The overriding effect was entertainment. All children will appreciate the participation encouraged in the Swahili fable, The Three Tasks, which asked them to choose from several endings for each feat the Prince needed to complete in fulfilling a promise to his father. It’s disappointing MYT remains without sufficient microphones for all their actors to use because in the large theater the smallest voices lose their projection, taking away from the performance as a whole as well as robbing the performers of deserved recognition. Yet whether providing acting experience, technical skills or for pure enjoyment, this “theater by children, for children” inspires school programs that will develop future participants and supporters of the arts. This is clearly seen at the Lincoln MPS center where the timely vision of MYT continues on May 21 and 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the LCA Studio Theatre 208 with their next production Winnie The Pooh. Complete schedule and tickets for Milwaukee Youth Theatre performances are available online at Footlights.
Mar 10th, 2009 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex is one of the few surviving plays from ancient Greece. Written by Sophocles as the second of a trio of plays about King Oedipus and his family, Oedipus Rex is rife with the impact of following fate and choosing to exercise free will. The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s theatre department takes an tale of ancient Greece and moves it to 300 years in the future where humans have reverted to being subject to the will of the gods. The city of Thebes is in turmoil because a horrible plague has descended upon it. King Oedipus vows to do whatever is needed to save the citizens. Word comes down from the gods that Thebes is dying because the murderer of the former King still resides in the city. When badgered into confessing, the blind seer, Tieresias, tells Oedipus himself murdered the former King. Oedipus will not believe it and thinks it is a conspiracy of his bother-in-law’s to usurp power. A series of stories from the gods reveal that Oedipus was told that he would murder his father and marry his mother, so he left his parents. Queen Jocasta reveals that she and the former King had a baby that the gods said would murder its father, so the former King banished the baby. Jocasta realizes first that everything the gods foretold has come to pass. Oedipus requires more persuasion and proof that he is his wife’s son. Director Tony Horne’s re-imagining of Oedipus Rex into the future puts the play into an interesting light. Disaster after disaster has moved people to revere Greek gods and visit the Oracle for guidance, instead of becoming more rational. Horne does not let this artistic choice impact the language of the play. It’s an affecting choice, although if the audience doesn’t read the program before hand they probably won’t notice the fast forward in time. The chorus provides commentary and also voices the inner thoughts that characters cannot say aloud. Choreographed by Shell M. Benjamin and orchestrated by Raeleen McMillion, the chorus is gorgeous and terrifying. Their movement and dance seem spontaneous and effortless. Andrew Edwin Voss shoulders an incredible responsibility as the title character. While adept and suitably heroic, one wishes he would express a few more emotions than just anger and impatience. Oedipus Rex is a classic play that UWM has made timeless. Its themes of fate versus free will present questions that may never be answered, which may be one of the reasons this particular play has become such an enduring dramatic work. UWM’s production certainly showcases the department’s talent and work ethic. Complete schedule and tickets for events in the Peck School of Arts can be found online at Footlights.
Mar 10th, 2009 by Russ Bickerstaff
The Neverending Story
The power of imagination overflows the Todd Wehr Theater when The Neverending Story arrived this weekend courtesy of First Stage Children’s Theater. The production crosses elements of fairy tale and science fiction while the story revolves around saving the land of Fantastica, which requires a chosen hero to be sent on a quest for the cure. The familiar novel by Michael Ende was adapted for the theater by David S. Craig and will recall for audience members several favorite movies, including one in 1984 directed by Wolfgang Peterson. Yet on this stage imagination demonstrates its power through every aspect of the production’s technical collaboration: scenic designer David Minkoff’s Zen-like circular steel stage with floor to ceiling silky curtains allows the audience to sink into Fantastica’s surreal nothingness with the cast. Lighting Designer Keith Parham creates larger than life creatures by shadowing the actors with white light against the black backdrop. Puppeteer/Props director Mark Hare together with costume designer Debbie Baer fashion mythical figures from the novel, both monstrous and miniature, with delight. All these technical supports give credence to Bastian’s fantasy that when reading, the mind transcends everyday life and sorrows. Bastian is struggling with the death of his mother, and Bastian’s alter ego, Atreyu, battles for the Child-Empress’s life to save Fantastica as Bastian battles real life bullies at school. The contrasting comedy and tragedy of the journey, including several incidents tinged with fright, sustain the tension to Atreyu’s great quest that Bastian eventually enters. Every adult actor expertly conveys several characters without a slip that adds to the performance’s seamless flow, which Director Jeff Frank moves at a pace with a clear crescendo. In the “Adventure Cast” for opening weekend, Mack Folkert imbues Atreyu with youthful wit and growing wisdom. Thomas Mazza captures Bastian visually as emotionally the lost boy gains confidence. While the production is recommended for children over six, adults will be attracted to the performance and ingenious theater elements, which portrays this magical world that emphasizes the pleasures of reading. Perhaps everyone will find appreciation for gnome Urgl’s remark, “Humans: most of all their youth have the power to see the truth.” What truth needs to be seen? That creativity inspires the answers to real life obstacles through wishing, dreams, fantasy, inventing and imagining, all acts of creating. Who first imagined the ipod, iphone or blackberry, this advanced means to communicate? Certainly never Franklin, Edison or Bell dreamed their now crude predecessors would reach such technological heights that might also detract from this formidable creative power. The enchanting production reminds the audience these key issues deserve consideration, because when each individual forgets to wish or imagine society will be swallowed by an empty void of reality, perhaps unable to find solutions to its burgeoning problems. This truth inhabits the extraordinary story of Bastian and Atreyu that First Stage retells, but also implies the 21st century’s neverending story. Complete schedule and tickets for this performance are available at Footlights online.
Mar 10th, 2009 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Secrets of a Soccer Mom
Soccer Mom. It’s a term that crept into the American vernacular near the end of the twentieth century. It’s a woman who drives a mini-van or an SUV, visits Starbucks everyday and has an expensive cell phone that constantly ringing with calls about the PTA. She ‘runs errands’ every day of the week and manages her ‘schedule’ around her children’s athletic and extra-curricular activities. Right? Outwardly, that’s a generic description of Soccer Moms. The Boulevard Theatre’s Secrets of a Soccer Mom shows both the typical Soccer Mommian attributes as well as the deeper mysteries and enigmas of all those blond-highlighted women driving luxury mini-vans. Written by Kathleen Clark, Secrets of a Soccer Mom begins with three women meeting to play in a Mom vs Son soccer match. They agree to play poorly in order to let their third grade sons win. While waiting on the sidelines for their turn to rotate into the game they at first talk over classic Soccer Mom topics; the PTA, pizza day at school and field trips. As the day goes on, the three veer off from the pre-approved small talk subjects and delve into their innermost beings. As a result of exploring their pasts and presents, the three decide not to hand over a victory to their sons. Even though it looks like a silly suburban soccer game it turns into a personal battle for Nancy, Lynn and Alison. Alison, played by Marion Araujo, is at first not completely on board with playing badly. It comes out that she was an athlete before she got married. Her husband didn’t like her competing or playing on any kind of team. She sees the afternoon as a chance to leave the confines of her marriage behind; figuratively and maybe even literally. Araujo’s early enthusiasm seemed a bit contrived. However, she portrays Alison’s sincere yet naïve plans to run away in a simple and frank manner. As Nancy, Kathleen Williams outwardly seems incredibly archetypal. In a fleece and capris she chats with her fellow Soccer Moms while keeping an eye on her own children as well as others. It’s discovered that she ran in college and used to be a model. While Nancy loves her children with her entire heart, it’s obvious that she gave up much of who she was before she had them. Williams especially shines while flipping through a children’s picture book, pointing out her favorite characters and scenes as though it’s the latest Zadie Smith novel. While all three women hold their own in the Boulevard’s studio theatre, it’s really Brooke Wegner playing Lynn that steals the show. Lynn is a former social worker turned PTA-school volunteer-Soccer Mom. She organizes absolutely everything and still manages to keep up on her gossip and refrain from throttling her mother-in-law during Sunday dinner. Wegner seems to live two roles on stage; Public Lynn and Inner Lynn. Public Lynn chats, jests and conspires with her fellow Soccer Moms. While Inner Lynn rarely utters a word, Wegner’s expressions […]
Mar 10th, 2009 by Russ Bickerstaff
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when there was a new focus on our growing human family and the plight of the poor. It was also a time when the urban Christmas tradition had started to lose meaning. Although a century or so has passed, A Christmas Carol still reminds us of the importance of charity and love for humanity that’s especially pertinent this time of year.
Dec 6th, 2007 by Vital Archives
A Cudahy Caroler Christmas
Bringing back that “old Cudahy Caroler magic” is Stasch Zielinski’s mission in A Cudahy Caroler Christmas, In Tandem Theatre’s co-presentation with the Marcus Center and a Milwaukee holiday favorite. Returning to Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Thanksgiving weekend, this production features both new and returning cast members.
Dec 4th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
White Christmas
Snow fell several times, including over the audience, during The Skylight’s seasonal production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas Saturday night. The perennial favorite – which opened to a dusting of real snow in the city on Thanksgiving weekend – is filled with the Irving Berlin songs that made and continue to make memories during the holidays. This story surrounds two army veterans who become Broadway stars and rescue their old general’s failing Vermont ski inn. Along the way, the friends find romance with a pair of entertaining sisters and create a few surprises in this adapted musical setting. With well-known Milwaukee musical director Richard Carsey and choreographer Pam Kriger at helm, the classic 1954 film comes to life on the Cabot Stage. The score provides plenty of song and dance numbers the audience will enthusiastically enjoy, including less-remembered melodies like “I Love a Piano” and “Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun.” While reenacting the legendary performances of Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney might be intimidating, the lead performers carry these roles with a chemistry that builds throughout the first scenes. Norman Moses as Bill Wallace and Branch Woodman as Phil Davis are at ease with these iconic characters, and the delightful dancing of Rebekah Jacobs as Judy Haynes along with the outstanding voice of Melinda Pfundstein as Betty Haynes gives enduring charm to such ever-familiar numbers as “Sisters, Sisters.” This multi-talented team is surrounded by a handsome, capable cast (with innovative performances by Brianna Zawada as the young granddaughter Susan and Rhonda Rae Busch as concierge Martha Watson) and supported with live orchestrations and sparkling 50’s costumes. Inside the Columbia Inn, during the final scene, the cast, cloaked in red velvet and snow-white fur, sings the title song – one of the most popular lyrics in the history of music – and glides the audience into the Christmas season. Giving emotional weight to the storyline, White Christmas is dedicated to several important Milwaukee theater personnel who passed away this year, including Montgomery Davis and Skylight costume designer Jeffrey Olson. Berlin’s tribute to family, friendship, and dreams of home over the holidays is heartwarming entertainment, evoking the simple longing and joy of being with loved ones in less complicated times and reminding is that loving and being loved are the best gifts to give in celebration of the season. VS White Christmas plays at the Cabot Theatre through December 31. Tickets are available by calling 414-291-7800, or visit skylightopera.com.
Nov 28th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas
How many teachers inspire and believe in their young students? First Stages Children’s Theater musical play, 12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas, is the adapted true story of Miss Emily Brown, a Downer College Professor whose Christmas theatrical productions became legendary in Milwaukee at the turn of the century. First Stage presents this holiday offering as a world premiere, written by Playwright-In-Residence James DeVita. DeVita is well-known to Milwaukee and Madison audiences as a core company member at the American Player’s Theater in Spring Green and, more recently, as the author of last year’s one-man show, Dickens In America, staged by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. This children’s play reprises his admiration for Dickens as he incorporates elements of the English author’s stories and words from the “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” which Emily Brown is credited with bringing to America from England. Money and supplies are scarce in 1917, during World War I, and Emily Brown, now a grade-school teacher, struggles to stage her Christmas play. The Scrooge-like principal, Mrs. Crudgens, orders the pageant cancelled, but the students heed Miss Brown’s words: “In this class, as in life, an effort is required.” They go caroling to earn the funds, and in the end, in true Dickensian fashion, minds are changed, hearts are won and everyone enjoys the final presentation. Traditional carols and falling snow sprinkle this First Stage production with charm. Sarah Day as Emily Brown brings energy to the stage throughout the 90 minutes, and her chemistry with Bo Johnson, playing Polish-American school employee Mr. Horace, adds a touch of tenderness to the slightly contrived plot. The Pear Cast, one of two sets of child actors alternating throughout the run, contributed ample talent to the humorous and light-hearted performance on opening night. An interesting historical set and period costumes accent the production. In the final scene, the students wear “homemade” costumes like plum pudding and buttered dinner rolls, which delighted all ages in the audience as they finished with a sing-along of the title carol. Ultimately the production offers some important ideas for discussion throughout this festive season: often life requires an effort, an imaginative effort, especially when difficulties arise. As Miss Brown quotes from Dickens to her students, trying to encourage them to see beyond their own circumstances, she says, “Without imagination, there can be no compassion.” First Stage’s 12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas uses both imagination and effort to tell this family-friendly story of Christmas hope and how one person’s efforts can change lives in the smallest of ways. Perhaps with true Dickens conviction, adults and children will remember to make these compassionate efforts throughout the holiday season. And believe – as Mr. Horace and Emily Brown believe – that “Christmas is not complicated. Christmas is Christmas. Heaven bless us!” First Stage Children’s Theater presents 12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas in the Todd Wehr Theater at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts through December 24. For information: 414.273.7206
Nov 28th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
GREETINGS!
By Tracy Doyle If you’re looking for a little holiday fun that isn’t your 234th viewing of A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, or It’s a Wonderful Life, head to the Off-Broadway Theatre for Next Act’s delightful presentation of Tom Dudzick’s GREETINGS! This holiday favorite tells the story of the Gorski family on Christmas Eve as they entertain two very unexpected guests. Andy Gorski, who has moved from his small town to the big city, returns home for Christmas with his new girlfriend, Randi Stein. Almost immediately upon arrival, Randi, an atheistic Jew, and the Gorskis, devoutly Catholic, start to argue about religion. Sparks fly and the holiday seems to be ruined until Andy’s younger mentally disabled brother Mickey saves the day. As the evening progresses, old beliefs are challenged, new beliefs are forged, and the family is drawn together by the arrival of a second incredible holiday guest. Although the script is heavy handed at times and each plot line hammers the same idea over and over, the loving spirit of the play shines through. The cast of GREETINGS! is stellar and enjoyable to watch. David Cecsarini and Debra Babich are very believable as Mr. and Mrs. Gorski; they bicker and jab as only a long-married couple can, yet they are never stale or stereotypical. Often I found myself wondering how the heck my grandparents had found their way onto the stage. Elizabeth Audley (Randi Stein) and Eddie Collins (Andy Gorski) were also quite pleasant, but Marcus Truschinski (Mickey Gorski) stole the show with his spectacular portrayal of a mentally disabled twenty-something. Truschinski used his entire body, from every twitching muscle in his face to every awkward twist of his ankle, to create an entirely believable, never politically incorrect, character. He was funny, yet serious – definitely the star on the top of this production’s Christmas tree. It all comes together for an unforgettable night of great theatre – if you see GREETINGS!, be prepared to laugh and open your heart and mind a little to let in the true spirit of the holidays. GREETINGS! runs through Decmber16 at the Off-Broadway Theatre. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the ticket office at 414-278-0765 or online at www.nextact.org.
Nov 26th, 2007 by Vital Archives
