2022 Opens on Small Stages

​2022 opens with a very busy month in local theatre. Here’s a look at some of what’s opening the first month of the new year:

Milwaukee Entertainment Group opens the year with a production of The Diary of Anne Frank in the basement of the Brumder Mansion. The drama is directed by the talented Reva Fox. I'd seen a production of Anne Frank in the Brumder's basement ages ago. The cozy, intimate space is absolutely perfect for the drama. The current production features Zaela Schlissel in the title role. Also featured in the cast are Randall T. Anderson, Maggie Marks, Nate Press, Tom Marks and more. 

The Diary of Anne Frank runs Jan. 7 - 22 at the Brumder Mansion.
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Bombshell Theatre opens the season with a production of the 1960s musical Funny Girl. Set in New York City prior to and following World War I, the show warms the Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove with the story of Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice. Bryanna VanCaster  stars in a show featuring Bombshell’s Eric Welch, Tim Albrechtson and a really impressive cast including Marcee Doherty-Elst and Rae Pare among many, many others. It’s a huge cast in the intimate space of Sunset’s Marla Eichmann Studio Theater. Look for a big Ziegfeld Follies feel in a cozy studio theatre. It should be well worth the trip to Elm Grove.

Funny Girl runs Jan. 7 - 16 at the Sunset Playhouse.

​Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s Jill Anna Ponasik directs a pelasantly weird fugue of a musical idea with 2017’s Earnest Shackleton Loves Me. It’s a love story between a modern single mother and the intrepid early 20th century explorer of the Antarctic. The premise alone sounds like an interesting trip to Milwaukee’s biggest small stage. The fact that Ponasik is directing it for the Skylight Music Theatre? Even better. This should be a great deal of fun on Broadway at mid-month.


The Skylight Music Theatre’s production of Earnest Shackleton Loves Me runs Jan. 14 - 30.

Sunstone Studios presents the one show that I’m probably looking forward to more than any other. Playwright Lauren Gunderson’s revenge...comedy Exit, Pursued by a Bear tells the story of Nan and Kyle. Nan and her friend Simon have taped Kyle to a chair. They’re going to re-enact scenes from Nan and Kyle’ past. At the end of the evening, the room will be covered in honey and meat, which will prompt a bear to come and maul Kyle. Y’know...kind of a weird evening’s dark comedy on the most intimate stage in town.


Exit, Pursued by a Bear runs Jan. 20 - 29 at Sunstone Studios.

The talented Rána Roman is featured in this month’s Studio Theatre offering with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Brent Hazelton directs the Milwaukee premiere of Melinda Lopez’ Mala--a one-woman dramatic family comedy. Can one actor deliver the sophisticated nuances of mother/daughter relations and the complexity of human fragility at life’s end? Well...yes. This is Rána Roman. She’s good.


Milwaukee Chamber’s staging of Mala runs Jan. 21 - Feb. 13. ​