​
Wisconsin Classic Stage opens its inaugural production this month: a one-week-only staging of Henry V. A  stoutly charismatic Kailey Azure Green admirably plays the title role of a compassionate, young monarch embroiled in war. A respectable ensemble makes its way through one of Shakespeare’s more engaging histories on the stage at Calvary Presbyterian Church. The stately space serves as a gorgeously epic atmosphere for the brutal, ancient war drama.


Under the direction of Josh Pohja, the war drama whips across the. stage with brisk efficiency. THere’s a great sense of dramatic texture in the cast. Joe Lino holds considerable gravitas in the role of Captain Jamy of Scotland.  Jonathan Riker has a flashy villainy about him in the role of the French Dauphin. Nate Press lends considerable wit to the stage in a coupe of different roles including that of John Falstaff. Grace Berendt is fairly stunning around the edges of the production in a few different roles that she’s carved out very distinctive personalities for. 


Berendt’s got more than enough deftly dramatic skill to sneak out from behind the ensemble and into territory beyond the ensemble, but she’s wise to keep well within the overall structure of the ensemble. The same could be said of Riker and Press and...well...just about everyone else in the cast now that I’m actually thinking about it. Pohja has done a brilliant job of fostering a unity among the cast that allows for a great deal of dramatic texture that serves the overall production quite well. 


Quarterstaffs. They’re all fighting with quarterstaffs. (And knives.) But mostly quarterstaffs. It would be a bit distracting if it wasn’t so fun. It feels like this particular Henry V comes from a parallel universe where the quarterstaff was the single deadliest weapon on the ancient battlefield. Combat Director J.J. Gatesman has done such a good job with the overall fight choreography that it all makes a kind of dramatic sense even if the actual combat going on onstage doesn’t really feel right on soe kind of a fundamental level. 


Through it all, Henry V remains a history that was originally presented as the end of a very long Shakespearian saga. As a result, it can feel very much like sitting down to watch the fourth and final movie in a series. If you’re not already familiar with so much of what had gone on in the first three parts, it can be a bit tricky to get into all of the warring and the anger and the aggression and so on. Pohja does a good job of drawing the audience into the action with a complex cast of actors all adding a little bit of dramatic texture in around the edges of everything. It’s a noble and notably ambitious first outing for a new company. 


Wisconsin Classic Stage’s production of Henry V runs through Jun. 1 at Calvary Presbyterian Church on 935 W. Wisconsin Ave. For ticket reservations and more, visit Wisconsin Classic Stage online. 

Anne Mollerskov plays the role of the magical British nanny in Bombshell Theatre Company’s production of the beloved musical. Director/wig and make-up artist Eric Welch also stars as Bert...the chimney sweep jack-of-all-trades who is Poppins’ platonic friend. Bombshell will be staging the show at Next Act Theatre, which should serve as a relatively spaciously intimate London. Bombshell always manages to make a show look ten times bigger than it actually is. There’s a real magic to what they do that migt even make something as campy as Mary Poppins come across as great fun. The show runs June 5 -15.  For more information, visit Bombshell online.
​

Contemporary playwright David Ives paid tribute to 17th century Italian comedy with a contemporary adaptation of this 1644 play The Liar. Summerstage opens its 2025 outdoor season with a production of the comedy. Stefan Kent plays a man who cannot possibly tell the truth. He becomes embroiled in all the weirdly comic exaggerations that such characters so often get up to in the course of this kind of comedy. Director Brandon C. Haut helps the production find its footing in a gorgeous outdoor space that should serve as a warm and comforting place for comedy at the dawn of summer. Haut has done quite a job with the space in the past. Given the cast he’s working with, this should be a thoroughly enjoyable trip to Lapham Peak. The show runs June 12th - 19th. For more information, visit Summerstage online.

The Summit Players open their summer tour of Wisconsin state parks this month as they present Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labours Lost. In addition to returning talents like Sarah Zapiain, Carrie Johns, George Lorimer and Matthew Torkilsen, the group welcomes quite a few new members to the ensemble. This is good news. A fresh contingent of new talent every year helps keep an outdoor theatre group dynamic. Zapian has done such a good job as Artistic Director of the group, which is entering its second decade of existence this summer. Shakespeare’s “Pleasant and Conceited Comedy” makes its way across the state June 13 - July 25th. For dates and locations, visit The Summit Players online.

​Rent is one of THE most difficult American musicals there is. Assembling the right combination of different elements to make it work can be almost impossible. The actors have to be just the right end of youth to make it work and that can be very, very difficult to manage in addition to all of the changes that take place over the course of the story. At least one character has to make a profoundly huge entrance out of nowhere in a very weird space in the rhythm of the musical. And then there’s this weird thematic balance between commerce and artistic integrity that’s going on in the course of...well...it’s a big challenge. This summer Outskirts Theatre takes on the challenge of the classic 1990s musical in.a production that runs  June 20 - 29 upstairs at the La Cage Niteclub on 801 S. 2nd St, For more information, visit Outskirts online. 

​Roy Horniman was a British actor, writer and dramatist who lived in the early 20th century. He was a great admirer of Oscar Wilde. He’s known to popular U.S. audiences primarily as a footnote to the contemporary musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. The contemporary musical is based on Horniman’s 1907 novel, Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal. The musical makes its way to a cozy, little production in West Allis this month courtesy of Kith & Kin Theatre Collective.


Monty Navarro has been born just far enough away from extreme wealth to truly want it...and to truly have a shot at it. He’s a distant heir to the D’Ysquith family fortune. He’s only a few untimely deaths away from being able to claim a prominent title from the D’Ysquiths. But he couldn’t...he couldn’t actually kill to improve his station, could he? Perhaps he’ll just have to see if the opportunity presents itself in and amidst quaint, little Gilbert & Sullivan-esque musical numbers that play-out over the course of a perfectly relaxed evening in West Allis. 


Jonathan Riker has one hell of a challenge on his hands in the role of Monty. He has to be meek and vulnerable enoguh to be likeble while also appearing cunning and capable enough to find just the right way to kill a bunch of aristocrats without rousing suspicion that he may be the one responsible for the sudden streak of mortally bad luck that’s been visiting a certain well-to-do family. Riker strikes a deft balance between meek ingratiation and brave opportunism that makes Monty such an interesting character to hang out with over the course of an evening. 


Emily Mertens is sweetly appealing as the primary motivation for Monty’s ambition--a beautiful, young woman named Sibella. She’s quite fond of Monty, but he hasn’t the money or the influence that she could have by marrying-in to greater wealth. Mertens manages a very clever path with Sibella. The character has been written to have a subtle and textured emotional evolution over the course of the story. Mertens does a breathtaking job of portraying Sibella’s slow and steady transformation in a series of relatively brief appearances throughout the story. She’s a charming contrast to Riker at the emotional center of the story. 


Ezra Quinn rounds-out the central cast as a doomed parade of D’Ysquiths. Quinn plays a range of different characters with a range of different faults that all make them unlikeable in distinctly different ways. To his credit, he manages to make each of them distinctly different without over-exaggerating any of their quirks, traits or weaknesses. They may not deserve it, but nearly every one of the D’Ysquiths seems to have a fully-rendered identity with some likeabl traits in and around the edges.


The show is a combination of comedy and murder in a show that focusses largely on deeply flawed characters that need to move quickyl across the srage in music, motion and emotion without feeling rushed. To be able to do this with swiftness while everyone shoots about without slamming into each other...well...it’s a very challenging prospect. To her credit, director Kimberly Laberge keeps it all moving while also managing to lightly but firmly hold moments that need to be held in and around murder, romance, music and comedy. It’s quite an accomplishment. It’s a deeply satisfying show. 


Kith & Kin Theatre Collective’s staging of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder continues through May 18 at Inspiration Studios on 1500 S. 73rd St. in West Allis. For more information, visit Kith & Kin online. 

​Back in 1958, William Castle promoted his film Macabre by offering every audience member a $1,000 life insurance policy in case they died of fright during the movie. A year later he twisted the idea of money being offered for attendance in a scary place with House on Haunted Hill. The script, which involves a group of strangers large sums of money if they DON’T die is actually a very clever foundation for horror. It’s also half of A Willam Castle Double Feature with Black Cat & Crow Reading Company this weekend. It’s a fun evening of creepy, campy horror on the western edge of Riverwest. 

The reading takes place on a line-up in front of a wall of cream city brick. The double feature opens with a reading of Castle’s 1960 film 13 Ghosts. Written by Robb White, the basic plot involves a haunted house that has been secretly stashed with money. Nick Epff plays Cyrus Zorba--an impoverished husband and father who inherits an old house from his late uncle. Brian Bien is intriguing as the lawyer who is concerned with the ghosts that may be inhabiting the house that the family seems all-too eager to move into. His interactions with Cyrus’ son (played with charming lack of guile by Drea Roedel-Schroeder) make for one of the more interesting dramatic dynamics in the show. 

House on Haunted Hill is deeply enjoyable. Though it was a huge hit at the time of its original release, the plot of the film comes across as being silly and weird in a modern context. The premise is actually quite good, but the actual characters and the dialogue they’re forced to engage in is all...pretty goofy. A good idea, but generally bad execution on the part of screenwriter Robb White. There iS, however, a compelling interaction between the two people hosting the party at a haunted house: Frederick and Annabelle Loren (played by Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart in the original film.) The bitter relationship between husband and wife in the film felt a bit awkward on film. Vincent Price was a bit too...Vincent Pricey to sink far enough into the character. The dynamic between the two characters onscreen suffered a bit as a result.

Nick Epff and Roedel-Schroeder deliver a stunningly nuanced and intricate, little portrayal of a couple who make little attempt to hide their open avarice towards each other. Epff and Roedel-Schroeder give the heart of the ensemble a deeply engaging gravity to work with. Epff is clever in his portrayal of Frederick Loren--far better than Price was challenged to be back in 1959. Epff plays the slightly bemused, sadistic boredom of a man carrying around a deep inner exhaustion. It’s actually a very, very cool performance that’s allowed to be hell of a lot more subtle than anything that would have come out of Hollywood in 1959. 

Roedel-Schroeder has done clever work writing sharp and witty adaptations of a couple of old horror movies. It’s fun seeing them brought to the small stage with a modern acting aesthetic featuring some very clever work done by everyone involved in the show. 

Black Cat & Crow Reading Company’s A William Castle Double Feature runs for one weekend only. The second and final performance is tonight (May 3rd) at 7:30 pm at The Brick House on 504 E. Center Street. For more information, visit Black Cat & Crow’s Facebook page. For more information about upcoming projects at The Brick House, visit them online.

Alvaro Saar Rios has adapted Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising for a production which will debut this week. Michelle Lopez-Rios directs the world-premiere adaptation. Esperanza is a wealthy Mexican girl who is forced to flee her homeland in the 1930s...and come to California where she is forced to work in a migrant labor camp. Given the current nature of politics in the US, this is a very important story to deliver to kids in a production of tragically increased significance for First Stage. The show runs May 2 - 8 at The Todd Wehr Theater in the Marcus Performing Arts Center. For ticket reservations and more, visit First Stage online.

​

The Br!nk New Plays Festival returns this coming month with a couple of promising new plays. Libby Amato and Marcella Kearns play a pastor’s wife and a deacon’s wife in Cara Johnston’s Great White Throne. 

The playwright describes Great White Throne like this: "In her darkest hour, a pastor’s wife receives an unexpected visit from the person she least wants to see, only to discover this encounter might just hold the key to her salvation." Says Johnston: "I took the trauma from my evangelical upbringing and wrote a nuanced dark comedy."

Maria Pretzl’s Naked Tuesdays features an amazing cast including Zach Thomas Woods, Joe Picchetti, Samantha Sostarich and Kaylene Howard. Two shows on the festival. Two nights (May 17 and 18) There are also a couple of performances of Br!nk Briefs...a shorts program featuring the work of five different female playwrights. The Briefs programs are at 2pm on the 17th and 18th. The feature-length programs are at 7 pm. Everything happens at The Baumgartner Center for Dance on 128 N Jackson St. For more information, visit Renaissance Theaterworks online.

​

​A deep drama of human connection finds its way to a cozy studio theatre environment as Next Act Theatre presents Circle Mirror Transformation. Director Cody Estle finesses the nuances of a group of strangers in the big comedic ensemble drama set in a community center. Tami Workentin is warmly charismatic as Marty--an acting instructor living in Vermont with her husband. Mark Ulrich carries a mixed emotional warmth to the stage as her husband James, who is taking her class with three other people. 


The drama plays out in quick, little scenes that rush across the stage in the course of 2 intermission-less hours. A light and crisp musical theme accompanies frequent fade-outs between scenes in a script that follows the ensemble through a series of weeks at the community center. 


Elyse Edelman has a well-grounded energy about her in the role of Theresa--an actress who has moved from New York in order to find herself a little bit better. Edelman’s charm illuminates a portrayal of someone who is so strongly motivated by a fear of being alone. 


Chloe Attalla plays quite closely to cliche as a nervous and largely self-conscious teenager who is hoping for a more traditional acting class than the one Marty seems to be offering. The physicality of Attalla’s performance may read like a very strong cliche of teen girl awkwardness, but Attalla brilliantly weavs a deeper kind of charictarization of a youth in and aroudn the edges of it all to develop something of surprising depth. 


Reese Madigan rounds-out the cast as Schultz--a middle-aged guy who recently got divorced and finds himself in a bit of a vulnerable position. Madigan manages a great deal of complexity as a man who is at a major turning point in his life as he tries to figure out where his life might be going. His energy ends up being admirably dynamic. Schultz and THeresa seem to rest somewhere at the center of the ensemble as the two pivotal characters who seem to connect everyone else together. Edelman and Madigan do a good job as serving as sort of a central anchor to an ensemble that evolves quickly over the course of a remarkably satisfying two hours onstage.


Next Act Theatre’s production of Circle Mirror Transformation runs through May 18 at  Next Act’s performance space on 255 S. Water St. Next Act is also co-presenting a pair of adult acting intensives with the Milwaukee Rep on May 19th and 21st.  For ticket reservations and more information, visit Next Act online. 

April opens with a couple of musical offerings including Bombshell Theatre Company's tribute to country music divas and Skylight's staging of the beloved Sister Act. This is followed by a couple of contemporary classics opening later-on including a comic look at the nature of theater and an acclaimed look at a pair of brothers struggling to look for meaning in the world. 

​Robyn Wilks, Kendall Yorkey and Kathryn Perry star in a jukebox musical that opens the month for Bombshell Theatre at the Sunset Playhouse. It’s the story of three women who dream of making it big in country music...so they head-off to Nashville to pursue their dreams. The musical features a staggering 30 different classic country songs including ‘Stand By Your Man,’ ‘9 to 5’ and ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter.’ The show runs April 3 - 6 on 700 Wall St. in Elm Grove. For more information, visit Bombshell Online.

Molly Rhode directs Alan Menken’s adaptation on the classic 1992 comedy movie featuring Whoopi Goldberg. Mona Swain plays Deloris Van Cartier--a nightclub singer who has been relocated for her protection after having seen her husband commit murder. Forced to take-up a completely new life elsewhere...as a nun in San Francisco. The musical adaptation of the classic film should resonate well through the Broadway Theater Center’s Studio Theatre.  The show runs Apr. 4 - 27. For more information, visit Skylight online. 

​

Next Act Theatre continues its season with an opportunity for the stage to take a glance at itself. (Theatre DOES love doing plays about theatre.) A quintet of seasoned Milwaukee actors make it to the stage in a production of Annie Baker’s beloved comedy Circle Mirror Transformation. The show features a cast of talented actors including Reese Madigan, Elyse Edelman, Mark Ulrich, Tami Workentin and Chloe Attalla. The premise of the play has the group taking acting classes at a community center in New England. The intimate stage at Next Act should serve as a suitably cozy space for the intricate comedy of a group of people trying to find meaning in their lives.​

Circle Mirror Transformation runs April 23rd - May 18th at Next Act’s space on 255 S. Water St. For more information, visit Next Act online.

Dimonte Henning and Anthony Fleming III star in the acclaimed hit drama Topdog/Underdog for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre in a production that opens at month’s end. The Broadway Theatre Center Studio Theatre will serve as a “seedily-furnished rooming house room” for a couple of brothers: topdog Lincoln (Flemming) and underdog Booth (Henning,) There’s a ruch complexity to the Suzan-Lori Parks script that resonates powerfully through a couple of actors in the course of a rather exhaustive look into the lives of a couple of brothers. The show runs April 25th - May 11th. For more information, visit Milwaukee Chamber online. ​

Barbra Streisand has her basement modeled after a shopping mall. That much is true. It’s also a springboard for drama in Buyer & Cellar. Playwright Jonathan Tolins imagined what it might be like to be the one person working in Barbra Streisand’s basement...and wrote a light comedy with serious dramatic tones that Renaissance Theaterworks brings to life courtesy of a production starring the ever-charming Doug Clemons as directed by Ray Jivoff. 


Clemons plays a struggling actor trying to make a career of it in sunny southern California. He gets a mysterious audition for a job that he knows very, very little about. When it becomes apparent that he’s being hired to work in someone’s basement, it seems like it might be a bad idea until it turns out to be the legendary singer/actress’ basement. Things turn around right away for him as he engages in an exploration of the duties of running a major collection of the millionaire’s properties that she keeps in the mall in her basement. 


It’s a fun concept. Clemons’ enthusiasm radiates through the space with nuances of deeper emotion that occasionally cascade over the sweet absurdity of the type of job people might find themselves working for the rich and eccentric. The script doesn’t call for Clemons to do a whole lot of drastically different characters. It’s a small ensemble of characters that make their way into the life of Streisand and her employee, but there are a number of them including an aging lady who works the estate and Streisand’s Hollywood actor husband James Brolin. 


Though there IS a definite appeal in the lives of fabulously wealthy artists, the script itself can only go so far in generating its own energy. So much of the heart of the performance lies in Clemons’ ability to tell a good story. He’s remarkably engaging on quite a few different levels that all seem to work in their own ways. It’s a textured and nuanced performance that manages quite an impressive array of subtlety. Clemons deflty holds a number of different moods in a number of different moments that all blend together quite well over the course of the show. 


Clemons is accompanied on a cozy, little set with cleverly-staged projections drawn directly from Streisand’s book about the design of her home. There’s a strange gravity of alchemy that rests somewhere between the images taken for the book by Steisand herself, the script by Tolins and Clemons’ delivery. It’s an irresistable attraction as a few elements fall gracefully into place in a show the explores the nature of art, artifice, meaning, fame, money and so much more. It’s pretty startling how much reality is locked-up in a clever, little script the flits by as quickly as Buyer & Cellar. Clemons is a treasure. Lemons has great charm and a deeply heartfelt connection with the script. 


Renaissance Theaterworks’ production of Buyer & Cellar runs throguh Apr. 13 at the Next Act Theater Space on 255 S Water St. For ticket reservations and more, visit Renaissance Theaterworks online. 

It was a cozy night at the dawn of Spring on the western edge of Riverwest. Black Cat and Crow Reading Company had an engagingly casual evening at The Brick House MKE. Drea Roedel-Schroeder and Sarah Wallisch played Beatrice and Benedick in a fast-paced, informal celebration of Spring and romance in a fun, little excursion into light-hearted love and the often ridiculous machinations of human passion. I love a reading of Shakespeare. The staged reading of Shakespeare always has an opportunity to focus-in on the heart of the script in a way that larger, big lumbering productions tend to trample their way through. The strangely tortured, little complexities of love wash-out in various schemes and conspiracies that make for a fun, little evening in an intimate, little space on Center Street. 


Roedel-Schreoder and Wallisch have a sharp and nuanced connection that served the roles of the two lovers quite well.  On the whole, the cast put together an impressively textured performances in the chill of a Saturday evening in mid-March. The stiffness of Shakespeare can feel a bit overly-rendered in even the most professional productions. A stiff-shirt formality robs those scripts of the wit at the center of theirs souls. 


Black Cat and Crow harnesses a more refined and rehearsed sense of chaos that many in the group had managed under the banner of Boozy Bard Productions. Wendy Fall had a playfully charismatic approach to the role of narrator. Fall added-in a bit of fun with casual reactions to the events of the comedy in and around the edges of scene changes and shifts in setting. There were a number of other performances that stuck out here and there around the edges. Nick Epff put in a particularly clever performance in the role of the sadly bemused Don John, who conspires to make things hopelessly complicated for one particular pair of young lovers. 


Above all, there was a sharp and crisp sense of execution that accompanied the informality of the presentation for a very tightly-woven couple of hours in a cozy space with Shakespeare and some very, very fun actors. As this WAS a reading, everyone onstage was reading lines from binders with highlighted lines. The streamlined edit of the classic comedy served the light mood of a pleasantly quaint, concisely-stocked bar that included a special cocktail created entirely for the production.  Fun stuff. 


Black Cat and Crow Reading Company’s Much Ado (About Nothing) was one night-only at The Brick House MKE on 504 E Center St. Next up for BC&C: a two-night reading of scripts from a Hollywood horror legend of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.  A William Castle Double Feature runs May 2 - 3 at the Brick House. This is the guy responsible for The Tingler, Rosemary’s Baby and House on Haunted Hill. His writing credits include 1975’s strange sci-fi horror show Bug. It’s quite a cataolgue of stuff. Should be fun to see what BC&C chooses for its double feature For more information as it becomes available, visit Black Cat And Crow’s Facebook Page.

​It’s not often that I get offered an opportunity to review for the smalest possible stage: a two-dimensional screen. It’s not often that I take-up an offer to review anything that isn’t live. So it’s kind of a novelty for me to be able to screen a small, cinematic drama at my home office. 


The film in question is I Hope You’re Happy. It was written by UWM theatre BFA graduate Erika Kirkstein-Zastrow. The 14-minute drama is making the rounds on the festival circuit. Four friends meet fireside at night to mourn to loss of a good friend named Ben. The gentleman in question died of opioid addiction and the four friends are trying to make some sense of it. 


Kirkstein-Zastrow’s script covers quite a lot of ground in a very concise dialogue. Little bits of exposition can feel a bit awkward in places, but for the most part, the dialogue feels quite fluid and natural. There’s an awkwardness about the gathering, but the stilted nature of the gathering fits the script. These are four people who haven’t seen each other in a while. Haven’t really known each other since high school. 


Jason Francisco Blue brings some depth to the screen as Rob--a man who had been in a band with Ben. There’s a deeply resonant feel about Blue’s performance. Ally Galbraith summons some emotional depth to the drama in the role of Ben’s sister Eileen. Nikki Garza adds intensity as a friend who was also with him in confirmation class. The film’s producer Gretchen Mahkorn (originally from Milwaukee) also lends quite a bit of complexity as a friend of Ben’s whose in recovery from addiction herself. 


The friends had made time capsules. If any of them were to die, they would meet at the spot and burn the contents of the box. The glow of the fire illuminates the surrounding darkness in a richly cinematic atmosphere. Nearly all of the drama takes place around the fire at night, which amplifies the intensity of the drama quite well. Aspects of the production might not feel quite as lived-in as they could. Things get placed on the fire in one shot and simply...disappear in the next. It’s all so fleeting, but there IS a tension that lingers in the night by the light of the fire.


The drama is a brief and bitter collision between people who once knew each other. There’s no clear answers and no easy resolution in a soulful look at the nature of life and loss on the other side of youth. 


I Hope Your Happy most recently appeared in the Venice Shorts Film Fest in L.A. The short drama is a product of OFM Productions. For more information about the short, visit I Hope You’re Happy on Film Freeway.