February and Beyond

Milwaukee stages remain kind of quiet. The Milwaukee Rep may have recently announced cancellation of all of its live performances through April, but there’s still quite a lot going on in and around the edges of everything. Theatre finds itself slowly making intermittent appearances live onstage outside of the city as online theatre maintains its presence. Here’s a look at some of what’s coming up:

Jake Revolver
Local playwright Matthew Konkel’s hardboiled radio detective spoof Jake Revolver: Freelance Secret Agent makes its way to a live performance this month as Waukesha Civic Theatre stages a production of the comedy that runs Feb. 5 - 21. “Some say he’s not human. Others say he’s only just a man. Only a small percentage say he’s a woman.” In addition to the live performances throughout the month, Konkel’s play will have livestream performances Feb. 13 and 19, which is particularly cool for an old time radio noir format. For more information, visit Waukesha Civic Theatre online.

The Last Five Years
Years ago I’d had the opportunity to see a Skylight production of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years. (I believe that it was directed by Norman Moses if I’m not mistaken.) It’s a remarkably intimate, little two-person romantic musical with a non-linear narrative structure that’s absolutely gorgeous. Deep romantic love doesn’t obey standard linearity...and TLFY does a good job of representing that. This month, Ghostlight Theatre is presenting a live, socially-distanced production of the musical at Kewaskum High School Theater in Kewaskum, WI. Kathryn Flynn and Joseph Gallo play the romantic couple in a staging directed by David Pecsi. The Ghostlight Theatre Co.’s staging of Feb. 18, 19 and 20. For more information, visit the show’s page on Showtix4U.

Principal Principle
Next Act Theatre continues its season with a the Wisconsin Premiere of Principal Principle. The charmingly dynamic April Paul plays a woman who quits her corporate job to get into teaching on Chicago’s South Side. Marti Gobel directs a talented cast that includes Milwaukee theatre veteran Flora Coker, the vibrant energy of Ericka Wade and more. I’ll be watching this downstairs in the living room at night. My kids’ classroom? Upstairs in the office during the day. A celebration of teaching that should play well in the age of COVID when so many students are taking classes from the same homes this show will be streamed into.

Next Act’s Principal Principle runs Feb 15 - March 7 online. For more information, visit Next Act online.

Cosmic Fairy Tale a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
The work of Slovene writer Rok Vilčnik serves as the basis for a show that’s being brought to life by Theatre Gigante on March 1. Gigante’s ability to distill a tremendous amount of material into single, isolated moments of intensity should get a workout in a program that promises to bring no less than 31 of of Vilčnik’s stories into a single performance. For more information, visit Theatre Gigante online.

Bombshell Debut
All this AND Tim Albrechtson and Eric Welch recently announced the establishment of a new local theatre company. Bombshell Theatre has a number of really cool people involved with it already. They’ve already announced their first show: a Spotlight Artist Virtual Cabaret. Local musical theatre types perform selections from Les Miserables, My Fair Lady, Chicago, Guys and Dolls and more. It’s a one-performance-only virtual show on March 19th. For more information, visit Bombshell online.