Opening 2025 On the Small Stage

2025 opens with a provocative and intimate VR sci-fi drama, a debut of a new theater group, a new take on an old classic and a trip back to the late Cretaceous period for the kiddies. (With Adrian Feliciano no less.) Here's a look at what I'm looking forward to at the outset of the new year.

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The Nether looks like a fun return to sci-fi for the local small-stage theater as Renaissance Theaterworks  presents Jennifer Haley’s detective drama. The 2015 drama is framed by conversations in an interrogation room. It’s the near future. Online reality has evolved into The Nether: a vast network of VR realms. A detective is exploring the existence of a realm called The Hideaway...a place where pedophiles can live out their fantasies involving children. Ethical questions and the nature of reality are explored in a provocative drama that’s being directed by the talented Elyse Edelman.  The show runs Jan 12 - Feb. 2 at Next Act’s space on  255 S. Water St, For more information, visit Renaissance online.

The Black Cat & Crow Reading Company debuts this month with a reading at The Brick House. Not much has been announced about the script being read, but Andrea Rondel-Schroeder made the announcement on the show. And she’s very cool. Given her cleverly witty and admirably dark intellectual aesthetic, this could be a lot of fun. And it’s at the Brick House, so it should be a lot of fun in a cozy, intimate atmosphere. Maybe it’s spooky. Maybe it’s disquieting. Whatever it is, The Black Cat & Crow has been summoned. Looking forward to it.

Black  Cat & Crow’s Premiere runs Jan. 17th and 18th at The Brick House on 504 E. Center St. The doors open at 7:30 pm for an 8 pm show. For more information, visit Black Cat & Crow’s Facebook page.

Hey here’s an idea: let’s send kids back to the late Cretaceous period. They don’t have to worry about it getting too dangerous. They’ll only be there for like...one hour without intermission. They can try to help a little dinosaur out of its shell, make friends with a triceratops and help protect it from a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  It’ll be cozy. Kids can learn bit about the way things might have been over 65 million years ago. Sounds like it could be fun. And given the fact that it’s going to be a First Stage show, it really should be a great deal of fun with some very impressive production design. The talented Adrian Feliciano stars as The Guide in a show directed by  Jeff Frank & Samantha Montgomery. The show runs Jan. 18 - Feb. 16 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center on  325 W Walnut St. For more information, visit First Stage online.

Jennifer Vosters stars as housewife Nora Helmer who asserts her independence in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of A Doll’s House. The Amy Herzog adaptation tightens-up the drama considerably into a much more engaging 100+ minutes. The show is being directed by Leda Hoffmann. The show runs Jan. 24 - Feb. 9 at the Broadway Theatre Center’a Studio Theatre on 158 N. Broadway.