A Small Fire runs Jan. 30-Feb. 23 at Next Act’s home, 255 S. Water St., in Walker’s Point.
“[A Small Fire] is a gentle but fierce depiction of what love and redemption can look like,” says Next Act Theatre’s David Cecsarini, who directs the upcoming production. “It’s also a stirring reminder that life can be unreliable.”
Theater
A Small Fire
Emily Bridges, a successful businesswoman, suddenly and inexplicably begins to lose her senses—first her sense of smell, then her sense of taste, then sight and, finally, her hearing. A fiercely independent person, she must now rely on her husband, John, whom she has always heretofore taken for granted. Encouraged by family and friends to leave her, John must decide if he will be the one to provide Emily with the hope she needs to reclaim her life under seemingly impossible circumstances.
“This is a gentle but fierce depiction of what love and redemption can look like,” explains Next Act Theatre’s producing artistic director David Cecsarini (who directs this production). “It’s also a stirring reminder that life—its events, mysteries and surprises—can be unreliable. Adam Bock’s play urges us to embrace life in the here-and-now, and it also advocates for love as the conduit through which life is embraced. Bock’s voice is quiet and yet so powerful,” he says. The cast includes Mary MacDonald Kerr, Jonathan Smoots, Emily Vitrano and Mark Corkins. (John Jahn)
Jan. 30-Feb. 23 at Next Act’s home, 255 S. Water St., in Walker’s Point. For tickets, call 414-278-0765 or visit nextact.org.
Little Black Dress
Little Black Dress tells the story of best friends Mandy and Dee. In this show—subtitled “The Fearlessly Funny Girls’ Night Out Musical”—you’ll witness Mandy and Dee’s major life events occurring as they have deliberately donned their respective go-to attire: those indispensable “little black dresses”—first job interviews, first dates, first awkward sexual experiences, first funerals and so forth. Using this unifying theme, Little Black Dress also sets the stage for hilarious improv, catchy songs and, at base, a quite touching story of love and friendship.
Given the fact that it is a fully scored and written original musical—but one with deliberate spaces throughout for improvisation—each show is different every night. The music is intoxicating, the improv amusing and certainly unpredictable and Little Black Dress’ sincere moments of heartfelt tenderness work together to create a truly unique night of musical theater. (John Jahn)
Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at the Marcus Center’s Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org.
Dance
Winterdances 2020: Transformation
The UW-Milwaukee Dance Department’s winter concert features new works by faculty members Dani Kuepper and Simone Ferro. Kuepper’s Apart at the Seams begins with five dancers and a live performance by Milwaukee Opera Theatre soprano Alaina Carlson and pianist Stephen Swedish of Franz Schubert’s famous Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel). “Upon completion of the original masterwork, the musicians and dancers unravel the art song to become an abstracted deconstruction of the original, including spoken German text and repeated fragments of music,” Kuepper says. “Music director Andy Miller has composed a new piano counterpart, brilliantly played by Swedish, which underscores this unraveling. The result reconfigures and re-contextualizes something familiar in hopes of revealing layers of the raw elements and emotional content.”
In fall, Ferro worked with the UWM Music Department’s John Climer to premiere Expressed in Units, featuring student and faculty musicians performing works by Milwaukee composers Michael Torke and Philip Sink and featuring dance interludes. This is the next step, still with live music. The concert also features works by guest choreographers Bernard Brown, Emma Draves and MFA candidate Maggi Dueker. Each work also represents a creative partnership with its student dancers. (John Schneider)
Performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at the UWM Mainstage Theatre, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. For more, visit uwm.edu.
More To Do
“An Evening of Winter Shorts”
An Evening of Winter Shorts features the world premiere of local playwright Jon Kolb’s The Waitress, a dark comedy about a server from the “wrong side of the tracks” who struggles to overcome a bleak destiny in a seedy town. The first act includes hilarious, shorter, one-act plays: Harry and Sam Dialogues (Karen Ellison), Anniversary (Conrad Bishop), Auld Lang Syne, or, I Bet You Think This Play is About You, (Beverly Creasey) and Game Theory (Peter Sagal). Directed by L. Mark Flagg, the cast includes Nate Press, Kirk Thomsen, Tess Rutkowski and Posy Knight. Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at 53212 Presents, 731 E. Center St. For tickets, visit Brown Paper Tickets, event #4479008.
The Snow Queen
Be spirited away by this new musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fantastical coming-of-age adventure that inspired the hit Disney movie, Frozen. Join Gerda on a dangerous and whimsical quest to save her best friend, Kai, before he is trapped forever in the Snow Queen’s palace. Dare to enter a world where flowers sing, animals talk and riddles yearn to be solved. With an original pop-rock score, alluring ballads, urban steam punk flair and the enigmatic Snow Queen, you’ll soon see this is not your average bedtime story. This Racine Children’s Theatre production takes place Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at Racine Theatre Guild, 2519 Northwestern Ave. For tickets, call 262-633-4218 or visit racinetheatre.org.
The Lion King
More than 95 million people around the world have experienced the visual artistry, unforgettable music and the uniquely theatrical storytelling of this Broadway spectacular—one of the most breathtaking and beloved productions ever to grace the theatrical stage. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The Lion King brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams ever to appear on Broadway. Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. The musical also features the extraordinary work of Tony Award-winning choreographer Garth Fagan and some of Broadway’s most recognizable music, crafted by Tony Award-winning artists Elton John and Tim Rice. Feb. 5-March 1 in Uihlein Hall of the Marcus Center, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org.
Sweet Charity
Carthage College’s Music Theatre Workshop presents the classic musical Sweet Charity, with music by Cy Coleman and directed by professor Magdalene Spanuello. Charity Valentine, a “girl who just wants to be loved,” can’t seem to catch a break. A dance partner-for-hire at a dance hall in New York City, she dreams of a better future, struggling through a series of bad relationships and her dead-end job. But, when she meets shy, nerdy Oscar, Charity sees her ticket to another life. Will Oscar be the true love for which she has always yearned? With a hilarious libretto by comic genius Neil Simon, Sweet Charity has been an enduring musical theater hit ever since its inaugural run decades ago. Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in the Visual and Performing Arts Lab inside the Johnson Arts Center (near the Recital Hall and H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art) on the campus of Carthage College, 2001 Alford Park Drive, Kenosha. For tickets, call 262-551-6661 or visit carthage.edu.
