Midnight and Moll Flanders deftly and poignantly explores the influence of gender, class, free will and circumstance in an era as fiercely entrepreneurial as ours. UW-Parkside’s production highlights this week’s performing arts offerings.
Theater
Midnight and Moll Flanders
Midnight and Moll Flanders is a new play by Wisconsin playwright Marie Kohler that’s based on a novel by English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy (!) Daniel Defoe (1660-1731). Moll Flanders was an important work in the development of the novel, as it challenged the common perception of femininity and gender roles in 18th-century British society.
Moll herself is a larger-than-life character whose drive for love and survival leads to sexual adventures, multiple marriages and a career as a thief. On the eve of her hanging at Newgate Prison, the infamous rogue tells her story to a minister bent on offering her one last, unlikely chance at salvation. The play traces a parallel journey of transformation for Moll and the minister who, despite himself, is mesmerized by her free-wheeling, life-affirming tale. Midnight and Moll Flanders deftly and poignantly explores the influence of gender, class, free will and circumstance in an era as fiercely entrepreneurial as ours. (John Jahn)
Nov. 30-Dec. 9 at UW-Parkside’s Black Box Theatre, Avenue of the Arts (900 Wood Road), Kenosha. For tickets, call 262-595-2564, email boxoffice@uwp.edu or visit uwp.edu.
Spring Awakening
The winner of eight Tony Awards, Spring Awakening is a folk-infused, hard-hitting rock musical based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play exploring coming of age in 19th-century Germany. With music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, it was re-introduced into the national spotlight through NBC’s “Rise,” as well as through subsequent high-profile productions across the country. Spring Awakening explores the hard issues of teenage life in a restrictive environment mixed with exuberant rock music and edgy style.
Following its conception in the late 1990s and various workshops, concerts, rewrites and its Off-Broadway debut, the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in December 2006. In addition to its eight Tonys, the production also garnered four Drama Desk Awards, while its original cast album received a Grammy Award. Continuing success throughout the 2000s has been exemplified by Spring Awakening receiving several more awards and nominations for revivals. (John Jahn)
Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in the Nancy Kendall Mainstage Theater on the campus of Cardinal Stritch University, 6801 N. Yates Road. For tickets, call 414-410-4171, email boxoffice@stritch.edu or visit stritch.edu.
Dance
‘On Display Global’
Here’s a backstage look. At noon on Sunday, Dec. 2, some two dozen of us will gather in the front lobby of the Haggerty Museum of Art on the Marquette University campus. We’ll change to all white clothing and begin a much-needed warm-up led by our director, choreographer Catey Ott Thompson. This is our third-annual performance of an hour-long physical improvisation set among the artworks on the museum’s ground floor. We know the score: With eyes shut, move as slowly as humanly possible according to the needs of your body and the thoughts and feelings that every tiny shift of position arouse in you. When you reach a new state, inner or outer, pause, open your eyes and hold your gaze and body still. You’re a living artwork available for viewing from every angle. After some moments, close your eyes and resume moving. Continue for one hour.
We are bodies of all sizes, ages and abilities. Similar performances will take place that day globally in honor of the United Nations’ International Day for the Disabled. Warmed-up, we’ll claim our spots, practice a while, breathe, get focused and begin the free performance at 2 p.m. Come wander, watch and wonder. (John Schneider)
2-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, at the Haggerty Museum of Art, 1234 W. Tory Hill St.
More to Do
Prometheus Trio Featuring Robert Levine
The Prometheus Trio welcomes guest violist Robert Levine for a concert of chamber works by Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Harold Meltzer and Arnold Schoenberg. Levine has been the principal violist of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra since 1987. He has also been a member of the New Orford String Quartet in Toronto, Canada, and principal violist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Oklahoma City Symphony and the London (Ontario) Symphony. The program consists of Haydn’s Trio in D Major, Hob. XV:7; Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26; Schoenberg’s Serenade, Op. 24; and Meltzer’s Piano Quartet (2016). Dec. 3 and 4 at the McIntosh-Goodrich Mansion, 1584 N. Prospect Ave. For tickets, call 414-276-5760 or visit wcmusic.org/concerts-2/prometheus-trio.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Perhaps becoming a little jaded by the umpteenth airing of It’s a Wonderful Life on TV? Why not try something a little different this year: see the heartwarming holiday story on stage! Morning Start Productions offers a live theater version of this classic Christmas film. The stage sparkles when all of Bedford Falls comes alive with the characters we know and love so well. Celebrate the season with this endearing story of hope and second chances in a new way. 6 p.m., Dec. 1-9 at Eastbrook Church, 5385 N. Green Bay Ave. For tickets, visit morningstarproductions.org.
