Rehearsal photo from The Hiding Place
Dancing with Hamlet
Dancing with Hamlet is a new play by local playwright Deanna Strasse that will be presented (in a world premiere production) by Windfall Theatre in conjunction with Milwaukee Entertainment Group. It is not a dance performance; it’s not a new riff on Hamlet. Instead, the title Dancing with Hamlet reflects the fact that the plot centers on tragic circumstances afflicting a modern-day family, and those tragedies, surely, take on Shakespearian proportions.
The father of three grown children dies in a car accident mere weeks before his ex, Rosie, decides to remarry. Despite pleas from her children, she won’t delay her impending nuptials even one day. Meanwhile, it appears someone might be out to “delay” this marriage indefinitely. Carol Zippel directs this production, which stars local actors Melody Lopac, Donna Daniels, Josh Sheibe, Cory Jefferson Hagen, Emmitt Morgans and Amanda Hull. (John Jahn)
March 15-24 in the Subterranean Theatre of the Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-332-3963 or visit windfalltheatre.com.
The Hiding Place
Acacia Theatre Company Director Therese Goode says of the upcoming production of The Hiding Place (a story of a Dutch family in Nazi-occupied Holland that shelters Jews): “I reflected on the stories similar to theirs in our own time and place. This play isn’t just a historical snapshot; it’s also a challenge to us to grapple with the ways in which history repeats itself.”
Alluding to DACA, the Dreamers, anti-immigrant, sexist and racist rhetoric stemming from certain public officials in America these days, Goode says that, with her direction, she’s “tried to listen to the voices of marginalized people and those fighting beside them for justice,” and that these heroic Dutch people’s story from decades ago presents us with a template. “We have just as much need today for the faith and courage the ten Boom [family] showed in fighting against those in power to protect the oppressed and disenfranchised,” Goode explains. (John Jahn)
March 16-25 in Concordia University’s Todd Wehr Auditorium, 12800 N. Lake Shore Drive, Mequon. For tickets, call 414-744-5995 or visit acaciatheatre.com.
The Tales of Hoffmann
The original work is actually titled Les contes d’Hoffmann and is a French-language opéra fantastique of 1881 by Jacques Offenbach. But, audience members needn’t worry about their foggy recollections of high school French class or being distracted from the on-stage action by reading supertitles. Rather, Skylight Music Theatre and Milwaukee Opera Theatre both bring their considerable artistic métiers to present a newly translated Hoffmann to be led by Skylight’s artistic associate director (and MOT’s artistic director) Jill Anna Ponasik.
“We have joined forces with [MOT] for this imaginative and kinetic adaptation of Offenbach’s mesmerizing opera,” claims Skylight artistic director Ray Jivoff. “Although this is Offenbach’s best-known work, Skylight has never produced it in our nearly 60-year history. We are thrilled it will debut on our stage with an exciting new English translation and re-orchestration that perfectly captures ‘Skylight Style’—bringing fresh approaches or interesting twists to music theatre works.” (John Jahn)
March 16-29 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Cabot Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit skylightmusictheatre.org.
More To Do
Are You Sure?
Sam Bobrick’s Are You Sure? Asks many questions with its presentations of shifting realities. It mixes comedy with suspense as the audience tries to figure out what to believe is real as well as who’s telling the truth. It’s a real murder (or at least murder plot) mystery… Or is it? March 16-25 at Memories Ballroom, 1077 Lake Drive, Port Washington. For tickets, call 262-284-6850 or visit memoriesballroom.com.
