“Bayezahas done a phenomenal job of ensuring that the audience meets not only Emmettbut the family that he came from,” shares Marti Gobel, director of the show.“This family had/has a great spiritual connection rooted in laughter and love.Audiences should know that they will laugh a great deal, they will sway to themusic, they will wave their arms in praise. Yes, they will have a great timeuntil they don’t. I think the community as a whole will be surprised todiscover what they didn’t know about the events of Emmett’s life.”
The castfeatures Derrion Brown, James Carrington, Marques Causey, Allen Edge, MarvetteKnight and Ericka Wade, each of whom plays multiple characters. In addition, atrio of instrumentalists—Brian Bauman (harmonica), Jahmes Finlayson (drums) andJohn Nicholson (guitar)—will provide live music ranging from Delta blues anddoo-wop to echoes of black spirituals and African drums. “I knew from the startthat I wanted no artificial sound for the production,” says Gobel. “All threemusicians are incredibly accomplished and together add a richness to the play Icould never have imagined.”
Gobeladds, “The Ballad of Emmett Till isan excellent way for youth to safely experience the social and politicalclimate of the 1950s as it concerned the African American, and it reminds themore mature audience member of just how far we have come as a nation. This is adifficult event in American history to re-tell and re-hear.Still, we must be reminded if we are to continue to move forward.”
The Ballad of EmmettTill runs Oct.23-Nov. 15 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway.For tickets, call 414-273-0800 or visit r-t-w.com.
TheatreHappenings:
- Milwaukee Chamber Theatre presents a staged reading of An Evening with Carl Sandburg,a one-actor show written and performed by Jonathan Gillard Daly, 7:30 p.m. onMonday, Oct. 19 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Skylight Bar & Bistro, 158N. Broadway. Tickets are pay-what-you-can at the door. For more information,call 414-291-3773or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.
- MilwaukeeYouth Theatre starts its 24th season with Number the Stars, a story about10-year-old Annemarie who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the Nazioccupation and becomes involved with the Danish freedom fighters. Show runs at7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23 in the Lincoln Center of the Arts’Ivory Hall, 820 E. Knapp St. For tickets, call 414-390-3900 or visit milwaukeeyouththeatre.org.
- Arsenicand Old Lace tellsa madcap story about Mortimer Brewster and how his marriage to his fiancé iswaylaid due to his blood relatives’ peculiar hobbies and habits. See the show Oct.23-Nov. 8 at Racine Theatre Guild, 2519Northwestern Ave., Racine. For tickets, call 262-633-4218 or visit racinetheatre.org.
Neil Labute’s Fat Pig revolves around Tom and his plus-sized girlfriend, Helen,and how they deal with the mocking and objections of Tom’s “friends.” This Carroll Players show runs on Friday,Oct 23 at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2 and 7 p.m. at Otteson StudioTheatre, 238 N. East Ave., Waukesha. Admission is free. To reserve seats, visittickets.carrollu.edu.
- UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts begins its Five-O-Eight Series withMacbeth set in 2020. Show runs Oct. 21-25 at the Five-O-Eight Studio,1925 E. Kenilworth Place. For tickets, call 414-229-4308 or visit www4.uwm.edu.
- Carthage College’s Stage Kiss, by Sarah Ruhl, is a romanticcomedy about two actors whose stage kiss leads to a real one, Oct. 23-31 atWartburg Auditorium in the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Natural andSocial Sciences, 2001 Alford Park Drive, Kenosha. For tickets, call262-551-6661 or visit carthage.edu.
- Astor Hotel (924 E.Juneau Ave.) has revived its interactive murder mystery dinner shows and willhost The Murder Mystery Company’s production of The Best Laid Plans on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. For moreinformation and tickets, call 414-283-4808 or visit astormilwaukee.com.
