Inspired by the book Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, playwright Sarah Ruhl created an innovative piece that features some of the hundreds of letters shared between 20th-century American poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. Dear Elizabeth, which comes to Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Sept. 23, offers much insight into the two writers’ deep and fascinating friendship.
“Dear Elizabeth is a wonderful letter play and a stunning contemporary piece of theater,” says the show’s director Marie Kohler. She shares there were many similarities between the two writers—both were prestigiously awarded for their work, had dealt with enormous emotional suffering, were lonely and lived for language. Their differences, Kohler explains, were that Lowell boldly revealed his life’s specifics in his poetry, and Bishop did not approve of it. Additionally, Bishop was a lesbian and Lowell was bi-polar with crippling manic episodes, which added hurdles to them seeing one another.
Portraying the literary greats are real-life married couple and veteran actors Carrie Hitchcock and Norman Moses. This is the first time in more than 10 years that the couple has performed together on stage in Milwaukee.
Kohler says a striking element in the production is its poetic movement, which is choreographed by Maria Gillespie of UW-Milwaukee’s Dance Department. “This is a unique opportunity to see a play with familiar, lovely, traditional literary qualities, learn about an extraordinary friendship and experience a stunning piece of contemporary theater.”
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Dear Elizabeth runs Sept. 23-Oct. 18 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. A free pre-show presentation by Kerry Thomas, an expert on the work of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, will be held Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Studio Theatre. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.
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Theatre Happenings:
* The Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls comes to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Quadracci Powerhouse (108 E. Wells St.), Sept. 22-Nov. 1. For more information and tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
* Windfall Theatre opens its 23rd season with Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen. Show runs Sept. 25-Oct. 10 at Village Church Arts, 130 E. Juneau Ave. For tickets, call 414-332-3963 or visit brownpapertickets.com.
* Loose Lips Sink Ships will be presented by Marquette Theatre at the Evan P. & Marion Helfaer Theatre (525 N. 13th St.), Sept. 24-Oct. 4. For tickets, call 414-288-7504 or visit showclix.com/event/LooseLipsSinkShips.
* aMUSEd, written and directed by Megan Ann Jacobs, “captures and explores our tendency to honor the dead by refusing to live and leads us, through the ancient art of comedy, to live with the past and move forward.” The Milwaukee Entertainment Group show runs Sept. 25-Oct. 17 at The Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-388-9104 or visit brownpapertickets.com.
* Neil Simon’s farce Rumors comes to The Bay Players’ (1200 E. Fairmont Ave., Whitefish Bay) stage Sept. 25-26 and Oct. 2-3. For tickets, call 414-299-9040 or visit thebayplayers.com.
* Carthage Theatre presents Afghanistan/Wisconsin Verbatim Theatre Project, a new play about Wisconsin veterans and their experiences with the Afghanistan conflict. The mission is to foster a better understanding between vets and non-vets. Show runs Sept. 25, 26 and Oct. 3 at the Wartburg Auditorium in the David A. Straz Center for the Natural and Social Sciences and Oct. 3 and Nov. 9 at the Kenosha Public Museum. Keep updated on additional performance dates and purchase tickets by calling 262-551-6661 or visiting carthage.edu/theatre/box-office.
* Sex? After 60? is a musical spoof on retirement living by Louise Epperson that hilariously addresses the shortage of single men in retirement communities. Show runs Sept. 22-Oct. 7 at Memories Dinner Theater and includes a dinner of beef stroganoff, veggies, warm dinner rolls, carrot cake and more. For tickets, call 262-284-6850 or visit memoriesballroom.com.
