Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale will be performed by First Stage’s Young Company from Dec. 6-15, 2019, at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. (325 W. Walnut St.)
This week, First Stage’s Young Company—a training program for advanced high school actors—performs Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale as their first “Performance Project” of the season.
Theater
The Winter’s Tale
First Stage’s Young Company—a training program for advanced high school actors—will present William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale as their first “Performance Project” of the season. Performance Projects are actor-driven presentations using elemental production values. By stripping down to a nearly bare stage, the connection of actor to audience is enhanced, and the words of the play are emphasized. What better words to put center stage than The Bard’s, after all? These fully rehearsed studio projects allow First Stage’s students to showcase their graduate-level skills with full-length material.
The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s late plays, explores multiple facets of the human condition: From false assumptions and lost children to truths revealed, redemption found and the appearance of marvelous wonders. It tells the story of wandering and separation leading, eventually. to a tearful and joyous reunion. Young Company director Matt Daniels says that The Winter’s Tale is his “personal favorite of all of Shakespeare’s plays. It is half tragedy, half comedy, full of music and magic, jealousy and redemption. It is one of Shakespeare’s last plays, and so the language is rich, textured and complex, making it a great training tool, and it has his greatest stage direction—if not the greatest stage direction of all time: Exit, pursued by a bear.”
Dec. 6-15 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St. For tickets, call 414-267-2961 or visit firststage.org.
Henry V
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare that tells the story of the eponymous English king, focusing on the events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years’ War. It’s the final part of an English history tetralogy, preceded by Richard II, Henry IV, Part One and Henry IV, Part Two. The title character was depicted in the Henry IV plays as a wild, undisciplined young man, but in this epic finale, the young prince has matured. He embarks on an expedition to France and, his army badly outnumbered, fights the French at Agincourt. This Voices Found Repertory production will be directed by Alec Lachman and star Jake Thompson in the title role. (John Jahn)
Dec. 6-15 at The Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, visit voicesfoundrep.com.
The Lilies of the Field
The Lilies of the Field, by F. Andrew Leslie from a novel by William E. Barrett, is a family friendly drama about a traveling handyman who answers the prayers of a group of refugee nuns. Having decided to travel about the country after his discharge from the army, Homer Smith (to be played by Randy Janowski) heads west with plans to stop when and where he senses he should do so. On his journey, he meets a group of German nuns in a predominantly Spanish-speaking town. His offer to fix their leaky roof leads him to a journey of self-discovery and faith that changes not just his life, but those of the nuns as well.
As soon as she heard that Village Playhouse’s directorship for The Lilies of the Field was available, Deanna Strasse jumped at the opportunity. “I had never read the script, but the movie [which starred Sidney Poitier as Homer] is a classic, and I knew that I wanted to be involved one way or another. The novel made quite a stir when it was first released in 1962, as did its movie counterpart. Our story will be a little different, but I feel it still carries the same message of hope, purpose, honor and family.”
Dec. 6-22 at Inspiration Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St. For tickets, call 414-207-4879, email theliliesofthefield@villageplayhouse.org or online through Brown Paper Tickets.
More To Do: Holiday Plays and Concerts
The Game’s Afoot: Holmes for the Holidays
It is December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, widely admired for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous in this whodunit set during the holidays.
Dec. 5-22 at Sunset Playhouse, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove. For tickets, call 262-482-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
Written by Joe Landry and with music by Kevin Connors, this beloved American holiday classic comes to life as if it was presented in the 1940s as a radio show. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve. This is a dinner theater show.
Dec. 6-15 at Memories Ballroom, 1077 Lake Drive, Port Washington. For tickets, call 262-284-6850 or visit memoriesballroom.com.
“Twelfth Night”
This Concord Chamber Orchestra concert features holiday-themed music from (or inspired by) William Shakespeare’s time. The program includes Lunatics and Lovers: Overture and Bacchanalia by Linda Robbins Coleman; Overture to Twelfth Night, Op. 73 by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco; Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams; and the beloved opera Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, featuring the Milwaukee High School of the Arts Choir.
Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Josaphat, 333 S. Sixth St. For tickets, call 414-750-4404 or visit app.arts-people.com.
“The First Noel”
With guest artists Fitz Gary, viola, and the choirs of Brookfield Academy, Divine Savior, Hartford Union High School and Waukesha West High School, the Wisconsin Philharmonic invites you to celebrate the holiday season with this traditional holiday concert featuring seasonal chestnuts by Leroy Anderson, Peter Tchaikovsky, Ludwig van Beethoven, George Frideric Handel and more.
Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m. at the Shattuck Music Center, 218 N. East Ave., Waukesha. For tickets, call 262-547-1858 or visit wisphil.org.
“Leslie Odom Jr.: A Holiday Special”
Best-known as Broadway hit Hamilton’s original cast member in the role of Aaron Burr, Leslie Odom Jr. joins the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for a jazzy holiday concert. In this special event, Odom—a Grammy and Tony Award-winning vocalist—brings his smooth signature style to holiday classics like “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “First Noel,” “My Favorite Things” and many more.
Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-291-7605 or visit mso.org.
