Rehearsal photo of Bethany Thomas, who portrays Edie in The Milwaukee Repertory Theater's presentation of "Songs for Nobodies"
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell’s engaging Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened in 1998, winning the Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. After its inaugural two-year run, the hit show made its way throughout the first decade of the 2000s to many U.S. cities, as well as London and Vienna. It opened on Broadway in 2014, winning that year’s Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. This success story is well deserved; many have found its music—steeped in the heady androgyny of ‘70s glam rock al la David Bowie—quite infectious.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictitious East German transgender musician named Hedwig Robinson and her band. The plot revolves around her music career and personal life (the latter involving a botched sex-change operation). “We’re excited to bring this powerhouse show to Milwaukee, where it has rarely been staged,” says All In Productions’ artistic director Robby McGhee. “We hope to tell Hedwig’s story in a genuine way, while transporting audiences into an energetic rock show.”
Sept. 6-15 at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call 414-278-0768 or visit nextact.org/rental-events/hedwig.
Songs for Nobodies
Joanna Murray-Smith’s Songs for Nobodies is the opening show of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s 65th season and, despite its title, is precisely the opposite, reminding us that everybody has a story (and a song) worth hearing. Interspersed with some of the great classics made all the more famous by their interpreters—Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas— Songs for Nobodies unleashes the magical power of music.
Featuring such timeless songs as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Amazing Grace,” “Vissi d’arte” and “Non, je ne regrette rien,” a production of Songs for Nobodies might be cause for a large cast, but it is, in fact, a powerhouse of a one-woman show. That woman is Bethany Thomas, who’s appeared in numerous theatrical productions around the U.S. and, for the Rep, in The Color Purple, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Ragtime, Man of La Mancha and A Christmas Carol. (John Jahn)
Sept. 7-Nov. 4 in the Milwaukee Rep’s newly renovated Stackner Cabaret, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, call 414-224-9040 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
Blithe Spirit
Skeptical novelist Charles Condomine (Mark Neufang) invites a self-proclaimed medium named Madam Arcati (Beth Perry) to his home to investigate what a séance is really all about. Of course, he expects to find it all a ruse, but Arcati is actually successful; in fact, she accidentally conjures the ghost of Charles’ late wife, Elvira (Alyssa Falvey), much to the displeasure of his current (and very much alive) wife, Ruth (Anne Mollerskov). What results is an amusing yarn spun by the great Noël Coward, wherein two women, corporeal and noncorporeal, do battle.
Coward’s Blithe Spirit premiered in London’s West End in 1941, creating a new long-run record for non-musical British plays with just shy of 2,000 performances. Later that year, it opened on Broadway, there running for some 657 performances. As with many successful stage works, Blithe Spirit has been adapted for feature film and television. No truer words have been written than those Coward jotted in a letter to an actress friend shortly after writing it: “I knew it was witty, I knew it was well constructed, and I also knew that it would be a success.” (John Jahn)
Sept. 14-30 at Racine Theatre Guild, 2519 Northwestern Ave., Racine. For tickets, call 262-633-4218 or visit racinetheatre.org.
MORE TO DO
Jake Revolver, VCR Repairman
Milwaukee Entertainment Group produced Matthew Konkel’s Jake Revolver, Freelance Secret Agent three years ago. That highly entertaining show now has a sequel in Jake Revolver, VCR Repairman, which employs the same noirish tone and live, old-time radio show format as its predecessor. In the new show (or, perhaps, episode), Revolver has left his gumshoe work to become a VCR repairman, but he soon discovers, sleuthing even comes to those who make a living fixing obsolete electronics equipment. Sept. 7-22 at the Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, call 414-388-9104.
Becoming Kareem
Becoming Kareem (as in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.) is a live, one-on-one, candid discussion with the famous professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. The conversation with Abdul-Jabbar centers on the subject matter of his recent best-selling book of the same name—an intriguing, multimedia presentation of his storied sports career and reflections on the people and places that impacted his perspective on life. Friday, Sept. 7, at Uihlein Hall of the Marcus Center, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org/show/becoming-kareem.
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Stanley are thrilled when Sheridan Whiteside, an intelligent, witty and beloved radio celebrity, accepts their invitation to dinner on his tour through their little home town of Mesalia, Ohio. All’s well thus far, but, as Whiteside departs the Stanley residence, he slips on their doorstep and breaks his hip; a tumultuous six weeks of confinement follow. The Stanley living room is monopolized by the quick-tempered invalid, ex-prisoners are invited to meals, and transatlantic calls bring about a $784 phone bill. Sept. 6-23 at Sunset Playhouse’s Furlan Auditorium, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove. For tickets, call 262-782-4430, or visit sunsetplayhouse.com/shows/the-man-who-came-to-dinner.