Village Playhouse’s annual One-Act Play Festival returns. Meanwhile, Sunset Playhouse, Waukesha Civic Theater and Memories Ballroom produce plays of their own, the Master Singers of Milwaukee sing of all things American, and “Real Time #26” occurs at Danceworks.
THEATRE:
2017 One-Act Play Festival
Village Playhouse presents a dozen short plays
More than three decades ago, a performing group called Third Coast Playwrights was looking for a venue to treat their season ticket holders to some one-act plays. Meanwhile, Mini-Theatre Players were looking for a way to produce the winner of a play-writing contest they recently held. Necessity, indeed being the mother of invention, these two necessities gave birth to Village Playhouse’s annual One-Act Play Festival.
The 2017 festival has such a strong selection of material that there are 12 one-acters to be performed in two six-play, rotating groups. Some of the new plays to be presented are Talk to the Wall (Mike Willis), The Painting (Mark Borchart), The Wedding (Michelle Demos) and Playing Solitaire (Michael Lucchesi). There are, of course, many more.
June 2-18 at Inspiration Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St. For a full schedule and tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com or call 414-207-4879.
And Then There Were None
“I wrote the book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I made of it,” wrote Agatha Christie in her memoirs about her 1939 novel, And Then There Were None. It’s a work that she also thought represented her finest level of “craftsmanship.” Four years post-publication, she reworked it into a play, and it is that work that Sunset Playhouse brings to the stage. In this chilling-yet-funny play, several people have been enticed to a home on an island; there, they find a pair of house servants. All 10 of them now endure the sort of “whodunit” tale that no one told better than Christie.
June 1-18, Furlan Auditorium, 800 Elm Grove Road. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
Barefoot in the Park
A play that premiered on Broadway with Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley and, four years later, became a smash-hit movie (with Redford and Jane Fonda), mustn’t be ignored. Neil Simon had his longest-running hit with Barefoot in the Park (it’s also the 10th-longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history). Sublime comedic writing and both thoroughly relatable characters and situations certainly have propelled Barefoot’s lengthy success story. New York City. Disparate newlywed couple. Odd neighbors. It’s all here in Waukesha Civic Theatre’s production.
June 2-18, Margaret Brate Bryant Civic Theatre Building, 264 W. Main St., Waukesha. For tickets, call 262-547-0708 or visit waukeshacivictheatre.org.
In the Time of Old Age
Memories Dinner Theater presents this comedy by Gord Carruth, author of 2012’s Thank God it’s Wednesday. As Memories describes In the Time of Old Age, two friends—one a Jewish widower, the other an Irish American World War II vet—join with a “beautiful lawyer [to] pull off a brilliant sting on a bank manager of questionable integrity and morality, all to the benefit of the elderly.” As with all Memories Dinner Theater shows, food is part of the experience: a plated dinner is served throughout the run, and a buffet is available to show goers Tuesday, June 20. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are also available.
June 6-21, Memories Ballroom, 1077 Lake Drive, Port Washington. For tickets, call 262-284-6850 or visit memoriesballroom.com.
MUSIC:
“I Sing Thee, America”
Under the baton of Music Director Eduardo García-Novelli, the Master Singers of Milwaukee present “I Sing Thee, America”—a concert of rare and beautiful American choral pieces—folksongs, spirituals, minstrel songs and more—stemming from our nation’s diverse cultures and heritages. There’s Aaron Copland’s “Ching-a-Ring Chaw,” “Glory, Glory Hallelujah!” by Howard Helvey, William Billings’ sacred a cappella tune “Emmaus” and several other works in both historically informed and astutely creative arrangements.
Sunday, June 4, Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church, 2366 N. 80th St. For tickets, visit mastersingersofmilwaukee.org.
DANCE:
Real Time’s First Friday Finale
Andrea and Daniel Burkholder’s monthly dance series, “Real Time,” begun two years ago and showing on the first Friday of every month, comes to an unfortunate end with this 26th installment. Even so, the Burkholders will continue to be active in Milwaukee’s arts community: They’ve planned a gallery showing/installation at Alfons Gallery in the summer of ’18, and their “Real Time” performance events may continue to occur (as they put it) “as inspiration (exciting collaborator, a new space, a friend’s idea, etc.) strikes.”
Friday, June 2, Danceworks Studio Theater, 1661 N. Water St. Cash-only, open-priced tickets go on sale at 8 p.m. on the performance date.
FUNDRAISER:
The Big Event
Milwaukee philanthropists Claire and Glen Hackmann will be the recipients of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center’s EDDY Award for supporting the arts and education. Also, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra will receive the Center’s Educational Excellence Award “in recognition of organizational achievements that exemplify collaboration in the arts.” These awards will be given at “The Big Event,” the Wilson Center’s foremost fundraiser, bringing together more than 600 community and business leaders from throughout the region. The gala features food, cocktails, an auction and live music (the latter a Motown tribute billed as “The Shindig”).
Saturday, June 3 from 5:30 p.m.-midnight at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, 19805 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield. For tickets, call 262-373-5033 or visit wilson-center.com/the-big-event.
