Florentine Studio Artists (left-to-right): Rachel Blaustein, Ashley Puenner, Edward Graves, Nathaniel Hill, Photo credit: Danielle Chaviano
Performing Arts Weekly spotlights artistic events September-October, including the Florentine’s “Season Sampler" concert, Boulevard Theatre’s Small Things and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
Florentine’s Season Sampler
The Florentine Opera Company kicks things off by way of introducing us to three new vocalists and their main stage productions taking place later during its 2017-’18 season. The “Season Sampler" is quite literally just that—an event that will sample arias and ensemble numbers from Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow (shown this October), the Baroque double-bill of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (January 2018), Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players (March 2018) and Wolfgang Mozart’s The Magic Flute (May 2018).
Likewise, the audience will witness the debut of three new Florentine Studio Artists at the Season Sampler. Maryland native soprano Rachel Blaustein has previously sung with Opera Santa Barbara, Des Moines Metro Opera, Kentucky Opera and Forth Worth Opera. Another Maryland native, Edward Graves, made his tenor debut at Indiana University Opera Theater last February and performed at this summer’s Glimmerglass Festival. Baritone Nathaniel Hill from Ohio will appear in all of the Florentine’s main stage productions this season and was a studio artist at Madison Opera for their 2015-’16 season. They will be joined by mezzo-soprano Ashley Puenner who’s embarking upon her second season with the Florentine this year. (John Jahn)
Sept. 22-23 at the Wayne and Kristine Lueders Florentine Opera Center, 926 E. Burleigh St. For tickets, call 414-291-5700 or visit florentineopera.org.
Small Things
The 90-minute, no-intermission dramatic comedy Small Things comes from the prolific pen of Canadian actor, playwright and director Daniel MacIvor—writer of some 30 plays since 1989’s See Bob Run . He wrote Small Things in 2014; it receives its Midwest premiere via Boulevard Theatre at Plymouth Church.
Boulevard’s Christine Horgen, who plays the part of Patricia in the play, describes Small Things as “MacIvor’s tender examination of three women who have each slowly yet surely built a wall around themselves and who each desperately desires to overcome her own self-imposed barriers." In the play, Patricia hires a woman named Birdy (Donna Lobacz) as her housekeeper; an already difficult relationship between the two becomes even more so when Patricia takes an interest in one of Birdy’s adult daughters, Dell (Nicole Gorski). Horgen further describes the work as “an exploration of how it’s really just small things that can keep us from understanding each other."
Sept. 21-Oct. 8 at Plymouth Church, 2717 E. Hampshire St. For tickets, call 414-744-5757 or visit boulevardtheatre.com.
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Frankie and Johnny are, as explained by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Matthew Reddin, “middle-aged restaurant co-workers [who] have been on one date, and they’ve slept together, and that’s it—as far as Frankie is concerned. Johnny, on the other hand, has other ideas.” Is this an essentially meaningless one-night stand or, just maybe, the beginning of a long-term romance? (How many of us have pondered such thoughts in the bleary-eyed morning after?) Terrence McNally’s affecting comic romance touches on many things we all can identify with—as Frankie and Johnny, by moonlight, “slowly grow to question whether the path of their lives might be more changeable than they believe."
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production stars Todd Denning as Johnny, whereby he will be embarking upon his MCT debut. Denning has appeared on many a Milwaukee theater stage, having been in previous productions by Optimist Theatre ( Much Ado About Nothing ), Next Act ( The Other Place ) and Umbrella Group ( Macbeth ). He’s been an adjunct faculty member at Marquette University for the past nine years. In the role of Frankie is Marcella Kearns—making a return to the company after having previously appeared in MCT productions of Boeing Boeing , Jeeves in Bloom and Moonlight and Magnolias . Directing is Mary MacDonald Kerr, who’s formerly directed not only for MCT but also Renaissance Theaterworks, In Tandem, Next Act and others.
Sept. 20-Oct. 15 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.
More to Do
An Ideal Husband
Oscar Wilde’s tale centers on two friends: one an esteemed government official and loving husband; the other a disreputable womanizer and indulger in many tawdry affairs. All is not as it seems, however, as their true natures are exposed. Company of Strangers presents the play with a steampunk ambiance. Sept. 22-30 at the Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. (lower level, below TJ Maxx). For tickets, call 434-221-7498 or visit thecompanyofstrangerstheater.com.
Reformation Sampler
The Milwaukee chapter of the American Guild of Organists celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation through music showcasing a broad range of performers and organ works. This is a casual, “come-and-go-as-you-please" event (free-will offerings appreciated). Sunday, Oct. 1, 4-8 p.m. Visit agomilwaukee.org for times and locations (all are Wauwatosa area churches).
