FEBRUARY ‘09
And then of course, February is always a really, really busy month what with all the shows that didn't open-up in January. This February, something like a dozen shows opened. Marquette's Theatre Department had a big month with two really interesting dramas: My Name Is Rachel Corrie and The Heidi Chronicles. Rahcel Corrie was a fascinating weaving together of emails and letters from a young activist who was crushed to death by a tank. Marquette senior Jennifer Shine delivered a remarkable performance in the one-woman show. The Heidi Chronicles is the story of a woman coming of age in the latter half of the twentieth century. It featured promising young actress Bonnie Auguston in the title role. An engaging presence onstage, it'd be nice to see her stick around for a few productions before she inevitably leaves town like so many other actors.
MARCH ‘09
Also a very busy month for theatre openings, March was anchored on both ends by really strong openings . . . and honestly was probably the single best month for local theatre this past season. The month opened with Carte Blanche's Noises Off!the first of at least three productions to be staged by three different companies in a twelve month period . . . Carte Blanche's production was a real love letter to the theatre. Very, very fun.
Only a couple of days after Carte Blanche opened it's comedy, Alchemist opened its drama. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? had a remarkable intensity . . . one of the darkest things to make it to the stage this year.
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The single biggest surprise of the year had to be Rebecca Holderness' staging of Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist with the UWM Theatre program. The dynamic production featured an array of emerging talent form the UWM theatre program . . . quite a few of them in the title role.
This was a month that also featured the Milwaukee appearance of the only touring Broadway show worth seeing (as far as I'm concerned,) Laura Gray and Norman Moses in an exceedingly fun comedy and Pink Banana Theatre's most enjoyable shorts program so far.
APRIL ‘09
Having attended some 16 shows last April, it was easily my busiest month ever for theatre reviews. The Rep's second most impressive show of the season, I Just Stopped By To See The Man, hit the Stiemke Theatre . . . surmising a conversation between a rock legend and the far more talented blues legend who inspired him . . . it featured a small bit of traditional delta blues that made for a thoroughly unpretentious musical theatre moment . . .one of the strongest of the year.
By far my favorite musical theatre show to open this season also hit the stage in April as Carte Blanche launched its production of the musical tragedy Cabaret.
Not long after the opening, of the show, Carte Blanche announced that the show would be extended through the end of the summer, making it a really long-running show for a local production.
And then there was Brooklyn Boy a Milwaukee Chamber Theatre show that paired Jim DeVita with Robert Spencertwo great acting talents working together on a really poignant tragicomic script.
MAY ‘09
The standard theatre season came to an end in May with a few really good showseasily the most fascinating among them was Windfall Theatre's production of Betty's Summer Vacation a pleasantly disturbing mix of comedy, tragedy and a whole lot of other things . . . on a blank black and white outline set with the raw strength of honest human emotion moving it all.
A staged reading of Othello made a brief appearance in May thanks to “The Artists Formerly Known as Milwaukee Shakespeare” and Soulstice Theatre staged a production of Children of a Lesser God that featured a really powerful performance by Jillian Smith, who could only communicate through sign language.
JUNE ‘09
With the standard theatre season over, very little actually opened in June. Well over half the shows that opened were Shakespeare, making for a really big month for him in Wisconsin. It was an unplanned Shakespeare festival featuring productions by groups as diverse as Loose Canon, Carte Blanche, Insurgent Theatre and, of course, The American Players Theatre.
The single show among them that made the biggest impression on me was The American Players Theatre's production of A Comedy of Errors, which had a strong, cinematic international mid-century feel to it.
And of course, this was more or less at this point that the Skylight announced the elimination of its Managing Director position, effectively firing longtime Skylight talent Bill Theisen from his position. And the rest is . . . a bit of a mess, actually.
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An interesting part of the whole thing that not a lot of people have made too much of a fuss about is the fact that some individuals had left the now defunct Milwaukee Shakespeare to work for the Skylight. Out of the frying pan and into . . . well . . .the person dealing with the brunt of it on a face-the-public level has to be Kristen Godfrey, who managed to end up being the public face of both Milwaukee Shakespeare AND the Skylight as Marketing Director for both. After this year, she could probably go for a career in politics . . .
JULY ‘09
The year has ended with an impressive number of new companies including Uprooted and Youngblood. It's also seen the staging of my favorite script to be produced this year (David's Redhaired Death, which was the premiere show for Youngblood.)
And a very eventful year of theatre ended with Insurgent Theatre announcing that it will be moving to the East Coast. The tiny, revolutionary DIY theatre company will be missed, but the number of tiny companies that have started up this year far outweigh the loss. With fresh talent entering the Milwaukee theatre pool, next year looks very promising. . .
