Play On! Productions, a nonprofit Oregon-based touring company, presents the Midwest premiere of Gail Louw’s one-woman show Blonde Poison at Milwaukee’s Tenth Street Theatre. This award-winning Holocaust drama is based on the true story of Stella Goldschlag, a Jewish teenager trapped in Berlin during World War II who, after being captured and beaten, took the offer to save herself and her parents from the death camps. It is estimated that she betrayed up to 3,000 fellow Jews while working for the Gestapo and this production portrays her later in life, wrestling with her decision.
Wisconsin native and Oregon transplant Carol Adams is featured as Stella in this 90-minute piece, directed by Susan Coromel. When asked why they chose to include Milwaukee on the tour, Adams said, “I grew up in Port Washington and spent the first 44 years of my life in Wisconsin. I was lucky enough to perform with a number of theater companies in Milwaukee and learn from prominent local directors. So when the playwright herself encouraged me to take Blonde Poison on tour, the first place I thought of was Milwaukee. I’m looking forward to sharing the play’s meaningful message with theater audiences in my hometown.” This performance is only the third time Blonde Poison has been presented in the United States.
Of the show’s content, Coromel adds, “Most audience members come into the theater with a preconceived notion of how they feel about Stella: ‘She’s a monster for collaborating with the Nazis,’ ‘How could she do that to her own people?’ But after hearing her story, most leave the theater asking themselves, ‘What would I have done?’ In the comfort of 2015, it’s easy to think we would have stood up to that tyranny, but the issues are not always black and white. And we’re facing a lot of those issues in our world today—the Syrian refugee crisis has many parallels to what happened in 1940s Germany.”
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Blonde Poison runs at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 21-23 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For more information and tickets, visit blondepoison.com/united-states-tour.html.
Theatre Happenings:
* Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra co-present Jerry Herman: The Broadway Legacy Concert, a one-night-only celebration of the multi-Tony Award-winning composer. See the show Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 929 N. Water St. For more info and tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org.
* The Summit Players will announce their 2016 season at a Shakespeare fundraiser called “Line and Dine” Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. at Havenwoods State Forest auditorium, 6141 N. Hopkins St. The seven-member theater company reached more than 1,000 people last year with their short, accessible, free travelling Shakespeare workshops and performances. They hope to expand this year and are seeking to raise at least $5,000 between their GoFundMe online campaign (gofundme.com/summitplayersWI) and “Line and Dine.” For more information, call 414-803-3984 or visit summitplayerstheatre.com.
* Soulstice Theatre presents the world premiere of local playwright Ben Parman’s Starlings, a profound yet screwball comedy about the dynamics of four estranged youth group friends, who have different orientations and beliefs, at a gay Christian conference. The show, directed by Erin Nicole Eggers, runs Jan. 14-30 at 3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave, St. Francis. For tickets, call 414-481-2800 or visit soulsticetheatre.org.
* The dramatic comedy aMUSEd captures and explores the human tendency to honor the dead by refusing to move on through the story of the last remaining Greek Muse and God of Comedy, Sebastian. Bay Players presents this show Jan. 15-23 at Whitefish Bay High School, 1200 E. Fairmount Ave., Whitefish Bay. For tickets, call 414-299-9040 or visit thebayplayers.com.
* The fast-moving whodunit Design for Murder takes audiences on the chilly adventure with Celia and a murderer lurking in the shadows of her Hudson River mansion. Show runs at Racine Theatre Guild (2519 Northwestern Ave., Racine) Jan. 15-31. For tickets, call 262-633-4218 or visit racinetheatre.org.
* Marquette Theatre presents Ivy + Bean: The Musical, an adaptation by Scott Elmegreen of Annie Barrows’ children’s book series about two second-graders who become unlikely friends and their many adventures. Directed and choreographed by Niffer Clarke, the show runs Jan. 16-24 at the Helfaer Theatre, 525 N. 13th St. For tickets, call 414-288-7504 or visit showclix.com/events/marquettetheatre.
