The Milwaukee theater season doesn’t have an official start. The first show of Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s season might as well be the opening of a new season, though. They always have that first show in August, which gives them a really nice opportunity to set the tone for the year ahead. This year their setting the tone with a family comedy by Christopher Durang called Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike.
The name alone is very casual and informal and . . . perhaps a little breathless and overexcited. Yes, the show is roughly 2.5 hours long, but it should be an exceedingly light and enjoyable time. The comedy is a very social one. Middle-aged siblings named from Chekov live together. Carie Hitchcock (a talented actress who has worked all over Milwaukee and Wisconsin) plays Masha: a Hollywood actress who pays the bills for her unemployed siblings. Her brother Vanya (who is gay) is played by Milwaukee Chamber’s C. Michael Wright. Her sister Sonia (who is adopted) is played by Jenny Wanasek, (who has done some really amazing work for UWM in addition to being a really accomplished actress in her own right.)
The Milwaukee theater season open with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. The show runs Aug. 11 - 28 at the Cabot Theatre on 158 N. Broadway. For ticket reservations and more, visit MCT online.
