Photo Credit: Zane Williams
Ready or not, the fall theater season is about to begin. Across the U.S. and in Milwaukee, theater companies are cautiously optimistic about opening their doors to live audiences. For many companies, this fall will mark the first in-person performances they have offered since early 2020.
The cautious approach that many companies (and patrons) will take in the months ahead may or may not be a smooth ride, with COVID-19’s Delta variant still on the march. But if there’s an upside to this predicament, it means companies may continue to offer digital offerings in their first months of production.
At least one of these companies, Madison’s Forward Theater, has gone even further. Forward is committed to offering its entire 2021-22 season for online as well as live performances. The online shows, to be filmed before live audiences, will be options offered to both subscribers and single-ticket holders.
“If subscribers don’t feel comfortable visiting our performances for any reason, they can simply switch to watch the digital version in the comfort of their own home,” says Julie Swenson, Forward Theater’s managing director. At the moment, Forward’s in-person safety rules require showing a vaccination card or a recent, negative virus test for entry. Theatergoers will also be required to wear masks inside the Overture Center for the Arts, the city’s premier performance space.
She understands that wearing a mask for a two-hour show is not something that audiences will be thrilled about. But many of the safety protocols are determined by actor’s and technical theater maker’s unions.
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Watch from Home
The alternative is to watch the show digitally, at home, on one’s own schedule. No masks, no vaccination card required. No fear of being exposed to stray viruses that may exist in indoor public spaces. No worries about parking, or making a pre-show dinner reservation, or dressing for the occasion. And digital viewing can be a more affordable and spontaneous option for theatergoers.
(If you are eager to see digital theater immediately, please note that it is still possible to access American Players Theatre performances until mid-November, by going to americanplayers.org. If you want to make the trip to Spring Green, APT is also offering in-person performances until then.)
Like most theaters around the country, Forward began experimenting with digital productions in 2020, after the COVID lockdown was lifted. Swenson believes that offering digital content—and maintaining its same 2020 schedule (with a few slight alterations)—are reasons why the theater kept an astounding 84 percent of its subscriber base. Swenson expresses how thankful she is to loyal subscribers who “stuck it out” as Forward scrambled to keep its season going.
The goal over time, Swenson says, is to eventually gravitate to in-person theater viewing, as was done in the theater’s 12 pre-pandemic years. Offering both digital and in-person viewing is “a sign of daylight ahead,” according to a company press release. “(This year),” there’s a feeling of having survived great challenges, of persevering, of coming through it all with a sense of resolve and conviction.”
Open to the World
Forward’s decision to offer its first full season of digital content will open the company to the world, including Milwaukee theatergoers who may be interested in seeing some of their favorite creative artists onstage (and behind the scenes).
From the beginning, the Madison-Milwaukee connection has been strong. Forward’s artistic director, Jennifer Uphoff Gray, is a Madison native with Broadway credits. She eventually returned to lead the company. (For non-native readers, the motto “Forward” was adopted by the state of Wisconsin in 1951. Madison is the state capital.) Gray was formerly involved with Milwaukee Shakespeare.
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Photo via Scott Haden
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Photo via Scott Haden
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Photo Credit: Dave Alcorn
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Photo Credit: Scott Haden
Julie Swenson, the company’s managing director, has considerable theatrical cred in both cities. Milwaukeeans may recognize her name from 17 years as producing director for Milwaukee’s Renaissance Theaterworks. During those years, she says she always had an interest in traveling to Madison to see Forward’s shows. Eventually, she starred in a Forward Theater production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (appearing as Masha). When Forward recruited for its first managing director in 2018 (the same year it added a fourth production to its annual roster), Swenson was invited to apply for the position. She been there ever since.
Swenson is hardly isolated from former Milwaukee theater artists. Familiar Milwaukee actors in recent Forward productions include (in no particular order): Carrie Hitchcock, Jonathan Wainwright (both starred in the same Forward show in 2020), Matt Daniels, Elyse Edelman, Marti Gobel, Dimonte Henning, Josh Krause, and Rana Roman, plus Wisconsin actors James Ridge and Jim DeVita, who have worked with many Milwaukee companies over the years. Behind-the-scenes work is also populated by those who have contributed regularly to Milwaukee theater.
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Meet the Beatles
According to Swenson, Forward focuses on contemporary theater, with an emphasis on introducing new works to this region, as well as the occasional commissioned production. The company’s first 2021-22 production is Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? by Adrienne and Adam P. Kennedy. Marti Gobel (who now resides in her hometown of San Diego) stars in this production, which also features her son, Jamaica. The show opens Sept. 9 and continues until Sept. 26. Tickets are available for purchase at forwardtheater.com.
The play is an interview-style conversation between playwright Adrienne Kennedy and her son. The boy can hardly believe that, in swinging ‘60s London, his mother was hired to write a stage version of John Lennon’s new book. Based on a true story, it gives audiences an inside look at the world of an African American playwright who is viewed as a unique curiosity in London’s cultural scene. Along the way, Adrienne encounters other such well-known figures as Sir Lawrence Olivier and James Baldwin.
Gobel is no stranger to Forward Theater. She has both acted and directed for the company. She appeared in In the Next Room, or (The Vibrator Play) (2010) and Skeleton Crew (2018). Marti is also known locally as co-founder of the former UPROOTED Theatre.
In Beatles, she says she relates to her role both as a mother and a performer. “It’s so great when children want to know about a parent’s life before they were born,” she says in a phone interview from the West Coast. “They may be able to relate to all the joys and struggles they never knew their parents experienced.” Race comes into play when Adrienne realizes why she is having difficulty renting a flat in London.
This isn’t the first time Marti and Jamaica have appeared onstage together. When Marti was cast as Mrs. Cratchit in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater annual production of A Christmas Carol, several of her children—including Jamaica—appeared as either young Cratchits or in the singing ensemble.
The rest of Forward’s 2021-22 season includes:
• The Amateurs, by Jordan Harrison (Nov. 4-21, 2021)
• The Mytilenian Debate, by Quan Barry (Feb. 24-March 13, 2022)
• Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy, by Sarah Gancher (April 21-May 8, 2022)
Of the above productions, The Amateurs is a Wisconsin premiere that was shifted from the 2020 season (and replaced by another show). The Mytilenian Debate is a world premiere, written by their first writer-in-residence, Amy Quan Barry.
Familiar Faces
When appearing for a rehearsal of her first digital-only production in April, Carrie Hitchcock admits she was glad to see the familiar face of Jonathan Wainwright in the cast of Lewiston/Clarkson. (They both performed in Lewiston, along with April Paul). “It was so great to be in rehearsal with someone I knew, because this was going to be quite an exploration,” she said in a phone interview from her Milwaukee home.
“Forward Theater followed all existing protocols, so actors were wearing masks for everything except the dress rehearsal and the show’s actual taping,” she said. “And we kept trying to maintain a six-foot distance from each other, too.” Hitchcock was impressed with the integration of various camera angles, such as close-ups, that gave the illusion that actors were much closer together than they physically were. “Trying to do dialogue with someone wearing a mask” proved to be a challenge, Hitchcock said, because so many of a person’s facial features were hidden behind a mask.
The actual taping provided more challenges for the actors. “During rehearsals, we’d get some laughs from technicians and others sitting in the audience,” she said. During the filming, however, no one sitting off-camera was allowed to make a sound. “So we tried not to pause for a laugh line, since we knew we weren’t going to get any,” Hitchcock said.
She praises Forward for moving ahead with their shows, as much of Hitchcock’s other scheduled work during the pandemic was postponed or cancelled. Being in Forward’s show not only meant a paycheck, but it allowed some continuity in Hitchcock’s professional life. She now considers the staff at Forward Theater “to be like a second family.” Hitchcock won’t be appearing in any of Forward’s shows this season, but she is looking forward to her upcoming role in Jeffrey Hatcher’s Three Viewings at Milwaukee’s Next Act Theatre. Performances begin on Sept. 24.
Another well-known Milwaukee actor/director/producer was part of Forward’s recent season. In late January, Milwaukee native Dimonte Henning co-directed The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess for Forward. The show’s other co-director was Artistic Director Jen Uphoff Gray.
Again, this was Henning’s first experience in directing a digital show. “It was a new experience for all of us—there was a big learning curve,” he said. He felt that the “warm, welcoming” atmosphere at Forward helped to make the process easier. Henning experienced an unexpected upside to the experience. Although there weren’t audiences in seats to enjoy the show, one of Henning’s California friends was able to stream it. “It was fun to receive feedback from people who saw the show across the country,” he said. And even Henning’s grandmother, who was too ill at that time to see his show in person, was able to watch it.
Henning has acted onstage in previous years at Forward, and he praises the attitude, spirit and talent he finds there. “Forward is very involved in the Milwaukee theater community, and they are always looking for new voices, new talent.”
Earlier this month, Henning directed a local production of Charlayne Woodard’s Pretty Fire in conjunction with the Milwaukee Black Theatre Festival and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Henning’s involvement was coordinated with his production company, Lights! Camera! Soul! Milwaukee audiences can look forward to him performing onstage at local theaters later this year.
To access Forward Theater’s digital content, go to ForwardTheater.com. Click on the “online” icon, and a drop-down menu will appear. Then click on “digital streaming guide.” Each of its productions this season can be streamed for $34; $10 for students. Tickets for live, in-person shows inside the Overture Center range in price when sold individually (with discounts for seniors, educators and students). When ordering by phone or online, please note that additional fees per ticket will apply. No extra fees are charged for tickets that are purchased in person at the box office.
