There's something irresistibly fun about Matt Daniels as Jeeves the butler and his success results from comic precision. Some time ago he was in perfect form as Phileas Fogg in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's production of Around the World in 80 Days. He played a similarly precise role in their production of A Thousand Clowns earlier this season. Even in various roles with First Stage's A Wrinkle In Time there was a kind of neatness that perfectly centered him in a very off-center story.
This month, he returns to a role perfectly suited for him as P.G. Wodehouse's British butler, Jeeves. That it only took Milwaukee Chamber a couple of seasons to return the actor to the character after 2010's Jeeves Intervenes is no accident. That production was a huge success that Milwaukee Chamber is looking to repeat at the end of this season.
Jeeves in Bloom finds Chase Stoeger in the role of Wooster—a man served by one of the most flawless assistants in the history of literature. This time he finds himself in an unwanted romantic entanglement from which Jeeves must extricate him. Directed by Tami Workentin, the production features a talented comic cast including Karen Estrada (who put in a brilliantly funny appearance in Enfrascada with Renaissance Theaterworks earlier this season), Marcella Kearns (who was equally brilliant in Renaissance's Gorgons last season) and Milwaukee comedy fixture Norman Moses, perhaps best known on this particular stage as Groucho Marx.
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's production of Jeeves in Bloom runs April 11-28 at the Broadway Theatre Center's Cabot Theatre, 158 N. Broadway St. For ticket reservations, call 414-291-7800 or visit chamber-theatre.com.
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Theatre Happenings
Sunset Playhouse continues its season with a production of the Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty musical Lucky Stiff, April 18-May 12 in the Furlan Auditorium. For ticket reservations, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
Theatrical Tendencies’ presents The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer's early '80s look at the outbreak of AIDS, April 5-20 at the Soulstice Theatre, 3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave. in St. Francis. For ticket reservations, visit theatricaltendencies.tix.com
Milwaukee Entertainment Group presents Michael Traynor and Max Hultquist, returning to their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in A Regrettable Engagement, the debut of an intimate interactive mystery by Liz Shipe, April 5-May 5 at the Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Ave. For more information, call 414-388-9104.
