RIP-A Musical Comedy of Life & Death banner
A local composer treads delicately through light and darkness in the world premiere of RIP-A Musical Comedy of Life & Death. Former advertising professional Robert Grede brings a carefully balanced show to the stage for its world premiere. Set at a mortuary, the ensemble has one foot in the grave: for every living character, there’s a dead one. People on both sides of life and death struggle to understand it all on a show set to haunt the stage of Next Act Theatre’s performance space in mid-to-late July.
It’s not an easy subject matter to frame in the musical theatre format. “One of the many conversations I’ve had with Robert Grede is about the role of music in the show,” says show’s director Alan Piotrowicz. “Rob’s done an amazing job of defining the ‘rules’ of how the living and the dead can and can’t interact, and as we explored those rules during an earlier workshop, we learned that perhaps it is actually the music that acts as the connective thread between them.”
Twenty-year local musical theatre veteran Shayne Patrick plays funeral director George McCobb, who finds his own time running out. The family business has taken a lot out of him. He serves as the center of a story also inhabited by his wife, his lackey, a grieving daughter and a hospice worker. On the other side of the veil are a woman who died in a car accident, another who is waiting in the mortuary, a dead golfer, a late party girl and a John Doe spirit suffering from post-mortem amnesia. “The fact of the matter is we don’t know for sure what happens after we die, and neither do the Dead in our show,” says Piotrowicz. “When things are that crazy, what can you do but find the humor?”
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
The cast includes actors of a wide range of ages and experiences onstage. “We’re so lucky in Milwaukee to have an array of talent that includes both strong young talent and accomplished actors who have been seen on many different stages in the region,” says. “However, it’s not always the case that they get to work in the same room! One of the things I love about RIP is that Rob’s created characters spanning a wide range of ages and life experiences, and we needed a cast that reflected that. This gave us the opportunity to assemble a team of artists with so much awesome experience—spanning from Milwaukee’s historic Melody Top Theatre to the most recent class of Professional Residencies at Milwaukee Rep.”
So it’s a comedy about life and what happens afterwards. There’s a very difficult balance to be struck between comedy and drama in a show like this. “It’s an incredibly delicate balance!” says Piotrowicz. “But the thing about death is that it is one of the truly universal experiences in life. We all will have to face it at some point, not only once ourselves, but also whenever we grieve a loss. But grief and love are inextricably intertwined, and so with the heartbreak also comes joy—happy moments, funny anecdotes, opportunity for growth, chances for reconnection—and so too are there moments of light and levity in our show.”
The world premiere of RIP-A Musical Comedy of Life & Death runs July 17-28 at Next Act Theatre’s performance space on 255 S. Water St. For more information, visit rip-themusical.com.
