Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, in collaboration with UW-Milwaukee, presents Love Stories, an evening dedicated to the evolution of relationships through the words of three celebrated writers: George Bernard Shaw (Village Wooing), Bertolt Brecht (The Jewish Wife) and Dorothy Parker (Here We Are). Featured are real-life married couple and veteran Milwaukee actors James Pickering and Tami Workentin under the direction of Paula Suozzi.
“As a whole, each piece is about a couple at different times in their relationships. Village Wooing is about courtship, Here We Are is about people just having been married and The Jewish Wife is really on the end of a marriage,” says Suozzi. “It’s an interesting look at relationships through the lens of three fantastic writers who really know how to use language well. I think what will be different is we are performing the show as though we are in rehearsal. So audiences get to see Jim and Tammy playing Jim and Tammy, and then they get to see them play the characters in the pieces. That sense of seeing actors be themselves and then, boom, now they’re in character, is really interesting and not something audiences often get to witness.” She adds, “Of course we’re going to have it fully rehearsed, but we’re really pulling things from the process of rehearsal to put up on stage. I think that’s a really unique way for the audience to get a look at how we create theater.”
For Pickering and Workentin, this is their second appearance together on stage and a fitting one at that, as the two met in 2011 while performing in a show at Next Act Theatre, a meeting that led to their eventual marriage. “It was important to me to work with a real-life couple because we wanted to surround the plays with their story as well. That’s something the audience will be treated to, a little look into their own love story,” says Suozzi. “It’s an interesting dynamic and really exciting. Hopefully audiences will feel poignancy, sadness, happiness and fun. I think you get all of it in this evening.”
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Love Stories runs Nov. 25- Dec. 20 at Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. During the run of the production, MCT will be collecting items for Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church’s homeless programs, including warm clothing, non-perishable food items, dry goods and $5 and $10 gift cards to Target and McDonalds. For more information and tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.
Theatre Happenings:
* First Stage debuts A Charlie Brown Christmas, based on the television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ Todd Wehr Theater Nov. 27-Jan. 3. Jeff Frank directs this heart-warming story in which Charlie Brown and the “Peanuts” gang search for the true spirit of the holiday season. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit firststage.org.
* Memories Dinner Theatre presents the feel-good holiday musical An L.M. Montgomery Christmas, in which audiences are transported to a train halted by a blizzard on Christmas Eve, 1910. The show runs Nov. 28-Dec. 13 at 1077 Lake Drive, Port Washington. For tickets, call 262-284-6850 or visit memoriesballroom.com.
* Coming to the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (19805 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield) Nov. 20-22 is the Brookfield Central High School Theatre Department’s performance of George and Ira Gershwin’s Tony Award-winning show, Crazy For You. For tickets, call 262-781-9520 or visit wilson-center.com.
* Stop by the Riverwest Artist Association Jazz Gallery (926 E. Center St.) on Saturday, Nov. 21 for Milwaukee’s 2015 Annual John F. Kennedy Tribute titled “Band of Brothers.” The evening, hosted by author Jeanie Dean alongside performers Desmond Bone, George Darrow, Jahmes Finlayson, Dave Geisthardt, Mark Mantel, Susan Conway and Joann Chang, will feature music, poetry, video and memorabilia that recall the fallen heroes of the 1960s. Admission is $7. For more information, call 414-546-3251 or visit riverwestart.org.
