Boulevard Theatre’s founder and artistic director Mark Bucher is always excited to take on new plays that other companies may overlook. One such work, which makes its Midwest premiere at Boulevard on Nov. 7, is Emmy Award-nominated writer and producer Jason Odell Williams’ romantic comedy Handle With Care.
“Producing this gem of a script is rather like finding a small Cezanne or Picasso at a backyard jumble sale,” Bucher says. “You find it, touch it and think to yourself: ‘Surely, someone else sees what a valuable and valued literary find this is and someone else will bid on it or overpay for it?’ And you walk up to pay for it and as you exit the sale, leave the auction, your heart is racing to know that you have recognized as a diamond what everyone else simply sees as paste.”
Handle With Care is a charming tale about the journeys of a Jewish grandmother and her young Israeli granddaughter in backwoods America and the men they meet along the way. “This show takes audiences along on a journey of comedy, romance and mystery, offering both traditional humor as well as some surprising deeper levels, introducing topics of faith, belief and personal and emotional redemption,” Bucher says. “The show offers a fun evening at the theater for audience members who want just that. For those who want to engage with the ideas present behind this faux romantic comedy, they can delve deeper into the playwright’s treatment of faith (in one’s self, in a higher power, in the existence of love) and how a person must participate in one’s own salvation—in every meaning of that phrase.”
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The cast features Hugh Blewett, Zoe Schwartz, Mitch Weindorf and Christine Lathrop Horgen. “All four of them bring a delight to the lines that infuses the entire experience with an energy and a drive which carries the audience and the script along with a savvy vibrancy,” Bucher says. “The Handle With Care cast is a creative menagerie which is equal parts cotton candy and steel wool.”
He adds, “Handle With Care is the perfect holiday gift because it celebrates the Jewish faith and yet deftly incorporates Christianity, as well as a Zen-like transcendence. It’s about time there was a Jewish Christmas comedy! About 30% of the show features the Hebrew language. The relationships handle with care (ha ha) the issues of communication, despite barriers of language, geography and age.”
Handle With Care runs Nov. 7- 29 at Plymouth Church, 2717 E. Hampshire St. Through Nov. 1, guests can receive $3 off each ticket purchased at handlewithcare.brownpapertickets.com by using the code “EDNA” (applies to Internet sales only). For more information or to order tickets by phone, call 414-744-5757 or visit boulevardtheatre.com.
Theatre Happenings:
* Old World Wisconsin (W372 S9727 Hwy 67, Eagle) is offering a Halloween dinner theater show titled Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe, by Eric Coble, Oct. 30-Nov. 1. This family friendly evening treats guests to a dinner buffet and a drama that includes Poe’s stories “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” For tickets, call 262-594-6301 or visit oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org.
* American Players Theatre (APT) begins its fall season with Marivaux’s Romantic-period comedy The Game of Love and Chance, a story of arranged marriage, mismatched identities and, of course, falling in love. Show runs Oct. 30-Nov. 22 at 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green. For tickets, call 608-588-2361 or visit americanplayers.org.
* Soulstice Theatre presents the regional premiere of The Explorers Club, by Nell Benjamin, a comedy about Victorian-era gentleman and the effects of one of them presenting a woman as a candidate for membership of their club. Show runs Nov. 6-21 at 3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave, St. Francis. For tickets, call 414-481-2800 or visit soulsticetheatre.org.
* UW-Milwaukee’s Theatre Department presents the world premiere of the Royal Mexican Players Project’s WTF?!?!, a collection of nine dramatic shorts authored by Alvaro Saar Rios that tackles issues of immigration, race, voting rights, assimilation, sexism and more. Show runs Nov. 4-8 at the Five-0-Eight Theatre, 1915 E. Kenilworth Ave. For tickets, call 414-229-4308 or visit arts.uwm.edu.
* Wicked, the powerfully moving origin story of the Land of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, returns to the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Center (929 N. Water St.) Nov. 4-15. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org/show/wicked. For more information about the show, visit wickedthemusical.com.
