Milwaukee Chamber Opens With 'A Thousand Clowns'

<strong>Milwaukee Chamber Theatre</strong> opens its season with the 1962 classic <em>A Thousand Clowns</em>.<strong><em> </em></strong>This American comedy<strong> </strong>tells the story of an eccentric New Yorker who must conform to society if he is to keep custody of his 12-year-old genius nephew. It's an interesting choice for a season-opening show, and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's C. Michael Wright has put together a really good team.<br /><br />Jonathan West, co-founder of the late Bialystock and Bloom and current bigwig at the Sunset Playhouse, is set to direct. West's tastes blend the skewed with the traditional in ways that should work well for this production. The cast includes impressive talents Matt Daniels (who will be reprising his role as Jeeves with Milwaukee Chamber later this season) and Beth Mulkerron. Mulkerron will portray a concerned young social worker from the Bureau of Child Welfare.<br /><br />Tom Klubertanz plays Murray, uncle of the precocious nephew, played by Thomas Kindler. Klubertanz has a charmingly gruff stage presence that should anchor the production. Judging from footage of a staged reading of the play, it looks like Kindler will cultivate an early-'60s boyhood image. That choice should play well against the retro trappings of the 1962 script.<br /><br />Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's production of <em>A Thousand Clowns </em>runs Aug. 9-26 at the Broadway Theatre Center. For ticket reservations, call 414-291-7800.<strong><br /><br />Theater Happenings</strong><strong><br /><br /></strong> <ul> <li><strong>Fools for Tragedy </strong>returns to Villa Terrace Aug. 12-22 with Jordan Gwiazdowski's contemporary adaptation of the Greek tragedy <em>Medea</em>. Amber Smith plays the title character in what should prove to be an interesting staging in a beautiful location. For ticket reservations, call 414-278-8295.</li> </ul><br /> <ul> <li>Brenda DeVita directs Tracy Michelle Arnold as Anne Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, in <em>Shakespeare's Will</em>. The one-woman drama runs Aug. 17-Oct. 21 in <strong>American Players Theatre</strong>'sindoor Touchstone Theatre. For ticket reservations, call 608-588-2361.</li> </ul>