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Though Lumberjacks in Love may be a musical comedy about single men and romance, one need not be an unattached guy, not even from Wisconsin, to get some chuckles from the show’s upcoming run at The Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret, November 8 - January 12.
“Oh, both Fred and I had lots of experience being single!” says Lumberjack composer and playwright James Kaplan of the time during which he and the late Fred Alley created their 1996 play.
Kaplan recalls the origins of Lumberjacks story about a camp of wood-chopping men isolated in 1912 Northern Wisconsin who change their unkept masculine ways when a lady enters their lives. “I had this idea that a mail-order bride was a funny idea for a show—some bunch of men and a mail-order bride,” he says. “Fred came up with the idea of lumberjacks. Fred was steeped in Wisconsin history and so had some knowledge, but he got a few books out of the library, and holed up at a friend’s inn, and banged out a first draft.
“As the composer, I had the luxury of benefiting from Fred’s research, without having to do the research,” he continues. Kaplan has, however, had the benefit of seeing his and Alley's creation—the first of what he terms “a trilogy about men in isolation” followed by 1998’s Guys on Ice and 2001’s The Bachelor—become a Wisconsin theatrical perennial that has delighted audiences far outside the Badger State.
“Lumberjacks has played all around Wisconsin, but also in California, Massachusetts, Maine, and as far away as Vancouver Island in British Columbia,” Kaplan says. Of its appeal outside the location where its action takes place, he surmises, “Lumberjacks has a story that is about the relationships in this group of folks, and how they are impacted by an outsider’s arrival. Though there are some geographic details specific to Wisconsin, I think this is a show with nearly universal appeal.”
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That universality includes the age range for which Kaplan believes the show is appropriate as well. “This is a show that has been extremely popular in Door County with family audiences. There is lots of action that keeps kids interested. And some very silly situations. I don’t think that very young kids necessarily come to the Stackner, but kids 10 or older should definitely enjoy Lumberjacks.” Gio figure, then, that Kaplan's favorite character in the show is its youngest.
“The Kid has grown up in this lumber camp, and whose mother died at a very young age. Being raised by your dad amongst a group of burly lumberjacks is not the best set-up for a happy life. But once The Kid starts learning about how men and women are ‘supposed’ to act she has lots of fun trying to disguise and repackage herself,” Kaplan reveals.
And it may be with that with that repackaging in mind that he tells of issues Lumberjacks touches upon that might not have ben top of mind at the time of its 1996 premiere at Fish Creek's Northern Sky Theater.
“The play explores some gender and identity issues, that would not have even been referred to with those words in 1996, in an interesting and fun way. I’m looking forward to sharing this with a contemporary audience,” Kaplan says., Alley drew from a highly lauded source for how he broached those issues.
“Fred took some inspiration from Shakespeare, and so there are some elements of coincidence and mistaken identity that are quite fun,” Kaplan explains. Though Alley cribbed from the famed English bard for some of Lumberjacks’ tropes and beats, Kaplan also tells of its derivation from the lineage of great American musical comedy.
“One of the things I shared with Fred was a deep love for, and immersion in, the Broadway musical tradition. It was a great enhancement to our collaboration to have so much shared perspective. Sometimes I would evoke a song from a classic Broadway show, and instantly we would both have a vision of what we needed in our show," the composer remembers.”
Though the show debuted in Door County, Kaplan is glad to see it return to the state’s biggest city. “It warms my heart to be able to bring it back to Milwaukee Rep again,” he exclaims.
