Next Act Theatre puts together quite a cast as it brings Groucho: A Life In Revue to the stage. Norman Moses knows his way around the character, having had considerable experience in the role onstage. Next Act’s David Cescarini will play Chico. Chris Klopatek rounds out the central trio as Harpo. Klopatek is a pretty sharp wit with spoken comedy, so it should be interesting to see him perform unspoken physical comedy. Returning from an appearance in Next Act’s Microcrisis, the captivating Alexandra Bonesho appears here as Groucho’s various ladies. Chase Stoeger and piano man Jack Forbes Wilson also make appearances in a comedy that features sketches and stories from the life of Groucho.
Groucho: A Life in Revue runs Nov. 14-Dec. 8 at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call 414-278-0765 or visit nextact.org.
Theater Happenings
Michael Frayn’s enduring backstage comedy Noises Off gets a big staging from the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Theater loves to obsess over itself and Frayn’s comedy is one of the stage’s best works of comic vanity. The story of life within the cast and crew of a theater company works best with a group of actors who have worked together on other shows. The Rep pulls together a cast with some relatively fresh names coupled with actors who have worked together since the days of former Artistic Director Joseph Hanreddy. Jonathan Gillard Daly, Laura Gordon, Gerard Neugent and Deborah Staples star in a show that should be quite a bit of fun on the main stage for the Rep. Noises Off runs Nov.19-Dec. 22 at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. For tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
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Sensual aggression comes to UW-Milwaukee’s Mainstage Theatre as it presents Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Rebecca Holderness directs the story of two rival ex-lovers played by Sasha Sigel and McCormick Sweeney in a cast that also includes World’s Stage Theatre Company’s Gretchen Mahkorn and Emily Rindt. Holderness has shown a flare for bringing intensity to the stage. That intensity in the service of this kind of story should be quite an experience Nov. 20-24. For tickets, call 414-229-4308 or visit uwm.edu.
Later this month, the Broadway touring production of the holiday musical White Christmas comes to the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The Irving Berlin classic, originally written for the cinema, has found a welcome home onstage. The big-budget production runs Nov. 26-Dec. 1. For tickets, call 414-273-7206 or visit broadwaytour.net.
