Pear Photography
Alicia Rice in UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR for Reconstructing Grimm
Playwright/actor/cool Milwaukee theatre person Liz Shipe had a birthday last week. She had scheduled rehearsals for that day as well. There’s a pretty good chance that she really loves the show that she’s working on right now. She’s acting in it AND she wrote it. Where else would she be more comfortable on her birthday?
The show in question is Upon a Midnight Clear: A Tale of Jack Frost. It’s a holiday tale of Jack Frost, Father Christmas, the ancient god Woden, the Krampus and a few others. Jack Frost has one night to decide whether he wants to be human or something more.
The show debuted a while back at the Brumder Mansion. The script feels very much inspired by contemporary sci-fi/fantasy. Some of the elements echoing through the script I first encountered as a kid reading Chris Claremont’s work in the mid-’80s, but some of the best story elements have been around since the dawn of time. Shipe’s script is simply good, enjoyable storytelling with fun dialogue. Think of something the Brother’s Grimm might have come up with by way of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Marvel’s the Avengers and you’ll have some idea. (I’m fairly certain Hollywood director Joss Whedon grew-up reading Claremont as well.)
This year the story is being brought to the stage of Soulstice Theatre by Grace DeWolf as director. “She's doing a hell of a job,” says Shipe, who is also in the ensemble. “She has some really incredible ideas and has taken the show in a really fun direction this year.” This year’s cast includes Zach Woods as Jack Frost, Hugh Blewett as Woden, Bill Jackson as the perfect Father Christmas is and Bryan Quinn as Mrs. Battlesbee. Alicia Rice plays the sinister Katrina (as seen in the beautiful promo pic above that Pear Photography did for Reconstructing Grimm.)
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Soulstice Theatre’s production of Upon A Midnight Clear runs Dec. 4 - 20 at Soulstice’s space on 3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave. For more information, visit Soulstice Theatre online.
