‘The Lion’: Humor, Music and the Will to Live

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The three stages at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater are filled with joyful music, from the high-energy retro vibe of Dreamgirls to the mellow country reverb of Back Home Again: On The Road with John Denver. And now, there’s the subtle but incisive roar of The Lion, Benjamin Scheuer’s one-man show about his life’s journey, done with six guitars and a deft gift for songwriting and storytelling.

What makes this 65-minute show (no intermission) so entertaining, poignant and compelling is Scheuer himself and his fierce courage to face life’s challenges. But he adds resilient self-honesty and a good dose of self-deprecating humor to his willful determination to live.

Here is a young man (now 33) who battled cancer (12 doses of chemotherapy) and was cured, with unresolved father-son issues as the outsider with a lifelong passion for music. But it is that passion that ultimately saves Scheuer as he finds an emotional freedom long after the last regimen of drugs.

These are not songs to be humming while leaving the theater; instead, they prompt us to consider our own circumstances while Scheuer speaks and sings about his first difficult decision, made at age 13. With a sick father rushed to the hospital, he goes on his band trip, only to return the next of to learn of his father’s death. The unfinished “final fight” remains deeply embedded until many years later when Scheuer finds his own cure. No drugs. No therapy. Just the music.

The rebellious boy in The Lion always wants to play guitar just like his father. But the reconciled man-child learns to create his own style and sounds. And, by doing so, saves and heals himself.

Through Nov. 8 at the Stiemke Studio in the Patty and Jay Baker Complex, 108 E. Wells St. 

For tickets, call 414-224-9490 or visit: milwaukeerep.com.