My wife called me late yesterday afternoon and mentioned that there were a couple of Cabaret actors in full period costume crossing the street in the downtown theatre district. It’s a busy week for local theatre. That sort of thing is going to be happening quite a lot over the course of the next couple of weeks. This week: five prominent openings. Her’e's a quick list:
September 16th:
At 7:30 pm tonight Next Act Theatre opens its season with a production of the darkly comic contemporary family drama at it’s new temporary home at the 10th Street Theatre on 628 North 10th Street. The Rep may have a really flashy opening weekend show, but this is the one I’m really looking forward to. David Cecsarini directs a really good cast here including Mary MacDonald Kerr, Laura Gray, Flora Coker and Mark Ulrich.
Tonight'’s performance is a preview. The show officially opens with an 8pm show tomorrow night. The show runs through October 10th.
Also at 7:30pm tonight
The Milwaukee Rep presents its big Quadracci debut with Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret. (Tonight is the final preview before the show’'s official opening night on Friday at 8pm.) It'’s a thoroughly brilliant musical drama that should be brought across with all the requisite style and polish one would expect from one of the best-funded theatre groups in town. I like seeing one of the two or three musicals I actually like getting a bit more local attention, even if it is a bit strange seeing the Rep overlapping into territory more traditionally the domain of a more dedicated local company like The Skylight--—speaking of which . . .
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September 17th:
At 7:30 pm tomorrow:
The Skylight Opera Theatre also opens its season this weekend with a musical set in the ‘30’s . . . this one'’s a light, feel-good musical comedy.
The production runs through October 3rd at the Broadway Theatre Center.
And at 8pm tomorrow:
New Theatre Company Theatrical Tendencies opens the first of two productions of Thrill Me to open locally this season. (The second being an In Tandem production opening in April on the other end of the theatre season,) The story of two guys who decided they were too smart not to get away with murder plays out as a dark musical. September 17th – October 2nd at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center.
And Also at 8pm tomorrow:
Waukesha Civic Theatre presents kind of an offbeat musical comedy featuring music Richard Rodgers (without Hart or Hammerstein.) It’s the story of Noah. As an American musical comedy. A bit strange, that. Could be interesting as a trip out to Waukesha, though . . .
Waukesha Civics Two By Two runs through October 3rd.
