Sarah's Salon: VOICES FREED! 2018 Summer Playwright Reading Series at the Charles Allis Art Museum

The Friends of the Charles Allis (FOCA) is giving voice to women dramatists by presenting a summer reading series — within its “Sarah’s Salon” event concept — focused on new or under-appreciated works by women playwrights. In partnership with the Charles Allis Art Museum, FOCA’s “VOICES FREED! 2018 Summer Playwright Reading Series” launches June 11, with a reading of Miss Lulu Bett,the Pulitzer Prize-winning work of Wisconsin native Zona Gale.

The story of Lulu Bett is one of finding a path to personal freedom and independence for a woman who lives as a practical servant to her sister and brother-in-law in the early 1900s. The New York Timescalled the piece “fascinating historically,” explaining that when Lulu Bett, a 30-year-old spinster is asked whether she is a Miss or a Mrs., she answers politely but then goes for equal treatment: “What kind of a Mr. are you?”

Lulu Bett’s style of doing things differently reflects FOCA’s new approach to supporting the small house art museum its members treasure. The “Sarah’s Salon” gatherings — named in honor of Sarah Allis — are an example of how the small friends group is striving to inspire, delight and engage all Milwaukeeans. More than 100 guests attended the Sarah’s Salon gathering in February, which featured a reading of “Paris by the Books: A Reader’s Tour of the City of Lights,” led by award-winning local novelist and UWM Associate Professor Liam Callanan. The museum’s senior curator Shana McCaw began the event with her insights on several Paris-related works in the Charles Allis Art Museum collection.

FOCA President Christopher Vitrano said, “The goal for our Sarah’s Salon gatherings is to offer the Charles Allis Art Museum as an inspirational place where people from similar and different backgrounds can come together for enjoyable events that spark thoughtful conversations.”

These events will help build the museum’s cultural and educational value in the community for the community, said Vitrano, adding that they are part of FOCA’s overall strategy. The recent discussions surrounding the current exhibition, “Inspiring Change: The Photography of Chip Duncan and Salim Amin,” are another such example. Future programs and exhibitions are being planned.

The woman playwright reading series came to be through a chance encounter Vitrano had with Bryant Mason. During the casual conversation, Mason, an actor, director, producer and playwright himself, explained his theatrical background and passion for theater to Vitrano, who in turn shared the Charles Allis’ Sarah’s Salon concept with Mason. The idea for the VOICES FREED! series was born.

Mason, who helped curate the readings, said, “This series can foster an environment where the intersection of various arts can provide an exciting opportunity for a cross-pollination of creative ideas and friendships.”

FOCA’s Sarah’s Salon events are founded upon the Italian renaissance concept of the “salon,” a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.

For more information or to schedule and interview with Christopher Vitrano or senior curator Shana McCaw, please contact Susie Falk at: 414.232.2562 or sfalk@falkgrouppr.com

What: Sarah’s Salon: VOICES FREED! 2018 Summer Playwright Reading Series:

Miss Lulu Bett, by Pulitzer Prize winner and Wisconsin native Zona Gale

Please see below for Reading Series Line-up.

When: Second Monday of the Month

June 11th

6:30 p.m. Doors open and cash bar mixer

7:15 p.m. Curtain

9:00 p.m. Talk back and cash bar

Where: Charles Allis Art Museum

1801 N. Prospect Ave

Milwaukee, WI 53202

The public is welcome to attend. $10 donations are encouraged when registering online or at the door. For more information, please call 414.278.8295 or visit:voicesfreed.eventbrite.com

About The Friends of the Charles Allis

The Friends of the Charles Allis (FOCA) is a member-based organization dedicated to supporting Milwaukee’s historic Charles Allis Art Museum. It provides funding and volunteer resources to enhance the community’s connection with the museum’s architecture, gardens, collections and exhibitions. Its vision is to enable the Charles Allis Art Museum to realize its full potential as a relevant cultural destination for generations to enjoy – toady and into the future. To learn more, visit https://www.charlesallis.org/get_involved/friends_of_ca/

About the Charles Allis Art Museum

Designed by prominent Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiler for Charles Allis, the first president of Allis Chalmers, and his wife Sarah in 1911, this unique Tudor-style mansion and art collection was built with the sole purpose of bequeathing it to the public to delight, educate and inspire. The permanent collection features 19th Century French and American paintings, Chinese and Japanese porcelains, Renaissance bronzes, Japanese netsuke, and original antique furnishings. For more information visit www.charlesallis.org

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Sarah’s Salon: VOICES FREED! 2018 Summer Playwright Reading Series

Featured Readings:

Monday, June 11 - Miss Lulu Bett

In 1921, Wisconsin-born playwright Zona Gale became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play about a 30-something, self-proclaimed spinster, the eponymous Lulu Bett, who lives as a practical servant to her sister and brother-in-law. An unexpected encounter with a charming and handsome suitor sets Lulu on a journey of love, heartache, self-discovery, and resilience, through which she finally finds her own path to personal freedom and independence.

Monday, July 9 - The Dutch Lover

You'll enjoy the ride through this rollicking romantic comedy -- full of cross-dressing, mistaken identities, gender confusion, courageous sword-wielding women, and cowardly tearful men -- from renowned Restoration playwright Aphra Behn, one of the first successful women authors of the British stage.

Monday, August 13- Town Hall

By Caridad Svich, recipient of a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre.

Monday, September 10- To Be Announced

More information can be found at:voicesfreed.eventbrite.com