Mark Bucher’s Boulevard Theatre’s Concert Reading of Daniel MacIvor’s Gay Comedy ‘Best Brothers’

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Milwaukee’s 2021-22 theater season is off and running. Most of the city’s stages managed to weather the pandemic using various creative devices to maintain some presence and connection to their audiences. There were awkward ZOOM performances while others carried on regardless with live shows albeit with smaller casts on stage before heavily reduced, socially distanced and masked patrons.

Meanwhile, with COVID-19 protocols in place, things have returned to a certain degree of normalcy.

For LGBTQ theatergoers, the season’s first LGBTQ affinity event, a Be Out Night at the Skylight Music Theatre, took place during its run of The Full Monty. The Milwaukee Repertory Theater held its first Pride Night of the season (there will be two more) with a preview performance of Steel Magnolias. According to reports, the event, hosted by Milwaukee’s drag divas B.J. Daniels, Dear Ruthie and Karen Valentine, drew a record LGBTQ audience of 178.

Meanwhile, at Renaissance Theaterworks, an actual LGBTQ themed play, The Cake by Bekah Brunstette, opened in mid-October but had its run cut short when a production member came down with COVID. And yes, Steel Magnolias playwright Robert Harling is gay and his work pretty much sums up the classic dynamic of gay friends in the guise of its cast of women, but it’s not a gay play per se. The Cake, however, did deal directly with the today’s all too real culture war issue of same gender love versus Christian moral judgment.

Meanwhile, trust Mark Bucher’s Boulevard Theatre to fill the LGBTQ theatrical void with a gay play by a gay playwright with a diverse local cast. Now in its 36th season, the Boulevard returns to live performance with a Midwest premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s Best Brothers in a concert enhanced reading to be held 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27 at 1 pm at Sugar Maple Tavern in Bay View and 5 p.m. at ComedySportz in Walker’s Point. Both performances are free but require reservations in advance.

MacIvor’s comedy is a tale of family, specifically, of two very different brothers (played by Kyle Connor and Matt Specht), one very straight and one very gay, who find themselves joined in the very intimate process of death and grieving upon the passing of their mother and the ownership of their beloved mother’s prized greyhound, Enzo.

The setting provides the unfolding of a tale of male-to-male communication complicated by sibling rivalry, sexual identity and the acceptance of difference. The play’s rotating structure of perspectives creatively develops the themes through dialogues between the brothers as well as monologues by the actors speaking as their mother.

The concert reading has become a trademark of the Boulevard’s productions in recent years. While devoid of sets and scenery, the method allows the work to stand on its own merits. The audience is engaged by the actors’ ability to deliver dialogue effectively and not distracted by a stage muddled with props, lighting effects and furnishings often are intended to provide a buttress for weak writing or uninspired acting. Only a narrator, in this case Carole Herbstreit, is present to fill in details and stage direction. The director is, of course, Mark Bucher.

Reservations may be made by email at marksaysthankyouforwaiting@gmail.com. COVID-19 protocols include proof of vaccination and masks are required to be worn for the duration of the performances. Additional information may be found at facebook.com/boulevardtheatre