Kelsey Lawler - Page 5

Even if you've seen West Side Story twenty times before -- even if you know it's based on Romeo & Juliet and therefore tragedy is imminent -- the Milwaukee Rep has succeeded in giving every theater-loving person countless reasons to come out and see it once more.

2 Pianos 4 Hands is a love letter to the play's titular instrument. It celebrates the classical composers and teachers who inspire, the parents who encourage, and especially the kids who put in the work, sacrifice their time, chase that dream, and may or may not achieve it.

This is farcical theater to the extreme, aimed at testing your reflex for laughter. What a fun and funny way to kick off the 2019a?"2020 theater season here in Milwaukee. I'd say this 'Farce' is anything but unnecessary.

This Anastasia is impeccably performed, gorgeously rendered, and entertaining to be sure. Still, to me, the new songs don't soar alongside the old ones. I wonder how I'd feel if I didn't already know those old songs by heart. That's the risk the show's creators took in translating Anastasia for Broadway.

Fairy kings and queens, mischievous woodland spirits, young lovers, and merry buffoons - nearly all of Shakespeare's characters are present in the wondrous production that is A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Milwaukee Ballet. The company, armed with stunning Bruce Wells choreography, cast a spell of dance that's not to be missed, whether you're a lover of classical ballet, fairytale magic, or the Bard's most bewitching comedy.

Another op'nin, another show! This time it's a battle of the sexes and a Golden Age musical by Cole Porter. Inspired by the real-life backstage bickering of famous husband-and-wife actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Kiss Me Kate is both based on real-life events as well as Shakespeare's controversial Taming of the Shrew.

Though panic, sadness, and uncertainty are felt in Come From Away, there's very little all-out gloom. Rather, this is a story that celebrates the best of humanity and how, in a time of crisis, we have the capacity to come together as friends and neighbors above all else. One line in the show reflects on 9/11 with a simple truth: 'So many stories gone just like that.' Come From Away preserves one such story - a story that's uplifting and deeply worthy of its musical retelling.

From pixie dust to tick-tocking crocodiles, sneaky pirates to Lost Boys, Peter Pan is a beloved story that's been told every which way. In First Stage's Tinker Bell, we see Pan's journey through the eyes of his tiny, trusty sidekick. Here are 5 reasons her point of view is worth a peek.

When a play is as aptly named as this one, it makes my job a breeze. It's not just the "brilliant" part; it's also the "every." From the supremely engaging Scott Greer to the perfectly-sentimental script by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe to the overall format of the evening, under the direction of Terrence J. Nolen, there's no end to the brilliance of 'Every Brilliant Thing.'

Happily for the national tour of Rogers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I,'  the cast holds their own and the story stays, for the most part, as compelling as ever.

When the Milwaukee Ballet presents a trio of works in one mixed program, odds are something will resonate — if not the haunting music of one piece, then the vibrant rush of costumes in another. Aesthetics aside, one can always appreciate the power and poise of the Milwaukee Ballet Company dancers and the skill and grace with which they execute such a range of choreography. This weekend's selections feature world premieres by choreographers Enrico Morelli and George Williamson, plus the much-buzzed-about Lambarena, choreographed by Val Caniparoli.

In the days leading up to Lambarena, the Milwaukee Ballet has taken great care to educate its own dance company and the Milwaukee community in the art of African dance. Roxy Kess and Yaya Kambaye of local ensemble Xalaat Africa Drum and Dance for Life taught a class to the Company and Milwaukee Ballet II (MBII), as well as all Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy locations. Kess and Kambaye also attended two of the rehearsals for Lambarena to offer feedback.  Last weekend, a free class was held for the public: 'No previous African dance experience is necessary,' claimed the Facebook event. Well sign me up!

Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven is the story of titular character Annie Jump, a 13-year-old science prodigy living in the small town of Strawberry, Kansas, with her alien-hunting dad. He's kind of the town crackpot. Extraordinary things begin to happen when the skeptical Annie is visited by the out-of-this-world Althea, an intergalactic supercomputer manifesting as a teenage mean girl with killer hair. Althea alleges that Annie is "the chosen one" of Earth, destined to guide humanity to link up with other intelligent beings in the universe.

To not give away too much, To Fall In Love is, in short, about psychologist Arthur Aron's famous study that suggested a couple might ask each other 36 questions in order to fall in love. The questions grow increasingly intimate, beginning with "Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?" The exercise ends not with a question, but with four full minutes of direct eye contact with your partner. And yes, To Fall In Love goes there. All the way there. Right down to those four full minutes.

This weekend, Renaissance Theaterworks will open a new play called 'Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven.' The title alone had my ears perked and curious to learn more. What I discovered got me even more jazzed. Here are five reasons to jump up for Annie Jump.

17 Skylight artists. Seven Danceworks dancers. 25 Chant Claire Chamber Choir members, plus four Chant Claire guest artists. Six percussionists. Two pianists. One conductor. One visionary artistic team. One stage. It all adds up to Skylight's exhilarating Carmina Burana, an experience dubbed ''total theatre, in which music, dance, and text are inseparable.'

'It wasn't supposed to be like this. I thought they'd be like us. But better than us. Better versions of us.'

Michael 'Ding' Lorenz boasts crazy talent alongside an outrageous instrument collection that warrants awe-inspired sighs and, as the Skylight Music Theatre proves, a show all its own. Things That Go Ding! played to sold-out audiences in 2012, and now it's back and bigger than ever in the Cabot Theatre. 

Curiosity is part of our humanity. It is also 'human nature to forget,' writes playwright Lloyd Suh. Thanks to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's New Play Development Program, the World Premiere of Suh's 'The Chinese Lady' imparts an utterly unforgettable piece of theater, while also embedding the fascinating and extraordinarily troubling story of Afong Moy into hearts and minds.

'Genesis' is a world-class choreographic competition, offering dancers and audiences alike the chance to break from tradition, experience something more contemporary, and discover new talent that will shape the Milwaukee ballet scene in the year to come.