Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE Opens Tomorrow

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) continues its 2013-2014 theatre season with the Milwaukee premiere of THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE by Keith Huff, September 18 - October 13, 2013. In addition to numerous plays, Keith Huff has written for the television series "House of Cards" and "Mad Men." This one-woman show features Milwaukee favorite Mary MacDonald Kerr who was last seen at MCT in THE SWEETEST SWING IN BASEBALL. The show is also a production collaboration with the UW-Milwaukee Theatre Department. UWM professor Jim Tasse will direct and the production team members are UWM faculty and students. THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE performs in the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

In THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE, Alice Conroy is wife, mother, frame shop owner and an avid fan of murder mysteries. So when her husband, a Chicago homicide detective, is gunned down, she sets out to uncover who did it...and why.

A Chicago resident, playwright Keith Huff grew up in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin and graduated from Wilmot Union High School in Salem. He most recently served as a writer/producer for the first season of the Netflix original series "House of Cards." The series has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards including Best Drama Series. He was also a writer/producer for the 2010 season of "Mad Men." In 2009 his play A STEADY RAIN had a sold-out Broadway run starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. A screen version of that play is also in development.

THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE premiered in 2011 at Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois. MCT is the second professional company to produce THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE. Huff has also written a television series pilot based on THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE. His latest play, BIG LAKE BIG CITY, premiered in June at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre, directed by David Schwimmer. His other plays have been produced off-Broadway, internationally and nationally. He has an MFA from the University of Iowa's Playwright's Workshop and also briefly attended Marquette University.

THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE marks Mary MacDonald Kerr's twenty-first production with MCT. She was last at MCT as the director of CRIMES OF THE HEART (2011). Her numerous onstage appearances at MCT include THE SWEETEST SWING IN BASEBALL, JOE EGG, DINNER WITH FRIENDS, THREE DAYS OF RAIN, ANGELS IN AMERICA: PERESTROIKA and BEAST ON THE MOON.

Mary MacDonald Kerr is also the first actress to be honored as a "Ruth Schudson Leading Lady." Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's recently created "Ruth Schudson Leading Lady Fund" is a donor designated fund that was created to honor MCT co-founder Ruth Schudson and provide lasting support to MCT's mission of employing and nurturing local theatre artists. Going forward the interest generated from the Fund will support the work of one actress each season.

When asked about Kerr's designation as the first Leading Lady honoree, Schudson said, "Over the years Mary and I have shared the MCT stage nine times and each of those plays stands out in my memory because her talent, passion and generosity raised the bar for all of us. So - it is so right that the very first Leading Lady honoree is this shining light of Milwaukee theatre - Mary MacDonald Kerr."

Currently a member of the theatre faculty at UW-Milwaukee, Jim Tasse returns to MCT to direct THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE. At MCT he has previously directed BEAST ON THE MOON, THE OLD SETTLER, VALLEY SONG and THE GUYS and appeared in THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES, DINNER WITH FRIENDS, THE HERBAL BED and WAITING FOR GODOT among others.

When discussing design team options, Tasse expressed a preference to work with his colleagues in the UW-Milwaukee Theatre Department. Producing Artistic Director C. Michael Wright realized that THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE was an ideal opportunity to continue our partnership with UW-Milwaukee first started in the "University Collaboration Series." The partnership features five UWM faculty members serving on the creative team and several current UWM students with roles on the production team.

Photo by Mark Frohna