THE LEHMAN TRILOGY to be Presented at Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Milwaukee Repertory Theater will continue its record-breaking season in the new Associated Bank Theater Center with the upcoming production of The Lehman Trilogy running January 13 – February 8, 2026, in the Ellen & Joe Checota Powerhouse Theater. Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Play, The Lehman Trilogy is a tour-de-force tale of one family’s passionate pursuit of the American Dream and the piercing cost of greed, excess and unbridled power.
 
With three extraordinary actors portraying over 50 characters, The Lehman Trilogy begins in 1844, where a young man from Germany stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. Over the next 163 years, the Lehmans transformed a small storefront into an unstoppable investment superpower – until a collapse that pushed the global economy to the brink of destruction. Named a “Must-see event. Epic in every conceivable way. You dare not miss it” by the New York Post, and “a triumph. Exhilarating and sublime” by the Washington Post, The Lehman Trilogy is a universally acclaimed play that tests the bounds of the American dream and the limits of epic theatricality with a one-of-a-kind event.
 
The three person cast of The Lehman Trilogy includes:
 
Edward Gero as Henry Lehman the eldest brother, resourceful and tenacious; also plays Philip Lehman, Pete Peterson, and other. Edward is a Lunt-Fontanne Ten Chimneys Fellow and a 16-time nominee and four-time Helen Hayes Award winner for acting in the DC area where he is the George Mason University School of Theater head of performance professor.
 
William Sturdivant as Emanuel Lehman the middle brother, hot-headed and decisive; also plays Herbert Lehman, Lewis Glucksman, and others. William earned his BFA in acting from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater and has performed in over 40 Shakespeare productions across the country.
 
Max Wolkowitz as Mayer Lehman the youngest brother, level-headed and a charming mediator; also plays Bobby Lehman and others. Max got his start with an MFA from Brown University’s Trinity Rep acting program. He’s performed in classics such as Indecent, Waiting for Godot, The Chosen, My Name is Asher Lev and Cabaret in many renowned regional theaters.
 
The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini and adapted by Ben Power with original direction by Arin Arbus is a transfer from Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN) in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, DC). This production is directed by Dan Hasse who assistant directed the original production with set design by Marsha Ginsberg (Primary Trust, Broadway), lighting design by Yi Zhoa (Purple Rain, Broadway bound), costume design by Anita Yavich (Floyd Collins, Broadway), sound design by Michael Costagliola (The Reservoir, Geffen Playhouse), projection design by Hannah Wasileski (John Proctor is the Villian, Broadway), voice and dialect coach Jill Walmsley-Zager and stage managed by Kira Neighbors.
 
The Lehman Trilogy has been translated into 24 languages and has received international acclaim from both critics and audiences. This Tony Award-winning play first premiered in France in 2013 and in Italy in 2015, before the English adaptation debuted at London’s National Theatre in 2018, then played the New York Park Avenue Armory in spring of 2019. After pandemic delays, The National Theatre production had a limited run on Broadway (Sept 2021 – Jan 2022) where it won 5 Tony Awards including Best Play. Stefano Massini also adapted the play into a novel which was translated into English by Richard Dixon and published in 2020.
 

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