(05/07/2022) - Along the way, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car, or headphones or an iPad like his friends. Most of all he wishes they didn’t have to journey to the scary last stop on Market Street. Their trip through the bustling city becomes an exciting magical adventure which helps CJ solve a mysterious riddle and make unexpected special friends as he discovers a wonderful new way to see the world! Sponsored by PNC. Performance run time is approximately 55 minutes, with no intermission. Suggested for families with young people ages 3 – 7+.
(04/22/2022) - First Stage presents the world premiere production of THE AMAZING LEMONADE GIRL, written by award-winning playwright/ author, First Stage Resident Playwright and Wisconsin actor James DeVita and directed by First Stage alum and Northern Sky Associate Artistic Director Molly Rhode, with costume design by Austin Winter, sound design by Josh Schmidt and scenic and lighting design by Jason Fassl, USA.
(04/09/2022) - Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents the five-time Tony Award-winning musical Titanic The Musical with story and book by Peter Stone, Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston and Orchestrations by Joshua Clayton in the Quadracci Powerhouse, April 6 - May 14, 2022. Opening Night is Saturday, April 9.
(03/05/2022) - First Stage is set to stage its mainstage production of THE LEGEND OF ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, a world premiere co-commission with Oregon Children’s Theatre, which originally premiered in March of 2020. The production features clever, original music from classic rock to dance pop as well as fantastical costumes, sets and puppets that will entertain the entire family. Based on the bestselling book by Drew Daywalt with illustrations by Adam Rex, First Stage Resident Playwright John Maclay wrote the book and lyrics and Eric Nordin wrote the music and lyrics.
(02/17/2022) - Milwaukee Rep presents As You Like It by William Shakespeare, adapted & directed by Daryl Cloran, conceived by Daryl Cloran & the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, February 15 – March 20, 2022 at Quadracci Powerhouse.
(02/14/2022) - Next up in First Stage’s 2021/22 season will be THE DANCING GRANNY, a play by Mansa Ra adapted from the children’s book by beloved author/illustrator Ashley Bryan. The production is part of First Stage’s First Steps Series which introduces younger audiences to live theater.
(01/27/2022) - Milwaukee Rep presents Antonio’s Song / I Was Dreaming of a Son by Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez, directed by Mark Clements. Running January 26 — March 6, 2022.
(01/21/2022) - First Stage, one of the nation’s leading theaters for young people and families, returns to live performances this January with a heartwarming production of THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM – 1963 at the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater.
(01/09/2022) - What happens when you put two pianos onstage, add two virtuoso piano players, and throw in a limitless songbook that defies genre and decade? You get Piano Men! Equal parts concert and sing-along, this exhilarating and entertaining musical revue will have you clapping, laughing and calling out requests for your favorite songs.
(12/06/2021) - First Stage’s Young Company, the Theater Academy’s award-winning training program for advanced high school actors, present THE LARAMIE PROJECT as their first Performance Project for the 2021/22 season and first in-person production since the pandemic began.
(12/03/2021) - Make up for lost time with family and friends this holiday season as Milwaukee Rep's full ensemble production of A Christmas Carol joyfully returns to the historic Pabst Theater with Lee E. Ernst as Scrooge, November 30 - December 24, 2021.
(11/19/2021) - This holiday season brings the joyful return of First Stage’s production of Charles M. Schulz’s A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS to the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater.
(11/11/2021) - The North American tour of Rogers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! began performances at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN on November 9, 2021 and will continue to play over 25 cities during the 2021-2022 season including stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago and Nashville, and more.
(11/09/2021) - Steel Magnolias will be the first play with a live audience in Milwaukee Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse in over 18 months. As a way to say THANK YOU, Milwaukee Rep is offering free tickets to local Healthcare Workers to performances on November 10 at 7:30pm, November 11 at 7:30pm and November 14 at 7pm.
(11/02/2021) - The National Tour of the 2019 Drama Desk Award winner for Outstanding Musical THE PROM begins performances tonight at Playhouse Square in Cleveland.
(10/18/2021) - BroadwayWorld has a first look at the new cast of the RENT 25th Anniversary Farewell Non-Equity Tour, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning landmark rock musical written by Jonathan Larson.
(06/17/2021) - The Fisherman’s Daughters, by Katie Dahl, tells the story of two sisters in 1908 Fish Creek who must reckon with their differences when Wisconsin’s governor decides to turn their homestead into part of Peninsula State Park.
(02/17/2021) - Next up in First Stage's Through Our Lens 2021 Virtual Season of Plays will be Arthur Miller's powerful and timely drama THE CRUCIBLE. Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award and inspired by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, the play takes audiences back to a fictionalized account of the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials that took place during the years 1692 and 1693. It is a tale of lies, revenge and mass hysteria as the citizens of Salem turn against each other as gossip becomes fact, lies become truth and innocence becomes guilt. Miller explores how public hysteria combined with fear can destroy people's lives.
(01/27/2021) - First Stage's next virtual offering is ESCAPE FROM PELIGRO ISLAND. The virtual production starts livestreaming this Friday, January 29 at 7:00 p.m.
(12/03/2020) - Porchlight Music Theatre's latest virtual offering, The Ruffians' Burning Bluebeard, back in its 9th year, a Chicago tradition for many, as recorded from the 2019 performance at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts.
(10/07/2020) - First Stage begins its 2020/21 Virtual Season of Plays with THE QUEST FOR SOLOMON’S TREASURE, an exciting new historical adventure web series that will stream exclusively for First Stage audiences.
(03/04/2020) - Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Eclipsed written by Black Panther and 'Walking Dead' star Danai Gurira in the Quadracci Powerhouse, March 3 - 29, 2020.
(02/24/2020) - This past weekend First Stage opened GRETEL!, a new folk rock musical developed as part of the First Stage Foundry Stage Series. It combines the tale of HANSEL AND GRETEL with VASILISA THE BRAVE (the Russian Cinderella) into a story family audiences will find both compelling and inspiring. Directed by Artistic Director Jeff Frank and showing First Stage's commitment to developing new work, this folk rock musical runs now through March 22 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.
(01/28/2020) - Milwaukee Repertory Theater's Hedwig and the Angry Inch will run January 28 - March 8, 2020 in the Stiemke Studio. Matt Rodin will perform the title character Hedwig with Rep favorite Bethany Thomas (Songs for Nobodies, Milwaukee Rep) as Yitzhak.
(01/24/2020) - First Stage will fuel the imaginations of audiences young and old with their next 2019/20 mainstage production, A WRINKLE IN TIME, based on the bestselling book by author Madeleine L'Engle and adapted for the stage by John Glore.
(01/20/2020) - Milwaukee Repertory Theater is presenting Chasin' Dem Blues: Untold Story of Paramount Records, running January 17 thru March 22, 2020 to the Stackner Cabaret.
(01/17/2020) - Milwaukee Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse kicks off the New Year with the joyful play The Legend of Georgia McBride from rising star playwright Matthew Lopez (The Inheritance). Kevin Kantor returns to Milwaukee Rep as Casey, after a dazzling debut in the American Premiere of Things I Know To Be True last season. They are joined by 2013/14 EPR Armand Fields (Ms. Black for President, Steppenwolf) as Rexy/Jason, Shavanna Calder (Hairspray, Nat'l tour) as Jo, Courter Simmons (Jersey Boys, Broadway) as Miss Tracy Mills and Associate Artist James Pickering (A Christmas Carol, Milwaukee Rep) as Eddie.
(01/13/2020) - The magic and wonder of a snowy day comes to life in First Stage's production of THE SNOWY DAY AND OTHER STORIES BY Ezra Jack Keats, based on the 1963 Caldecott Medal-winning book by acclaimed author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats, adapted for the stage by Jerome Hairston and Co-Directed by Samantha Montgomery and Kat Wodtke. An imaginative ode to childhood, audiences will delight in encountering Peter who is eager to explore the winter wonderland outside - throwing snowballs, making snow angels and experiencing the crunch, crunch, crunch of the fresh snow. Adventure with Peter as he grows up and explores the wide and wonderful world around him! THE SNOWY DAY AND OTHER STORIES BY Ezra Jack Keats is a First Stage First Steps production offered to introduce children ages 3 to 7 to theater in an engaging, interactive and lively environment.
(12/09/2019) - First Stage's Young Company, the Theater Academy's award-winning training program for advanced high school actors, will present William Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE as their first Performance Project for the 2019/20 season. The play explores multiple facets of the human condition – from false assumptions and lost children to truths revealed, redemption found and the appearance of marvelous wonders. As one of Shakespeare's late plays, it tells the story of wandering and separation leading eventually to tearful and joyous reunion. Sponsored by United Performing Arts Fund.
(11/22/2019) - First Stage, one of the nation's leading theaters for young people and families, is delighted to share with Milwaukee audiences ELF – The Musical this holiday season.
(11/13/2019) - Milwaukee Repertory Theater is revisiting a Rep classic November 12 - December 15, 2019 with The Nerd by Larry Shue.
One of the funniest plays ever written, The Nerd premiered at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 1981 with playwright Larry Shue filling the role of Willum Cubbert. It went on to become one of the most produced and best loved comedies in the history of American theater, running for 441 performances on Broadway (with Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame) before moving on to theaters across the U.S. and abroad.
(11/09/2019) - Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Nunsense – a musical that has made millions laugh – in the Stackner Cabaret, November 8, 2019 – January 12, 2020.
(10/18/2019) - First Stage begins its 2019/20 main stage season with ON THE WINGS OF A MARIPOSA, a lyrical, bilingual play written by Playwright-in-Residence Alvaro Saar Rios. This world premiere production is adapted from the book Ghost Wings by popular Milwaukee author Barbara Joosse, features original music and lyrics by Dinorah Márquez and is a collaboration with Latino Arts Strings Program and United Community Center.
