MILWAUKEE, WI THEATER REVIEWS

Othello—The name speaks to one of William Shakespeare's most acclaimed tragedies first produced in 1603, and has seen thousands of reincarnations, perhaps hundreds of thousands in the past four centuries. How does American Players Theatre (APT) at their Up the Hill venue renew the drama's intense ...

In the intimate American Players Theatre's (APT) Touchstone Amphitheater, Edward Albee's 1975 Pulitzer Prize winning play Seascape premiered on Saturday afternoon---perhaps with greater resonance in this century than when originally produced.. Director Laura Gordon returns to the drams after directi...

With a grand Alexander Calder like mobile hanging over the Cabot Stage when the audience enters the theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) opens their 2015-2016 season with the modern French farce Boeing, Boeing. Marc Camoletti's 1960 play won a 2008 Tony Award for Best Revival in New York a...

Milwaukee's TheateRED begins their 2015-2016 season titled 'We All Have Blood On Our Hands,' with a World Premiere written by one of the city's acclaimed actors and directors, Angela Iannone. Iannone constructs a play, The Seed of Banquo, based on the historical facts of American theater great Edwin...

Noel Coward's popular play Private Lives currently on stage at American Players Theatre might be ripped from modern entertainment headlines. These scenes of two recently divorced spouses reconnecting for a romantic tryst could be versions of Duchess Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew living unmarried ...

The year is 1987 on an April Saturday at Truvy Jones' beauty salon in a rural parish of Louisiana. Shelby Eatenton will marry Jackson Latercherie surrounded by nine bridesmaids in her favorite color pink instead of the peaches and cream colors her mother M'Lynn Eatenton prefers. With this as the ope...

Ever wondered what was going to happen when the phone ring wakes someone from a drowsy sleep? While technology may have changed since the 1950's, the premise and fear of the unknown ring-ring and who might be calling remains equally fascinating. After sipping a drink under the stars before the perf...

A few hours after their first production on a Saturday night, Door Shakespeare changes costumes, peotic canons and presents Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at 8:30 p.m.  Under the velvet moonlght of a Bailey's Harbor sky that naturally resembles the darkness  that dominates much of the Bard's ico...

n Björklunden's lush garden situated in Bailey's Harbor, Wisconsin, Door Shakespeare conjures the Bard's classic tales with sophisticated simplicity. Each Saturday, the company presents both plays from their 2016 season so theatergoers may enjoy each selection in one night, with other individual p...

What is the value of an education? Does consumerism closet society's need to connect with art and literature, a "something more" to be experienced in the world than merely a career? Stage Door Theatre Company at Third Avenue Playhouse revisits these questions in Educating Rita, a 1983 play written ...

Optimist Theatre names their mission to reach artists and audiences across economic, ethnic and experiential landscapes. On opening night for the company's 5th anniversary, the landscape was an amphitheater in Kadish Park overlooking the lights of Milwaukee's sklying twinkling like stars where young...

First published more than 200 years ago, Jane Austen's famous novel Pride and Prejudice comes to American Players Theatre (APT) and revisits significant gender issues audiences might assume have been resolved. Former Milwaukee Reperatory Theater Artistic Director Joseph Hanreddy and acclaimed J.R. ...

n a tribute to Athol Fugard and his 1973 Tony and Drama Desk Critic Award winning play, American Players Theatre in their Touchstone Theater stages The Island. When first produced by Fugard in South Africa, the play attempted collaboration between the black and white actors and/or prisoners in a t...

An old adage claims a person can only have their heart broken three times before their entire soul breaks apart. For those persons interested in dating after losing a partner, by chance, divorce or death, online dating can either be a welcome consolation or a cause for consternation. Third Avenue Pl...

Door County's Peninsula Players Theatre (PPT) celebrates their 80th season with an exceptional world premiere A Real Lulu. Written by former PPT actor who is currently featured on Broadway in Finding Neverland, Paul Slade Smith crafted a timely production overflowing with clever plot twists reflec...

What's the difference between a dry rub or a wet barbecue sauce brushed on a rack of ribs? For anyone uninitiated into the competitive world of barbecuing, Northern Sky Theater presents a second world premeire for their 2015 25th anniversary season with this theme tiltled: No Bones About It....

A 25th Anniversary landmark deserves a special celebration. The newly christened Northern Sky Theater with a permanent home in Door County's Peninsula State Park presented the World Premiere of When Butter Churns to Gold  to introduce their 2015 summe season....

'The flower of the garter blooms for every Windsor heart.' So sings the American Player Theatre cast when Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor arrives to open the Up The Hill Theatre season. These beloved characters celebrate 'The Most Noble Order of the Garter' ceremony, which APT stages simila...

A college classroom, perhaps set in Ireland because a bottle of Jameson Whiskey appears for the poet to quench his thirst, greets the Touchstone Theatre Audiences at American Players Theatre (APT) in their opening play An Iliad. Outside the classroom rumblings and unrest from unidentified crowds can...

A little bit of science fiction, a little bit rock 'n roll, All in Productions revisits the 1980's Broadway Musical Little Shop of Horrors based on Roger Corman's 1960 film this summer in Milwaukee. Next Act Theatre offers their intimate stage to the fledging company that gives the production, now ...

Perhaps a playwright or poet discovers hidden beauty in the blackest of subject material---the places buried deep his dreams and heart. Tennessee Williams' 1953 play Camino Real appears to illustrate the darkest human emotions can be spoken in haunting poetic language to challenge the actors and au...

In conceiving a contemporary fairytale masterpiece, the legendary Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine sing and write of why these fantasies and tales resonate in modern culture with their incredible Into the Woods. The renowned musical makes theatergoers' wishes come true in the Cabot Theatre when Sky...

It's quickly becoming a household name. Although it's nothing like some of the shows considered 'classic Broadway', it has erupted into an existence far from anything of its kind on stage. Book of Mormon could be considered a somewhat mythical creature in the realm of theatre. The ultimate amalgamat...

In a fitting finale to their grand six years of acting, directing, educating and producing together, Uprooted Theatre staged Tennessee Williams' riveting Suddenly Last Summer at Next Act Theatre under the direction of company Co-Founder Dennis F. Johnson. Marti Gobel, also a Co-Founder, appeared pla...

Be shaken as well as stirred by this inventive trio at Sturgeon Bay's Third Avenue Playhouse. Robert Boles, James Valcq and Ryan Patrick Shaw conjure contemporary mayhem from an 18th century Italian opera in Stage Door Theatre Company's enchanting Maid To Marry. This evening's play on words captures...