MILWAUKEE, WI THEATER REVIEWS

Milwaukee's tiny black box Off the Wall Theatre seats approximately 40 people for their innovative production of William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet (R&J). While small in size, the theatre company offers huge rewards for anyone who attends their performances. The company's Artistic Director Dale...

An understated, sensitive presentation on bullying and how a family faces their broken relationships appears in the current First Stage production Crash. Prolific playwright's Y York's adaptation of Jerry Spinelli's young adult novel by the same title arrives at the Todd Wehr Theater courtesy of Mar...

Jivin' Jazz---What else does an audience need to raise the roof of The Milwaukee Rep's Stackner Cabaret in their red hot revue opening this March: Ain't Misbehavin': The Fats Waller Musical Show. Sultry and red-hot aptly describes the entertainment these five multi-talented dancers/musicians/singer...

"One raindrop begins the universe…" writes Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in his revolutionary literary collection "HOWL." Only one word begins a poem. Only one note begins an opera. One step begins a journey, especially in the 2013-3014 season at the Skylight Music Theatre towards that has amazed audi...

If ever there were a play to illuminate the theater's power to relate human truth, this could be An Iliad. If ever there were an actor to relate Homer's ancient story through poetry, this surely could be James DeVita. Place this pair in The Milwaukee Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse where An Iliad opened ...

Blessing, Chesapeake. Daniels. These three words follow each other with the comfort and perfection of naming B, C and D when reciting the alphabet. Last weekend at In Tandem Theatre on their Tenth Street Theater stage, Matt Daniels presented his incredible one-man performance of Chesapeake, a fantas...

Fantastique! Magnifique! Milwaukee's First Stage garnered these praises from the audience after their World Premiere musical Anatole opened in the Todd Wehr Theater last weekend. Set in Paris, the City of Light, the classic children's stories written by Eve Titus with illustrations by Paul Galdone i...

The human spirit can supposedly thrive on strength and courage, and perhaps this is mistakenly assumed possible during any tragedy. In a poignant tribute to human resiliency, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre presented the Midwest premiere of October, Before I Was Born, a new production funded by the compan...

What can be defined as slavery? In multiple ways, slavery continually exists and humans can all be slaves to someone or something. At the Stiemke Studio this past February weekend, The Milwaukee Rep opened The Whipping Man. The 2006 award-winning Off Broadway play written by Matthew Lopez returns th...

This February, The Boulevard Theatre stages a refreshing, smart comedy by Steven Dietz, one of the most produced playwrights in America. His 2008 comedy Shooting Star ranks as a recent piece from his more than 40 adaptations and plays in his repertoire....

Evita opened at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday night. After seeing the production on Broadway last winter (and being thoroughly disappointed), I went into this performance with an open mind, hoping that the performance would be better than in New York. Luckily, this productio...

What does the public or young people remember about slavery---pre or post Civil War? Last weekend, James DeVita's poignant play A Midnight Cry returned to First Stage at the Todd Wehr Theatre after premiering in 2003. A young Missouri slave, Lida June Anderson, must escape through the Underground Ra...

“I miss being loved,” the legendary Judy Garland sighs in The Milwaukee Rep's first Quadracci Powerhouse production of the year, End of the Rainbow. Peter Quilter's “play with music” highlights the star's last few weeks of her extraordinary successful yet troubled life and the title refers ...

Born in 1912, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was often better known as the hobo poet from Oklahoma, Woody Guthrie. The musician named after an American president protested against capitalism, consumerism and commercialism, which portrays a witty irony in all that he did and the music he based his songwritin...

The truth in a story can move an audience to powerful reflection. The Skylight Music Theatre presents a brief production run of El Cimarron in the Studio Theatre to open 2014. A stage where the uncomfortable truth of slavery unfolds through the trials of a runaway Cuban slave, Esteban Montejo, and t...

War Horse is an emotionally stimulating and visually stunning spectacle. Spot on acting, visual and audio affects, and a simple set pull together to bring the audience back to World War I era Europe. Screens, lighting, projected images, and music help to tell the story and propel you along this ex...

While 'visions of sugarplums' may appear fantastical, Artistic Director Michael Pink presents these marvelous performance delights for the city this December. Under Pink's direction and choreography, The Milwaukee Ballet presents Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker for another holiday season. ...

??Milwaukee's very own Christmas story come to the stage courtesy of Mary MacDonald Kerr. Next Act Theatre presents the second edition of her adaptation of a holiday classic film in. It's A Wonderful Life: Live Radio Show. The reprise production features all the cast members from last year who posit...

To capture the long standing tradition of The Milwaukee Rep's adaptation of A Christmas Carol that opened last weekend at the Historic Pabst Theater, many families or friends crowd around the grand Christmas tree adorned and standing in the center of Milwaukee's Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex. ...

In a reprise of a beloved holiday classic children's story, First Stage features The Best Christmas Pageant Ever on the Todd Wehr Stage at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate December. In this play for anyone who ever felt unloved, the horrible Herdman family returns with Imogene,...

As 2013 draws to a close, is there a world the audience longs to see? A future world where dignity, harmony, freedom, love and peace can exist? Part of this future can be discovered when the Skylight Music Theatre presents their production of Les Miserables that runs through December 29 in the Cabot...

Love and sex: This dynamic pair of human needs has dominated society's conscious since Eve offered Adam the apple and together they discovered their nakedness. The two subjects frequently intermingle on stage at Spring Green's American Players Theatre for the company's final selection in their 2013 ...

Four guys, forever classy wearing white dinner jackets, appear in the musical revue Forever Plaid at The Rep's Stackner Cabaret. And when Frankie, Jinx, Smudge and Spanky perform their four-part harmony in the fictional singing group, they exude slightly clueless personalities while, to the audience...

Get your Shrek on with a set of those tiny, tree like buds the lovable ogre Shrek sprouts on his glamorous green head. Milwaukee's First Stage makes the ears available in their Todd Wehr Theater lobby when the company presents, Shrek,The Musical to open their 2013-2014 season. The fairy tale charact...