Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Quadracci Powerhouse Season kicks off in grand style with an uplifting production of The Color Purple. This hit musical, based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will be directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements, who reunites with the same creative team behind last season's wildly successful hit production of Ragtime. This will be the fifth musical that Clements has directed at The Rep.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Stiemke Studio Season opens with the World Premiere of after all the terrible things I do. This gripping drama, a provocative piece from award-winning playwright A. Rey Pamatmat, will be directed by Milwaukee Rep Associate Artist May Adrales, who returns to The Rep after directing Katori Hall's The Mountaintop (2012/13) and Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman (2011/12).
n a revival of Alice Walker's bold novel The Color Purple, the award winning musical opens The Milwaukee Rep's 2014-2015 theater season reprising the WOW in entertainment that began with Ragtime in their 60th season. Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning 1982 story arrives in a re-adaptation of the 1985 film and 2005 Broadway musical redesigned for the Quadracci Powerhouse stage featuring a superb cast, which after almost three hours, "fills the room like a sweet perfume… restoring a belief in trust and tenderness."
Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Quadracci Powerhouse Season kicks off in grand style with an uplifting production of The Color Purple. This hit musical, based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will be directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements, who reunites with the same creative team behind last season's wildly successful hit production of Ragtime. This will be the fifth musical that Clements has directed at The Rep.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Stiemke Studio Season opens with the World Premiere of after all the terrible things I do. This gripping drama, a provocative piece from award-winning playwright A. Rey Pamatmat, will be directed by Milwaukee Rep Associate Artist May Adrales, who returns to The Rep after directing Katori Hall's The Mountaintop (2012/13) and Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman (2011/12).
Yesterday Artistic Director Mark Clements announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Season. 'Next season will offer strong stories that are substantive pieces of theater that are both enlightening and entertaining,' said Clements. 'The season includes two exciting world premieres, after all the terrible things I do and Five Presidents. We will also continue the tradition that I started upon my arrival by including a musical on our main stage - the first production in the Quadracci Powerhouse will be the award-winning musical, The Color Purple. Audiences responded so enthusiastically to last year's production of Ragtime, I believe they are in for another treat with The Color Purple.'
Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Quadracci Powerhouse Season kicks off in grand style with an uplifting production of The Color Purple. This hit musical, based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will be directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements, who reunites with the same creative team behind last season's wildly successful hit production of Ragtime. This will be the fifth musical that Clements has directed at The Rep.
Kicking off Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Season in the Stackner Cabaret is the side-splitting and rollicking production The Doyle & Debbie Show, a perfect blend of comedy and country music. Called "90 minutes of goofy perfection" by the Chicago Sun-Times, The Doyle & Debbie Show features a washed-up country star and his newest singing partner dusting off their microphones and resurrecting a familiar signature sound. Singing 16 original hits, including "Stock Car Love" and "Blue Stretch Pants," this hilarious send-up of country music duos will have audiences doubled-over with laughter and roaring for an encore. The show is parody at its best - simultaneously lampooning country music at the same time idolizing its tradition of iconic duos and the battle of the sexes.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced casting today for The Color Purple, the glorious musical saga which opens Friday, September 26, 2014 and runs from September 23 - November 2, 2014.
This May, the Milwaukee Ballet stages Artistic Director Michael Pink's World Premiere full-length ballet Mirror, Mirror. With Pink's innovative genius and darker, dramatic perspective on the fairy tale Snow White, Pink enlisted Todd Edward Ivins for the ballet's costume and set design. The pair collaborated several years ago under Milwaukee Rep's Artistic Director Mark Clements for the theater company's sellout musical, Cabaret (2010), while Ivins and his designs were instrumental in the success of Ragtime (2013) and the contemporary vision seen on stage in Shakespeare's Othello (2012). The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse became a familiar place in Milwaukee where the pair could contemplate their reinvention of a beloved fairy tale.
This April, Milwaukee Rep staged an interesting performance written by David Bar Katz for the finale of their 60th Anniversary season. Superman, a fictional comic book hero still idolized by young and old, arrived in the production The History of Invulnerability, a play dependent on an overwhelming presence of stage technology and directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements. This historical narrative on how Superman was "born" reflects the mind of his co-creator Jerry Siegel one hour and thirty-six minutes before Siegel died.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents Romeo and Juliet with guest conductor Rossen Milanov on April 18-19, 2014 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The performances include Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Chausson's Poe?me for Violin and Orchestra and Barto?k's Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra with MSO Concertmaster Frank Almond, and selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet featuring Milwaukee Rep actors Max
Milwaukee Repertory Theater concludes its 60th Anniversary Season with The History of Invulnerability, the play The Washingtonian says 'leap[s] across an impressive array of thought-provoking issues in a single bound . . . a super achievement.' The cast features Rep newcomers Bob Amaral, JJ Phillips and Greg Wood, as well as Rep Associate Artists Angela Iannone and Gerard Neugent, Rep Artistic Associate Michael Kroeker, guest actors Kelley Faulkner and Josh Landay, children's cast John Brotherhood, Luke Brotherhood and Max Pink as well as several members of The Rep's Artistic Ensemble. Written by playwright David Bar Katz, The History of Invulnerability will be directed by Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements. The Executive Producer for this production is Judy Hansen.
A Tony Award-winning tour through the legendary Fats Waller songbook, Ain't Misbehavin' dives into the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, the golden age of honky-tonk dives, swing music and stride piano players. Considered "a tribute to the timeless appeal of Waller's music" by The New York Times, Ain't Misbehavin' includes classic Waller hits like "Loungin' at the Waldorf" and "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." Ain't Misbehavin' was conceived by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr. and will be directed by Rep Associate Artist Dan Kazemi, who was the Musical Director of End of The Rainbow, A Christmas Carol, Forever Plaid and Ragtime this season at The Rep.
Yesterday Artistic Director Mark Clements announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Season. 'Next season will offer strong stories that are substantive pieces of theater that are both enlightening and entertaining,' said Clements. 'The season includes two exciting world premieres, after all the terrible things I do and Five Presidents. We will also continue the tradition that I started upon my arrival by including a musical on our main stage - the first production in the Quadracci Powerhouse will be the award-winning musical, The Color Purple. Audiences responded so enthusiastically to last year's production of Ragtime, I believe they are in for another treat with The Color Purple.'
Milwaukee Repertory Theater continues its 2013/14 60th Anniversary Season with a production of An Iliad, a modern adaptation of Homer's classic. Described as 'pure theater: shocking, glorious, primal, and deeply satisfying,' by Time Out New York, An Iliad features Wisconsin-based actor James DeVita and cellist Alicia Storin, a native of Mequon, Wisconsin. Written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, An Iliad will be directed by John Langs, who returns to The Rep after directing I Am My Own Wife during the 2010/11 Season.
The Rep's critically-acclaimed, one-of-a-kind short-play festival, Rep Lab, returns for its fourth season to the intimate Stiemke Studio. Featuring several distinct and different plays, and cast with The Rep's Intern Ensemble, this unique production is sure to provide an altogether new type of theatergoing experience for audiences - a night filled with laughter and tears. Rep Lab runs in The Rep's Stiemke Studio from March 28 - 31.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater continues its 2013/14 60th Anniversary Season with a production of An Iliad, a modern adaptation of Homer's classic. Described as 'pure theater: shocking, glorious, primal, and deeply satisfying,' by Time Out New York, An Iliad features Wisconsin-based actor James DeVita and cellist Alicia Storin, a native of Mequon, Wisconsin. Written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, An Iliad will be directed by John Langs, who returns to The Rep after directing I Am My Own Wife during the 2010/11 Season.
The Rep continues its 60th Anniversary Season with The Whipping Man, the play The New York Times describes as 'filled with fine characterization and unexpected moments of humor.' The Civil War has ended, but for some, the struggle has just begun. A Jewish Confederate soldier, wounded in war, has returned from the battlefield to find that his family has fled. The only remaining household members are two former slaves, who have been raised by his family as Jews. Over a celebratory feast, family history is uncovered and dark secrets are revealed, forcing the men to come to terms with the sordid legacies of slavery and war that threaten each of their future freedoms. Written by Matthew Lopez, The Whipping Man will be directed by Associate Artistic Director Brent Hazelton. The cast features Ro Boddie, James Craven, both making their Rep debuts, and Josh Landay, who returns to The Rep after appearing as Tateh in Ragtime earlier this season. The Whipping Man runs in the Stiemke Studio from February 5 - March 16, and opens Saturday, February 8. (Please note special Saturday evening opening.) The Stiemke Season is generously presented by John and Connie Kordsmeier.
The Rep continues its 60th Anniversary Season with The Whipping Man, the play The New York Times describes as "filled with fine characterization and unexpected moments of humor." The Civil War has ended, but for some, the struggle has just begun. A Jewish Confederate soldier, wounded in war, has returned from the battlefield to find that his family has fled. The only remaining household members are two former slaves, who have been raised by his family as Jews. Over a celebratory feast, family history is uncovered and dark secrets are revealed, forcing the men to come to terms with the sordid legacies of slavery and war that threaten each of their future freedoms. Written by Matthew Lopez, The Whipping Man will be directed by Associate Artistic Director Brent Hazelton. The cast features Ro Boddie, James Craven, both making their Rep debuts, and Josh Landay, who returns to The Rep after appearing as Tateh in Ragtime earlier this season. The Whipping Man runs in the Stiemke Studio from February 5 - March 16, and opens Saturday, February 8. (Please note special Saturday evening opening.) The Stiemke Season is generously presented by John and Connie Kordsmeier.
