Category: First Stage Young Company

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PSA: ANNOUNCING FIRST STAGE’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

ANNOUNCING FIRST STAGE’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
Explore Timeless Tales and New Adventures with
World Premiere Musical Winnie the Pooh: Forever Friends and more!

MILWAUKEE, Wis (March 26, 2026) – First Stage proudly announces its 2026–2027 Season, marking the organization’s 40th Anniversary with a vibrant lineup of beloved classics, imaginative adventures, and memorable family experiences.

“For 40 years, First Stage has been a place where friends and families come together to share stories that inspire conversation, imagination, wonder, and empathy,” shared Executive Artistic Director Jeff Frank. “This anniversary season celebrates timeless tales loved by all ages while inviting audiences to experience new adventures together. There’s never been a better time to make forever memories at First Stage.”

From whimsical tales to epic adventures, the 2026-2027 season offers something for every age.

GO DOG GO!  /  VE PERRO ¡VE!
October 3 – November 1, 2026  |  Ages 3+
Goodman Mainstage Hall at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center
Ve Perro ¡Ve! comes to life on stage in a fast, funny, bilingual romp full of roller-skating, bicycle-riding, and car-driving dogs. P.D. Eastman’s classic is delightfully ridículo—and wonderfully fun for all ages!

DR. SEUSS’S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS!
November 21 – December 27, 2026  |  Ages 5+
Todd Wehr Theater at the Marcus Performing Arts Center
Experience the wit, wonder, and larger-than-life spirit audiences know and love, wrapped in toe-tapping songs and Seuss-ian spectacle. Bursting with humor, heart, and holiday magic, this musical celebration is a must-see event that invites audiences of all ages to rediscover the joy of the season.

EVERYBODY  |  Young Company Performance Project
December 4-13, 2026  |  Ages 13+
Goodman Mainstage Hall at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center
Absurdly funny and deeply witty, this modern riff on the medieval morality play, Everyman, casts a different “Everybody” by lottery each performance, exploring life, death, and the meaning of it all.

WINNIE-THE-POOH: FOREVER FRIENDS  |  World Premiere
January 29 – February 28, 2027  |  Ages 3+
Todd Wehr Theater at the Marcus Performing Arts Center
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood in this heartwarming world premiere musical filled with friendship, imagination, and a little bit of honey. When Christopher Robin returns with his granddaughter, Winnie-the-Pooh and friends remind us that the simplest moments together can mean the very most.

THE SNOW  |  Academy Production Lab
February 12 – 21, 2027  |  Ages 7+
Goodman Mainstage Hall at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center
When an epic snowfall traps the villagers of tiny Kishka, young Theodore Sutton comes up with a daring solution. Whimsical, humorous, mysterious, and heartfelt, this play weaves a fantastical Grimmsian tale for the entire family.

TWELFTH NIGHT  |  Young Company Performance Project
March 12 – 21, 2027  |  Ages 12+
Goodman Mainstage Hall at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center
A sparkling comedy of love, laughter, and chaos, this Shakespearean classic invites you into a world of witty wordplay, charming characters, and twists that keep you swooning until the very last scene. 

THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE
April 2 – May 2, 2027  |  Ages 8+
Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall at the Marcus Performing Arts Center
Step through the wardrobe and discover the fantastical world of Narnia like never before! In this imaginative adaptation, Peter and Lucy return to the room where their adventure began — reminding us that even the smallest among us can change the world.

BROADWAY JUNIOR REVUE: PURE IMAGINATION  |  Theater Academy Production
May 14 – 23, 2027  |  All Ages
Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall at the Marcus Performing Arts Center
Celebrate 40 years of First Stage with a brand new musical revue featuring our Theater Academy students performing songs from Broadway hits and Disney favorites, alongside stories that showcase the creativity and collaboration at the heart of First Stage since 1987.

Click here to learn more about the 2026-2027 season shows.

Families and friends can experience the magic with First Stage Family Packages, on sale now. These customizable packages allow families to choose the shows they love with maximum flexibility and savings, while unlocking exclusive perks:

  • Guaranteed lowest price all season — up to 50% savings!
  • Exclusive access and priority seat selection
  • Free and flexible ticket exchanges
  • $25 Coupon for 2026-2027 School Year Academy
  • Free Family Workshops: Pre-show education for the whole family
  • Exclusive Backstage Tours: Experience behind the scenes magic

Family Packages can purchased at firststage.org. Family Package families receive early access to seats, ensuring the best selection for the season’s most popular shows. Tickets start at $11. Single tickets go on sale May 1, when Family Package prices increase. First Stage also welcomes thousands of students and educators each season through its weekday matinee Field Trip Performances, giving young people the opportunity to experience live theater as part of their learning journey. First Stage offers affordable school matinee tickets along with classroom workshops that connect the productions to curriculum and social-emotional learning. These workshops help students explore storytelling, character, and themes before and after attending a performance, making theater an engaging extension of the classroom. Field Trips are on sale now.

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Et Tu, First Stage? The Young Company Presents Julius Caesar!

There I was, on the eve of the Ides of March, sitting in the intimate main stage theater of the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, as one of William Shakespeare’s most acclaimed tragedies begins to unfold before me and I see and hear Caesar being warned…Beware the Ides of March!!!

My regular readers will know this but I like to remind everyone that the First Stage Young Company is made up of high school age theater students who perform adult plays generally without any adults in the cast. And they perform on the main stage in the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. This stage is a theater in the round with no more than four rows on either side, so every audience member is close to the action. And they use very minimal stage furnishings and plain and simple costuming so that they can let their actions and the text tell us some very compelling stories. But don’t think for a moment that this is anything but engaging and demanding theater. The Young Company has become my favorite theater group.

(L to R) Ben Nowacek and Abbie Cashman in Young Company’s Julius Caesar. First Stage, 2026. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

Unlike the bigger musical productions at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, the Young Company does not have two alternating casts, so you will see the actors that I mention here.

Edward Owczarski plays an ideal Caesar. Owczarski is regal without seeming imperious but shows that his Caesar can easily be swayed by flattery and is he too ambitious? He treads that fine line that would suggest you could see that either way. Ben Nowacek is a very true and loyal son of Rome in his depiction of Brutus. Showing a bit of doubt for a moment, once he makes up his mind he is all in! I’d say Nowacek’s Brutus is more ‘imperial’ than Owczarski’s Caesar. But where does Nowacek falter fatally? In his funerary speech just before Marc Antony. And then there is Marc Antony, portrayed by Paxton Haley. Haley never waivers, never falters, and is the epitome of the faithful and determined Antony. Haley understands Antony and her version of Friends, Romans, Countrymen, rings out just as you would expect and will sway you to her cause.

(L to R) Cai Weiss and Natalie Ottman in Young Company’s Julius Caesar. First Stage, 2026. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

But the one actor that dominated every scene she appeared in was Natalie Ottman as Cassius. Ottman is wired, on edge, determined, and strident all at once and her energy as she strode back and forth across the stage just drew the focus to her Cassius even when Brutus or Marc Antony was present.

Natalie Ottman in Young Company’s Julius Caesar. First Stage, 2026. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

One always interesting event is part of every First Stage performance. There is a brief talk back where audience members can ask questions of the cast about the performance or the play or the preparations. This time a question asked about the director Ken Miller and how he prepared the Young Company for this very adult and tragic play. And the answer is, during the early table read throughs he encouraged the actors to read their characters in the manner they interpreted for the mood and emotions of their character. And from there he and they refined the action and characters collaboratively. So these young actors are learning more than just how to act…

(L to R) Silver Anderson and Paxton Haley in Young Company’s Julius Caesar. First Stage, 2026. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

The Young Company recommends Julius Caesar for families with young people ages 14-18 and Shakespeare fans of all ages!

However every young person is different and may or may not be ready for certain elements of each production. The play Julius Caesar contains descriptions and depictions of violence and self-harm.

I haven’t seen nor read Julius Caesar in quite some time. It is amazing how of the time many of the story lines here feel…sadly contemporary.

The play runs about two hours including a 15 minute intermission.

Julius Caesar is playing at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center from now through March 22nd, 2026. Additional information including full cast listings and tickets can be found HERE!

Extra Credit Reading: The Enrichment Guide

Cai Weiss as Casca in Young Company’s Julius Caesar. First Stage, 2026. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.
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The First Stage Young Company Presents The Rose Of Treason By James Devita

Regular readers will remember that the Young Company is a group of First Stage actors generally of high school age. And they generally perform adult themed programs without any adult actors. They have done some truly amazing and challenging adult plays recently. My favorites among them have been Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy Of The People, and an amazing surprise, Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell’s Ride The Cyclone! I probably look forward to the Young Company season more than any of the other theater in Milwaukee,

And for their first play of the 2025/26 season, they have selected The Rose Of Treason by James Devita. Most of you probably recognize Devita. He is a lead actor and mainstay on the stages of the American Players Theatre and a novelist and playwright. First Stage had previously presented his play, The Amazing Lemonade Girl, with a large cast at the Todd Wehr Theater.

Like The Amazing Lemonade Girl, The Rose Of Treason is based on a true story. This one, a very compelling and sadly contemporary feeling dramatic narrative around the Scholl family. Set in Hitler era Germany, Mother and Father Scholl have two energetic and curious youngsters, Hans and Sophie. In their youth they enthusiastically enroll in the Hitler Youth and revel in the group experience and active events. Their parents are supportive but at times dubious about what they are ‘learning’. And despite the start of World War II, they are entitled enough to attend the university in Munich instead of being directly involved with the war effort.

(L to R) William Swoboda, Marko Van Slyke, Elliot Lippman, and Lio Landis in The Rose of Treason by James DeVita. First Stage Young Company, 2025. Photo by Paul Rufollo

But then as the war unfolds and Nazi atrocities start to become apparent, Hans and his friends at university decide to form a resistance group…calling themselves The White Rose…and publishing leaflets and encouraging others to resist their government. When Sophie arrives in Munich, Hans tries to shield her from his activities, but she is too curious and too observant to miss such goings on. And of course, she throws herself full on into the movement. SPOILER ALERT: Eventually they are discovered by the Gestapo, tried for treason in a mock trial, and summarily executed. BUT there is hope in this story…

Reiley Fitzsimmons in The Rose of Treason by James DeVita. First Stage Young Company, 2025. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

Reiley Fitzsimmons is Sophie Scholl and she plays her with an unbounded energy and sense of nature and life. As she matures and becomes even more thoughtful it is inevitable that she would throw all of her energy into the resistance. Her older brother, Hans Scholl, is played by Marko Van Slyke. He gives us a bit of an enigma…amazingly invested in the Hitler Youth, earning accolades and awards, he teases his sister about his success there. So it seems surprising that he would so easily enlist in the resistance movement and Van Slyke gives us a very thoughtful young adult version of Hans, who does in fact take on a serious leadership role. Edward Owczarski plays Father. Owczarski tries to be a stern forceful father at times but shows himself to be a bit of a doting parent. He never yields in his support of his children even in the chilling late scenes. And Mother is given that loving parent vibe, who just wants to fuss over the details by Alice Rivera. Her studied repacking of Sophie’s suitcase as she goes off to college is a touching tribute to her motherly instincts. And Rivera carries that through during her final moments with Hans and Sophie that defy you to not to choke up.

(L to R) William Swoboda, Reiley Fitzsimmons, Marko Van Slyke, Lio Landis, and Natalie Ottman in The Rose of Treason by James DeVita. First Stage Young Company, 2025. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

This is a large cast performance with a number of young actors playing Hans co-conspirators…active…dedicated…intelligent…and loyal to the resistance…college students. They write and publish and distribute their leaflets…and work out ploys to avoid Gestapo detection.

(L to R) Marko Van Slyke, Reiley Fitzsimmons, and Lio Landis in The Rose of Treason by James DeVita. First Stage Young Company, 2025. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

But there is a solid chilling factor here as a number of young women play Gestapo roles…complete with military precision…Swastika armbands…and snappy Nazi salutes. There is some hope. Will we be able recognize when this happens again and how will we respond. Will we be Hans and Sophie?

One note on seating. The Goodman Mainstage Hall is generally a theater in the round. For this performance there is only seating on three sides as the fourth wall is used for a screen where photos and quotes are projected to enhance the text of the play. Since this is general admission you may want to get there early to get the best seating to view the screen. And this is a small intimate theater so you will never be more that four rows away from the actors.

The Rose Of Treason will be performed at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center through November 16th, 2025. More information and tickets here! Approximately 90 minutes including a brief intermission

Inspired by true events, the show contains discussion and depictions of the Holocaust, Nazi party and its actions, politics, and violence; audiences may feel uncomfortable as the characters experience these things, but in the end the message of hope and truth prevails.

There will be changing lights, projections, and loud sounds that may be overwhelming for those with sensory sensitivities. We offer sensory kits for patrons who may need them

Recommended for families with young people ages 12-18 and courageous leaders of all ages

Extra Credit Reading: The Enhancement Guide