Goodman Mainstage Hall – an intuitive perspective

May 11, 2024May 12, 2024

Escape From Peligro Island, A Create Your Own Adventure Play @ First Stage!

Those of you who have followed my comments on the offerings from Milwaukee’s First Stage Youth Theater know that many of their presentations feature alternating casts. So your experience may differ from mine in significant ways.

But with Escape From Peligro Island, First Stage and Playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer have designed a unique experience into the script for each and every audience. You are guaranteed a different experience to mine. And how do they accomplish that? Well at significant plot points, the audience is offered alternative choices and they get to vote on which path to travel…so each audience member receives a Card Of Destiny as you enter the theater and you can vote for your preferred alternative by holding up your card, showing the Pink side or the Green side. And the cast heads off in the selected direction! So from one performance to the next, you will never get the same show. Escape From Peligro Island is a thing of wonder and adventure! Awesome.

And yes, Escape From Peligro Island, does feature two casts, The Destiny Cast and The Chance cast. The two casts share two adult actors, Matt Daniels and Shammen McCune who play multiple roles and I am guessing those roles differ depending on the election of the audience.

Charlie Cornell as Callaway Brown foreground and Matt Daniels, Photo Courtesy of First Stage, Paul Ruffolo photographer.

The initial story will be basically the same…the one named character is Callaway Brown…and Callaway remains a constant throughout but it is his adventures that we are determining. Almost immediately, while traveling from his mother’s home to visit his father many miles away, Callaway experiences a weirdo in the airport’s waiting area who proves to be an eerie enigma who quickly runs off leaving Callaway with a mysterious box and the wrong airplane ticket…and we make our first decision and launch poor Callaway off on his big adventure.

Now, I can’t actually give the story away because it will travel hither and yon depending on you…but Kruckemeyer must be the eternal youth of legend as Escape From Peligro Island finds all of the cute sayings of youth, pulls great puns out of midair, and presents a myriad of adventures out of our childhood dreams. It sounds so easy and childlike but it is an amazingly complex construction.

One constant feature of First Stage presentations are short talk backs (question and answer periods) after the play where the cast takes turns fielding questions from the youngsters in the audience. Now, one very astute audience member asked the cast how they managed to learn all of the different parts and keep them straight. Yes, indeed, that too was at the forefront of my thoughts as the play came to an end. The cast said it was from four weeks of rehearsal and lots of practice.

Now I don’t know the precise answer exactly, but I am certain it was through some sort of sorcery employed by director Jeff Frank. Besides the variant story lines and two adult actors plus Callaway Brown, there are five other youth actors who work as narrators and vote tabulators and any number of characters dependent on the path being taken. I would have a hard time keeping track of that in my head much less imparting it to twelve different actors. And then to support the action, Scenic Designer Kristin Ellert did a marvelous job providing modular set pieces that too played multiple roles and then there were a few that remained unused…apparently waiting their turn in a parallel universe.

Photo Courtesy of First Stage, Paul Ruffolo photographer.

But oh, wait. There are a number of small puppets or dolls that help us tell the story…I can’t explain exactly what they do or how they are employed because that might spoil some of the story…but the are cute as the dickens…and a clever clever means of advancing the story and supporting the action! Thank you Adriana Hollenbeck!! And First Stage has always set a very high bar when it comes to bright and engaging costuming that contributes to the story telling…and Jazmin Aurora Medina has done an outstanding job here…particularly with the various costumes for Matt Daniels various roles. And Lighting Designer Tim Thistleton also brings his A game with bringing the adventures on Peligro Island to life with the limited palette available at the Goodman.

And there’s a THEME SONG!

I was lucky to get to see this on opening weekend…and it was a very well attended show. And I think a lot of theatergoers will revisit so they can experience another pass into adventure. So don’t put off planning your visit. Escape From Peligro Island runs through June 2, 2024. It is being presented at First Stage’s black box theater in the round, the Goodman Mainstage Hall, at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center! Suggested ages: 5 to adult!t oh

Click HERE for tickets and more information!

And Extra Credit Reading: Playbill with a listing of both casts! and Enrichment Guide

March 17, 2023

PSA: First Stage’s Young Company Presents: LITTLE WOMEN

Details and Ticket Information at THIS LINK but the over view is below:

First Stage’s Young Company will present LITTLE WOMEN, a modern-retelling of the classic novel by award-winning, contemporary playwright Kate Hamill, adapted from the novel by Louisa May Alcott. “Kate Hamill has made a name for herself by writing ingeniously wrought stage versions of popular 19th-century novels that treat their source material with mischievous freedom,” commented The Wall Street Journal’s Terry Teachout. The play is directed by popular Milwaukee actor,director and First Stage alum Karen Estrada, recently seen on stage in First Stage’s charming production CARMELA FULL OF WISHES. This fresh adaptation of the beloved book centers around the women of the March family. Jo March isn’t your typical Victorian lady. She’s ruthless and headstrong, and destined to be a great American novelist. As Jo and her sisters grow up in the middle of the Civil War, they strive to be brave, intelligent and imaginative young women, while reconciling their own ambitions with society’s expectations. Alcott’s celebrated coming-of-age novel comes to stage in this modern and relevant adaptation. Sponsored by United Performing Arts Fund.

LITTLE WOMEN runs March 24 – April 2, 2023 in the newly renovated, theater-in-the-round Goodman Mainstage Hall, Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, located at 325 W. Walnut Street in downtown Milwaukee. Tickets are $15. Tickets are available online at firststage.org or through the First Stage Box Office at (414) 267-2961. Performance runtime is approximately two hours and 15 minutes with a brief intermission. Suggested for families with young people ages 12+.

From Director of the Young Company Matt Daniels: “Kate Hamill’s adaptation of this essential American story manages to be startlingly modern even as it explores a long-gone era. This play is about whip-smart, resilient, sparkling young women looking to make their mark on a world that may not be ready for them. Sounds like an ideal match for YC’s excellent performers! This version of the story is intimate, beautiful and surprising, just as Alcott’s novel is to anyone who picks it up for the first time.”

Added Director Karen Estrada: “Everyone identifies with a character in Little Women. Those who love the story can endlessly debate character choices and events from the book; furthering that with spirited discussion regarding which of the many, many adaptations best capture these classic scenes. Fans of Alcott’s Little Women have done so across all the years, languages and cultures that have access to the story. They sympathize because the March sisters and their friends’ coming-of-age story elements are both familiar and beautifully composed; they are learning how they identify as young adults and doing so while balancing their place in the wider world, within their family dynamic and against their own ambitions. Their stories are funny and heartbreaking and confusing and poignant. These actors (and to some extent all of us) are in that place too – learning who they are and who they want to be in the wide world. The story is immediate and timeless, intimate yet funny and absolutely lovely.”

This is a Young Company Performance Project – an actor-driven presentation using elemental production values. By stripping down to a nearly bare stage, the connection of actor to audience is enhanced, and the words of the play come alive in exciting ways, allowing First Stage’s award-winning students to showcase their graduate level skills with full-length material, from Shakespeare to American classics to pieces commissioned specially for them.

What: First Stage’s Young Company presents: LITTLE WOMEN

By Kate Hamill

Adapted from the novel by Louisa May Alcott

Directed by Karen Estrada

Director of the Young Company Matt Daniels

Sponsored by United Performing Arts Fund

Location: Goodman Mainstage Hall, Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut Street, Milwaukee

Live Performances: March 24 – April 2, 2023

Performances:

• Friday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m.

• Saturday, March 25 at 1:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

• Sunday, March 26 at 3:30 p.m.

• Friday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. – PAY WHAT YOU CHOOSE PERFORMANCE

• Saturday, April 1 at 1:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

• Sunday, April 2 at 3:30 p.m.

Ticket and information: Tickets are $15. Call (414) 267-2961 or online at: firststage.org

Little Women Trailer:

February 6, 2023February 7, 2023

The Hobbit at First Stage: Bilbo’s Big Adventure!

For everyone already familiar with The Hobbit via either J.R.R. Tolkien’s book or the various videos or movies will certainly wonder how First Stage is going to present the entire story in 90 minutes. But they manage to do so with just four adult actors and one youth actor and they will amaze you. But this will take every fiber of your imagination to keep up with the transitions and character changes!

For those youngsters who don’t know the story yet, they will be mesmerized by the continuous action and the story telling and the music. How do I know that? Well usually there is some low level chatter from young people during most First Stage presentations, either from the excitement of theater or questions about the action addressed to their parents. But at this past Saturday’s matinee, despite a larger than normal audience, it was very very quiet! (so side note: don’t hesitate to order tickets because this is a very popular play)

Shammen McCune (Gandalf) and Leo Madson (Bilbo Baggins) in THE HOBBIT. First Stage, 2023. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

One of the strengths of First Stage is the maximum effect they work from their sets and costuming. And it is on peak display here. The Goodman Mainstage Hall is a very cozy theater in the round and no one is more than four rows away from the action. So making the most of the stage with minimal furnishings and props is a key part of their presentation…and they are superb here. A few chairs, tables, and books…some ladders and superb lighting…and a few costume additions bring the multitude of characters to life. And your proximity to the action means you will understand every line and every action and will be able to transition with the character changes. And that will be important! So real props to the team that put together these scenic elements for The Hobbit!

Leo Madson, Matt Daniels, and Elyse Edelman in THE HOBBIT. First Stage, 2023. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

But Director Jeff Frank has mastered the challenge of telling the story with just four adult actors who play ALL of the roles other than Bilbo Baggins, our hero! Matt Daniels plays Thorin, king of the dwarves, Jamey Feshold and Elyse Edelman play dwarves, and Shammen McCue plays Gandalf the wizard. And all four play trolls, elves, wolves, and goblins depending on the demands of the story…you simply have to watch for a number of changes in costuming and devices and attitude or postures to keep up (as we see the changes from dwarven miner’s helmets to goblin steampunk goggles to straw wolven masks to elven ears and back). They certainly have adapted and thrown themselves into all of these roles and the transitions are clear and believable. It works far better that my description! (one costume note…there is a bit of amusement when the trolls, clad in bubble wrap, take to slapping each other, as the occasional familiar pop is heard when the bubble wrap gives up)

Matt Daniels (front), Jake Badovski, Shammen McCune, Angel Rivera, and Elyse Edelman in THE HOBBIT. First Stage, 2023. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

And of course there is the dragon…Smaug who is also represented by the adult members of the ensemble with flags and lighting and although this representation clearly brings out the sense of danger and foreboding that a dragon represents, it isn’t scary for young people!

Angel Rivera, Matt Daniels, Jake Badovski, and Shammen McCune in THE HOBBIT. First Stage, 2023. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

And then there is the hero of our adventure, Mr. Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit gentleman of comfort. As always, First Stage uses two youth casts in their presentations. So depending on which performance you attend you will either see Leo Madson or Angel Rivera in the title role. And as you can imagine this is a very challenging role. Of course Bilbo has to go from the disbelieving homebody to a reluctant adventurer to the action hero of the story and eventually to the wise and self-effacing hobbit on his return home! I saw Leo Madson in this role and he gave us every reason to believe in Bilbo Baggins the hero despite the characters own misgivings. I certainly look forward see him perform in future plays.

Angel Rivera and Matt Daniels in THE HOBBIT. First Stage, 2023. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

And there is one other role that must not be overlooked…despite this not being an acting role on stage. But Natalie Ford provided musical accompaniment and a number of related sound effects throughout the performance. Her guitar work in particular supports the various songs the ensemble sings during their treks across the land. And I suspect it was Natalie producing the ting that alerted the audience to Bilbo’s placing the ring on his finger…and later removing it again.

THE HOBBIT runs February 3 – March 5, 2023 in the newly remodeled Goodman Mainstage Hall at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, located at 325 W. Walnut Street in downtown Milwaukee. Tickets are $25. Tickets are available online at firststage.org or through the First Stage Box Office at (414) 267-2961. Performance runtime is approximately 90 minutes, which includes a brief intermission. Suggested for families with young people ages 8+

Extra credit reading includes the program, found here!

And one other fun fact. At the end of each performance the actors hold a brief talk back where audience members can ask questions about the play or theater. So be ready to raise a hand if you have a question. A highlight on Saturday was a young questioner who wanted to know how old you had to be to start taking lessons at First Stage. And one of the actors volunteered that they had started as a five year old! AND the young questioner excitedly blurted out that he WAS FIVE! Some real fun!!!