Category: Milwaukee Youth Arts Center

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PSA: Next At Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: Every Brilliant Thing

Editor’s note: Every Brilliant Thing is a brilliant and intimate play and the Goodman Mainstage at the MYAC is the ideal location.

MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE’S WARM-HEARTED COMEDY EVERY BRILLIANT THING SPOTLIGHTS MENTAL HEALTH, COMMUNITY, AND LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES

Directed by Northern Sky Theater Artistic Director Molly Rhode
Features beloved Milwaukee actors James Carrington and Elyse Edelman

MILWAUKEE, WI – February 19, 2025 – Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) continues its landmark 50th Anniversary 2024/25 Season with warm-hearted comedy favorite EVERY BRILLIANT THING by Duncan McMillan and Jonny Donahoe. Directed by Northern Sky Theater Artistic Director and Milwaukee native Molly Rhode, the production will run from February 28 to March 16, 2025, in Goodman Mainstage Hall at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. Tickets are available online at www.milwaukeechambertheatre.org or by calling the Broadway Theatre Center box office at 414-291-7800.


1: Ice cream. 2: Kung Fu movies. 3: Staying up past your bedtime to watch TV. Those are just the start of a list of every brilliant thing that makes life worth living, created in this luminous mix of theater and stand-up and delivered in alternate performances by two of Milwaukee’s best-loved actors in James Carrington (First Stage, Northern Sky, Next Act, others), and Elyse Edelman (MCT, Next Act, First Stage, Forward, others). Described by The Guardian as “one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see about depression—and possibly one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see, full stop,” this beloved coming-of-age story celebrates each of our capacities to delight in the little things and our resilience in going further than we think we can for those we love.

“I couldn’t be more excited to share EVERY BRILLIANT THING with our community. It carries on MCT’s long tradition of exceptional solo performance plays featuring some of Milwaukee’s finest artists while ideally exemplifying how theater can bring our community closer together,” said MCT Artistic Director Brent Hazelton. “By starting from the awareness that everyone has at some point felt less than their best or lived through mental and behavioral health challenges with family or friends, the play reminds us that none of us can go through our lives alone—and that that’s actually perfectly natural.”

ALL-LOCAL CREATIVE TEAM LEADS EVERY BRILLIANT THING
Director Molly Rhode returns to Milwaukee Chamber Theatre after leading a well-loved production of GREAT EXPECTATIONS in 2017, about which On Milwaukee.com proclaimed, “Chamber’s masterful GREAT EXPECTATIONS exceeds every single [expectation]…an
inventiveness I have rarely seen on a stage.” John Jahn for Shepherd Express called it “something to cherish and celebrate…well-acted, amusing, touching, sprightly paced, and superbly staged…a truly enjoyable evening at the theater,” while Urban Milwaukee’s Dominique Noth said, “Rhode has set a high bar.”


While written and performed as a solo-actor play, MCT’s production of EVERY BRILLIANT THING has been double-cast, offering audiences a chance to see both Edelman (INDECENT, THE NOT-SO-ACCIDENTAL CONVICTION OF ELEVEN MILWAUKEE “ANARCHISTS”) and Carrington (MCT Debut) in alternating performances. Milwaukee native Edelman was last seen at MCT in …”ANARCHISTS”, for which critics lauded her as “impressive, skillful” (Ryan Jay Reviews) and “start-to-finish fabulous” (Milwaukee Magazine). “I think this is a beautiful play. It’s a dream project, really. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is honestly one of my artistic homes,” said Edelman. “It’s a communal and celebratory activity to be able to tell this story together.” Edelman will perform on Feb 28, March 2, 6, 8 (8pm), 12, 14, 15 (4pm), and 16.


Longtime Milwaukee artist Carrington makes his MCT debut in EVERY BRILLIANT THING. “I love this play,” said Carrington. “I love the message, the theme. I think it’s so funny; it’s so warm. It disarms you a little bit with how funny and touching it is. When the world is difficult and feels relentless, this show reminds you that things can be okay. It invites you in—regardless of where you come from, regardless of who you are. Theatre is for everybody; this show is for everybody. I think in Milwaukee in 2025 we need to remind ourselves of the joy in life, of the simple things in life, but also that we are in this together.” Carrington will perform on March 1, 5, 7, 8 (4pm), 9, 13, and 15 (8pm).


The production will be designed and created by Jim Guy (Properties Designer), Martilia Marechal (Sound Designer), Ellie Rabinowitz (Lighting Designer), Beck Trumbull (Assistant Stage Manager), and Emily Marie Wilke (Stage Manager), rounding out the all-local team.


MCT RETURNS TO “PERFECT” GOODMAN MAINSTAGE HALL

EVERY BRILLIANT THING will be performed at Goodman Mainstage Hall in the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, the same venue where MCT opened the season with its critically acclaimed production of AN ILIAD. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Higgins noted upon seeing AN ILIAD, “Goodman Mainstage Hall is the perfect venue for this storytelling approach… one of the best small venues in Milwaukee; I hope more companies discover it.” Built in 2005 and renovated in 2021, MYAC provides exceptional facilities with state-of-the-art features, including the warm and welcoming Burke Commons, where patrons can gather in comfort before performances and the recently renovated 142-seat Goodman Mainstage Hall, offering audiences an intimate and immersive experience through its arena-style seating. “We’re thrilled to return to MYAC, and to drop this inherently communal play in the Goodman’s in-the-round orientation. It’s such a comfortable, accessible venue and as we saw with ILIAD ideally suited to this sort of solo performance where the actor is in direct conversation with the audience,” said Hazelton.


The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center is located at 325 W Walnut St, at the corner of Walnut and Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr. It is across the street from Milwaukee Public School’s Golda Meir School, with a parking lot that faces the Golda Meir Upper Campus. Additional parking is available in the Golda Meir School lots outside of school hours. More information is available at www.milwaukeechambertheatre.org/every-brilliant-thing


KEY DATES + EVENTS


EVERY BRILLIANT THING by Duncan McMillan and Jonny Donahoe, will run from February 28 toMarch 16, 2025 at Goodman Mainstage Hall in the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W Walnut St, Milwaukee, WI 53212.

  • Preview: Friday, February 28 at 7:30 PM
  • Opening Night: Saturday, March 1 at 8:00 PM
  • Pay-What-You-Choose: Monday, March 3 at 7:30 PM (walk-up tickets available starting one hour before the show)
  • Talkbacks: Thursdays, March 6 and 13, following the 7:30 PM performances
  • SipStudio: Saturday, March 8 (complimentary drinks and exclusive experiences for matinee and evening attendees)
  • ASL Interpretation: Friday, March 14 at 7:30 PM

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PSA: First Stage Urges You To Travel Back In Time With “The Dinosaur Play”!

From our friends at First Stage (this one looks like a lot of fun):

TRAVEL BACK IN TIME FOR A PREHISTORIC ADVENTURE WITH FIRST STAGE! 

Hatch a dinosaur egg, befriend a Triceratops and face thrilling challenges in this interactive theatrical experience for young explorers and their families. 

MILWAUKEE — First Stage — one of the nation’s leading theaters for young people and families — invites all explorers to embark on a thrilling journey back to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth in THE DINOSAUR PLAY! As an audience member, you’ll be called upon to help a dinosaur egg tapping out a call for help, befriend a surly Triceratops, protect a newly formed dinosaur family, take on a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and so much more!

THE DINOSAUR PLAY runs Jan. 18 through Feb. 16, 2025, at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center’s Goodman Mainstage Hall. Tickets are available now on FirstStage.org.

“We invite our youngest audiences and their families to travel back in time for The Dinosaur Play,” said Jeff Frank, Artistic Director at First Stage. “In this participatory play, audiences in the intimate Goodman Mainstage Hall will be asked to help two hapless humans trying to come to the aid of a giant egg. Humor, danger, heart and adventure – this play has something for everyone.”

Widely celebrated for its ability to engage and inspire audiences, THE DINOSAUR PLAY ignites a love of science and natural history. In addition to its educational value, the play fosters social-emotional learning with themes of cooperation, empathy, and teamwork – making it an unforgettable experience for all.

Audiences are invited to arrive early for engaging pre-show educational activities designed to immerse them in the experience and prepare them for their journey into the past!

The show runs approximately 45-50 minutes, with no intermission. Recommended for families with young people ages 3-9 and theater lovers of all ages. 

This production’s Pay What You Choose Performance is on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 3:30 p.m. the Sensory Friendly Performance is on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m., and the Sign Language Interpreted Performance is on Sunday, February 9 at 1:00 p.m.

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First Stage: The Young Company Brings Us, Shakespeare’s The Tempest

I came to love Shakespeare while in high school. First via a PBS rendition of Hamlet and then their broadcast of the BBC’s An Age of Kings, a serial based on the history plays. Or maybe it was the other way around. But my faith in William Shakespeare abides. Of course my favorite play has changed over the years from Hamlet to Macbeth to more recently The Tempest…which brings us to this happy event…the Young Company’s presentation of The Tempest in their black box theater in the round at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center!

And just a moment, let me remind you about the Young Company. They are the older group of actors at First Stage. Generally high school age they present challenging adult oriented plays with minimal sets and costuming. There are seldom any adult actors on stage and the plays are driven by the action and the text: very very effectively. Last spring’s, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen for example.

(left to right) Elena Marking, Josie Van Slyke, Sophia Bernhardt, and cast in
THE TEMPEST. First Stage Young Company, 2024. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

So, let’s take a look at this minimalist perspective. If you look at the photos you’ll see that our stage is a central collection of steps. These steps acted as a dais, bed, rock, threshold and all manner of things under heaven. And Costume Coordinator Michelle Verbos primarily outfitted the cast in simple and elegant items in white. All the better for Director Marcella Kearns to tell the story of the The Tempest through words and movement.

And what a lot of expressive movement and motion, something that First Stage does exceptionally well on all of their stages. Director Kearns and Fight and Movement Director James Cheatham bring out the drama and pathos that Shakespeare has provided with a very active cast. At points the motion is more dance than drama and it keeps the focus on the cast and action…if you turn away for a moment you will surely miss something grand! There can be more life to Shakespeare than you would imagine when done right…and the Young Company cast here was certainly into it.

At the center of any good The Tempest is a regal and determined Prospero. And as Prospero, Silver Anderson has a stage presence that brings out the mage and the vengeful and the loving and forgiving character traits of the character. From stirring the sea like a pot of soup into The Tempest, to playing matchmaker to Miranda and Ferdinand, to bringing reconciliation to the conflict between Prospero, his brother, Antonio, and the King of Naples, Anderson strikes the proper balance in each scene and moves easily from one pose to the next. They may be too overconfident in knowing the text however, because they sometimes spoke so fast that we had a hard time hearing what was being said.

Silver Anderson in THE TEMPEST. First Stage Young Company, 2024. Photo
by Paul Ruffolo.

Abram Nelson and Alice Rivera bring the included love story to the stage as Ferdinand and Miranda…as Prospero’s magic brings them together…they instantly are lost in the moment and never wonder how this all came to pass. And Maya Thomure captures the resistant and loutish Caliban and just can’t wait to betray her enslaver, Prospero, to the drunken sailors. Even in the face of red flags that seem to suggest that they aren’t quite the ‘gentlemen’ that they appear to be.

Silver Anderson (top center), Alice Rivera (bottom left), Abram Nelson (bottom
right), and cast in THE TEMPEST. First Stage Young Company, 2024. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

The most enchanting portrayal on this stage is Josephine Van Slyke as Ariel. Whenever she is in a scene, she tends to steal it, even when she doesn’t have any speaking lines. When off to one side or another and just observing the action in front of her, Van Slyke employs any number of slight physical tics or corvid like head twists to let us know that she is a sprite and not a human presence. And throughout any of the action, she is nimble and graceful and just sweeps across the stage in some of the most dance like moves among the cast. And her confidence in the opening stage of the actual tempest, as she destroys the ship and hinders the crew in their efforts to save the day, is the most fluid fight scene that you will ever see. And then there is her voice…at once eerie, haunting, and compelling…it is no wonder that sight unseen, she is able to lure the stranded sailors to whatever purposes that Prospero has for them.

Amélie Davis-Quiroz (center) and cast in THE TEMPEST. First Stage Young
Company, 2024. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

The Tempest runs through December 15. 2024 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. It runs for about two hours and includes a short intermission. Recommended for families with young people ages 13-17 and theater lovers of all ages. Additional information and ticket ordering can be found here!

And as always, Extra Credit Reading: the digital playbill. The playbill includes cast listings, etc.