Next Act Theatre – an intuitive perspective

September 23, 2026

TRAYF. Next Act Theatre Explores Identity and Friendship.

It’s 1991 and we are in Brooklyn. And we are confronted with a Hertz rental van or RV with Mitzvah Tank emblazoned on its side. A Brooklyn looking a bit tired in Jeffrey Kmiec’s and Bianca Gonzalez memorable period set design…with a very sad vehicle that they have cobbled together as well. The Mitzvah Tank will put on some miles figuratively as it is driven around town and literally as it is pushed forefront and later to stage left as the story line requires. And the Tank will be utilized by two young eighteen year-old Orthodox Jewish men to light the lamp in the Jewish souls of other Jews as influenced to do by their spiritual leader known by the nickname Rebbe. Our two new friends are Zalmy and Shmuel

Left to right: A.J. Magoon, Alex Mitchell. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of Next Act Theatre.

Shmuel gets to be the driver of the Mitzvah Tank because his father rented it. But there is more to it than that. In Alex Mitchell’s portrayal of Shmuel, he is direct, sure of himself, thoughtful, and a planner. And Mitchell shows us a man very focused on his goal and his faith. But don’t think for a moment that he is an emotionless individual. He can and does get angry and is personally hurt when Zalmy’s allegiance to their friendship seems to waiver. But even Zalmy states that Shmuel was always admired as the smart one. And Mitchell maintains something of a scholarly air about him…but he let’s some suspicions in as well.

A.J. Magoon’s Zalmy is just as committed to their project but he’s more curious and lighthearted than Shmuel. Yes, he is more curious and this ignites some of the conflict that is about to arise. Zalmy is the navigator and DJ in the tank. And he likes to play little guessing games at times…trying to guess how many Rebbe tapes that Shmuel has along. These are tapes of Rebbe’s speeches and such. Shmuel plays along but teases Zalmy a bit. But no secular music is allowed! Magoon marvels at the 322 tapes and is visibly excited in his role as DJ to the point of totally ignoring Shmuel’s request for help in parking the Tank. Magoon exhibits a special exuberance and excitement in his gestures and voice.

Zalmy and Shmuel are certainly committed and prepared (they plan for snacks) but they may be a bit naive all at the same time. They’ve never been out of their community and are so sure of their project they aren’t quite ready for the rejection. Their fervor doesn’t waiver but at times a sense of disappointment does set in. But they are beyond their community even venturing into Wall Street, offering their brochures and asking the people that they meet, Are You Jewish? And then we meet Jonathan.

Left to right: Alex Mitchell, A.J. Magoon, Lucas Prizant. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of Next Act Theatre.

Lucas Prizant presents a Jonathan of a care free nature and practiced nonchalance. We meet him as he approaches Zalmy at the Tank. But he has apparently talked with Shmuel previously, as Shmuel warns Zalmy that he doesn’t think that Jonathan is Jewish because he hesitated too long when asked Are You Jewish before saying yes. But Jonathan presses them into conversation. And Prizant changes tone as he becomes a bit sad and confused when recounting the discovery that his late father was Jewish and had escaped Nazi Germany. As this conversation progresses, Zalmy’s curiosity slips into high and he invites Jonathan for Shabbos dinner. This becomes a common occurrence and Jonathan gifts some secular music to Zalmy which affects him a great deal. And although he hides the music from Shmuel, Shmuel suspects and some other things become inflection points and Zalmy and Shmuel start to drift apart. Not unusual for young adults but quite a surprise given the backgrounds here. Well Jonathan begins his conversion to Judaism and Prizant starts to drop the care-free attitudes and takes on a similar persona to Zalmy and Shmuel. And besides being a wedge between our heroes here, it is a problem elsewhere:

Rachel Zientek bursts onto the scene as Leah when only Shmuel is present at the tank. Zientek is forceful, direct, and full of indignation. She is Jonathan’s girl friend and a reformed Jew and wants her Catholic boyfriend back. She is clearly upset about Jonathan’s new trends as a Jewish convert and didn’t sign up for this. And she makes some revelations about Jonathan’s and Zalmy’s activities that include planning and doing things that Shmuel had designed to do with Zalmy. So the rift widens and the friendship seems doomed.

But friendship does in fact win out. Identities are examined and reaffirmed for Zalmy and Shmuel, but are newly discovered for Jonathan. For our characters that seems to be a good thing.

This is a comedy but there are serious topics underlying the story. Director Elyse Edelman has done an exemplary job of maintaining the humor while enriching the serious stories being told here. I love her directing work but I hope it doesn’t keep her off stage in the future.

Yes, this is set in a Jewish enclave in New York. But you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy the questions we all ask ourselves about our identities or who we choose to be friends with. We just have to remember what it was like to transition from youth into adulthood. Attend willing and ready to remember those things in your life and you will enjoy Trayf a great deal.

Trayf runs from now through October 4, 2026 at their theater at 255 South Water Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tickets Here and More Information Here. TRAYF is 1 hour and 25 minutes with no intermission.

Extra Credit Reading: The Playbill or The Enrichment Guide. Reading the enrichment guide before you attend may help in understanding some of the terms and cultural references made during the play.

April 28, 2026

Dinner With The Duchess: Who Defines Your Legacy?

Next Act Theatre couldn’t have selected a better play to end their season and highlight Laura Gordon’s return to their stage than Dinner With The Duchess. And Laura Gordon is absolutely at the top of her game here. So, if like me, you have been waiting to see Gordon in front of the footlights again, this is the show you want to see.

Left to right: Mai Abe, Laura Gordon, Andrew May. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of Next Act Theatre

We meet Margaret as she enters the stage from what we will later learn is the primary bedroom. The set is a small modern kitchen with a sleek island facing a contemporary dining room table surrounded by mid-century modern chairs and settee. She goes out to the balcony to have a cigarette and returns to answer the door. And she welcomes Helen into her home. Laura Gordon is Margaret and Mai Abe is Helen. They seem wary and unsure and both actors clearly represent that discomfort and maybe project just a bit of icy demeanor. We don’t know either character yet but the initial conversations seem to indicate it might be a generational thing since Helen is much younger than Margaret.

Left to right: Laura Gordon, Mai Abe, Andrew May. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of Next Act Theatre.

And now we meet our characters. Margaret is an accomplished violinist who has performed world wide and is retiring from her position as concert master from an unnamed and un-sited symphony orchestra. She is granting her last interview to Helen, a journalist who is hoping to make a name for herself via this interview. It isn’t an assignment but an idea she pitched to her editors. So the chill in the room is now apparent. Margaret wants to talk about the music and Helen the events in Margaret’s life and both want to define Margaret’s legacy. Abe is a consummate professional journalist. She exhibits the proper directness you’d expect in a journalist and is sure of her footing since she has done all of the necessary research into her subject. Gordon’s Margaret, for all of her accomplishments, is guarded and uneasy and insists they talk about the music. But she gives us the impression that she has something to hide. And maybe she hasn’t totally convinced herself that she is ready to retire?

And then the other shoe drops and the dynamics in the room change a bit a Margaret’s husband, David, arrives with take out Italian food from a restaurant from their fabled past but whose food they have come think of as bland. Andrew May plays David as a suave, flirty, mature presence but leans toward the sarcastic side. He insists on enhancing the meal before serving with his major contribution being lemon zest. And that is sort of a backdrop for his role too as David often interjects himself into the conversation…often providing background that Helen would relish but sometimes embarrassing himself or Margaret in the process.

Left to right: Mai Abe, Laura Gordon. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of Next Act Theatre.

May knows how to mutter under his breath effectively and just how to twist the knife effectively. And although both Margaret and David regale Helen with some very romantic stories from their life, there is a palpable undertone of hostility. Abe’s Helen can sense it and wonders how to react. I sensed that maybe Margaret and David were still together out of habit rather than the continuing love story that they defend. But the lemon zest in their life might just be a bit of seasoning ala Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? When their dueling finally comes to a head, David storms out of the room to the bedroom and slams the door. This is the pivot in the action. (small quibble: I found the door slam unsatisfying)

But that slam triggers Margaret and allows Gordon to launch into an elegant tell all soliloquy. Playwright Nick Green has put together an amazing stream of consciousness script here, an absolutely engaging precise bit of language, that finally answers all of the questions that Helen has raised during the course of the evening. Gordon just takes hold of this speech and unravels it as if it were her own life and experience that she is describing. I just sat there enthralled, trying to take it in. When she finishes Helen doesn’t know what to do and the distance between the two women doesn’t seem to have narrowed. Margaret starts to play a recording of her signature performance and Helen leaves.

When the music’s over, turn out the lights.

Mai Abe is making her Milwaukee debut and Andrew May is making his Next Act debut. I want to thank director Samantha Martinson for bringing them together with Laura Gordon for Dinner With The Duchess. Such a delightful and perfectly balanced cast. I hope we see Abe and May again soon.

Dinner With The Duchess runs at Next Act Theatre from now through May 17, 2026 at their theater at 255 South Water Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Additional information and tickets here.

P.S. A question for Nick Green: Given there was a movie with a dinner theme some time ago, was it intentional or a coincidence that the unseen but oft mentioned symphony conductor is named Andre?

March 21, 2026

PSA: Next Act Theatre Announces Their 2026 – 2027 Season: Pure Entertainment!

Yes, I know, I am a bit behind on this one too. But better late than never and I bet you forgot what they are offering by now, SO, here’s a reminder:

Next Act Theatre Announces 2026-27 Season

Includes First-Ever New Play Commission, Two Wisconsin Premieres and a Modern Favorite

Milwaukee, WI – Next Act Theatre announced its 2026-27 season on Monday, February 9, 2026. With the overall season tagline “PURE ENTERTAINMENT,” this is the fourth Next Act Theatre season chosen and overseen by Artistic Director Cody Estle and Managing Director Libby Amato. The upcoming season boasts a World Premiere, Next Act’s first-ever commissioned new play, two Wisconsin Premieres never before seen on local stages and a modern favorite returning to Milwaukee for the first time in more than a decade. New season tickets alongside renewals of existing season tickets are now on sale. Single tickets will go on sale July 13, 2026. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Next Act Ticket Office at 414-278-0765 or through the Next Act website at www.nextact.org.

The lineup for the 2026-27 season includes:

TRAYF by Lindsay Joelle, September 16 – October 4, 2026
THE BOYS FROM BARABOO by Heidi Armbruster, December 2 – 20, 2026
IN THE NEXT ROOM or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl, February 17 – March 7, 2027
AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN by Terry Guest, April 21 – May 9, 2027

“This year’s season features a wonderful mix of new voices, Next Act veterans and theatrical powerhouses. Each of the four plays we have chosen leads with heart while engaging complex issues and thought-provoking themes … Together, these four productions create a season that is joyful, daring, entertaining and unmistakably Next Act,” said Artistic Director Cody Estle.

The 2026-27 season opens with the Wisconsin Premiere of TRAYF by Lindsay Joelle (September 16 – October 4, 2026). In 1990s New York City, Orthodox Jewish teens and lifelong best friends Zalmy and Shmuel are intent on saving the world from behind the wheel of their “Mitzvah Tank” van. But when a curious outsider deepens Zalmy’s interest in the secular world of rock and roll and roller skates, Shmuel will have to do everything in his power to keep his and Zalmy’s dreams intact. This road-trip bromance is a funny and heartwarming ode to the turbulence of youth, the universal suspicion that we don’t quite fit in and the faith and friends that see us through. Next Act Artistic Associate Elyse Edelman will make her Next Act directorial debut – her Next Act acting credits include CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, a staged reading of MRS. CHRISTIE and SWING STATE. She has directed at Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Third Avenue PlayWorks, and others. Rachael Zientek will return as an actor, having previously appeared in ALMOST, MAINE at Next Act, and A.J. Magoon, also seen at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks and Theatre Gigante,will make his Next Act debut.

Next Act will present its first-ever commissioned new play, the World Premiere of THE BOYS FROM BARABOO by Heidi Armbruster (December 2 – 20, 2026). Comedy! Songs! Entertainment! Step right up as Heidi Armbruster chronicles the rise and fall of the Ringling Brothers: five boys from Baraboo, Wisconsin. The story of their circus – the greatest show on Earth – is bookended by the brothers’ scrappy beginnings and difficult ends. THE BOYS FROM BARABOO tells the uniquely American story of a death-defying entertainment empire: music, storytelling, grit and charm create a tale that’s equal parts vaudeville revue and prestige drama. Next Act Artistic Director Cody Estle (previous direction: CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, THE TREASURER; SWING STATE) will direct. THE BOYS FROM BARABOO will be presented as part of World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals running throughout 2026.

After the new year, Next Act will stage IN THE NEXT ROOM or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl (February 17 – March 7, 2027). In a seemingly perfect, well-to-do Victorian home, proper gentleman and scientist Dr. Givings has innocently invented an extraordinary new device for treating “hysteria” in women (and occasionally men): the vibrator. Adjacent to the doctor’s laboratory, his young wife tries to tend to their newborn daughter – and wonders what exactly is going on in the next room. From Sarah Ruhl, one of the most influential playwrights of this century, comes a smart, classy, and electrifying comedy about longing, intimacy,and what it truly means to love someone. Laura Rook will make her Next Act directorial debut – in addition to being a Core Company Actor at American Players Theatre, Rook directed ONCE UPON A BRIDGE at APT, co-directed SUMMER, 1976 at Forward Theater Company with Laura Gordon, and will direct AS YOU LIKE IT at APT in the 2026 summer season. Elyse Edelman will return after directing TRAYF earlier in the season to play Sabrina Daldry. Dee Dee Batteast, an actor, playwright and director who has appeared in three seasons at APT, including acting in PICNIC and THE WINTER’S TALE this past summer, five productions at the Goodman Theatre and her self-produced one-woman show NO AIDS, NO MAIDS, will make her Next Act debut as Elizabeth. Playwright Ruhl is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and Pulitzer Prize nominee – IN THE NEXT ROOM is widely hailed as one of her seminal works. The play received three Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Next Act’s production will be the first production in Milwaukee in more than a decade.

To close out the season, Next Act will produce the Wisconsin Premiere of AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN by Terry Guest (April 21 – May 9, 2027). Courtney Berringers would like to welcome you to her wake! But—make no mistake—this ain’t your grandma’s funeral. From African Gods and Goddesses to Judy Garland and Whitney Houston, AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN uses legends, icons, camp and drama to tell the story of a pair of drag queens living (and dying) in rural Georgia in 2004. Terry Guest’s whirlwind play explores identity and illness while unapologetically celebrating Black, queer life with all of its sorrows and joys. Come party at the wake – bring your own heels! Dee Dee Batteast will return to direct after acting in IN THE NEXT ROOM at Next Act in February and March.

More casting will be announced for all four shows at a later date.

Next Act will reduce the length of all four productions in the 2026-27 season from four weeks to three weeks. Current subscribers with tickets to performances in the fourth week will be contacted with options for their subscriptions.