The Nativity Variations at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

The Nativity Variations is a World Premiere Production for the Milwaukee Rep. And how exactly did that come about? Well as Mark Clements explains in the program guide, it went something like this:

Sometimes a story falls into your lap that is so good it just needs to be dramatized on stage. That’s what happened when I read an online article by playwright Catherine Trieschmann about how she felt she had a “moral obligation” to take over writing and directing her church’s Nativity play, that her own children were involved in, after experiencing one too many cringe-worthy Christmas pageants….

Voila!

Well, I didn’t know quite what to expect. A comedy of errors? A straight up farce? A compilation of silly vignettes? Well, not exactly…and yes that too! So Catherine Trieschmann has left quite a bundle of emotions and plots and subplots and personalities and theater genres and somehow director Shelley Butler nailed it. And I don’t think that she could have assembled a better cast to help her pull this off!

So what should you expect to see? Something between a farce and a comedy but with a very serious underlying sense of drama…on more than one level. You will meet an ensemble of very real people, some with prior relationships, and some entirely new on the scene…some with experience in theater…and some there on a lark while also trying to distract themselves from real life…although you will find that real life keeps intruding…sometimes comically, sometimes tragically, but finally with a satisfying denouement. You will see and feel it all, but I am not going to go into greater detail and spoil it.

It’s hard to determine who is the lead character here…Trieschmann has written the cast as an ensemble…just like what you’d expect from a real theater cast. So I didn’t sense a star or a lead character.

Hank, Jules, Peggy. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

But the driving force in this regional group, the Prairie Community Players, is, as I guess it should be, their director, Jules. She is commissioned by Father Juan to present a seasonal nativity play at his church, St. Ignatious Episcopal Church. Now Jules is a playwright as well as director, and a very serious (emphasis on serious) one at that. So under the watchful eye of Father Juan, who knows a little bit more about theater than you would expect, Jules produces a number of versions of a Nativity play. Now these aren’t iterations of a play but dramatically/drastically different plays entirely, that work the extremes and edges of theater…until we come to the final version that actually expresses the true spirit of the season…and the community. But I was rather taken with Jules…she has a sense of art and theater and although a vocal (at least) disbeliever, takes on a task that may be outside her comfort level. And actress Sami Ma brings her to life and feels her feels and just brings out the determination and assured-ness written into the character.

Mateo, Karl. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

One might make an argument that Father Juan is the driving force here. He confidently hired Jules to present the Nativity play at his church, knowing full well her beliefs and theater tendencies. I’ll let you figure out why. And in little one on one vignettes interspersed as a play within the play within the play, he guides and mentors Jules on a better direction or vision for her plays. As I said earlier, he certainly understands the history of the theater, and carefully persuades Jules to make a number of major changes in her plays. Father Juan is played to perfection by Ryan Alvarado who also plays PCP member Mateo. And it took me a while to realize that…as Alvarado cleanly separated the two distinct roles here.

Mateo, Hank. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

And the other members of the Prairie Community Players? Mateo played by Ryan Alvarado is a phy ed teacher and long standing member of the troop. Vanessa played by Sadieh Rifai, also a long standing member and college admissions assistant. Peggy and Hank, a retired couple and newbies to acting, although theater goers, are played by Ann Arvia and Adam LeFevre. They are retired although Hank is looking for a new job, not being particularly successful. Devon as played by Eva Nimmer is the go to/gopher/tech maven/and glue for the company and the spiritual support that allows Jules to go off to the edges. AND Chike Johnson as Karl, a children’s librarian and puppeteer, who is Jules nemesis at times, conscience at others, and someone with a serious interest in theater and a desire to be a ‘Jules’. Johnson is an actor that we need to see again on the Rep stage, he has the dramatic voice and stage presence that can only be appreciated as you experience it. I can imagine him in any number of classical settings and obviously he has some comedic chops as well!

Hank. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

This delightful ensemble is hard put upon by Jules as she rolls out play after play as the time for rehearsal and development evaporates. Sometimes they fly into the piece or their character, sometimes a bit more begrudgingly, and sometimes with a fair amount of legitimate pushback. It is interesting to watch their characters develop and the camaraderie unfold as they work through the different plays, different roles, and the real time personal interactions involved in putting on a play in a small town church setting. Watch and listen very carefully because there is a lot more going on here than you might imagine.

Karl (standing), Hank. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow. And I need Karl’s angel costume to distribute Halloween candy next year!

And finally we come to the final Nativity variation. Like any good drama or even mystery play, the various threads introduced earlier are finally woven into the play as it is presented at the church and woven into a fabric of community and humanity. Bravo to Catherine Trieschmann, Shelley Butler, the cast and crew, and Mark Clements for seeing a drama (and after all it is a drama) in a little article.

Hank, Karl, Peggy. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

But yes, please play attention. The first act may seem like a cascade of absurdities but the plot threads are laid out here, the characters develop individually and as a group. and you won’t understand the depth of the hilarity that ensues in the second act without some of that experience.

And don’t think this is simply a play about putting on a seasonal play or the foibles of regional theater. There are a lot of ideas expressed in the text and dialogue that Jules writes, the real life conversations amongst the cast members, and particularly some of the topics expressed in the Jules and Father Juan talks that present ideas and postures very very relevant to contemporary culture and society. And these thought threads too, come to a sort of resolution in the final scene.

And for the serious theater goer, there is far more here than meets the eye or ears. Particularly in the conversations between Jules and Father Juan, but in the instructions to the cast from Jules, the various plays that she presents, and just in the settings and language she writes into her plays. There are dozens of references and allusions to other plays, other playwrights, other performances, and other stars. You can find most of them in the Play Guide linked below.

Mateo, Peggy, Karl, Jules. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Whooops, I forgot to say that there are puppets. There are puppets! Sesame Street is specifically mentioned and some attempt was made to infer their magic…but Sesame Street isn’t what you are going to get.

The Nativity Variations runs through December 11, 2022 at the Rep’s Quadracci Powerhouse Theater.

Extra Credit Readings: The Play Guide is here! including the various theatrical references used in the play and The Program is here!

Fair Warning Here: There is a fair amount of adult language used through out the play. There is also some language that people may view as blasphemous. There is some sexual innuendo and tensions here as well.

Murder On The Orient Express at Milwaukee Rep. Pay Attention Or They’ll Have You Going Around In Circles.

In the last few days, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater proved that Milwaukee’s appetite for Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot remains unsatisfied. And they do it with a masterful presentation of Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express. And despite our previous experiences around Christie and Poirot, we will once again be mesmerized.

Working with one of their larger casts of the season and an amazing set, Hercule Poirot sorts out eight suspects in a very strange murder in something of a byzantine plot and setting…on a famous train stranded temporarily by snow in the Yugoslav mountains.

courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater : photographer Michael Brosilow

We open by meeting Hercule Poirot, ably played by Steven Rattazzi, who lives up to all of our expectations for a proper Poirot. And this first little prelude lets us in on the fact that he found this to be a very puzzling and difficult case and leading on that what we are about to see is a re-enactment and not real time (of course how could 1934 be real time). But we will forget that little factoid until he returns to center stage for the postlude.

But then we quickly transition to the story and meet our cast of train passengers and eventual suspects in the hotel restaurant, where everyone is having their pre-boarding meals. And where we get inklings of the tensions the characters are feeling…hint…hint…hint.

And so the fun starts as our cast of suspects board the train, create new clues, expose foibles, quirks, and character traits. And we get to meet Michel, the conductor of the first class car. And of course the acting has to be over the top and our characters’ eccentricities and ethnic/cultural backgrounds come to the fore! And director Annika Boras keenly choreographs their relationships and interactions to accent all of those eccentricities to the hilt. ..to say nothing of keeping them in the right set as they move through the set and the set seemingly moves through them.

courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater : photographer Michael Brosilow

So our cast and characters: Diana Coates as the Countess Andrenyi who also happens to be a physician, Emjoy Gavino as Mary Debanham, an attractive young English woman in love with Col. Arbuthnot, and of course the good colonel played by Jonathan Wainwright as a retired Scottish army hero. And then Greta Ohlsson played by Park Krausen, an overzealous missionary who is currently travelling as Princess Dragomoff’s assistant. And the Princess? She is a Russian royal in exile following the Russian Revolution and played with snooty aplomb by Barbara Robertson. And Helen Hubbard, even in this retelling comes off as a phony and overtop Midwestern drama queen, played by Gail Rastorfer. And who’s left? Well, Will Mobley playing Hector MacQueen as the secretary to American businessman Samuel Ratchett…who is also played by Mr. Wainwright. And our trustworthy eager to please, long time railroad employee and classic Parisian, Michel, our conductor played by Adam Poss! And finally Monsieur Bouc, Belgian manager of the rail company that runs the Orient Express, and personal friend of Poirot…and the only character without a first name…is played by Gregory Livingston.

courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater : photographer Michael Brosilow

So with this diverse crew, how does one find the murderer? And as you will see, with all of the divergent clues, how does one find the murderer? I won’t give away which unfortunate becomes the deceased but as you watch the play unfold, you will either guess or be unsurprised. So, I’ll leave further discussion here except for this excerpt from the play guide:

With snow coming down, the passengers trapped, and a murderer on the loose, it is up to the intrepid Detective Poirot to solve the case of the Murder on the Orient Express.

But there is one more character that is vital to this play that we mustn’t overlook. And that is the incredible set the moves us through the various locales of our play. This is certainly the most complex and enjoyable set this side of the classic set for the Rep’s Christmas Carol. So that is why I warned you to pay attention…because the set revolves us from external views of the first class car to interiors of the dining car or the suites/bedrooms or the walkways at the end of the car. It is amazing to anticipate the next scene and interactions as you watch the turntable turn our world inside out and back again. So once more, hats off to director Annika Boras for keeping all of the characters moving in the ‘right direction’ as the world turns!

courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater : photographer Michael Brosilow

[editor’s note : June 11, 2022] How did I overlook the most important part of a murder mystery…the denouement…when the detective provides us with the clues in the plot line and ‘discovers’ the murderer! So of course you see this very play resolution in the preceding photograph…as Hercule Poirot tells us the final story of the story! And this was truly a spectacular moment for the entire cast, director Annika Boras, and lighting designer Noele Stollmack. As Poirot recounts his thought process, the cast freezes and the spotlight focuses on that one particular suspect as they reprise their lines that became part of the great clue(s)! Well done one and all.

Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express continues at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater from now until July 1, 2022 in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. It is recommended for viewers 12 years old and up. Ticket information can be found here.

Extra Credit Reading: PlayGuide! Program!

And I think that’s a fake mustache (after you see the play, you’ll understand! LOL!)

PSA: Titanic The Musical Returns to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater This Fall!

From the morning’s email inbox!

As you may have read, we recently had to cancel 15 sold-out performances of Titanic The Musical due to break-through cases of COVID-19 within the cast and crew.

Although we take extensive measures to ensure we can continue to perform safely including testing frequently and engaging increased numbers of understudies, we unfortunately had a breakout affecting the majority of the cast. Luckily for us, as seems to be the case with the vast majority of people during this current spike, our cases appear to be relatively short-lived and mild.

We know how much our audiences looked forward to seeing this magnificent production, which was one of the finest of my career and garnered unanimous rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. Nearly 10,000 tickets went to waste and we heard from many of you about how disappointed you were when we had to cancel.

As we never want to disappoint, I’m pleased to share that we will be bringing Titanic The Musical back this fall for a limited five-week run!

This extraordinary company of artists cannot wait to return to finish this epic journey with you. With the addition of Titanic to the fall schedule, we will be postponing our previously planned production of Ragtime to a future season.

Tickets for Titanic are currently only available to our 2022/23 Subscribers. If you wish to secure your tickets to Titanic now, please contact our Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 about Season Ticket packages – we have options for every budget. Otherwise individual tickets for Titanic will go on sale later this summer.

We anticipate our phones will be very busy with questions, so we please ask for your patience as our Ticket Office staff does their best to get through as many calls as fast as possible.

Thank you for your incredible support and continued generosity for Milwaukee Rep,

Mark Clements,

Artistic Director