Category: Stackner Cabaret

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My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra!

Frankly, is there anyone who can get enough of Frank Sinatra? From the audience response last night at the Milwaukee Repertory Theaters’ Stackner Cabaret, the answer is NO! And the crowd goes beyond the age demographic you might expect to see at a Sinatra Tribute. The contingent of audience members who were most likely born THIS century were there in force. And the ovation at the end of My Way was sincere and heartfelt!

No, there’s not much story here…just a bit of background on Frank Sinatra and the history of the songs…just more like two solid hours of all of Sinatra’s hits…so every cool song you’ve probably ever heard of plus a number that you might have missed!

screen capture from the Milwaukee Repertory website

So…we have Alex Bechtel, Kara Mikula, Nygel D Robinson, and Tiffany Topol tradings songs, verses, adding harmonies, and swapping instruments as they merrily traverse the Frank Sinatra songbook! Besides trying to guess which Frank nugget they are going to perform next, you have to add who’s going to sing it AND what instrument are they going to play. Of course piano is the anchor most of the time, but we see string bass, flute, banjo ukulele, tenor guitar, saxophone, violin, guitar, and drums at one point or another. oh, and cocktail shaker! Amazing musicianship and slick choreography as they pass off instruments between actors. And of course the vocals are spot on to the mood and theme of each song presented!

Created by David Grapes & Todd Olson | Book by Todd Olson

Original Production Directed by David Grapes

Directed & Choreographed by Kelley Faulkner

My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra runs at the Stackner Cabaret through May 1, 2022…ticket info and other pertinent data is here! And make sure you check their current COVID policy!

Extra credit reading: My Way program is here.

and a side note: this play brought this to the forefront in my mind. So I dedicate this response to the memory of Jack Covert, proprietor of Dirty Jack’s Record Rack back in the 1970 – 80s. He was a mentor and employer and my front door to the record business that I dabbled in for quite a few years. He was a bit older and was a huge Frank fan and amassed one of the largest collection of Sinatra recordings in the country. He was well known for it in collector circles and even the record company salesman that visited kept an eye open for older arcane recordings. He passed suddenly last year and I miss him.

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Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Piano Men

You will be entertained.

You will be the entertainer!

Milwaukee Repertory Theater Artistic Director Mark Clements has taken the piano bar and dueling piano motifs and subverted them in the Stackner Cabaret to warm our hearts on cold January evenings. Voila, Piano Men!

Pianists Nygel D. Robinson and Steve Watts share a minimalist stage and their respective pianos…working through song requests submitted by the audience (get there early enough to fill out a request card) and relayed to the stage via a tablet computer. So the show you experience will be different than the one I saw this past Friday.

There is a very comfortable camaraderie between the two men as they take turns fulfilling those requests…and a bit of underlying competitiveness as well. And it all adds up to good fun. And as they develop and select their playlist there is an easy patter between them and some anecdotes and stories to be shared with you! (you might hear some complaints about Milwaukee weather)

Steve Watts
Nygel D. Robinson

Some of the best bits are songs that they both play along with, sometimes with counterpoint from their keyboards, alternating the vocals on verses, or taking a verse and handing off the chorus.

You may sing along. Nay, you will be encouraged to sing along! You will be required to sing along. You will be the entertained and the entertainer!

And the stage was perfectly suited to the performance. Two baby grands facing each other before an aged brick wall with ‘graffiti’. And I am sure the acoustic properties of brick helped bring out the sound of dueling pianos just exactly right.

But be ready for the lightening round last 15 minutes or so when Mr. Robinson and Mr. Watts put away the pads…and try to identify songs that they know from the ones you shout out from the audience!!!!!

This is the Stackner Cabaret. So I encourage you to make reservations and have dinner before the show. AND the show is 90 minutes with no intermission, so make sure you have your beverage of choice and any dessert or snack in front of you before the lights go down.

Piano Men is at the Stackner Cabaret from now until February 27, 2022. As I said above it runs about 90 minutes without intermission.

One last thing: Mr. Robinson will be replaced by Colte Julian starting February 8, 2022.

Colte Julian
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PSA: Milwaukee Repertory Theater Cancels Remaining Dates For “Dad’s Season Tickets” .

Yesterday the Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced that the remaining dates for “Dad’s Season Tickets” have been canceled. Here is the announcement from social media:

As a result of COVID-19 cases with vaccinated members of the “Dad’s Season Tickets” cast, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the remaining week of performances to safeguard the health of our artists, staff and audiences.

Our COVID health and safety protocols have been robust and our ongoing testing protocols with our cast and staff did exactly what they were designed to do – detect COVID-19 prior to it being able to spread.

Our Ticket Office will contact those who purchased tickets to one of these performances, all tickets will be refunded in full.

Although a sad circumstance for the Rep and those of you anticipating seeing this delightful play, I have to give the Rep credit for making the tough and correct decision. Best wishes for a healthy continuation of their theater season as new plays start to open after the first of the year.