Category: Stackner Cabaret

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Milwaukee Repertory Theater Opens The Season With Laughs, Songs, AND….The Green Bay Packers!

In Wisconsin, what could possibly be a more appropriate opening offering for the fall season than Matt Zembrowski’s Dad’s Season Tickets in the Stackner Cabaret? And given the factual, anecdotal, and certainly apocryphal stories ranging across the state about how season tickets pass through to the next generation, what a perfect conceit for a musical in Packers nation!

photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

So here we are in a living room implicit as the middle class living room where every Wisconsinite watches their Packers, hey. And although the furnishings look more 1970s that 1996 when the action takes place, certainly a lot of 1970s living rooms tarried into the late 1990s, particularly as Cheeseheads aged in place. You will recognize home and feel immediately comfortable.

And….it’s Packer season and we meet Frank Kosinski who, after three years of mourning his late wife, has come to realize that family and family traditions are more important than where he’s been emotionally most recently. And he has three daughters: two adult, married, and out of the nest, and Cordelia. Cordelia is still at home and preparing for going away to college. And if you want a little sneaky insight into where we are going, Mr. Zembrowski is having a little theatrical fun: check out Cordelia here!

You are going to love the Kosinskis. And you will wonder why there is a troubling layer of discord in the family, particularly between the adult daughters. BUT…the underlying issue in our play, IS, who will inherit Frank’s Packers Season Tickets? He can only will them to one individual! All will be revealed via some cliche family squabbles, entertaining and encouraging songs, and Cordelia’s determination to bring happiness to her father as she prepares to leave by enabling his dream to reunite the family.

The casting here couldn’t have been better. We have the gamut of Packers adherents and lifelong Wisconsinites. You will love Jonathan Gillard Daly as the long suffering newly optimistic Frank Kosinski. His love of the Packers, his memory of their history, and his inherited season tickets are all you need to know until you get there. And, for me, Jamie Mercado. is the stand out actor in her role as Cordelia, as she plans and plots the reuniting of her sisters without knowing the whole story around the discord. And the most intriguing outsider is Edgar Nimwitz (read the last name again, out loud) ably played by Jackson Evans for every laugh and horror handed him in the text!

You will laugh openly. You will wonder how we got here. You will remember the Packer glory years. You will get to boo. You should wear your Packer swag. And there will be secret uncovered that should never ever happen in Green Bay! And given that it is 1996, our playwright ‘predicts’ the future! See if you can catch it.

photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

And before you go, you may want to bone up on your Packer history from Curly Lambeau to Vince Lombardi to Mike Holmgren and the 1996 Packer season. And as I said previously, you won’t feel uncomfortable attending in your Reggie White, etc, jersey!!

One last thing before I go “Viking fans don’t get back up singers”!

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Major Milwaukee Area Art Groups Announce Proof of COVID Vaccination or Negative Test Requirements for 2021/2022 Season.

According to an article posted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning, most major Milwaukee area arts groups and presenters will require proof of vaccination against COVID or proof of a negative test for COVID within the previous 72 hours. This policy of course coincides with similar policies being enforced by Summerfest, the Pabst Theater Group, Milwaukee Film, and any number of performers who are currently on tour. The policy will apply to all audience members 12 years and older.

This will impact the touring performances of Hamilton and of course local season offerings like the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s A Christmas Carol and the Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker.

The arts organizations who have signed on to the policy include:

  • Black Arts MKE
  • First Stage
  • Florentine Opera
  • Marcus Performing Arts Center
  • Milwaukee Ballet
  • Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
  • Milwaukee Repertory Theater
  • Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
  • Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
  • Present Music
  • Skylight Music Theatre

“Creating a unified safety policy for our organizations follows the guidance from local and national health experts, and more importantly, it means we’re doing what’s best for our audiences to help reduce their risk of illness while keeping the arts community healthy, safe and protected,” said Milwaukee Rep executive director Chad Bauman in the statement.

Policies on masks are not part of this initiative and will be determined by the individual groups…so audience members should visit each organization’s website for current details or call to get the latest information. And the groups will offer refunds for previously purchased tickets. Contact their box offices for information.

And finally:

“I am grateful our partners have made the tough decisions to protect our residents so we can all enjoy Milwaukee’s performing arts,” said Kirsten Johnson, Milwaukee’s health commissioner.

Update 9/3/2021: I have just received an email from Renaissance Theaterworks that states they too are requiring proof of vaccination or negative tests for all audience members 12 and over, from September 1 through December 31, 2021. They are also requiring all audience members to wear a mask except when eating or drinking at the theater. Again, contact RTW directly if you have any questions.

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Milwaukee Repertory Theater Goes LIVE: First Lady Of Song: Alexis Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald!

What an exciting evening…finally getting back into a theater…for a live performance. Not quite what I would normally expect in the Quadracci Power House Theater. This would be perfectly suited to the Stackner Cabaret, but given the City of Milwaukee Health Department safety regulations around capacity and social distancing…this was a genius solution!

And Alexis J. Roston is just the perfect actor/vocalist to bring us Ella Fitzgerald on stage. She just owns every one of the standards that Ella brought to the American public. Man…what a voice…and what a sense of style…and skat singing! The room was just electric…and you could feel the wave of recognition and satisfaction move across the room when she started in to Summertime! So just expect to sit back and smile as you hear and remember classics from Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. I don’t think anyone can leave the theater unhappy.

photo by JPM Photography

Ok, I am at a loss here and just a little bit sad. I have been over the Rep’s website and read other reviews and announcements but I haven’t been able to find the names of the musicians playing behind Ms. Roston. But it is a tight hot little quartet with bass, drums, piano, and saxophone /flute. And they provide the perfect musical bed that allows Ms. Roston to do her thing! From my seats I couldn’t see the bass or piano because they were behind the proscenium and the whole combo was pulled back so they could be distanced from Ms. Roston who was centered in the thrust stage and distanced from the audience. But the sound was perfect!

My one quibble…whoever wrote the book could have added more detail on Ms. Fitzgerald’s backstory, career, and the Great American Songbook. I realize the story is just to stitch the songs together, but I would have appreciated more detail.

IF YOU GO! I was there Tuesday night, April 27th, the first performance night. Friday April 30th is the official opening night and the show is currently scheduled to run through May 23, 2021. You can order tickets here!

And for safety?? You will be required to remain masked while in the theater and observe social distancing. When you purchase your ticket please pay attention because they are for timed entry. You will have to pass through an aisle of plexiglass to the theater entry and have your temperature taken. You will scan your own ticket and will be directed to the correct door into the theater. Total capacity is 25% so you will not be seated near anyone other than your own companion(s). And exit is controlled by the ushers when the program completes, starting with those in the back rows. Unavailable seats are taped off so that they can not be used. I can’t imagine how discouraging that must be for the performers to not only see empty seats but to see the obvious tape limiting their use.

But this is an enchanting show and if you are comfortable returning to the theater, here’s a good place to start. So let me leave you with this highlight of the evening: