Theater – Page 2 – an intuitive perspective

October 21, 2026October 23, 2026

Broadway At The Marcus Center: Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Dawn (Go Away). Back in my day the Four Seasons were still topping the charts. Big Girls Don’t Cry. And along with my Beatles and Stones albums, I had a copy of the Four Seasons Greatest Hits. I probably got it from the Columbia House record club. Rag Doll. And I sang along with most all of them and I could hit all of Frankie’s hi notes then. Sherry. Sadly about ten years ago I lost most all of my falsetto skills. C’mon Marianne. So I wasn’t singing along Tuesday night while attending Jersey Boys at the Marcus Performing Arts Center. But I was wondering what hit song was going to be my ear worm accompaniment the next day.

20th Anniversary Touring Company of Jersey Boys. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

This is a touring Broadway style production working with a simple set design overall. Basically a two story scaffolding with stairs on either side, sitting mid-stage to back-wall. Some action takes place on the second tier and many exits and entries occur there. On the other hand, this production is the land of a thousand set pieces as tables, chairs, desks, faux car interiors, concert stages, couches, and any other prop piece necessary for the story is wheeled in and out by the cast. I am in awe of the stage manager who is keeping this all straight and appearing on cue.

And there is a working band back stage supporting all of the hit songs you are eagerly awaiting. A marvelous little band, later augmented by a stellar brass and reed section in Act 2. I hope the drummer is getting a mileage bonus for the number of times the drum riser was pulled out front and then returned to the back wall or angled sideways or completely reversed. I would have gotten dizzy if I had to share the ride with him.

Left to Right: Harry Sperduto, Peyton Schoenhofer, Coby Oram, Owen McCredie. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

Jersey Boys is subtitled The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. So unlike many popular musicals with a book and story that is work a of fictional theater, this plays out a bit like a documentary interrupted by hit tunes. I am sure that the book here has stretched some events for dramatic effect and omitted others, but the story from Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice plays true to form. And if you want to see what the pre-Springsteen New Jersey music scene might have felt like, here’s your chance. There are thirteen actors here, and many of them play multiple roles and if my counting can be trusted, thirty four songs. The show runs 2 hours and 30 minutes including one intermission.

Of course, Frankie Valli was the front man and distinctive voice of the Four Seasons. So the actor playing Valli here is going to be under intense scrutiny from the audience. And this company has found the right actor in Coby Oram. If you close your eyes for just a moment when Coby is taking his lead parts soaring, you can almost feel that Valli is in the house. Oram is particularly sharp on those critical high falsettos and then elsewhere when he is in full throated lead sections. Harry Sperduto plays Tommy DeVito, the man who put the band together and brought on the voices and talents that put the Four Seasons on top. Sperduto pulls off the somewhat smarmy band leader who can’t quite be trusted with money and causes the band any number of issues over the years. But Sperduto also exemplifies the smugness and self assuredness that got the band rolling in the first place. Owen McCredie is a tall drink of water with that deep deep bass voice that is perfect for Nick Massi. McCredie also maintains the even keeled and very playful personality written into Massi’s part. And Massi keeps threatening to start his own band, so if McCredie decides to do that, I am all in.

And if you were one of the music nerds who read and memorized everything on the record labels and album covers, the names Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe will be very very familiar to you. Peyton Schoenhofer plays Gaudio who is responsible for writing many many of the hit songs for the Four Seasons. Schoenhofer’s Gaudio is a level headed, straight shooter, business minded, and visionary individual. His friendship with Valli is really a lynch pin in their success. I don’t know what the real Bob Crewe was like, but Andrew Sattler’s take is a loose and easy personality with a bit of a new-agey bent…like what’s your sign? A direct opposite of the rather edgy New Jersey Italian boys he is working with.

Left to Right: Harry Sperduto, Coby Oram, Peyton Schoenhofer, and Owen McCredie. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

We get to see all of the issues with building a successful musical act and touring and family pressures and fall outs between friends and reunions and some outside seedy influences. But eventually we come out on top with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and some sincere acceptance speeches. So, Working My Way Back To You Babe.

And if Tommy gets tired of that candy apple red Fender Telecaster, I can give it a good home.

Jersey Boys continues from now through October 25th, 2026 in Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Performing Arts Center.

More Information Here and Ticket Information Here.

October 12, 2026

On The Exhale: One Act, One Actor, One Troubling Rabbit Hole

By the time I finish writing this and getting it published, Vanguard Milwaukee’s presentation of On The Exhale will have completed its run. It was scheduled for just four days and was performed in The Drawing Room of the Var Gallery’s South 5th Street location (just half a block or so north of National Ave). The stage was a simple black cube, raised a few feet above the floor, with folding chair seating on all four sides. Annika Perez-Krikorian directed and Emily Vitrano is the sole performer. We last saw Vitrano as newly-wed Corie in Renaissance Theaterworks delightful Barefoot In The Park.

Photo by Ross Zentner and courtesy of Vanguard Milwaukee.

This is quite different. Vitrano is a single mom college professor who has been confronted by male students demanding a grade change. She refuses. And the result isn’t a confident, I did the right thing. Instead it is nightmares that resolve into the student pulling a gun and shooting her. She takes some measures to protect herself in her office and one day hearing a commotion in the hall, runs to slam her door shut, only to realize the dean is trying to reach out to her. There is an active shooter situation going down, but not on their campus. Instead it is at her son’s elementary school and she rushes over their only to herded into groups with other parents…and she describes the roil of emotions she feels as she wait and waits…to finally be told her son is dead.

Her eventual response isn’t what I expected. It probably isn’t what you would expect. It probably isn’t what any of us would do in this situation. She mourns of course. In her own way. She pulls back from the other parents. She collects all of the news clippings, police documents, etc, and lays them out on the floor and tapes out the outline of her son and marks off the place where the shooter stood.

And then she goes down the real rabbit hole as she purchases the same make and model assault rifle that was used to murder her son. And she learns how to shoot it. And she masters it. And she comes to understand the feeling and control that a person can feel using just such a weapon, although she calls it a tool. And the rabbit hole gets deeper and she testifies before a legislative body and stalks an inattentive senator and does no harm, but leaves a trail that says in an obvious way, that he actually dodged a bullet.

This is an extremely emotional play that goes from fear, to loss, to anger, to defiance. How Vitrano managed to keep her own sanity through rehearsals and these four performances had to be a struggle. Because she has entirely internalized the character. Yes, she paces and stomps and shouts and poses with the implied gun and squats and spins and twirls around the stage. But there are more slight variations in her posture and gait that express the grief or anger or fear far more effectively. And it’s there in her eyes. Just watching her eyes tells the emotional story very clearly. Her eyes seem to harden and squint and blaze open in fear and actually redden and retreat on command. I couldn’t help but internalize her feelings as well. This was a completely unexpected and completely amazing performance.

On The Exhale was written by Martin Zimmerman.

More information about Vanguard Milwaukee.

October 12, 2026

Instructions For A Seance And Then A Seance!

Let’s start at the beginning. I mean when you enter the Herro-Franke Studio Theater (formerly the Stiemke Theater). Unlike most performances, this time the stage isn’t sacrosanct and some members of the audience were allowed to walk through it on the way to their seats. And it is quite an elaborate but simple set. Scenic designer Collette Pollard has put together the perfect set for a seance…totally referring back to those sets we remember from old movies and TV shows…a curious blend of almost stereotypical comfortable while still fresh and intimate and engaging. All very reminiscent of the early 1910s or 1920s or so. But dominated by a somewhat intimidating, larger than life, photographic portrait of Harry Houdini. Now on with the show.

Katie Bender. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

And then Katie Bender walks on stage talking on her cell phone, issues a sort apology and explanation to us, and sings her son good night. Setting her things down and arranging a few things she then cues Mark Clement’s prerecorded announcement to turn off our cell phones and to laugh, cry, and exclaim (appropriately) before continuing. This casual familiarity with the audience will be a constant vibe throughout the evening. And she then goes on to place us geographically within the theater and delimiting our north, south, east, and west boundaries with local landmarks that define this Milwaukee neighborhood.

Now my conundrum. There is only one actor and one character in Instructions For A Seance. And the performer is Katie Bender and the character is unnamed. And Bender is the playwright AND the actor. Bender is speaking to us in the first person so I don’t know if the character is self-referential as Katie Bender or if Bender is just an actor pretending to be someone else here on stage. This is theater so I am going to just treat Bender as the character.

So, we are presented with some background information on our character and then an explanation on her research into Harry Houdini and his museum and a few artifacts that she was able to ‘acquire’. She reads out the instructions for a seance that she has discovered and performs an incantation to summon Houdini’s spirit to our stage. And don’t think for a moment that you are not involved. You are in fact a participant in this seance and you will notice a little pencil and slip of paper beneath your seat. At some point Bender will provide instructions on what to write on the paper and how to turn it in and later how to return your pencil. Audience members will be enlisted to help. Now don’t stress out. It is all very simple and direct, it’s not a final exam in psychology. Well, maybe it is.

And I was negligent in mentioning that some audience members are seated in some of the parlor furniture along the edges of the stage. They will be part of Bender’s activities as well. If seated in these special seats, you might want to make sure you have your reading glasses. But honestly, it is all fun!!! On to the seance.

Seance attendees and Katie Bender. Photo by Michael Brosilow and courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

After a brief review, Bender has herself handcuffed and locked into a trunk, stage left. The theme is after all Harry Houdini and escape. But whose escape, while discussed, will never be quite clear: Houdini’s, Bender’s, or ours? Again, pay attention, for you may be part of the discourse after all. And of course all manner of eerie events take place, dimming lights, strange noises, items that turn themselves on, and such. But nary a sign of Houdini. Of course if we were to summon him opening night, well I guess the rest of the run of the play would be redundant. But Bender is successful and a spirit holds forth and we are all amazed. And beside Bender’s ample acting chops, I have to give her props for the handful of magic tricks she pulls off during the evening, not just the trunk escape.

So again, where does playwright Katie Bender stand with this amazing tight little play, although partly scripted and certainly partly ad-libbed as well but very well conceived and written? And where does Katie Bender stand as performer? Is she acting or story telling on herself? Katie Bender is all things to all people in this version of Instructions For A Seance. But at times, it feels just a bit self-indulgent to me.

And thanks to director Lily Wolff for keeping the flow so, well, mesmerizing. And certainly pulling the eerie bits together in Bender’s story. But it also brings a new question to my mind that I need to research for another time.

Instructions For A Seance is being presented by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater from now through November 8, 2026 in the Herro-Franke Studio Theater in the Associated Bank Theater Center. Run Time: 70 minutes with no intermission. Content: Blends mystery, humor, and the supernatural. The play explores themes of motherhood and loss. It also contains discussions of ghosts, a brief description of physical violence and sexual assault, and strong language.

Additional Information! And Tickets Here!

Extra Credit Reading: The Program.