Tag: Ed Heinzelman

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Chasin’ Dem Blues: Untold Story of Paramount Records

This is a reprint of my remarks about “Chasin’ Dem Blues” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in their Stackner Cabaret during the 2019 – 2020 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline January 23, 2020.

Ever leave the Milwaukee Rep’s Stackner Cabaret thinking you’d like to hear another song or two? Well, with Chasin’ Dem Blues that isn’t likely going to be the problem. You will hear all or part of 34 blues songs during the show. So you are going to hear rousing renditions of your favorite blues standards and a few you probably don’t know! And you will whoop and hoot and clap along and join in with the sing along in the second act. Trust me on this.

Photo by Michael Brosilow.

There are four actors in Chasin’ Dem Blues. And the standout is Maiesha McQueen! Her presence and voice just fill the room from lights up to lights out! And Brandin Jay ain’t no slouch either! He will keep you mesmerized as well. And then there is Eric Noden…guitarist extraordinaire plus banjo and blues harp and James Scheider on piano and vocals (and he can dance!). None of them get a rest…for 34 blues songs!

And the side gift here is a brief history of the Grafton Chair Company, the parent company of Paramount Records, who made race records in Grafton Wisconsin. If you weren’t a scholar of the blues who knew what and where, well you will!!

One quibble: this is the blues and it needs a bottom. A bass guitar would be handy (but I may be biased having played bass in blues bands in college). But really, just mike that acoustic piano. Mr. Scheider is rolling the barrelhouse, walking the 12 bar blues, and rocking the boogie woogie but his left hand just gets lost in the mix.

Chasin’ Dem Blues: Untold Story of Paramount Records

Written and Directed by Kevin Ramsey

January 17 – March 22, 2020

Stackner Cabaret

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The Legend of Georgia McBride

This is a reprint of my remarks about “The Legend of Georgia McBride” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in their Quadracci Powerhouse during the 2019 – 2020 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline January 18, 2020.

And then “The Legend of Georgia McBride” happened. And I laughed and I laughed and I leaned into this musical from beginning to end. This is the most fun that I’ve had in the theater this season and I wasn’t expecting it. Yes…the premise is a down and out bar fires its Elvis impersonator because of poor attendance and takes up with a drag show…and the situation twists around and around and Elvis eventually becomes the featured drag queen. Great start but it still didn’t prepare me for the fun ahead.

The cast for this show is absolutely perfect, Kevin Kantor as Casey (who is Elvis before she is Georgia), Shavanna Calder as Jo (aka Casey’s wife), and Courter Simmons as Miss Tracy Mills present truly stand out performances for the entire hour and 45 minutes! OMG!

And the next OMG…thank you to the audience who were totally into this…every single scene…every single musical number. Unbidden! Totally helped make the madness and mayhem a thing of beauty.

And then there are the costumes and choreography which are absolutely magnificent! Thank you Patrick Holt (costume designer) and David Roman (stage movement director)!!

Now this musical isn’t all glam and drag and humor. A number of serious themes arise around gay culture, homophobic trends in society, and personal relationships and marriage. There are some real conflicts but there is true redemption in the end!

And don’t miss Milwaukee’s favorite actor emeritus, James Pickering as Eddie, the MC and owner of Cleo’s, the Florida club where all of the major action takes place. He has his own transformations to experience!

Don’t be a drag, be a queen!

The Legend of Georgia McBride

By Matthew Lopez

Directed by Meredith McDonough

January 14 – February 9, 2020

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A Christmas Carol

This is a reprint of my remarks about “A Christmas Carol” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in the historic Pabst Theater during the 2019 – 2020 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline November 30, 2019.

Wow, it barely feels like a year since our last visit to Mr. Scrooge. But this past week I attended a preview presentation of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s 44th production of “A Christmas Carol”. And again this year, the Rep will be featuring artistic director Mark Clements’ adaptation of the Charles Dickens story. And Mr. Clements is also directing, so we will get a good look at how he interprets the story.

No, the story hasn’t changed…but it’s never really the same every time either. Each adaptation, each director, each set, and each cast brings out different views that lay on new subtleties for the rest of us to savor. And this year’s production is no different.

We have smoke and smog and bright lights, ensemble singing and foul, scary sounds, happy conversations and bah humbug mutterings, elegant interiors and the crowded rambling streets of London. And what a London it is, ever changing, ever twisting, and cleverly represented on sets continually moving on turntables to change our sense of place while we remain in place. At once and ever, a remarkable spectacle. AND it snows in the Pabst Theater!

And of course we have the transformation of Mr. Scrooge…through the endeavors of his community, both real and ephemeral. We have the interventions of the Ghost of Mr. Marley and the three Ghosts of Christmas who finally make the progress than his family and friends attempt but never master. But these good people of London engage him on their own terms and after being rebuffed, they go about celebrating life in their own ways and with their own means…but always leaving the door open…and welcoming him with open hearts and open arms when he finally senses the life that he’s cast aside.

A universal story…an epic happy ending.

Yes, I know we’ve all seen at least one presentation of “A Christmas Carol” at some point in our lives. But this is live theater and truly magical and believe me, the environs of the Pabst Theater is just the place to see it! It runs through December 24th, 2019 and don’t wait to get tickets!  AND it snows in the Pabst Theater!

And just one strange interlude for Mark Clements: find another vehicle or two to bring Mark Corkins back to Milwaukee, he is sorely missed in these quarters!