Musical Theater – Page 8 – an intuitive perspective

November 11, 2024

Lumberjacks In Love: Shakespeare Meets Vaudeville At The REP!

After the rollicking fun of last season’s presentation of Men On Ice, expectations for the Rep’s next import from Wisconsin’s ‘Great White North’ was highly anticipated. And this presentation of another work from James Kaplan and Fred Alley proves it’s mettle.

Doc Heide, Ryan Cappleman, Joe Picchetti, Eva Nimmer (foreground), Molly Rhode (with string bass), and Chase Stoeger. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Rep, photographer is Mark Fronha.

So most of you who are familiar with Shakespeare know that one of his favorite shticks is having characters masquerade as others…and often as members of the opposite sex…often with a fair amount of Elizabethan humor ensuing…and Kaplan and Alley present a bit of that here all in good fun!

Vaudeville? Well, we have four guys at lumber camp in the deep woods. So certainly we are exposed to a slew of slap stick and physical humor with silly jokes and puns. Oh, and there might actually be a Shakespearean reference that draws it’s own share of outright laughter!

Doc Heide, Joe Picchetti, Ryan Cappleman, and Chase Stoeger. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Rep, photographer Mark Fronha.

Our four guys in the woods are Dirty Bob, Muskrat, Moonlight, and Minnesota Slim. With nicknames like that we already have a fun way to start out…but they open with a ensemble paean to life as a lumberjack…and the fun starts here immediately.

The lumberjack to watch is Dirty Bob played by Ryan Cappleman. Cappleman’s Dirty Bob is active, agile, and the over the top performer in nearly every scene and the butt of much of the humor…and from what I saw on Sunday night…the audience’s favorite character and actor! Camp leader is Minnesota Slim, who comes off as a very attractive and charismatic soul as played by Joe Picchetti. Doc Heide is Muskrat who celebrates his 60th birthday and is struggling a bit with the aging process…a bit concerning at first…but with a humorous result! And Moonlight is another character who is questioning what he is feeling and not sure where to go with it or how to address it…and Chase Stoeger is the sensitive Moonlight here.

Joe Picchetti, Eva Nimmer, Ryan Cappleman, Doc Heide, and Chase Stoeger. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Rep, photographer Mark Fronha.

And then there is a The Kid, Eva Nimmer. The Kid is an orphan who was originally brought to camp by her late father. At first a seemingly support character, The Kid later becomes the pivot point as our story shifts from the ‘joys’ as life as a lumberjack to Lumberjacks In Love. And her nemesis so to speak is Rosemary Rogers, the mail order bride who arrives to marry Minnesota Slim. And Rosemary Rogers is incredibly inhabited by Molly Rhode, who proves to be a very flexible opportunist, but not the exactly one you expect!

And then back to Shakespeare, the final scene is a reunion and personal discovery scene where all’s well that ends well.

Ryan Cappleman, Joe Picchetti, Doc Heide, Eva Nimmer, and Chase Stoeger. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Rep, photographer Mark Fronha.

Lumberjacks In Love is driven by exciting toe tapping music that vibrantly ties the back story together. And the cast that director Jeff Herbst has assembled here is obviously having a lot of fun and just as obviously is enjoying working together. That feeling is infectious and the audience clearly feels it too!

Extra Credit Reading: The Program is here.

Lumberjacks In Love runs for about two hours with an intermission and is playing at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret. The show just opened and runs through January 12, 2025. Additional information and tickets can be found here.

Chase Stoeger, Joe Picchetti, Doc Heide and Ryan Cappleman. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Rep, photographer Mark Fronha.
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October 26, 2024

Marie And Rosetta: Two Voices Ready To Bring You Joy!

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a force of nature in the music business throughout the middle of the 20th Century. She is often called the Godmother of Rock And Roll and her influence on jazz and blues and rock musicians in the United States and the United Kingdom is well documented. And you will recognize the source of many rock sounds and tones during Marie And Rosetta, but that is not the focus of the play.

Instead, we will experience the developing relationship between Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the pinnacle of her career as she plucks a young singer/pianist from under the nose of Mahalia Jackson and makes Marie Knight her understudy and accompanist. They will both grow as musicians and will begin a life long friendship.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Marie and Rosetta in the Stiemke Studio, October 22 – December 15, 2024. Pictured: Bethany Thomas, Alexis J Roston. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

And there is an intriguing subtext here as well. Both women are devout Christians who are coming from a background of singing in church choirs and being soloists as well. So there is a struggle between being true to their spirituals and choral singing and the world of secular music. Sister Rosetta being older and more in tune with herself and her world has made it work but Marie isn’t yet comfortable where she now finds herself and presents a bit of push back. The resulting discussions provides opportunities for both women to reconsider their ideas and moral guidelines and find new ways to express themselves musically!

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Marie and Rosetta in the Stiemke Studio, October 22 – December 15, 2024. Pictured: Alexis J Roston, Bethany Thomas. Photo by Michael Brosilow

So what does that get us? Besides the conversations and exchanges of life being lived, we get an amazing panorama of songs and music from the Sister Rosetta Tharpe songbook. This isn’t quite a musical and not quite a cabaret piece either, but somewhere in between. But Director E. Faye Butler has made sure the music and the personalities are all front and center, every moment.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Marie and Rosetta in the Stiemke Studio, October 22 – December 15, 2024. Pictured: Bethany Thomas. Photo by Michael Brosilow

And as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, we have Bethany Thomas! This is a marvelous bit of casting because Thomas certainly has a voice that dominates just the way Tharpe’s did and an incredible stage presence that certainly illustrates that Tharpe diva persona as well. And it’s a joyous homecoming as Thomas also appeared in the Rep’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch and for me, most notably, Songs For Nobodies. I can’t think of any recent Rep performer who is more suited to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe than Bethany Thomas!

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Marie and Rosetta in the Stiemke Studio, October 22 – December 15, 2024. Pictured: Alexis J Roston,. Photo by Michael Brosilow

And Alexis J Roston is Marie Knight. Roston plays the younger Knight as a prodigious talent who is self-deprecating in the face of the famous and intimidating Tharpe. But she eventually starts to feel comfortable and slowly accepts her role in secular as well as Gospel music as Tharpe eases her along. There is a sort of big sister little sister relationship developed and at one point Tharpe starts calling her Little Sister. And Roston has every vocal chop needed to play Knight. She fills the stage with song and humor, although not always intentionally, and grows Knight’s stage presence and self confidence neatly and organically as the play progresses.

There are only the two actors and a single dramatic set of a funeral parlor that allows for the drama and the music to seamlessly be performed. Kudos to scenic designer John Culbert for that. And you may not be aware of the stage lighting…it is bright and dramatic for most of the spoken dialogue but will subtlety shift color and intensity to help express the moods for each of the songs performed. Lighting director Jared Gooding knows when to dim the lights. And although Rosetta and Marie are working with a piano and Rosetta a number of guitars, we are actually hearing Morgan E. Stevenson on piano and Benjamin Oglesby-Davis on guitar.

Marie and Rosetta is being performed in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stiemke Theater. Opening night was October 22, 2024 and it runs through December 15, 2024. Additional information and tickets are available here.

September 14, 2024

Music and Mystery Produce Magic In The MKE Rep’s ‘Prelude To A Kiss a musical’

Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Michael Brosilow photographer.

At the end of last season I was about musical’d out so I cautiously approached the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s opening musical. But not any longer, I am sold on Prelude To A Kiss!! This is a world premiere directed by Kenneth Ferrone. Prelude To A Kiss was developed in partnership with the South Coast Repertory and after being performed there is now being presented at the Rep.

With music by Daniel Messe and lyrics by Messe and Sean Hartley, writer Craig Lucas has adapted his play to a musical. And they have given us a bit of a gem in contemporary musicals. My favorite Rep musical since In The Heights. The story, briefly, features Peter who is searching for something, not quite sure what, and is ready to leave for environs unknown, until his best friend Taylor introduces him to a neighbor, Rita. And then all bets are off and we are transfixed by their whirlwind romance and easy assimilation into each others lives…until they get married…and the mystery begins.

And then comes the story telling. Lucas, Messe, and Hartley present a pretty straightforward attempt at documenting young and older love, its ins and outs and ups and downs, and the models we have for partnership and aging. The characters are clearly defined and fully rounded and we are drawn to each and everyone of them!! And the music follows suit. I really appreciated that few of the songs here are big production numbers where story gets lost or the lyrics are unclear or we seem to be going on a tangent that is good for spectacle while short on actual story. It really works as wonderful theater when you can watch and listen to couples or friends or other pairings as they converse directly in song and we were are able to savor every moment.

And the cast is simply marvelous and obviously are having fun working together. But of course the principals need some particular mention.

Rita and Peter, Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Michael Brosilow photographer.

Caitlin Houlahan is amazing as Rita. Flirty and precocious (yes) and sexy and then later moody and withdrawn. But Houlahan has this confident stage presence that just draws you to her and then she sings with a voice you just want to hear in every song in the performance. I hope that she has the opportunity to return to the Rep in future productions. She was a favorite of mine and very obviously a favorite of the entire audience as well.

Peter is wonderfully worked out by Chris McCarrell. Peter moves through a number of conundrums, first so eagerly giving himself over to Rita just as he was set out to leave town and then trying to figure out her complete change in persona after they are married. Others try to convince him that marriage changes people but he has the fortitude to buck that trend and discover the truth…and then fix it! And McCarrell holds his own in song and brings out the best in Peter and the best in Houlahan as well.

Peter, Rita, Rita’s mom and dad, and a certain banjo. Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Michael Brosilow photographer.

And other favorites are James Moye as Rita’s dad and Karen Ziemba as her mother. They are professionals in their careers but free spirits in their personal lives…and you can feel where Rita gets her own independence. There is a banjo involved (but in Milwaukee an accordion might have been a reasonable substitute). And Keirsten Hodgens’ sarcastic but loving Angie, Rita’s best friend and co-worker is also a stand out performance here.

Julius, Rita, and Peter at the wedding. Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Michael Brosilow photographer.

And a Milwaukee favorite, Jonathan Gillard Daly, makes a first act appearance as a strange unknown man at Rita’s and Peter’s wedding and sets the whole mystery plot in motion…and we later learn that he is Julius and will become an integral part of the happy ending that we all are hoping for.

And we mustn’t forget the orchestra. They are in residence on the second floor of the stage/apartment building and it is wonderful to have live accompaniment here. And the stage set at nearly three stories tall gives us some insight into why the downtown complex is being remodeled. I don’t think this set would have worked there as built.

Because of the extensive remodel of the Rep’s downtown theater complex, Prelude is being performed at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, WI. It runs through October 19, 2024 and additional information and tickets can be found here. There is plenty of free parking at the center and it is warm and inviting and very comfortable!