Milwaukee Rep’s ‘Unforgettable’: A Celebration of the Songs of Nat King Cole!

This is a great show to open the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s 2022/2023 season. And a show that I was looking forward to because Nat King Cole was my mother’s favorite singer. So, for me, there was a bit more nostalgia than just hearing and enjoying songs from my pre-Beatles youth. It felt just right here.

John-Mark McGaha, photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

The star here is of course Nat and his huge catalog of hits…but bringing those tunes effectively to life is John-Mark McGaha. First, bringing us the back stories and then the hits…just like you remember them. And he’s dressed in a blue velvet jacket that I would have loved to wear on stage in one of my early rock bands! Wow! And man, can he pull it off!

And John-Mark McGaha is just fluid and easily moves from the mood of one song to another, just in the manner of Nat himself. The two songs that worked absolutely the best? Well, Unforgettable of course. The audience was primed for each and every song and each one garnered a healthy round of applause but, Unforgettable really hit the mark with the audience in the first act!

John-Mark McGaha with William Kurk on piano, photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

And later L-O-V-E was the song that rocked the house and it seemed to me that even the band was swinging more easily and naturally than at any other time last evening. And Mr. McGaha is a multi-instrumentalist, taking up the guitar to fill out a pair of tunes. And he sat down at the piano a number of times to emphasize Nat’s real life role…and his turn back there doing The Frim Fram Sauce was a particularly enjoyable bit of music making around a silly conceit.

John-Mark McGaha, with Ryan Bennett on drums, Jeff Hamann on upright bass, and Jesse Montijo on sax and flute, photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

And Mr. McGaha was backed by a talented and supportive combo of Ryan Bennett on drums, Jeff Hamann on upright bass, Jesse Montijo on sax and flute, and last night Chuck Larkin was at the piano (Sat and Sun). On Tuesday through Friday you’ll hear William Kurk on the piano.

This was everything you would expect from Nat King Cole and the Rep’s Stackner Cabaret and the Artists Lounge Live who originated this piece. Everyone in attendance had a great time…as exhibited by the liberal chuckles and applause through out and the standing ovation at the end. This would be a great play to start your theater going season too!!

OH OH OH…I almost forgot! YES, their version of Mona Lisa is worth the price of admission!

Is there anything that I would change? Yes, given the talent of the combo, I would have opened with one of Nat’s early jazz trio instrumentals before bringing Mr. McGaha on stage. Feature the band and set the mood in one easy moment.

This show just opened and runs through November 6, 2022 at the Stackner Cabaret. Here is where you can order tickets! And make reservations for dinner before the show!

Extra credit reading: the program Unforgettable John-Mark McGaha sings Nat King Cole is here!

and one last thing…this is for my wife who was particularly charmed by this tune…performed here by Nat King Cole:

American Players Theatre: Love’s Labour’s Lost

Everyone loves the major comedies of William Shakespeare. But they often don’t the credit that they deserve because the plots get convoluted or the humor gets lost in translation into the 21st Century. But not so with the American Players Theatre presentation of Love’s Labour’s Lost. Director Brenda DeVita has pushed Love’s Labour’s Lost from simple comedy to slapstick to farce…and the audience loved it…I don’t remember ever hearing as much laughter…giggles…or titters as those elicited in response to this play.

Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

And it probably helped that the story here is more direct though not particularly anymore sensible than other Shakespearean comedies…but knowing who the characters are and how they arre expected to act made it all work the more. But DeVita’s wily insertions of cultural touch points like pratfalls and physical comedy reminiscent of ‘professional’ wrestling, some moves that referred back to Steve Martin’s wild and crazy guy and a moment of Hans and Franz style, we want to pump you up, made for easy laughter.

One stand out here…Josh Krause as Dull, the constable…a character to watch as he did his best swaggering Barney Fife and toward just a bit of Charlie Chaplin…a magical character that I imagine would be easy to overlook in other theaters.

And another key yet not out front character is Costard, a groundskeeper, nimbly played by Jeb Burris. At first taken into custody by Dull for flaunting an edict from the King by ‘communing’ with the lovely Jaquenetta, Dull becomes the middle man in much of the plot as the plots transpires! One of his key tasks is to circumvent the king’s edict by secretly delivering missives from the gentlemen of the king’s court to the visiting ladies who are accompanying the Princess of France. And we all knew that hi-jinks were afoot when the stationary for each was a different color…and so they were all mis-delivered. Oafish clumsiness as written or a wily slyness as played by Burris? I am leaning toward the latter!

David Daniel & James Ridge, Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of American Players Theatre.

Other amazing tidbits that build and support the laughter? That would include Nathaniel, a curate played to the hilt by David Daniel as a pompous preening and ever overreaching in his ultimately silly and laughable discourse with Holofernes. And Holofernes allows Shakespeare a chance to take an on target potshot at academics and in that role, James Ridge knows exactly where and how far to stretch to make it just absolutely hilarious.

Marcus Truschinski, Ronald Román-Meléndez, Jamal James & Nate Burger, Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of American Players Theatre

And one of the most popular ‘interludes’ is the attempt by the King and his retinue to fool their French guests by appearing unannounced at the ladies camp in Russian garb and performing a number of ‘Russian dances’…and who can’t love the Russian bear in their company. And the unsurprised ladies make great sport of the gentlemen and put them in their place.

And one other sidebar to mention…Triney Sandoval is just a delight as Don Armando, a knight, professor, and guest in the court of Navarre. And is his mispronunciation of English a result of his inexperience with the language or a bit of word play on his part or that of the bard? It comes across as high comedy in Snadoval’s hands.

Jamal James, Nate Burger, Ronald Román-Meléndez & Marcus Truschinski, Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

And no, I am not ignoring the principals. But in this presentation I think some of the most hilarious bits of the play come from the effective use of the minor and supporting characters…we know whence the King and Princess will go and what they will do.

But yes, I need to mention that Nate Berger was regal and intellectual as the King of Navarre but he wasn’t always too quick to see when his friends were making sport of him or when the Princess of France was getting the better of him. And the Princess of France? Phoebe Gonzalez was everything you expect from a princess and she was one with her retinue and ready to make sport of the King as well as fall in love with him. Amazing.

Jennifer Vosters, Melisa Pereyra, Phoebe González & Samantha Newcomb, Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

And a number of back stage specialists need to be recognized.

There are a ton of situational changes in the story line that require a lot of costume choices and costume changes. So Holly Payne, costume designer, and Jeannette Christensen, assistant costume designer, deserve immense credit for dozens of elegant costumes for all characters and all situations. Their efforts made the story telling here even more magical!! And my hats off to the actors who managed to make numerous changes and keep the flow of the play going.

Triney Sandoval & Matthew Benenson Cruz, Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

And then, again, the amazing work of Brian Cowing, choreographer, and Jeb Burris, fight director, needs to be applauded. The various scenes where characters are dancing…or gesticulating wildly in the presence of unseen others…and the dueling scene between Don Armando and his page Moth…were ballet…enchanting…and smooth as silk.

Love’s Labour’s Lost is being presented in The Hill Theatre and runs in repertory through October 2nd, 2022. If you want more information or want to order tickets, follow this link: LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST

Sidebar: There’s Always Room For Jello

David Daniel, Josh Krause & James Ridge, Love’s Labour’s Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren. Courtesy of the American Players Theatre

[sorry if I overdid the photos]