Tag: Theater

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Tim Backes’: Cae//sura. A World Premiere At Kith And Kin Collective

It is Sunday afternoon. I am sitting in the fellowship hall of a church. The choir is singing Agnus Dei. Emma is about to have a cathartic experience. Why am I here?

There is a choir. They anchor the set and form the back scenic element through all of the play. And they play an integral role in the story as they sing Agnus Dei behind Emma, our lead character. But don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a musical. This is a very serious drama. Something of a coming of age play but unlike almost any other that you will have seen. But we are going to delve into family interactions, personal relationships, long term friendships, and the inner struggles that we all experience at pressure points in our lives.

Michael Chobanoff center with his back to us, conducting the choir. Photo by Adam Laberge and courtesy of Kith and Kin.

Emma is back home at some small town somewhere in small town America. She is here for a civic dedication of something important for her late father. This is only the second time that she has been home since she left for college, out of town, somewhere more interesting, somewhere not home. The last time she was home was a few years earlier for his funeral. Her father was a well respected and well loved music educator, best known for his high school master singers choir, the church choir, and other civic choirs. He hoped that Emma would follow in his footsteps and exceed his success. From an early age he taught her to sing and play the piano…adult complex things…that she apparently was good at…but she bristled at not being allowed a typical childhood…keeping that to herself without sharing it with her family…and so she left.

So Emma is home and staying at her parents house with her mother and her brother and sharing her childhood room with her significant other. And a lot of that hidden turmoil, angst, and resentment starts to boil up inside her with nowhere to go…until she starts having dreams of a choir signing Agnus Dei conducted by a prominent male conductor. And she is helping her mother sort out her dad’s things. Sheet music for the school or church, photos for the dedication and trash that he saved. He was one of those who couldn’t throw things out and built little piles, but he knew where everything was. So you can feel where our story is going to go.

left to right, Maggie Marks, Malcolm McCanles (foreground), Gray Berendt, Alyssa Booten, and Ekene Ikegwuani. Photo by Adam Laberge and courtesy of Kith and Kin.

Alyssa Booten understands Emma better than I think Emma does. She cleanly expresses the angst that Emma is feeling and with a clear eyed stare out into space narrates the situation and her feelings to the audience. So we know more than even her mother. And she slowly starts to confront the recurring choir. Will is her significant other, played with great compassion and love for Emma by Ekene Ikegwuani. And he has amazing empathy for the rest of her family as well. He is quick on his feet and defuses a number of tense moments. Sam is Emma’s best friend here. Played by Gray Berendt, Sam is a constant calm and support, and a source of gossip and local history that at times intrigues Emma and at time annoys her. Her brother Aaron is played by Malcolm McCanles, described as a ne’er do well by Emma, he still lives at home with his mother. Backes provides plenty of proof of his lowly status and McCanles plays it with an intensity. But he too has feelings and is hurting, but unlike Emma doesn’t feel the need to keep it bottled up inside and just lets it out at often the wrong time and with little nuance. Jan is Emma and Aaron’s mother. Played by Maggie Marks, we are offered a solid middle American mother, seemingly more 20th Century in type than I would have expected. She is handling her husband’s loss with a certain stoicism and is proud of the honors that he is receiving. And that leaves The Conductor. He is emphatic in conducting our choir, always with his back to us, until he finally answers one of Emma’s challenges. Michael Chobanoff has the proper pomp and circumstance here as The Conductor!

the cast of Cae//sura. Photo by Adam Laberge and courtesy of Kith and Kin.

This is a World Premiere written and directed by Tim Backes. And he hits it out of the park as both author and director. The drama is intense and telling and revealing of human nature and human relationships at their core…and given the complex nature of the text, he carefully controls the movement and timing on the stage.

Kith and Kin Collective is presenting Cae//sura through October 19th, 2020 at Resurrection Lutheran Church at 12400 W. Cold Spring in New Berlin.

Additional information and tickets can be found here. This show has adult language.

Extra Credit Reading: It is worth reading the synopsis before you go

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R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps: Phantom Of The Auditorium @ First Stage!

When my son was a youngster, R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series was golden in our home. Whether a parent reading them to him or reading them himself as he got older, they never were out of circulation. I don’t know how many books we acquired…but more than a few. It’s been a few years so I don’t remember any of the stories, but that experience certainly piqued my interest in First Stage’s: R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium.

Director Jeff Frank and adapters John Maclay (book and lyrics) and Danny Abosch (music and lyrics) have given us a spooktacular musical. Yeah, that’s trite but it’s fun to say and this presentation finally put me in the Halloween spirit. But let’s talk about the scary element for a moment. Yes, Phantom of the Auditorium is eerie and spooky. Delightfully so. But on the scary rating chart I would put it down as a healthy Halloween BOO! and nothing more. First Stage recommends this for young people 8 to 18 but when I attended on Saturday there were many youngsters who were younger than 8. And they seemed to have a great time!! Now, there are a number of black outs that allow the actors to accomplish some sleight of hand scene changes and some flashing lights just before the spooky bits…but what fun!

Just a little background for those not familiar with First Stage. First Stage presents dynamic theater for children, most often at the Marcus Performing Arts Center. These main stage productions are amazing large cast musicals with boisterous music, colorful costumes, brilliant sets, and dramatic lighting. The casts involve a lot of young people and a number of adults. Most often the adults rather anchor the plays and guide the action for the younger stars. Phantom is all of that except there are only two adult actors…and the young actors carry this show. Literally. The two adult roles are Ms. Walker, the school teacher, and Emile, the night janitor. Older young actors could have played these roles and the play would have been just as amazing!

Opening Stage for Phantom of the Auditorium. Photo © Ed Heinzelman 2025

And now the fun begins! Brooke and Zeke are best friends in middle school and bond over horror movies. So when Ms. Walker announces that she is holding auditions for a very very scary play, well they are all in! The play is The Phantom and Brooke wins the role of Esmeralda and Zeke is the phantom. And then it turns out that Ms. Walker’s grandmother tried to present this play years and years ago but it was canceled under mysterious circumstances. The play was banned and all the scripts destroyed…except the one Ms. Walker inherited from her grandmother…which is the script that she is using here.

Zoah Hirano in Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium. First Stage, 2025. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

Brooke is an intriguing middle schooler, confident, curious, sure of herself, and maybe a little of a tomboy yet. She is determined to make the most of her chance to play Esmeralda and is taking it very seriously. Zeke on the other hand is more playful, a bit lazy, hasn’t read the script, and is something of a prankster. This gets him into a bit of trouble and introduces a number of the spooky transitions. Tina thinks she should be the lead. She is the understudy. She is an overly aggressive over achiever who just oozes contempt in her loss. Assigned to build the set and select the props she bosses it over the others. And then there is the new kid Brian who would like to be in the play but joins his new school too late. Ms. Walker assigns him to assist Tina. And oh oh, the internal love story found in every great drama or musical develops as Brian and Brooke find it difficult to speak in each others presence and for the first time Zeke experiences a bit of jealousy.

Jenna Krysiak (left) and Ryan Stepanski (right) in Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium. First Stage, 2025. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

And of course: as the rehearsals begin, there start to be strange occurrences. Flashing lights, strange apparitions, spooky movements in the background, light failures, and an underground labyrinth. Like her predecessor, Ms. Walker wants to cancel the play but her intrepid cast demand that they continue. So Brooke, Zeke, and Brian take it upon themselves to discover the source of all of the mysterious events. And I leave the story there!

For those of you who have followed my reviews of First Stage presentations, hopefully you remember that they use two casts of young actors for each play. In this case the Thrills cast and the Chills cast. I got to see the Chills cast. Jenna Krysiak is a very compelling and sincere Brooke and is often the most visible actor on stage even when the spotlight is elsewhere. Maryn Davis is just a boundless source of energy and the perfect mischievous teen as Zeke. Harper Fornstedt is over the top intriguing as Tina and Ryan Stepanksi is a solid , calm, and maybe a bit older than he seems character as Brian. The adult actors are included in both casts: Karen Estrada as the quintessential school teacher Ms. Walker and Zach Thomas Woods as the officious and distant night janitor, Emile.

I had a few moments of conversation with director Jeff Frank before the show. I mentioned that in order to review the work at First Stage, I always flew solo, but wished I had a child or grandchild to bring along. But even as an adult I enjoyed each and every show, even the ones that tended more toward a silly side. He said he had friends who didn’t come because they didn’t have child to bring along or a child in the cast. He suggested that they just come down anyway. I agree! If you are curious about First Stage, just come down. And this might the perfect musical to get started with. It is complex in music, story, and choreography. The actors and sets are amazing and as always the presentation is as professional as you’re going to see in Milwaukee! And it will get you in the mood for Halloween…a perfect place to start the holiday seasons.

Harper Fornstedt (front) and cast in Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium. First Stage, 2025. Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

If you plan to go and want to see a particular actor make sure you pick the day that their cast is featured! Thrills or Chills! Tickets can be purchased here. Phantom of the Auditorium is playing at the Todd Wehr Theater at the Marcus Performing Arts Center though November 2, 2025.

Extra Credit Reading: The Playbill. The Enrichment Guide. And the Social Narrative Pamphlet

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The Good Ship H.M.S. Pinafore Has Docked At UW – Milwaukee!

I have never seen a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and I think that is still true. But I do remember way back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, show casts appearing on variety shows and doing a number or two. Or comedy variety shows exaggerating the pomp and circumstance and having a bit of fun. And of course serious or comic, they always performed a portion of “When I Was A Lad” and drove deeply into our memories: “He polished up that handle so carefullee, That now he is the ruler of the Queen’s Navee!”

UWM’s Mainstage Theater’s thrust stage is the ideal venue for Pinafore, and scenic specialist Christopher Kurtz has made the most of every square inch. What an amazing deign of ship’s rigging, from fo’c’sle, to poop deck, to bridge, strewn cargo crates, coiled rope, and such give us the impression of a 19th Century British Royal Navy frigate. And there is plenty of room throughout of lively dance and chorus numbers plus the varieties of songs and interactions between the lead characters.

And very carefully nestled just to the rear of the main deck is the quartet of musicians who are supporting the cast. Here we have a string bass, accordion, a guitar, and a woodwind switching time between a clarinet and a horn pipe. What a marvelous nautical H.M.S. Pinafore musical touch is the horn pipe. Over the course of the play other cast members add a second clarinet and a violin…plus a supportive ukulele for/by Little Buttercup and a mournful English horn for/by Capt. Corcoran. And a bell choir!

But this isn’t just any presentation of Pinafore…instead a modern local adaptation created by Co-directors Jill Anna Ponasik, Milwaukee Opera Theatre Artistic Director, and Jeffrey Mosser, UWM Lecturer, in collaboration with the student cast and crew. A very popular and successful way to make contemporary theater. But what does this mean? From the background info from UWM’s website:

Originally set in the late 1870s, H.M.S. Pinafore explores timeless themes of love, status, and class. This new version reimagines the story in 2025 and relocates the action to Milwaukee, allowing the cast to connect the work directly to their own community. 

“For me, the most exciting, delightful aspect of this adaptation is working on a team that includes Jeff Mosser, Dana Rochester, James Zager, and 17 UWM students to devise this together,” Ponasik said. “The collaborative spirit of the project is what gets me out of bed in the morning.” 

That collaborative spirit extends directly to the student cast. As young adults living in the 21st century, their perspectives helped ground the adaptation in the realities of today. 

“We were asking for their collaboration throughout the entire process,” explained Mosser. “This play wouldn’t have been the same without the collaboration of the actors and their contributions to the play itself”. 

On stage that means we get date checked when the cast mentions that it is 2025! And then we do get local identifications with mentions of the Packers, Kopps, Door County, and other local contemporary landmarks. One crew member wants to retire to Door County and have goats on the roof. All the more amusing given we are hearing these words from an antique sailing vessel.

One of the key ‘characters’ is the ensemble. but which I am going to call the chorus…since they play a role very akin to the Greek chorus. At times being of one mind and voice, at others advancing the story, and others supporting the leads or opposing the leads depending on the which way the wind is blowing. And this is a marvelous chorus of full throated voices in boisterous and wondrous song. All the while moving about stage in some pretty intricate choreography interacting with each other or a variety of props. Wonderful visuals here. But the highlight is the adult sized and adult entangled cat’s cradle that they weave to start the second act…until it just devolves into a web! So Kudos to choreographer James Zager.

But we mustn’t forget that this is essentially a love story. As classic a love story as you could expect. So let’s get on with it.

Austin Franz is Captain Corcoran, the captain of the Pinafore. He is a calm and solid captain, empathetic with his crew and the doting father of daughter, Josephine. He thinks he has a match made in the admiralty when Sir Joseph Porter proposes to Josephine. But as you could guess Josephine is in love with another. Franz stands tall and sings with a full rich voice that is perfect for Corcoran.

Josephine is played by Serena Vasquez. And she’s perfect in this demanding role as she moves from weeping over her fate to acquiescing to marrying Porter for love of her father, to deciding to elope with the sailor of her dreams. Vasquez dwells in this role and even when not the focus of a scene, she remains in character and is just a pleasure to watch. She also puts the opera in operetta here (I originally typed hear, but that might work too) with a clear ringing voice that fills the room. I think that we will see her on professional Milwaukee stages after she completes her studies at UWM.

And who is Sir Joseph Porter? Well he is the “the ruler of the Queen’s Navee!” So you might expect him to be a pompous self-important ass. Well as Nathaniel Contreras plays him he certainly is self important but he is more buffoon, depicted as a stumbling character in loud clothing, Contreras presents the precise comic relief that the story demands. One delightful Porter shortcoming is his inability to remember Captain Corcoran’s name, calling him Capt. Carrot, Capt. Canary, and such until the final Capt. Crunch which got a big laugh. And a very appropriate sobriquet given that Captains Corcoran and Crunch, the cold cereal pitchman, wear the same style hat.

Oh, I haven’t forgotten Josephine’s love interest. He is Ralph Rackstraw, an ‘able seaman’, ably played by Josh Thone. A very agile young adult, Thone easily moves across stage in and out of the chorus and moves from emotion to emotion without effort. Part of his appeal here is he has one of the most expressive faces that I have seen on a Milwaukee stage this year.

And one last quick mention, is Ryder Ruck, a loose limbed dancer portraying Dick Deadeye. Some of Ruck’s dance moves incorporated Irish dance, the jigs often used in depictions of English sailors, and of course, a bit of modern dance. Ruck is also listed as assistant choreographer so should share in the praise for the overall choreography here.

Josh Thone being lifted by his costars during H.M.S. Pinafore rehearsal | Photo by Cameron Wise ’25 (BFA Film)

But how does it end? Most like a Shakespearean comedy as secrets are revealed, mistaken identities come to light, and love triumphs.

And one small quibble. Once again, despite being miked, some of the actors were hard to hear. Partly a technical issue but also from often speaking too quickly.

Extra Credit Reading: The Playbill and the announcement on the UWM site.

This is a short short run and ends Sunday October 12 but ticket info is here but tickets are generally available at the box office at show time.

H.M.S. Pinafore is being presented on UWM’s mainstage theater in the Fine Arts Building just off Kenwood Boulevard behind Mellencamp Hall.