Month: March 2020

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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!

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The Nerd

This is a reprint of my remarks about “The Nerd” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in their Quadracci Powerhouse main stage theater during the 2019 – 2020 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline November 14, 2019.

The comedies of Larry Shue are now part of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s DNA, so it is no surprise the Mark Clements brought The Nerd back as part of his 10th anniversary season. The Nerd is a completely balanced combination of slap stick, absurdism, one liners, and situational comedy to please every funny bone.

Since this play has been around for 30 years, I won’t be giving away too many things here. The basic premise is a couple of friends are throwing a small birthday party for an up and coming architect in of all places, Terre Haute IN. And he invited a client, who is building a hotel. AND a man who saved the architect’s life in Viet Nam…a man the principle has communicated with via letter but has never met…is also coming to the party. The initial anticipation vs. resulting reality are totally different strokes.

So there are misunderstandings. Partly generational, partly class, and some totally intentional! And the play is set in the late 1970s and has become a period piece…in a good way. And it is amazing how simple life was in the late ‘70s. The set gives that perfect feel…simple mid-century furnishings…a stereo system we, boomers, all lusted after…and a simple tape operated answering machine…the ones that always gave us fits. No other devices getting in the way.

And an interesting view into the social structures at the time. Women are definitely second class citizens here…children an afterthought…monied men are powerful men…women do all of the domestic work.  And heaven forbid a man should follow a woman who is pursuing their employment dream…even when your location could be fluid.

The slap stick is hilarious. The absurdities provoke belly laughs. The one liners are still funny, even for someone who was seeing this for the fourth time. Although I anticipated some of the situations and some of the punchlines, it was still a completely entertaining evening. I will happily revisit this again, the next time the Rep offers it.

The cast is amazing…director JC Clementz made sure all of the comedy potential written in the text made it to the stage. There are two young men playing Thor, the only child character in the play. We got to see Damon McCoy on Tuesday night, and he nailed it.

Only two small quibbles. Sometimes the characters couldn’t be heard or were a bit garbled. Slowing down a bit and speaking up would help. But given the story and dialogue it has got to be really hard to keep on track without laughing out loud yourself. And I thought that Mr. and Mrs. Waldgrave were made up as older individuals than I would expect for someone with an 8 to 10 year old child. Shrug.

Special congrats to Michael Doherty and his portrayal of The Nerd, Rick Steadman. That role has got to have a tour de force actor!

But do go…it will be one of the funniest evenings of live theater that you will ever experience!

And it’s too bad that I am over the hill for the role but I would love to try Axel Hammond, the self-defined snooty theater critic!