Month: January 2024

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Milwaukee Rep’s Guys On Ice: Waiting For Godot In Snowmobile Suits.

This past arctic week aside, the current state of winter in Wisconsin has seen unusually warm temperatures and local lakes that have remained unfrozen later into the season than normal. So ice fisher folk have been restrained in celebrating their seasonal sport. If you are one of these…or more likely someone like me who grew up in a rural area that crowded around a prominent lake and watched in awe and wonder as shanties blossomed across the ice…well, get your mojo back with some tickets to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Guys On Ice, order a Leinies and settle in for fun, merriment, and amazement in the Stackner Cabaret!

How ’bout dem Packers?

Guys On Ice is a rollicking comedy and musical about everything that is good…and bad…about ice fishing culture in the upper Midwest, with an abundant dash of Packer mania thrown in. If you have ever lived in Wisconsin or environs, you will find plenty to love here and may see something of yourself or your community here as well.

Steve M Koehler as Lloyd and Doug Mancheski as Marvin. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Marvin and Lloyd are long time friends, fishing buddies, and Door County denizens who are off for a day of ice fishing in Marvin’s shanty somewhere out in Green Bay. Marvin is played by Doug Mancheski who represents a north woods ice fisherman to a T and may have actually had hands on experience from what he brings to his portrayal of Marvin. But then his over the top mimicry of the Las Vegas Elvis, his ‘fluid’ dance moves, and his impeccable singing voice are highlights here.

Lloyd is the calmer cool head although as the story unfolds that should come as something of a surprise. Lloyd is played by Steve M Koehler, a tall impressive actor with a voice to match. But he humors Marvin’s dreams and plans and shares his own incredible voice to the songs at hand. His beer can tossing skills are to be admired as well.

Lloyd, Ernie (Dan Klarer) and Marvin. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Where else are you going to find a musical paean to snow mobile suits?

Surprisingly, Guys On Ice isn’t all fun and games. There is a fair amount of angst and reflection on life, love, and human existence. Both men have problems around their personal lives and love interests that eventually find tentative resolutions.

And then there’s the irrepressible Dan Klarer as Ernie, Ernie the moocher, as Lloyd and Marvin describe him on a number of occasions. And Ernie lives up to the name…but he also contributes to the hijinks and humor that Guys On Ice is noted for.

Ernie, Lloyd, and Marvin Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

And it is suggested that when you die and go to ice fishing heaven, that maybe you have to spend a few days in Algoma first. And all apologies to Algoma.

Guys On Ice is written by Fred Alley and has amused audiences for years hither and yon. At the Rep, James Kaplan does the music and Jeffrey Herbst is the director and choreographer.

And Godot? Spoiler alert! Marvin has been in contact with a TV fishing show host who Marvin is expecting to visit Lloyd and himself at the shanty. One of the reasons he invited Lloyd along on this particular day. Great songs and great humor results in the anticipation…but it never happens.

And the Bears still suck!

Guys On Ice runs through March 17th, 2024 at the Stackner Cabaret. More information and ticket ordering here!

article © 2024 The New World Digs

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Milwaukee Rep’s Little Women Well Suited For The 21st Century.

Rebecca Cort, Katie Peabody, Colleen Madden, Amelio García, and Cy Paolantonio in Little Women. Photo by Bronwen Houck.

So am I suggesting that playwright Kate Hamill and director Marti Lyons have updated Louisa May Alcott’s fascinating story to the new century? No, far from it, the play hews closely to it’s 19th Century roots…but the story around family, the effects of war on families, the position of women in society, gender identity, and the coming of age for young women…continue to ring true today and the audience in the Rep’s Quadracci Powerhouse Theater certainly felt the emotional effects and shifts…as was apparent from the laughs and sighs and silences clearly exhibited during the performance.

And this is a play not to be missed. I was surprised and elated by the range of emotions it pushed across my horizons. I knew there would be some angst and sorrow but I was surprised by the humor…the type that made me laugh out loud…what a joy and a plus. But yes there was dread and concern and loss resulting in mourning for the Marches and for us. And it all reached out to me beyond my expectations.

Of course we have Alcott’s famous March sisters, Amy, Jo, Meg, and Beth, and their family, friends, and community. The central character is Jo, who struggles to define her role in the family as she grows. An aspiring writer she also faces discrimination from the local editor because she is a woman. He dismisses her first attempt at a novel out of hand simply for that reason and suggests she return with her father or husband. Amelio Garcia is Jo at the Rep…and gives us every nuance the character demands…self doubt, swagger, love of family, longing for friendship, and frustrations from the limits imposed on her by her gender and gender identity.

A key performance for me is Rebecca Cort’s Amy…played in a fashion that was in no way suitable…I mean subtle (you’ll understand if you attend the play and gather in Amy’s malapropisms which are annoyingly documented by Jo). But Cort easily shifts from the youngster: an annoying, brash, lively, and absolutely adorable school girl to a rather abrasive shrew in young adulthood. Cort just nails this role and you need to watch her even when she isn’t the focus of the scene!

Cy Paolantonio is Meg March, the one sister who is initially comfortable with the social norms of the time and is ready and willing to comply. But she too has her moment of crisis and returns to the comfortable familiar surroundings of home and family before she finally comes to the realization that her chosen path is where she belongs. And Beth March is emphatically portrayed by Katie Peabody, the one March sister who actually seems to be the odd one out but is the most comfortable in her skin. Described as the conscience, Peabody presents a young woman in touch with her family, her society, and nature and is good with that. And her role is the family touchstone is clearly displayed during her illness and eventual death in the play.

But it’s not all just Little Women here. There is a little man in the form of Laurie, full name Theodore Laurence, a well-to-do neighbor who seems smitten with Jo while Amy seems to be smitten with him. Laurie is played by Austin Winter and moves from a confident and playful young man into a very thoughtful, suave, and loving adult. His interest in Jo is unrequited and he doesn’t realize that until late in the play when he proposes to her. He is to be forgiven his lack of awareness here as Jo finds him attractive in her own way and they enjoy a sincere and playful friendship early on.

The set design here is truly amazing as the only constant is a colorful patterned rug apparently painted on the theater floor. Every other set piece is readily and easily movable and tends to be in constant motion via exchanges by the actors. This little ballet is just a miracle and director Lyons, movement director Paolantonio, scenic designer Collette Pollard, stage manager Kira Neighors, et al should get a standing ovation as well as the cast.

Little Women runs through February 18th, 2024. More information and tickets can be found here.

And as always, extra credit readings: Play Guide! and Program!

article © 2024 The New World Digs