This is a reprint of my remarks about “Ring Of Fire” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in their Stackner Cabaret during the 2018 – 2019 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline on April 1, 2019!
Ring of Fire – the songs and a bit of the life of the late
Johnny Cash comes to life in the Stackner Cabaret of the Milwaukee Repertory
Theater. If you like country or simply love Johnny Cash…this show will not
disappoint. You’ve got the younger Johnny…the mature Johnny…June Carter
Cash…and depending on the tune the Tennessee Three or the Tennessee Two.
And songs…and songs…and songs…it is unlikely that they will
miss your favorite Cash song or June/Johnny duet…although I would have liked to
hear “One Piece At A Time”! AND the crowd loved the show…standing O and an
encore and everything!!
But the musicians were right on…the harmonies perfect…the
instrumental hand offs (go see it you’ll know what I mean) were flawless…the
choreography enchanting…and as the story unwound the age and wisdom and love
and fatigue all were exhibited. Awesome jobs from the cast: Alex Keiper, James David Larson, Kent M.
Lewis, Corbin Mayer, and Paul Wyatt.
I know this is
cabaret but one thing I don’t understand is why it is so important to employ
multi-instrumentalists and hand off instruments mid-song.
And although I was
right down in front, I couldn’t identify the acoustic guitars being used on
stage…if any of you know…please let me know!!
This is a reprint of my remarks about “Every Brilliant Thing” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in their Stiemke Studio during the 2018 – 2019 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline on April 22, 2019!
Every once in a while the theater presents you with a gem
that you weren’t quite expecting. Duncan Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing turned out to be that surprise this season.
Not originally on my subscription list, I attended under the auspices of the
Rep’s Social Media Club! (Thank your SMC)
Although this is technically a one actor play, with the
brilliant Scott Greer in the lead role, this play supports the proposition that
it takes a village to perform a play! Sounds silly? Well the stage is a Persian
rug dead center with the resulting theater in the round allowing the audience
to partake…as either the Vet or Dad or the school counselor or the fiancé/wife.
Unscripted parts prompted by Mr. Greer. And then there’s the call and response
throughout recounting the list of Every Brilliant
Thing. Violations all of the fourth wall that brings the serious nature of
the play’s subject matter down a notch and insures everyone present is fulling
engaged every moment. So if you attend and Mr. Greer offers you a card to read
before the show starts…take it! You will not regret it.
Some of the preview information that I had read suggested
that there were two characters here despite there being only the one acting role.
And at first I thought the second character was the audience…but that’s just
not right at all.
The storyline involves the lead character’s dance through
life…and it’s funny and sad and a bit depressing at different turns and
moments. And keep that word depressing in the back of your mind.
The first remembrances relate to his childhood and the
depression suffered by his mother and her initial (and unsuccessful) attempt to
kill herself. And his ‘life saving’ measure of inventing a list of every
brilliant thing to share with his mother. And as his life grows…the list
grows…and goes from supporting his efforts to support his mother…to supporting
himself.
So that second character? That depends. At first I thought
it was his mother. She is prominent and her struggles can weigh heavy on the
plot. But I think it shifts to the list of Every
Brilliant Thing as it rapidly takes on a life of its own and approaches a
million things. But as the lead enters full on adulthood we realize it is
depression. Unseen but not unspoken and certainly not unfelt.
There are a lot of joyous events recounted…some decidedly
sad ones…and discussions of family dynamics and the little things that we learn
about one another…and the tells that help guide our responses…even with those
we love.
And Kudos to the Stiemke Theater itself for transforming
from a traditional proscenium type to a three sided auditorium with the jewel
box stage in the fourth corner to a theater in the round this season!!!
There are after play discussions about mental health topics
for those who have the time or inclination to attend…participation is not
required.
This runs through May 5th…so there is still time
to catch it and it will be worth your while.
This is a reprint of my remarks about “Thinks I Know To Be True” at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater presented in their main stage Quadracci Powerhouse during the 2018 – 2019 season. This originally appeared on my Facebook timeline on or about March 31, 2019!
I wasn’t paying attention and I apologize. As part of the
Milwaukee Rep’s Social Media Club, I am supposed to write about my reactions to
the plays as the season progresses. Now the SMC gets seats for the first
weekend of a play’s run but I also have a subscription. So sometimes I had the
Rep move my tickets earlier in the run but because of other events, I used my
regular tickets for Things I Know To Be True. But there are now only TWO
performances left: They are both TODAY March 31: 2:00 PM Matinee and the final
performance at 7:00 PM. So if after reading this, you had better call for
tickets!!
I was warned by friends that this play would make me laugh
and make me cry. And it did…at times when I didn’t expect it and at times when
I did…and too often (for my eyes not for the drama) it moved from one to the
other without warning. So we have a family…30 years in development…solid middle
class blue collar Midwestern family (rewritten for the Midwest by the way).
Four kids…two of each…and the big themes of life and love and family and kids
and home and death. The children are all ‘adults’ and all in various stages of
launched but keep home as a touchstone in their own ways. We know these
people…some of us are these people. And that’s why we can laugh and cry and
love the characters so readily.
The events and timelines here are very very 21st
Century…and although this much action wouldn’t happen within a single family…it
all would play out across all of our families. I am trying to avoid giving too
much away. But we see the power dynamics between spouses…the changing rhythms
in relationships…the struggle to be an individual without losing the sense of
family…and we will recognize it all…and laugh and cry and understand.
The actors are all amazing and there is no way you don’t
believe that they are their characters…even as those characters transform…and
you love them all at different points in the play. The parents are early 60’s
age…my peers…or at least my younger siblings’ peers and the children mostly
millennial…so it is very contemporary. The only quibble I have is the parents’
viewpoint…it was a mix of my feeling as a parent but sometimes it seemed more
in keeping with my parents’ generation. Maybe I am reading too much into that
or maybe it got lost in the translation from the Australian.
When does your childhood end (and unspoken: does parenthood
ever end?)
