On Stage

Hepburn resurrected in encore performance

Written by Michael Muckian Jul 28, 2011
Angela Iannone as Katherine Hepburn in “Tea at Five.”

Angela Iannone as Katherine Hepburn in “Tea at Five.” – Photo: In Tandem Theatre

Angela Iannone wants to make it perfectly clear that screen legend Katherine Hepburn, whom she plays in the In Tandem Theatre Co.’s upcoming production of “Tea at Five,” is not a celebrity in the modern sense. And the Milwaukee actor is strident in her opinion.

Back story
The gay backstage story of ‘Jersey Boys’

Written by Michael Muckian,
Contributing writer
Jun 30, 2011
Quinn VanAntwerp, Joseph Leo Bwarie, Matt Bailey, Steve Gouveia and the company of Jersey Boys. – Photo: Joan Marcus

Quinn VanAntwerp, Joseph Leo Bwarie, Matt Bailey, Steve Gouveia and the company of Jersey Boys. – Photo: Joan Marcus

Gay actor Jonathan Hadley, who plays music producer Bob Crewe in the touring production of “Jersey Boys” that opens July 20 at Milwaukee’s Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, knows the most popular gay love song of all time. And he’s chagrinned by the fact that very few people – gay or straight – know that it’s a gay love song.

APT conjures Noel Coward’s ‘Blithe Spirit’

Written by Michael Muckian Jun 16, 2011
american-players-theatre-blithe-spirit

Paula Hubman Daniel, David Daniel, Susan Sweeney, Colleen Madden and Jim DeVita appear in APT’s “Blithe Spirit.” – Photo: Zane Williams

When asked late in his career why he refused to acknowledge he was gay, Noel Coward is reported to have replied, “Because there are two old ladies in Worthing who don’t know, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Classic novel comes to life in Off the Wall show

Written by Michael Muckian May 19, 2011
Jeremy Welter and Eric Nelson in Off the Wall Theatre’s production of “The Idiot.”

Jeremy Welter and Eric Nelson in Off the Wall Theatre’s production of “The Idiot.” – Photo: Courtesy

Even in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s time, bad things happened to good people. Based on the narrative in Off the Wall Theatre’s stage adaptation of the Russian author’s novel “The Idiot,” which opens May 19, perhaps the only place a saint can be safe is in a sanitarium.

The Bard roams at Door Shakespeare

Written by Michael Muckian Jul 14, 2011
Pride and Predjudice

Scene from Door Shakespeare’s “Pride and Prejudice,” currently playing in repertory. – Photo: Door Shakespeare

If you’re looking for a home where Shakespeare doth roam, then make Sundays and Tuesdays at Björklunden vid Sjön in Door County your destination. That’s when Door Shakespeare’s outdoor production of “Twelfth Night,” which opened July 8, takes key scenes from the Bard of Avon’s comedy out of its garden theater and presents them amid the estate’s natural settings.

The Broadway cast of “The Addams Family”

The Broadway cast of “The Addams Family”

From blue men to gay men, from Streisand impersonations and Sedaka tributes to “Billy Elliot” and “Beauty and the Beast,” Madison’s Overture Center for Arts has set its 2011-12 season at sizzle, with a wealth of both mainstream and out-of-the-box entertainment options. After several light seasons due to a soft economy, Overture Hall, The Capitol Theater and The Playhouse will once again sing, dance and just get silly again.

APT season runs theatrical gamut

Written by Michael Muckian,
Contributing writer
Jun 2, 2011
American Players Theatre’s season runs from June 11 to Oct. 16. For more information, visit americanplayers.org. – Photo: Courtesy

American Players Theatre’s season runs from June 11 to Oct. 16. For more information, visit americanplayers.org. – Photo: Courtesy

The Bard of Avon descends once again on Spring Green this summer, but William Shakespeare’s works no longer dominate the schedule for American Players Theatre.

The storyline sounds familiar: Joey, a 17-year-old kid, runs away from home and moves in with the grandparents he hardly knows, since they have long been estranged from his parents.

But we haven’t quite seen this story before, because the grandparents are a gay couple, Donald and Patrick – yes, “Grandma” is a man. And Joey is a gay kid who has had enough of the bullying he’s suffered and of the insensitivity of his own parents, Gene and Corrine.

Peninsula Players gets Wilde

Written by Michael Muckian Jun 30, 2011

When actor Greg Vinkler dons drag and plays Lady Bracknell in Peninsula Players’ production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” he will be participating in one more grand theater tradition. This tradition, however, is not very old.

Since Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people” premiered in 1895, it has featured a long line of actresses portraying the Lady Bracknell role, including Dame Edith Evans and Stockard Channing. But beginning about 1975, male actors also have played the character, says Vinkler, who also serves as artistic director for the summer stock company based in the Door County community of Fish Creek. Brian Bedford played Bracknell in Roundabout Theatre Co.’s revival of the play on Broadway earlier this year, earning a Tony Award nomination in the process.

‘Glass Menagerie’ opens APT’s Touchstone

Written by Michael Muckian Jun 16, 2011

Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” is considered to be the iconic gay American playwright’s most autobiographical work. The drama of the Wingfield family and its dashed dreams, crystallized in a collection of small glass animals, opens American Players Theatre’s summer season at Touchstone, the intimate 201-seat indoor theater on the company’s Spring Green campus.

“The Glass Menagerie” is only APT’s second foray into Williams’ work. “The Night of the Iguana” was performed Up the Hill at APT’s outdoor amphitheater in 2007. But “Menagerie” marks a step forward for the company both in terms of intimacy and in exploring some of Williams’ most poignant themes, according to director Aaron Posner.

Madison’s Bach Dancing hosts New Harvest fundraiser

Written by Michael Muckian,
Contributing writer
Jun 2, 2011

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the summer classical music ensemble in Madison that performs “chamber music with a bang,” opens its 20th season on June 10 by giving the New Harvest Foundation a boost in its fundraising efforts for LGBT causes.

BDDS’s opening concert at the Stoughton Opera House is preceded by cocktails and appetizers at 5:30 p.m., with a cake reception immediately following the 7:30 p.m. show. The after-show fundraiser takes place at the home of former New Harvest board member John Beutel. A $50 ticket purchases admission to the show and reception, while $35 gains admission to the concert only.

‘No Apology’ necessary for Youngblood play

Written by Michael Muckian May 19, 2011
Rich Gillard and Michael Cotey in “An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening.”

Rich Gillard and Michael Cotey in “An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening.” – Photo: Joe Hang

How in Hell would you spend your last hour on Earth if you knew you were going to die?