On Stage

John McGivern’s stories resonate with audiences of all stripes – Photo: Courtesy

John McGivern was completing a run of the play “Shear Madness” in Chicago when a member of the company took him aside and commanded, “You’re going on stage this summer and tell the stories you’ve been telling us backstage.”

Caroline O’Connor – Photo: Courtesy

Caroline O’Connor is “on stage” even when she’s offstage. Performing courses through her veins like lifeblood as she breaks into a phrase of a song or a character she plays. My 45-minute interview with her is really more of a preview of “Bombshells,” the upcoming one-woman show written specifically for her that opens Nov. 22 at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Quadracci Powerhouse stage.

A scene from the national tour of “Spring Awakening.” – Photo: Courtesy

Perhaps German social critic Frank Wedekind would be gratified to know that his banned 1891 play “Frühlings Erwachen” became the inspiration for one of Broadway’s most influential contemporary productions.

Photo: Courtesy

Musical legends never die, but every so often they lose their museums.

Runs Dec. 9-12 at Madison’s Barrymore Theatre

For George Gonzalez, one the greatest challenges in directing “The Santaland Diaries,” author David Sedaris’ wickedly funny bitch session about a season spent serving time as an elf in Santaland at Macy’s department store, was what to do about Snowball, the fellow elf on whom main character Crumpet (R. Peter Hunt) has a crush.

Flora Coker, Mark Ulrich and MacDonald Kerr in “Four Places.” The play runs through Oct. 10 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. Call 414-278-0765 or visit: www.nextact.org. – Photo: Courtesy

Many adult children today struggle to balance their lives and families with the needs of ailing, elderly parents and relatives who can no longer care for themselves.

Marcus Truschinski and Tracy Michelle Arnold in American Players Theatre’s “The Gift of the Magi.” – Photo: Carissa Dixon

Maybe it was an idea whose time has finally come, but American Players Theatre has at last embraced the Christmas holidays with a musical version of “The Gift of the Magi,” the Spring Green company’s first-ever holiday production. The only question is – what took them so long?

Mother Superior’s Ho-Ho-Holy Night plays Dec. 8-19 at Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

In this wacky production, when Mother Superior is invited to St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church to create a new type of holiday show, one that blends the secular with the sacred, she comes up with a zany scenario that combines “the gift-ness with the Christmas.” One scene has Santa Claus babysitting the baby Jesus so that Mary and Joseph can go caroling with the neighbors.

Chase Stoeger and Jennifer L. Shine in “Main-Travelled Roads.” – Photo: Mark Frohna

Life in 1880s rural Wisconsin was challenging enough working the farm, dealing with the harsh winters and integrating immigrants with the “Yankees” in the developing Midwest. Add love to the mix and you have “Main-Travelled Roads,” a charming remembrance of the era set to music.