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Written by Mike Muckian, Contributing writer
Oct 4, 2011
“Billy Elliott” appears at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and the Overture Center for the Arts in 2012.
Blue Man Group appears at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in January
All the world may be a stage and all of us players, but when it comes to legitimate theater the options are better than ever in Wisconsin. Your ticket to Broadway’s hottest shows may be closer than you think.
Local troupes aren’t the only ones offering first-class productions this season. Not to be outdone, some of the best performing arts venues in both Milwaukee and Madison are featuring area premieres of some the top shows in the country.
Regardless of your theatrical tastes, there are selections to please everyone. And for musical fans, the all-singing, all-dancing lineups will have audiences’ toes tapping from the moment the performers take the stage.
Here’s a look at some of what lies ahead:
Marcus Center for the Performing Arts
“Billy Elliott” may have been postponed until next summer, but the Broadway in Milwaukee series still opens this fall with a dynamic production that will wow music fans of all ages. “Million Dollar Quartet,” the rock musical, chronicles the 1956 recording session at Memphis’ Sun Studios that brought together Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins for the first and only time in history. You don’t have to be a rockabilly fan to appreciate the multi-million dollar impact these legendary performers had on popular music (Nov. 15-20).
The season continues with the azure-faced percussionists/performers known as “Blue Man Group.” These characters bring a form of uniquely anonymous, but infinitely engaging entertainment (Jan 3-8).
The Disney classic
“Mary Poppins” follows, reminding audiences that life can indeed be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – try saying it three times fast without taking a breath in between (Feb. 28 – March 4).
Spring arrives with the Bernstein-Sondheim classic “West Side Story,” an update of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that has become one of the greatest love musicals of all time (April 10-15).
Finally, at long last, “Billy Elliott,” dances into Milwaukee on July 18-29. The smash musical about the little British boy who trades his boxing gloves for ballet slippers won 10 Tony Awards in 2009 and has delighted audiences around the world ever since.
Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee; tickets 414-273-7206; www.marcuscenter.org.
Milwaukee Theatre
Tyler Perry’s riotously funny “The Haves and Have Nots” – the latest work from the African-American actor, author, filmmaker and director – opens the season with a look at the education that a wealthy family receives when they see how their maid and her family live (Oct. 7-8).
Next up is the Rogers & Hammerstein seminal classic “South Pacific,” guaranteed to provide some enchanted evenings for audiences (Oct. 28-30). The season continues with “Disney Live: Three Classic Fairy Tales.” Included are the familiar stories of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, all set to lush, charming music (Nov. 20).
The Beatles tribute “Rain” brings the Fab Four to life once again (March 1). Chicago blues can enjoy the sounds of Jake and Elwood and the “All New Original Tribute to The Blues Brothers” (March 8). “Shrek the Musical,” based on the animated film classic, proves that large green ogres need love, too (April 5-8).
Milwaukee Theatre’s season ends with the 2008 Tony Award-winning
“In the Heights,” a musical set in New York that explores what it takes to make a living and what it costs to have a dream (May 4-5). It’s the show that has everyone talking, and you will, too!
Milwaukee Theatre, 500 W. Kilbourn Ave, Milwaukee; tickets: 800-745-3000; www.milwaukeetheatre.com.
Overture Center for the Arts
Overture Center, too, saw “Billy Elliott” postponed from 2011 to a 2012 date. In the meantime, Madison’s Broadway season opens with “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” considered one of the finest Broadway film adaptations to hit the boards and the winner of both a Tony and an Olivier Award. It’s a story of true love that is felt with the heart and seen with mind, not the eyes (Dec. 6-11).
The season continues with percussionists “Blue Man Group” (Jan. 24-29) and the classic “Fiddler on the Roof” (Feb. 24-26). Spring brings Andrew
Lloyd-Weber’s perennial favorite “Cats” and its memorable hit song “Memories” (March 16-19). Runaway hit “The Addams Family,” based on the ’60s sitcom which, in turn, was based on the macabre, humorous “New Yorker” cartoons of Charles Addams, comes to town on its first national tour May 1-6.
Madison’s Broadway season will close with the heartwarming “Billy Elliott” (July 10-15). Fans who want to see the show more than once should note that “Billy” dances into Madison a week before he arrives in Milwaukee. Perhaps he’s traveling from the West Coast.
Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St., Madison; tickets 608-258-414; www.overturecenter.com.
