Raise the Curtain!
Troupes prep for a vibrant season

Milwaukee has a wide-ranging and exciting theater scene, and the upcoming season finds local companies performing at the top of their games. The question is not what to see, but how to take it all in. Here’s a partial list and comprehensive links to help you decide.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater

With four individual venues, the Milwaukee Rep offers not only some of the best, but certainly the most theater of any area performing arts troupe. This season’s highlights include:

Quadracchi Powerhouse: Jeffery Hatcher’s “Ten Chimneys,” already in performance, peeks into the lives of Broadway superstars Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne at their landmark Genesee Depot home west of Milwaukee as they rehearse Anton Chekov’s “The Seagull.” The parallels between the two plays highlight this lush comedy (Aug. 30-Sept. 25).

Other productions include Eric Simonson’s “Lombardi,” with Lee Ernest as the iconic football coach (Oct. 11-Nov. 13); the award-winning musical “Next to Normal” (Dec. 6-Jan. 15); Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Jan. 3-March 4); and Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello,” modernized to the world of motorcycle gangs (April 3-May 6).

Stiemke Studio: Sarah Ruhl’s “In the Next Room or the vibrator play” has attracted wide-ranging attention, as well as Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations, for its tale of a Victorian physician who creates an electronic “appliance” to help treat women’s “hysteria” while ignoring the similar needs of his wife in the next room (March 7-April 22).

Other shows on tap include Dael Orlandersmith’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated “Yellowman” (Sept. 28-Nov. 13) and “Rep Lab,” a collection of one-acts by the Rep’s Intern Ensemble (Jan. 12-16).

Stackner Cabaret: In “Song Man Dance Man,” Academy Award-winning performer Jon Peterson recreates famous hoofers and singers in tribute to their stage and screen contributions. As George M. Cohan, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Sammy Davis Jr. and Anthony Newley, Peterson captures 25 memorable moments in a delightful evening of solo performance (Nov. 4-Jan. 8).

Other productions include “From My Hometown,” Lee Summers’ tribute to Motown (Sept. 9-Oct. 30); “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” (Jan. 13-March 11); and “Always…Patsy Cline” (March 16-May 6).

Pabst Theater: Former Rep artistic director Joseph Hanreddy returns to direct his adaptation with Edward Morgan of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” God bless us, every one (Dec. 1-24).

108 E. Wells St.; tickets 414-224-9490; www.milwaukeerep.org

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre

Alfred Uhry’s “Driving Miss Daisy,” familiar to many as a film, started out as a 1988 Pulitzer prize-winning play about race relations in the American South and how they change when a rich, elderly white woman and her aging black chauffeur connect on multiple levels. The same exploration of honor, integrity and humor characterizes the stage production (Oct. 13-20).

The season also features “Heroes” (Nov. 23-Dec. 18), Tom Stoppard’s Olivier Award-winning tale of three aging World War I veterans; “A Thousand Words” (Feb. 16-March 11) penned by Madison’s Forward Theater’s Gwendolyn Rice; and the William Inge classic “Bus Stop” (April 12-29).

158 N. Broadway; tickets 414-291-7800; www.chamber-theatre.com

Off the Wall Theatre

What could be stranger than a stage version of the film noir classic “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” How about a drag version featuring Jeremy Welter as Bette Davis and Mark Hagen as Joan Crawford? And what if Welter and Hagen were to switch roles in alternate performances? All in all, that’s pretty off-the-wall, and with special midnight performances, too (Oct. 27-Nov. 6).

The season also features Nevil Shute’s post-nuclear-holocaust tale “On the Beach” (Sept. 15-25); creative director Dale Gutzman’s “Holiday Punch” (Dec. 16-31); Wendy Wasserstein’s feminist treatise “The Sisters Rosensweig” (Feb. 2-12); a tuneful version of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (March 29-April 8); and “Road Side,” a country-western musical by “The Fantasticks” creators Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.

127 E. Wells St.; tickets 414-327-3552; www.offthewalltheatre.com

In Tandem Theatre

Chaim Potok’s moving novel “The Chosen,” adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner, chronicles the rise of two young men growing up in 1940s New York under the watchful eye of the father of one whose cold silence toward him eventually reveals its purpose to the benefit of both. Posner’s adaptation won the 1999 Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play (March 2-25).

The season also features Jeffrey Hatcher’s “Mrs. Mannerly” (Oct. 7-23), a comedy about childhood etiquette; the return of the holiday farce “Scrooge in Rouge” (Dec. 2-31); and Rich Orloff’s “Veronica’s Position” (May 4-20), a romantic comedy set among love and politics in Washington, D.C.

628 N. 10th St.; tickets 414-271-1371; www.intandemtheatre.org

Boulevard Ensemble Studio Theatre

Check website periodically for new shows.

2252 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.; tickets 414-744-5757; www.boulevardtheatre.com

NextAct Theatre

In Richard Lyons Conlon’s “One Time,” Sonia and Mason meet and share the secrets of two lifetimes on a park bench. But how much can they reveal before one time turns into one too many? The answers will surprise you in this world premiere developed in part at the playwrights’ theater Chicago Dramatists (April 5-29).

Other productions this season include Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen’s “The Exonerated” (Oct. 6-30) about the lives of wrongly convicted death-row inmates; A.B. Gurney’s “Sylvia” (Nov. 17-Dec. 18) designed to appeal to the dog lover in us all; and Morris Paynch’s “Vigil” (Feb. 2-26) about the heartless pursuit of an inheritance and plans that go awry.

255 S. Water St.; tickets 414-278-0765; www.nextact.org

Youngblood Theatre

The company performs in found space around the Milwaukee metro area. Check website for new show announcements.

Tickets 414-369-2375; www.youngbloodtheatre.com

Renaissance Theaterworks

Don Nigro’s “Gorgons” places two aging Hollywood starlets at each other’s throats in hopes of keeping their celebrity status alive by appearing together in an aptly named low-budget horror film. Sound like “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” There must be something in the Milwaukee air (See Off the Wall Theatre’s Halloween treat.) (Oct. 14-Nov. 6).

Also on tap is Charlayne Woodard’s “Neat” (Jan. 13-Feb. 5), a tale of two African-American women in the 1960s; and Joanne Murray Smith’s “Honour,” a linguistically stylized story of a woman whose husband of 32 years leaves her and what she must do to cope.

158 N. Broadway; tickets 414-291-7800; www.r-t-w.com

Theatre Gigante

The dead come back to life in “Shades of Gray: A Festival Celebrating Spaulding Gray.” The mixed-media event includes a performance of “Spaulding Gray: Stories Left to Tell,” the Milwaukee premier of Steven Soderburgh’s documentary film “And Everything is Going Fine” and a special appearance by Gray’s wife Kathleen Russo (Oct. 26-29).

1925 E. Kenilworth Place; tickets 414-961-6119; www.theatregigante.org

Soulstice Theatre

The Milwaukee premier of Jonathan Larson’s “Tick, Tick…Boom!” follows a young composer on his journey from oblivion to stardom that culminated in the Broadway blockbuster “Rent” (Jan. 26-Feb. 11).

Other shows this season include Richard Alfieri’s “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks” (Sept. 22-Oct. 8) that pits a gay dance instructor against a Southern Baptist preacher with positive results; “The Nerd” (Nov. 3-19), a comedy of vengeance by Milwaukee author Larry Shue; the regional premier of Adam Rapp’s drama “Nocturne” (March 8-24); and John Kolvenbach’s “Goldfish” (May 3-19), another regional premier from the author of “Love Song.”

3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave., St. Francis; tickets 414-481-2800; www.soulsticetheatre.org

Theatrical Tendencies

Douglas Carter Beane’s Tony Award-nominated “The Little Dog Laughed” tells the classic Hollywood story of a hard-driving Hollywood agent, her closeted screen idol client, a sexy young “rent boy” and the rent boy’s needy girlfriend. The New York Daily News called it “big fun and an out delight (Oct. 7-22).

This year’s program also includes Jonathan Harvey’s “Beautiful Thing,” the coming-out play that every gay man has fallen for (March 2-17).

703 S. Second St.; tickets 414-755-2700; www.theatricaltendencies.com

Pink Banana Theater Co.

Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” is an imaginative comedy that involves a quiet café, an incessantly ringing cell phone and a dead man with tales to tell (Nov. 3-12). There currently are no other productions on Pink Banana’s calendar.

255 S. Water St.; tickets available through website; www.pinkbananatheatre.com

BEYOND MILWAUKEE

Forward Theater

Madison’s Forward Theater continues raising the Capital City’s professional theatrical bar, this season offering:

“The Farnsworth Invention,” by Emmy- and Oscar-winning author Aaron Sorkin, (“The Social Network,” “The West Wing”), chronicles the struggle between television inventor Philo Farnsworth and network producer David Sarnoff. American Players Theatre’s Michael Huftile and Nicholas Harazin star (Nov. 3-20).

“A Thousand Words” by Gwendolyn Rice, Forward’s communications director, concerns a box of black-and-white photos from the 1930s discovered among the late Ernest Hemingway’s possessions. The show features APT’s Sarah Day and is produced in collaboration with Milwaukee’s Chamber Theatre (Jan. 19-Feb. 5).

“Love Stories” offers one-act plays by Bertolt Brecht, Dorothy Parker and George Bernard Shaw about the evolution of romantic relationships. APT actors (and real-life married couple) James Ridge and Colleen Madden follow the course of true love through all three works (April 12-29).

Forward also will host two staged readings. One play, developed by the Wisconsin Story Project, concerns the 1970 bombing of UW’s Sterling Hall. The other will come from the Wisconsin Wrights playwriting competition. (Dates to be announced.)

Tickets 608-234-5001; www.forwardtheater.com

Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

Theatrical productions are just some of the many events scheduled for Appleton’s Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. This season the Kimberley-Clark “Broadway Across America” series will offer perennial favorites “Les Miserables” (Nov. 15-20), “Mary Poppins” (March 6-11), “West Side Story” (April 24-29) and “Rain,” featuring the music of The Beatles (May 18-19). “Billy Elliott,” originally set to open the fall 2011 season, has been rescheduled to the spring 2012 with dates to be announced.

In addition, seasonal favorite “A Christmas Carol” will entertain audience members as only Charles Dickens’ tale of redemption can (Dec. 15).

400 W. College Ave., Appleton; tickets (920) 730-3760: www.foxcitiespac.com

University Theatre

University Theatre, the producing arm of the UW-Madison’s Department of Theatre and Drama, offers a full season of student and faculty-led productions, including:

“[title of show] a musical,” Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell’s yet-to-be-written (and untitled) love letter to musical theater (Sept. 9-18).

“Ti Jean and His Brothers” is Caribbean author Derek Walcott’s devilishly fanciful, yet politically provocative West Indies folk parable (Oct. 28-Nov. 12).

“Bat Boy: the Musical” is a “horror-ific” tale imagined from the pages of supermarket tabloids about a half-human/half-bat’s search for love in all the wrong dark places (Nov. 18-Dec. 10).

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the most famous of Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American playwright August Wilson’s 10-play cycle, celebrates the beauty and artistry of the blues, as well as the complexities of relationships between the races (March 2-17).

“Pedro and the War Cantata,” the English-language premiere of Argentine playwright María Inés Falconi’s award-winning drama, is this season’s Theatre for Youth production (March 23-31).

“The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” considered by scholars to be William Shakespeare’s first (and shortest) play, introduces the Bard’s now familiar gender-bending heroines, scene-stealing servants and star-crossed lovers (April 20-May 5).

800 Langdon St.; tickets 608-265-2787; www.utmadison.com