Welcome to Milwaukee Rep! For more than sixty years, Milwaukee Rep has presented compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and more recently full-scale musicals. Attending The Rep has become a tradition with nearly 200,000 annually enjoying world-class theater experiences that entertain, provoke, and inspire meaningful dialogue. I hope that you will join us for the 2016/17 Season and enjoy the shared experience of live theater! Opening the Quadracci Powerhouse season, I will direct the Tony Award-winning musical Man of La Mancha featuring Milwaukee-native and Broadway star Nathaniel Stampley. Rep Associate Artist Laura Gordon will direct Larry Shue’s hilarious The Foreigner, which will feature Rep favorites Gerard Neugent, James Pickering and Linda Stephens. The new year will welcome Milwaukee-native Ayad Akhtar back with his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced, as well as 10-time Joseph Jefferson Award-winner Hollis Resnik (End of the Rainbow), who will star in The Glass Menagerie, and closing out the Quadracci Powerhouse season will be Jane Eyre. In the Stiemke, from the writer of TV’s hit series Orange Is the New Black, comes The Royale, just proclaimed as a critics’ pick by The New York Times, followed by Grounded featuring the Milwaukee Rep premiere of Milwaukee-native Laura Braza as director. In the Stackner, Alexis J. Rogers will reprise her Joseph Jefferson Award-winning performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, and JC Clementz, director of our wildly popular Forever Plaid, will team up with Milwaukee Rep favorite Kelley Faulkner (Ragtime) for Irving Berlin’s I Love A Piano. Rounding out the Stackner season, a play about the legendary basketball coach Al McGuire will feature Marquette alumnus and Tony Award-winning actor Anthony Crivello and Frank Ferrante will recreate his legendary performance as Groucho Marx as seen on PBS in An Evening with Groucho. I invite you to become a member of The Rep family by subscribing today. The more plays you purchase, the more you save! You won’t want to miss a single show in this incredible season. Many thanks for your new or continued support. Warmly,
Mark Clements Artistic Director www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
Cedric Neal and the Cast of Dreamgirls (2015/16 Season). Photo by Michael Brosilow.
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Back By Popular Demand
BY Lanie Robertson
September 9 – October 30, 2016
DIRECTED BY
STACKNER CABARET
Leda Hoffmann
A tribute to a woman who shaped so much more than jazz and blues. As the 1950s come to a close, the famous Billie Holiday puts on a show in a small bar in Philadelphia. Unbeknownst to the audience, they will witness one of the last performances of her extraordinary life. Full of show stopping numbers like “God Bless the Child,” “Strange Fruit,” and “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” Lady Day shares her loves and losses in this award-winning musical fresh from its Broadway revival. Pull up a chair for an intimate evening that’s up close and personal, with one of the greatest jazz/blues vocalists of all time!
“[Alexis J. Rogers]
simply captivates… and when Rogers croons out Johnny Mercer’s ‘When a Woman Loves a Man:
goosebumps.” — HUFFINGTON POST
Alexis J. Rogers as Billie Holiday. Photo by Brandon Dahlquist
FEATURING
Alexis J. Rogers
REPRISING HER JOSEPH JEFFERSON AWARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE AS BILLIE HOLIDAY www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
September 20 – October 30, 2016 QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
Experience Man of La Mancha as you never have before, up close and personal in the intimate Quadracci Powerhouse. Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, it’s the classic story of Don Quixote retold in one of the most beloved musicals of all time. Imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition, Miguel de Cervantes enlists his fellow inmates to help his defense by telling a tale of a mad knight who believes the wrongs of the world can be corrected as he jousts at windmills with his trusty sidekick Sancho and his beloved Dulcinea. With beautiful songs like “The Impossible Dream” and “Dulcinea,” this timeless tale of love and adventure continues The Rep’s popular streak of bringing the best of Broadway to the intimate Powerhouse stage.
5 Tony Awards
including Best Musical
WRITEN BY
Dale Wasserman MUSIC BY Mitch Leigh LYRICS BY Joe Darion ORIGINAL PRODUCTION STAGED BY Albert Marre ORIGINALLY PRODUCED BY
Albert W. Selden and Hal James DIRECTED BY
Mark Clements SPONSORED BY:
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
Greg and Rhonda Oberland
FEATURING MILWAUKEE NATIVE AND BROADWAY STAR
Nathaniel Stampley AS DON QUIXOTE
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THE STIEMKE STUDIO SEASON IS SPONSORED BY ED SEABERG & PATRICK SMITH
September 28 – November 6, 2016
BY Marco Ramirez
STIEMKE STUDIO
DIRECTED BY Kevin Ramsey
A Brilliant New Play
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
Jackie Herd-Barber and Michael Barber
From the award-winning writer of the hit TV series Orange Is the New Black and Sons of Anarchy comes one of the hottest new plays fresh from its acclaimed New York run where it played to sold-out audiences and was a New York Times Critics’ Pick! Jay “The Sport” Jackson wants nothing more than to prove he’s the best boxer in the world but in the Jim Crow era, his chances are as good as knocked out. When a crooked boxing promoter hatches a plan for “the fight of the century,” The Sport just might land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion. Set in a boxing ring and inspired by the true story of the boxer who broke the color barrier in professional sports, The Royale packs a punch that will leave you breathless.
“The play’s opening scene shows Ramirez’s gift for timing –
with foot-stomps, hand-claps and fist-bumps punctuated to a millisecond throughout the fights
to represent the delivered punches.” — LONDON TELEGRAPH
“Original and graceful.
The Royale packs a punch!” — THE NEW YORK TIMES
www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
November 4, 2016 January 15, 2017 STACKNER CABARET
A Celebration of Irving Berlin As a piano with one sour note passes from owner to owner, it takes the audience on a musical journey through American history told by Irving Berlin’s timeless songs. From Ragtime to the swinging 1920s to the songs that inspired a nation in the Great Depression, I Love A Piano embarks on an exuberant journey of more than 50 Berlin classics such as “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “There’s No Business like Show Business,” “God Bless America” and “White Christmas.” Declared an “unforgettable tribute” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, these songs do more than identify the music of a generation: they define the music of our country.
MUSIC & LYRICS BY Irving Berlin CONCEIVED BY Ray Roderick
& Michael Berkeley
MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY
Michael Berkeley DIRECTED BY JC Clementz EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
Adlon Partners Pete and Beth Gottsacker Wayne and Kristine Lueders
FEATURING MILWAUKEE REP FAVORITE
Kelley Faulkner
“A spectrum of brilliant Berlin…
It captures both the astonishing range of Berlin’s musical styles and the cleverness of his simple rhymes, which makes it easy to understand why the songwriter remains a national treasure.” — THE BOSTON GLOBE
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Back By Popular Demand November 15 – December 18, 2016
BY Larry Shue DIRECTED BY Laura Gordon
QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
A classic side-splitting comedy for the whole family
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER:
When Froggy brings his friend Charlie to a fishing lodge, Charlie is feeling a bit unsociable. Hoping to help his friend, Froggy has the perfect solution— just tell everyone Charlie doesn’t speak English! But things start to go awry when Charlie suddenly finds himself privy to everyone’s secrets, including a plot to take over the lodge. Charlie must “learn” English quickly and think on his feet if he wants to save the lodge and his new friends. Originally written for Milwaukee Rep, The Foreigner returns for the first time in over a decade after playing to millions worldwide, and becoming one of the most celebrated comedies of all time.
“I laughed start to finish at one comic surprise after another.”
Anthony Petullo Foundation Four-Four Foundation, Inc.
FEATURING Gerard Neugent
James Pickering
— THE NEW YORKER
“devilishly clever” — NY POST
AND Linda Stephens
www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
January 17 – February 12, 2017
BY Ayad Akhtar
QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
DIRECTED BY
A Pulitzer Prize Winner
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
From the most in-demand playwright today, Milwaukee native and Rep Associate Artist Ayad Akhtar brings us the play that got everyone talking, winning the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, taking Broadway by storm and becoming the most produced play in America last year. Amir, a successful Pakistani-American lawyer, is happy, in love, and about to land a huge promotion. But when he and his wife, a Caucasian artist inspired by Islamic painting, host a dinner party for Amir’s African-American co-worker and her Jewish husband, the evening takes an unexpected turn and Amir makes a costly decision. Don’t miss this conversationstarter that will definitely give you something to talk about at the water cooler the next day.
Marcela Lorca Judy Hansen
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS:
Catherine and Buddy Robinson
A CO-PRODUCTION WITH GUTHRIE THEATER AND MCCARTER THEATRE
BY PULIZER PRIZE-WINNER AND MILWAUKEE NATIVE
Ayad Akhtar
“terrific, turbulent, with fresh currents of dramatic electricity” — THE NEW YORK TIMES
“one of the rare plays that one wishes were longer” — ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 9
Photos courtesy of Marquette University
January 20 – March 19, 2017
BY Dick Enberg
STACKNER CABARET
DIRECTED BY Brent Hazelton
Celebrate A Local Legend
SPONSORED BY:
Few names trigger more memories and smiles in Milwaukee than Al McGuire, Marquette University’s legendary basketball coach. Many know him for leading the Warriors to the NCAA Championship and for his candid television personality, but few knew him like his broadcasting partner—Emmy Awardwinner Dick Enberg. Just in time for March Madness, McGuire is a touching portrait of the uncommonly funny and profound man behind the legend with the man himself played by Marquette alumnus and Tony Award-winning actor Anthony Crivello.
MILWAUKEE NATIVE, MARQUETTE GRADUATE AND TONY AWARD-WINNER
Anthony Crivello AS AL MCGUIRE
Milwaukee Rep’s production of McGuire is part of the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Marquette basketball, and the 40th Anniversary of the championship season. www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
THE STIEMKE STUDIO SEASON IS SPONSORED BY ED SEABERG & PATRICK SMITH
February 22 – April 2, 2017
BY George Brant
STIEMKE STUDIO
DIRECTED BY
A New Play For Our Times
Laura Braza
An ace fighter pilot finds herself grounded when an unexpected pregnancy puts her career on hold. When she returns to the pilot’s seat, she finds that she’s now part of the “chair force,” flying drones and dropping bombs on enemy combatants in Afghanistan from the comfort of an air conditioned trailer in Las Vegas. In this gripping, ripped-fromthe-headlines new play, we find that hunting terrorists by day and being a mother by night may be this top gun’s toughest assignment yet.
“Critic’s Pick.
A sharp-eyed, timely script…clap all you want at the end of the play—and you’ll want to clap a lot—but the game stays with you” — TIME OUT NEW YORK
“Thought provoking, thoroughly engrossing” — THEATERMANIA
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March 7 – April 9, 2017
BY Tennessee Williams
QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
DIRECTED BY
A Great American Classic
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
Mark Clements
James E. and Mary K. Braza Faded southern belle Amanda frets constantly ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: over her two live-in adult children—the painfully shy Laura and her restless poet brother, Four-Four Foundation, Inc. Tom. After great prodding, Tom brings home a possible suitor for Laura, but an unknown truth causes shockwaves in the family unraveling the delicate fantasies that keep them going. Director Mark Clements reunites with 10-time Joseph Jefferson Award-winner Hollis Resnik, who wowed Rep audiences as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow, for a new production of this American classic that made Tennessee Williams a household name.
FEATURING 10-TIME JOSEPH JEFFERSON AWARD WINNER
Hollis Resnik
“Resnik projects soulful vulnerability, a sense that this stifled woman needs as much protection as she seeks to bestow” — THE WASHINGTON POST
www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
March 24 – May 28, 2017 STACKNER CABARET
One of the Greatest Comedians
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
Frank Ferrante DIRECTED BY Dreya Weber EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
David and Camille Kundert
Deemed the “greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx’s material” by The New York Times, Frank Ferrante brings his acclaimed production as seen on PBS and in New York to Milwaukee! This fast paced 90 minutes of hilarity features the best Groucho one-liners and songs including “Hooray For Captain Spalding,” and “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.” And don’t be shy—you might find yourself part of the show as Ferrante ad-libs throughout the performance in grand Groucho style. Called “nothing short of masterful” by the Chicago Tribune, come prepared to be entertained by the true master of comedy.
“When Frank Ferrante does Groucho Marx, all the shtick-the loping crouch, the rolling eyes, the cigar, the greasepaint mustache-comes back to life.
See this man. He is comic genius.” — THE SEATTLE WEEKLY
“Artful...
Mr. Ferrante’s timing is digital sharp” — THE NEW YORK TIMES 13
April 25 – May 21, 2017
BY Charlotte Brontë
QUADRACCI POWERHOUSE
ADAPTED BY Polly Teale
A Costume Drama Not To Be Missed
ORIGINALLY PRODUCED BY
Shared Experience Theatre Company DIRECTED BY KJ Sanchez
From the award-winning Shared A CO-PRODUCTION WITH CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK Experience Theatre Company in the SPONSORED BY: U.K. comes this engaging adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s epic story of a spirited young woman in a man’s world searching for a sense of self. Orphaned Jane overcomes a rough start in life to become an accomplished governess at the mysterious home of Mr. Rochester. Passions grow between them when a secret is revealed, threatening Jane’s hopes for the future. Told by eight actors playing more than 20 roles, The New York Times raved that “this Jane Eyre provides a bite…think of it as Brontë unbuttoned.”
“…engaging… brisk, persuasively acted production…fluidly staged like a dream…this ‘Jane Eyre’ is a romance without an overly romantic view of the world” — THE NEW YORK TIMES www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
SUBSCRIBER ADD-ONS
While not part of a subscription package, Subscribers have the first opportunity to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
April 13 - 17, 2017 STIEMKE STUDIO
7th ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION!
REP LAB SHORT-PLAY FESTIVAL
PRESENTING SPONSOR
Don’t miss the limited engagement of this one-of-a-kind night of theater featuring The Rep’s highly-lauded Emerging Professionals Ensemble.
Every fifteen years, Rep audiences are delighted by a spectacular new production of A Christmas Carol. After more than three years of planning and an investment of more than $1 million, Artistic Director Mark Clements, and his design team behind our wildly popular production of Ragtime, brings you a faithful new adaptation supported by the largest and most technically advanced set ever built by The Rep, complete with spectacular new special effects and Rep favorite actors. This will be the theatrical event of the year. Subscribers get to purchase the best seats before they go on sale to the general public—don’t miss out!
INTRODUCING OUR NEW SCROOGE
Jonathan Wainwright
Josiah Laubenstein in Rep Lab 2015
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The Cast of The Mousetrap (2015/16 Season). Photo by Michael Brosilow.
Terry Bellamy in Fences (2015/16 Season). Photo by Tim Fuller.
www.MilwaukeeRep.com 414-224-9490
Zonya Love in The Devil’s Music: The Life and Times of Bessie Smith (2015/16 Season). Photo by Tony Duvall.
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“STUNNING AND POWERFUL” - ONMILWAUKEE.COM
James DeVita in American Song (2015/16 Season). Photo by Michael Brosilow.
COVER (l-r): (top) Shalin Agarwal in The Invisible Hand; Amelia Cormack and Maiesha McQueen in Sirens of Song; Cedric Neal in Dreamgirls; Will Allen in The Mousetrap; James DeVita in American Song; David Allen Anderson and Marcus Naylor in Fences.(bottom) Katie Deal in Back Home Again: On the Road With John Denver; Kim Staunton in Fences; Brendan Meyer in The Mousetrap; Bo Johnson in Guys on Ice. Fences photos by Tim Fuller. Back Home Again photo by Tony Duvall. Other photos by Michael Brosilow. All 2015/16 Season.