World Premiere Wisconsin Offers an Enticing Menu of New Plays, Musicals

BY ANNE SIEGEL

Milwaukee’s newest “festival” is getting an early start this year, and it won’t be located on the traditional Summerfest grounds. Called World Premiere Wisconsin, it will bring a season of new plays and musicals to Milwaukee theaters, as well as theaters located around the state.

Some of the productions on tap are by well-known playwrights, while others are the work of relatively new voices in the theater. All of the work promises the joy of discovery for theatergoers wanting something new and exciting in their entertainment line-up.

World Premiere Wisconsin (WPW) is the result of years of work by some of Wisconsin’s premier, non-profit theater companies. One of WPW’s goals is to strengthen relationships between theater companies around the state. WPW is based on a similar initiative in Washington, D.C. In 2019, Forward Theater Artistic Director Jen Uphoff Gray called on the leaders of Wisconsin’s top theaters to come together and create what is now known as WPW. Forward Theater is located in Madison.

The festival “provides opportunities to connect and collaborate in new ways,” according to Michael Cotey, festival producer.

Cotey, who lives in Chicago, grew up in South Milwaukee. He attended UWM and, in 2014, he was voted UWM’s “Graduate of the Last Decade.” He was the founding artistic director of Milwaukee’s Youngblood Theatre (200913). Cotey has directed at many of Milwaukee’s major theaters, including Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Next Act Theatre, First Stage, and UWM.

Audiences Are Returning

Although WPW began as a pre-COVID initiative, it has become even more important now, Cotey says. Theater, like all of the performing arts, has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.

Audiences are slowly returning to enjoy the spectacle of live entertainment, but attendance has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. WPW is meant to encourage audiences to come out and see what’s new in the theater community, Cotey says.

WPW will showcase the talents of passionate Wisconsin theater artists for the benefit of both loyal audiences, and newcomers who are willing to dabble in the unexpected.

It must be noted that Wisconsin theaters have long championed the production of new work, which is considered a critical element for the health, sustainability and survival of theater itself.

The festival kicks off in Milwaukee with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s current production of The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh. Funny and deeply moving, this exploration of the lives of two Asian immigrants is by the same playwright who wrote The Chinese Lady, which was part of the Rep’s 2018-19 season. The Heart Sellers continues in the Stiemke Studio through March 19.

Other Milwaukee theaters involved in the festival include: Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (Hoops by Eliana Pipes), Renaissance Theaterworks (Tidy by Kristin Idaszak), Next Act Theatre (God’s Spies by Bill Cain) and First Stage (The Gracious Sisters by Alice Austen).

Other new work will debut in Madison and Door County as part of the project. There’s also a longer list of participating theaters statewide, consisting of semi-professional, community and college productions. They plan to offer a variety of full productions, staged readings and workshops. In all, more than 20 Wisconsin communities are expected to participate in the festival, which concludes in June.

For more information about WPW, including ticket deals and offers, go to the website at worldpremierewisconsin.com. Visitors can sign up for an app that tracks all of the festival’s offerings. There’s also a free digital passport for theatergoers to earn points (and rewards) for festival plays they attend.