Milwaukee Rep

There’s a lot of reasons for theaters to put on shows in any given season. Mark Clements’ reason is to start conversations and keep them going.

Being artistic director of the Milwaukee Rep, Clements has the ability to set up a lot of conversations, be they in the Quadracci Powerhouse mainstage, the ever-changeable Stiemke Studio, the intimate Stackner Cabaret or around the corner at the Pabst Theater. Across those four venues, he and the Rep will stage a total of 13 shows this season.

Clements says this season is an extension of last year’s, an intentionally challenging one for the audience “We were deliberately trying to reach out to certain factions of our audience and live by the creed a little bit,” Clements said. “If you want to attract a younger audience and you want to attract a broader range of audience, then you actually have to do that. Not just in the programing, but in the execution of the programming.”

This year’s collection of plays looks to have much the same methodology behind it. In the Quadracci alone, the season jumps from a quintessentially American musical (Ragtime) and a classic farce (Noises Off) into a depiction of Judy Garland’s last days (End of the Rainbow), a one-man retelling of Homer’s Trojan War epic (An Iliad) and a memory play devoted to Jerry Siegel, the man who created Superman (The History of Invulnerability).

Two of those shows – Ragtime and Invulnerability, both of which Clements is directing – are what Clements calls his “cornerstones”: productions he hopes will define the season that he builds the Rep’s slate around.

Ragtime earns the slot for its particular conversation topic, musicals that entertain yet remain substantive. Ragtime’s substance comes from its examination of early 20th century America through three groups: an African-American family, a white upper-class family and a family of Jewish, Eastern European immigrants. “It’s got everything,” Clements said. “It appeals to the people who like musicals, it appeals to the people who don’t like musicals.”

The History of Invulnerability focuses in on just one Amerian: Jewish comic book writer Jerry Siegel, who with his artistic partner Joe Shuster sold the idea for Superman to DC Comics – only to be unrecognized when the hero became famous. But Invulnerability is about more than creative disputes; Clements says the play pulls together threads about Siegel’s childhood and the Holocaust, frequently cutting over to the story of a boy in a concentration camp hoping for Superman’s aid. “The play’s set in Jerry Siegel’s mind, in the last hour and 46 minutes of his life,” Clements said. “So it looks at all these little episodes in his life. … It’s a really powerful story and a great theatrical opportunity to meld the world of superheroes and real people.”

Clements’ other two “cornerstones,” Venus in Fur and The Whipping Man, were both selected for being intelligent, sharp options for Rep audiences. “Both of those plays are very unique and clever,” Clements said. “They allow the audience to be smart and the actors to be smart, if you get it right … we’ve found that those intense kinds of dramas make for good storytelling.”

And then there’s the rest of the Powerhouse shows, the four diverse musical revues coming in to the Stackner Cabaret, Rep Lab, and A Christmas Carol to round out the Rep’s 13. It sounds like a hefty number, but Clements would love to see a higher one in years to come. “You know, there were times, probably in the last 10 years, there were six Powerhouse shows, three Stiemke, four Stackner, plus Christmas Carol and now we have Rep Lab. … It’s my intention, long term, to see if I can extend our season, maybe going back to six Powerhouse shows and extending us out into May.”

For now, take a look at the 13 plays Clements hopes will spark conversations in the months to come. For more information on this season or to order tickets/subscriptions, visit the Rep’s website.

I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett, created by David Grapes and Todd Olson, arrangements by Vince di Mura
Dates: Aug. 23 – Oct. 20, Stackner Cabaret
Synopsis: Three male singers perform selections from across Tony Bennett’s six decades of work in a musical tribute to the star crooner.
Selected Cast & Crew: Todd Olson, one of the show’s creators, will direct the Rep’s production. Its three tenors are Andrew M. McMath, Rob Tucker and Eric Jon Mahlum, and Richard Carsey, the Skylight’s principal conductor and frequent music director, will serve as the show’s pianist.
Mark’s Thoughts: “I’m a great Tony Bennett fan; I love that Tony Bennett’s crossed over so many generations. You can see him crooning in Vegas, but you’re also gonna potentially seen him at Glastonbury, or somewhere like that as well.”

Ragtime, book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, based on a novel by E. L. Doctorow
Dates: Sept. 17 – Oct. 27, Quadracci Powerhouse
Synopsis: Three diverse, initially unconnected families in early 20th century America find themselves navigating a new century in a radically changing nation.
Selected Cast & Crew: Mark Clements will direct, with musical director Dan Kazemi and Tony-nominated choreographer Stephen Mear. Ensemble members include local actors Jonathan Gillard Daly and Gerard Neugent and two actors with Broadway credentials: Carmen Cusack and Gavin Gregory.
Mark’s Thoughts: “Ragtime’s got a smart story in the way it intertwines fictitious characters and factual characters. And I cannot listen to the thing without crying – I cry three times every time I listen to it. It’s just such a emotionally powerful, manipulative piece, in a good way.”

Venus in Fur, by David Ives
Dates: Sept. 25 – Nov. 3, Stiemke Studio
Synopsis: Just before finishing auditions for his new play, an adaptation of a classic erotic novel, writer Thomas is surprised by Vanda, a young actress who turns out to perfectly embody the role and fight for control of the audition.
Selected Cast & Crew: Laura Gordon will direct, having most recently helmed Gutenberg! The Musical! and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) for the Rep. Reese Madigan, last seen at the Rep as Michael Cassio in Othello, will play Thomas, while Vanda will be played by Greta Wohlrabe, recently seen in Clybourne Park.
Mark’s Thoughts: “Venus in Fur was a play I’d read a couple of times. … Normally I’m pretty good interpreting things from the page, but I wasn’t sure about this one. So I went and saw it [in New York], and I thought ‘Definitely, we’re doing this.’”

Forever Plaid, written by Stuart Ross with arrangements by James Raitt
Dates: Oct. 25 – Dec. 29, Stackner Cabaret
Synopsis: This homage to ‘50s close harmony groups features four singers called the Plaids, killed in a car crash but resurrected to perform a setlist of classic hits.
Selected Cast & Crew: JC Clementz will direct, with Dan Kazemi as music director. Adam Estes, Paul Helm, Nate Lewellyn and Anand Nagraj will play the Plaids, with local musician Jamie Johns on piano.
Mark’s Thoughts: “Forever Plaid is something that we’ve never done here, which seems miraculous, actually. I think it’s the sort of thing we do very well, and we thought it’d be a cool and lovely thing to do in the Stackner.”

Noises Off, by Michael Frayn
Dates: Nov. 19 – Dec. 22, Quadracci Powerhouse
Synopsis: This farce follows an acting company from its terrible dress rehearsal to the end of its run, and all the comical errors in between.
Selected Cast & Crew: KJ Sanchez, who directed last year’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank, will direct. Actors include Rep regulars Jonathan Gillard Daly, Kelley Faulkner, Laura Gordon, Gerard Neugent and Deborah Staples, as well as debut actor Aaron Christensen.
Mark’s Thoughts: “A lot of people had said, ‘Hey Mark, I love what you’re doing, but it’d be great, at some point, to have a comedy.’ Noises Off, it’s only 30 years old, but it probably goes down as one of the greatest farces of all time. We haven’t done it here in maybe 15 years, and people really, really responded well when we announced it.”

A Christmas Carol, adapted from Charles Dickens’ original by Joseph Hanreddy and Edward Morgan
Dates: Nov. 27 – Dec. 24, Pabst Theatre
Synopsis: This holiday classic returns for its 38^th year at the Rep, retelling the story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s holiday redemption.
Selected Cast & Crew: Last year’s director, Aaron Posner, will return for a second year, as well last year’s Scrooge, Christopher Donahue.
Mark’s Thoughts: “We asked Aaron to come in, just to take a new look, because every now and then it needs an injection of a different take on it. And I think people really loved what he did with it last year, we were very happy, so we thought ‘Yeah, let’s replicate that.’”

Woody Sez, devised by David M. Lutken, Nick Corley, Darcie Deaville, Helen Jean Russell, & Andy Teirstein
Dates: Jan. 3 – March 9, Stackner Cabaret
Synopsis: A cast of actor-musicians tells the story of Woody Guthrie’s life through his own words: more than 25 classic Guthrie songs including “Pastures of Plenty” and “This Land is Your Land.”
Selected Cast & Crew: Nick Corley and David M. Lutken, of the original Chicago production, will join the Rep as director and musical director/choreographer, respectively.
Mark’s Thoughts: “Woody Sez is a production I’d seen in Chicago, and I just thought it was awesome the way they put it together. The musicians they had on it were just unbelievable, and the way they got the audience involved … all that sort of stuff is really cool.”

End of the Rainbow, by Peter Quilter
Dates: Jan. 7 – Feb. 9, Quadracci Powerhouse
Synopsis: Set in London’s famous Savoy Hotel and the Talk of the Town nightclub, End of the Rainbow is a cross-section of idol Judy Garland’s last days, with the singer facing her demons amid performances of her many hits.
Selected Cast & Crew: Garland hasn’t been cast yet, but Mark Clements will direct, having worked with Quilter on the play in its early stages.
Mark’s Thoughts: “End of the Rainbow is not a musical. It’s a play, more sensibly, that has songs in it. … This play goes back to when I was associate director at a theater called The New End; it started its life out there under a different title. … It’s a real tour de force.”

The Whipping Man, by Matthew Lopez
Dates: Feb. 5 – March 16, Stiemke Studio
Synopsis: After the Civil War, a wounded Jewish Confederate soldier returns to his family home, where two of his former slaves remain alone, leading to an explosive confrontation over their family history and the threatening legacy of slavery and war.
Selected Cast & Crew: Associate artistic director Brent Hazelton will direct.
Mark’s Thoughts: “The war is over, the abolition of slavery has happened, and the interesting twist is that the house is a Jewish household. It’s quite unique. It’s a gripping story, but then there’s the context in which it’s written. … The two black slaves in the house are both Jewish converts, and that’s part of their DNA.”

An Illiad, adapted from Homer by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare
Dates: Feb. 25 – March 23, Quadracci Powerhouse
Synopsis: Accompanied only by a lone musician, a narrator retells the story of the Trojan War in modern vernacular that can’t help put draw parallels to our modern culture of war.
Selected Cast & Crew: John Langs will direct, with James DeVita playing the lead role in this one-man show.
Mark’s Thoughts: “Obviously Homer’s poem reflects upon the Trojan War. What the protagonist does in this instance is reflect on those same things but ties it into Afghanistan and Iraq and this modern, warring culture. The idea of doing it with a musician, I want to claim as an original idea. … I think – I’m not sure – it might be veering toward being a cellist.”

Ain’t Misbehavin’, conceived by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr.
Dates: March 14 – May 18, Stackner Cabaret
Synopsis: This musical revue tracks the Harlem Renaissance through the music of Fats Waller, with actors doing quadruple-duty as singers, dancers and musicians.
Selected Cast & Crew: Dan Kazemi will serve as both director and musical director for the production.
Mark’s Thoughts: “We had a big hit with Blues in the Night, and we wanted to create another piece like that. I really wanted this to be done with actor-musicians. Like Blues in the Night; people loved the fact that Lili [Thomas] would sing the shit out a note and then get up and play trumpet – I mean play that thing.”

Rep Lab
Dates: March 28 – 31, Stiemke Studio
Synopsis: This short-play festival, an increasingly beloved showcase for the Rep’s intern company, returns for its fourth year.
Mark’s Thoughts: “If you’re a drama student, as much as your classes, the shows you do are pretty important. This was a way of showcasing the interns’ work and giving them something as the culmination of a year’s work with us. It’s evolved in three years. At the beginning, I didn’t know quite what this was. … This year, we were actually turning people away.”

The History of Invulnerability, by David Bar Katz
Dates: April 8 – May 4, Quadracci Powerhouse
Synopsis: Centered on the comic book writer Jerry Siegel, inventor of Superman, the play portrays his struggles to reclaim ownership of his creation, fight anti-Semitic oppression and grapple with the realities of the ignored Holocaust.
Selected Cast & Crew: Mark Clements will direct this production, his third and final of the season.
Mark’s Thoughts: “We tried to do [Invulnerability] the year before, but there were some technological challenges, and if we don’t feel we can do it well, then we’ll wait ‘til we can. … I loved this play the first time I read it. I love those memory plays, like Glass Menagerie, and I love that fact that the subconscious allows you to roam around. Dramatically, it’s useful.”