Kelsey Lawler - Page 8

This World Premiere event isn't the Peter Pan narrative you'd expect. There's no pixie dust, Neverland, or mermaids. The only magic found on stage - and it's a powerful magic at that - comes from the remarkable cast of teens performing playwright Kimberly Belflower's simultaneously authentic and lyrical new script.

From curtain rise to fall, 'An American in Paris' hinges on dance. The show is a work of art from start to finish, as every danced moment, from the nuance of falling in love to show-stopping kick lines, is crafted to artistic perfection.

Typically performed in four acts, Milwaukee Ballet Artistic Director, Michael Pink, has trimmed the classic into two acts, maintaining Swan Lake's integrity and grandeur while making it a more comfortable experience for modern audiences. And whatever traditions are eschewed, they are answered with innovations that strengthen the narrative.

In the end, you may leave Urinetown wondering, as Little Sally does, what kind of a musical is this? Officer Lockstock would have me remind me you that it isn't supposed to be a happy one. It's one full of mixed signals: comedic tropes, untimely death, catchy music, rich vs. poor, hope for tomorrow, and an ultimately uncertain future. It makes you think not only about the baddies who want to regulate our metaphorical toilets, but also the do-gooders who act on righteous principle alone without regard to reality. 

Beautifully written, with minimal sets and moments that suggest the characters are aware of the parts they're playing, this is a wonderful and enduring work of dramatic art - and one that the Milwaukee Repertory Theater carries out with ease. 

Roses wave hello, storybook pages spring to life, the townsfolk are actually nice, and the troupe of orphan children are a little creepy. This isn't Disney's Beauty & the Beast. Instead, Michael Pink gives us a world premier Milwaukee ballet where 'Belle is the hero of her own story; a voracious reader, quick-witted, and the maker of her own destiny.' 

Anyone who's taken a poetry class knows that there's so much more to poetic words than meets the eye. If you look the right way, there's often something grand underneath - a hidden meaning waiting to be discovered through focused reading and an open mind. Lauren Gunderson's soul-stirring I and You is indeed a poetry all its own.

Les Miz, based on the book by Victor Hugo, is now in its 32nd year, having played to more than 70 million people in 44 countries and 22 languages. It's the fifth-longest-running Broadway musical of all time. And if the enthusiastic reception at the Marcus Center on opening night is any indication, Boubil and Schonberg's masterpiece continues to keep a strangle hold on Milwaukee-area hearts.

Unbridled enthusiasm - that's what this show's got. Even if Ms. Cline isn't your personal hero, the entire Patsy package is still guaranteed to leave you grinning.

Ripped from the headlines. Raw emotion. Affecting stories. Diverse perspectives. The kind of stuff that makes you search your soul. That's what playwright and performer Dael Orlandersmith is bringing to the Stiemke Studio at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater with her one-woman show, Until the Flood. 

The overall tone of 'Hoffmann' is rife with broken hearts and a healthy dose of the macabre. With this comes a wondrous, dreamlike quality that the Skylight and Milwaukee Opera Theatre have captured exquisitely. The scenery itself, the on-stage orchestra, the celestial lighting, and creative ways in which characters come and go - it all serves to highlight the fantasy in this 'opera fantastique.'

Milwaukee Opera Theatre & the Skylight Music Theatre have crafted a much more intimate adaptation of 'The Tales of Hoffmann' - one that's sung in English, peppered with spoken dialogue, and accompanied by a nimble on-stage band of two pianos, a harp, and plenty of percussion. The cast now numbers at 13 (8 women, 5 men), and the entire production takes just two hours.

'One House Over' smartly addresses timely issues with quiet honesty, revealing American immigrants' struggles, hopes, and fears through heartfelt dialogue. That's the true beauty in 'One House Over' - the natural way events unfold through a dozen backyard conversations.

For the child in all of us, feet are (mostly) off the ground for this Peter Pan-inspired musical.

Cartoonish to the last, the entirety of Skylight's 'Zombies from the Beyond' is a tongue-in-cheek romp chockfull of 1950s space fascination and Cold War paranoia, with each moment played for lots of laughs and loads of kitsch. 

Two people and the simultaneously cringe-worthy and fascinating ways in which their messy lives get all mixed up. At 90 minutes without an intermission, this is a wonderfully well-written piece of theater, and one that's a worthy kick-off for Milwaukee's new Constructivists. Artistic Director Jaimelyn Gray says this play captures the kind of the work they hope to produce: 'Funny, quirky, sad, with a mess of emotion.' 

Black Pearl Sings! drives home the power of song as a means of passing down a rich, storied past. It's a fascinating concept the idea of gathering words and melodies as a way to preserve and honor history.

Even on paper, Edward's story sounds enchanting: Can a toy rabbit, swept away on a decades-long journey of joy, loss, fear, and loneliness, truly come to know the miracle of love? First Stage delivers on that enchantment.

Bleak. Cold. Apocalyptic. Even before the house lights dimmed, the mood was already dreary. The stage is laden with a mess of concrete, metal, and a visual manifestation of shattered dreams for what would be a rather brain-wrenching, hope-dashing 90 minutes. Of course, that's just what Orwell's novel is meant to convey.

Waitress is indeed a triumph, and the hope of it speaking to women everywhere encouraging fortitude, shining a light on female friendships, and pushing us all to be brave enough to stand up to our enemies in the pursuit of happiness it's incredibly moving, and leaves me hungry for more.