Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Presents THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) [REVISED]

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) celebrates the holiday season with THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) [REVISED]. Ray Jivoff directs this literary romp featuring Chris Klopatek, Rick Pendzich, Chase Stoeger and Marcus Truschinski. The cast of MCT favorites are also all alumni of the UW-Whitewater theatre program. Performances are November 19 - December 14, 2014 at the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

In "COMPLETE/SHAKESPEARE," a rowdy band of overachievers attempt to perform all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in 99 minutes! This 2007 "revised" script is an updated version of the hilarious, madcap ride through all of Shakespeare's comedies, histories and tragedies. With the added bonus of live music in this production, audiences will be rockin' and rollin' with the Bard!

Actors Chris Klopatek, Rick Pendzich, Chase Stoeger and Marcus Truschinski reunite in the same production for the first time since they all performed in GUYS AND DOLLS together at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The actors first met when they were students in the UW- Whitewater theatre program at the same time. In addition, Scenic Designer Steve Barnes is also a UW-Whitewater theatre alumnus.

Producing Artistic Director C. Michael Wright shared these insights about the casting, "I was an interim acting teacher at UW-Whitewater back in 2000-2001 and I had these four as students in my classes. Early on I recognized that not only did these four guys have a tight bond, but they were also incredibly playful and inventive. Since coming to MCT, I've had opportunities to hire them as actors over the years. But I'm particularly thrilled to bring all four of them together in one production."

Ray Jivoff, the associate artistic director of Skylight Music Theatre, returns to MCT to direct COMPLETE/SHAKESPEARE after directing THE SUM OF US (2009). Jivoff directs the cast of Whitewater grads, who have all appeared on the MCT stage multiple times and also work with professional theatre companies across the state.

This is the second time Milwaukee Chamber Theatre has produced THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED). MCT's 2001 production was a great success and bringing back this past hit is an ideal way to continue the 40th anniversary celebration of "Something Old, Borrowed and New."

COMPLETE/SHAKESPEARE creators Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield are the original members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The company's origins date back to 1981 as a pass-the-hat act performing at Renaissance faires in California. They eventually developed the act into the full-length THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1987. (The writing team released the "revised" version that MCT is producing in 2007.) Today, the Reduced Shakespeare Company is known for turning long, serious subjects into short, witty farces. The company has a total of eight stage shows that have been performed all over the world. In addition to COMPLETE/SHAKESPEARE they are best known for THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (ABRIDGED) and THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (ABRIDGED).

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