World Premiere Musical RUN BAMBI RUN to be Presented at Milwaukee Rep in September

Milwaukee Repertory Theater, now celebrating its 70th Anniversary Season, will present the World Premiere musical Run Bambi Run,featuring a book by Academy Award-winner Eric Simonson (Lombardi), original music and lyrics by Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes and directed by Milwaukee Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements.  Commissioned as part of the John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development program in 2018, Run Bambi Run is the first World Premiere musical to debut on the Quadracci Powerhouse stage, September 13 – October 22, 2023 with Opening Night planned for Friday, September 22 at 8pm.

The truth is indeed stranger than fiction in this ripped-from-the-headlines new musical Run Bambi Run.  An outrageous ‘true crime’ saga that took the nation by storm, Lawrencia “Bambi” Bembenek's fall from Milwaukee Police Department cop to Playboy Bunny lands her in the slammer, convicted of a murder that she didn’t commit. Or did she? Fueled with original rock songs and lyrics, this rollicking hometown story about the search for truth and justice is a wild ride that you have to see to believe.

The cast of Run Bambi Run play multiple roles and double as the band, making this company a group of quadruple threat performers including: John Carlin (Uncle Vanya, Pearl Theater Co) as Joe/Lawyer, Matt Daniels (Scrooge in Milwaukee Rep’s A Christmas Carol) as Breier, Sarah Gliko (Bridges of Madison County, Philadelphia Theater Co.) as Christine/Gale, Douglas Goodhart (Once, Weston Playhouse) as Ira/Eisenberg, Armando Gutierrez (Ring of Fire, Florida Rep) as Fred, Tommy Hahn (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Milwaukee Rep) as Kraemer/Tom, Jessica Kantorowitz (Richard III, NYU Tisch) as Judy, Ian Littleworth (The Lion in Winter, Laguna Playhouse) as Nick/Stu, Megan Loomis (Wicked, National Tour) as Virginia/Sean, Ken Allen Neely (Once, Virginia Repertory Theatre) as Petersen, Erika Olson (Beautiful, National Tour) as Laurie and Lucas Papaelias (Once, Broadway) as Horenberger.

The creative team for the world premiere of Run Bambi Run includes music direction and orchestrations by Dan Kazemi (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Titanic), choreographer Jenn Rose (Titanic), set designer Scott Davis (Things I Know To Be True), costume designer Mieka van der Ploeg (Murder on the Orient Express), lighting designer Jason Fassl (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), sound designer Cricket S. Myers (Titanic), video and projection designer Mike Tutaj (Titanic), voice and dialect coach Jill Walmsley Zager, dramaturg Deanie Vallone, casting by Dale Brown Casting and Jonathan Hetler, and stage manager Kimberly Carolus.

The World Premiere of Run Bambi Run is presented by Jay Franke and David Herro with Corporate Sponsor BMO and Executive Producers Melanie and Steve Booth, Judy Hansen and Cheryl and David Walker. Run Bambi Run is a John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Program production.

Run Bambi Run tickets are available for purchase online at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by calling the Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 or in-person at 108 E. Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee. 

For more information visit www.Milwaukeerep.com.

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