MILWAUKEE: Milwaukee Repertory Theater has announced new dates and programming for the 2021-22 season, with 12 productions planned across four venues. Much of the programming was originally planned for the 2020-21 season.
“Thanks to the brilliance of science, there is a bright spotlight at the end of this dark pandemic, and we cannot wait to welcome artists and audiences alike back to our theatre in the fall,” artistic director Mark Clements said in a statement. “Soon we will be celebrating the end of the pandemic and the return to the shared experience and thrill of live theatre that we have all missed so greatly.”
While dates are subject to change, the season is set to begin with the new musical Dad’s Season’s Tickets by Matt Zembrowski, Oct. 29-Jan. 2, 2022. The comedy follows fanatics and the people who love them as the Kosinski sisters battle to see who will inherit Frank’s treasured season tickets at Lambeau Field. Ryan Quinn will direct.
The season will continue with Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias, Nov. 9-Dec. 5. The play follows six women through the years at Truvy’s beauty shop in Chinquapin, La. Laura Braza will direct.
Next will be Clements’ adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Nov. 30-Dec. 24. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future return to Milwaukee Rep to help Ebenezer Scrooge discover it isn’t too late to change his ways. Clements will also direct.
Following will be Toni Stone by Lydia R. Diamond, Jan. 4-30, 2022. The play follows the first woman to go professional in baseball’s Negro Leagues, and will be directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden.
Next up will be the world premiere of the musical revue Piano Men, featuring a set list from rock, pop, classical, Broadway, and every genre in between. The show will run Jan.7-Feb. 27, 2022.
The season will continue with the premiere of Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son (Jan. 26-March 6, 2022) by Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez. A John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Program production, Antonio’s Song is a poetic journey of a dancer, artist, and father balancing his passions as he struggles to reconcile multiple ethnic identities. Clements will direct, and the production will feature Milwaukee Rep’s Act II Community Conversation series.
Following will be Daryl Cloran’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Feb. 15-March 20, 2022), conceived by Daryl Cloran and the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival. This musical take on the comedy is sets in 1960s British Columbia and features the music of the Beatles.
Next up will be My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra (March 4-May 1, 2022), created by David Grapes and Todd Olson. The revue follows four performers through Sinatra’s five-decade career. Featuring a book by Olson, My Way will be directed and choreographed by Kelley Faulkner.
Following will be the world premiere of Orlandersmith’s New Age, also a New Play Development Program production. Told through music, movement, and lyrical storytelling, New Age follows four women at different junctures in life as they contend with their sexualities, insecurities, and legacies. The show will run March 22-May 1, 2022.
The season will continue with Titanic the Musical (April 5-May 15, 2022) by Peter Stone, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The musical follows real stories of people aboard the most legendary ship in the world. Clements will direct.
Next up will be the cabaret Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland (May 5-July 1, 2022), presented by Artists Lounge Live. Ingersoll will reprise her Emmy-nominated performance of Judy Garland live in concert.
The season will conclude with Murder on the Orient Express (May 31-July 1, 2022), adapted by Ken Ludwig from the Agatha Christie novel. The mystery follows eight suspects on a thrilling train ride in the 1930s as detective Hercule Poirot battles the clock to find the killer. Marti Lyons will direct.
Milwaukee Repertory Theater is the largest performing arts organization in Wisconsin and has been a centerpiece of Milwaukee’s arts and culture scene for over six decades.
