Rep artistic director Joseph Hanreddy announced the new slate. The season begins with Michael J. Miles' The Magic Banjo (Aug. 27-Oct. 31) at the Stackner Cabaret, Arthur Miller's The Crucible (Sept. 8-Oct. 10) at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater and Cyrano (Sept. 10-Oct. 17) at the Stiemke Theater.
Inspired by Edmond Rostand's heroic romance Cyrano de Bergerac, the new version of the classic is adapted by Jo Roets and translated by Audrey Van Tuyckom. Peter Glazer directs writer-musician-actor Miles' The Magic Banjo, which aims to tell the story of America using "the most American of instruments" and songs by Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Hanreddy directs The Crucible, the parable about witch hunts in colonial New England.
Lana Mae's Honky-Tonk Laundry is by returning director-writer Roger Bean and is set in a laundromat cabaret, in the Rep's intimate Stackner Cabaret.
The 2004-05 Milwaukee Repertory Theater Resident Acting Company includes Jim Baker, Mark Corkins, Jonathan Gillard Daly, Lee E. Ernst, Laura Gordon, Torrey Hanson, James Pickering, Rose Pickering and Deborah Staples.
Milwaukee Rep's A Christmas Carol (adapted from Dickens by Hanreddy and Edward Morgan and directed by Judy Berdan) returns to the Pabst Theatre Nov. 20-Dec. 26. The Milwaukee Rep season also includes:
The Story, Tracey Scott Wilson's newspaper and race drama that premiere at The Public Theater in 2003-04, now directed by Chuck Smith (Oct. 20-Nov. 21 in the Quadracci).You Can't Take It With You, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's comedy about and indelible American family in the Depression, directed by J.R.R. Sullivan (Dec. 1-Jan. 9, 2005, in the Quadracci).Yes. No. (Maybe So...), Luigi Pirandello's play about a town's insatiable curiosity to know the truth about the bizarre living arrangement between a man, his wife and his mother-in-law, adapted and directed by Joseph Hanreddy (Jan. 19-Feb. 20, 2005, in the Quadracci). The 1917 play Cosi e (se vi pare) is sometimes known under others titles, including Right You Are, If You Think You Are.Bach at Leipzig, Itamar Moses' new comedy, directed by Pam MacKinnon, about six rival musicians who scheme to become the organmaster of Leipzig, the most coveted musical post in Europe (March 2-April 3, 2005, in the Quadracci). The playwright will be in residence for the staging, which represents the play's major resident outing.Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde's social comedy that sticks a pin in society and moral conventions, directed by William Brown (April 13-May 15, 2005, in the Quadracci).Guys on Ice, the fifth engagement of the Wisconsin-born musical comedy by the late Fred Alley (book and lyrics) and composer James Kaplan (Oct. 22-Nov. 21 in the Stiemke).The Underpants, Steve Martin's adaptation of a European farce about a man whose wife's underpants fall down in public, directed by Risa Brainin (Jan. 28-March 13, 2005, in the Stimeke).The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Edward Albee's play about the limits of tolerance (April 15-May 15, 2005, in the Stiemke).Tomfoolery, the popular revue of songs by satirist Tom Lehrer, adapted by Cameron Mackintosh and Robin Ray with musical arrangements by Chris Walker and Robert Fisher, directed by Paul Barnes (Nov. 5-Jan. 9, 2005 in the Stackner).Lana Mae's Honky-Tonk Laundry, written and directed by Roger Bean with musical arrangements by Brian Baker, about the titular establishment — a laundromat-turned-cabaret (Jan. 14-March 20, 2005, in the Stackner).Chaps!, Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner's musical about four Brits who work for the BBC and are forced to go on the air live to impersonate no-show American cowboy singers, directed by David Koch (March 25-May 29, 2005 in the Stackner). For season ticket information, call (414) 224-9490 or visit www.milwaukeerep.com.
