The Quadracci Powerhouse season opens Sept. 7 with George Feydeau's farce, A Flea in Her Ear directed by László Marton. The Rep's Resident Acting Company members Deborah Staples and Torrey Hanson will play the leads "as suspicions of infidelity lead to secret plots and an evening of comic chaos."
The next production is Sarah Ruhl's Pulitzer Prize finalist The Clean House, about "a well-ordered household that turns to disarray when the new maid is more interested in the perfect joke than cleaning."
To capture the spirit of the holidays, The Rep will present Charles Morey's Laughing Stock for the third Quadracci Powerhouse production. J.R. Sullivan will return to direct this "backstage look at a thespian's attempt to produce the perfect summer stock season and the entertaining mayhem that ensues."
Hanreddy will be directing the next production, Jose Rivera's Sueño, adapted from the dramatic classic Life is a Dream by Calderon de Barca.
The fifth play, A Month in the Country, is Brian Friel's adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's tale. The Rep welcomes world-renowned director Ben Barnes collaborate in this production, which will be his first project with an American theatre company. The final Quadracci Powerhouse Theater production "is a special treat for mystery and adventure lovers": Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure by Rep favorite Steven Dietz, drawing on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the play by William Gillette.
The Stiemke Theater will host Sonja Linden's I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me By a Young Lady From Rwanda, "a play of humor and emotions set against the backdrop of a monumental tragedy." Resident Acting Company member Laura Gordon will be making her directing debut with the play Sept. 16. In the drama, "Juliette is a refugee who wants to document one of the great horrors of the twentieth century. Simon is a writer whose life is in a slump… They meet across a teacher's desk and discover they can help each other face their demons with humor and grace."
The next production, Theresa Rebeck's Bad Dates, recounts a New York woman's search for love and happiness as she re-enters the dating world.
The Stiemke season will conclude with Lynn Nottage's acclaimed Intimate Apparel, about a seamstress who makes underclothes for high and low society in the early 20th century.
In addition to these subscription plays, The Rep will be offering two bonus, non-subscription productions in the Stiemke Theater: Guys On Ice, a local hit; and Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie.
The Rep's Stackner Cabaret season will offer four pieces of musical theatre. The season starts off with David Scully's Blue Rose: The Rosemary Clooney Story, a musical tribute to the star of radio, television and films. Next, Roger Bean creator of Lana Mae's Honky-Tonk Laundry, takes audiences back to the 1940s with a show called The Andrews Sisters, a story of USO headliners who seem to be mistaken for the more famous trio of sisters.
The Polish Diva From Milwaukee "offers hysterical stories and characters while following Terry Palasz across the world as she tries to escape her Polish-Catholic Milwaukee upbringing."
The Stackner Cabaret season ends with a production of memorable songs and smooth soul in the tribute to the great figure in American jazz, Ellington, The Life & Music of the Duke, by David Scully.
The annual Rep staging of A Christmas Carol will again play the Pabst Theatre for its 30th consecutive year.
Subscriptions are now available at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater ticket office, 108 E. Wells Street, or by phone at (414) 224-9490.
Single tickets for the season will go on sale Aug. 22.
For more information, or to receive a free brochure, call The Rep ticket office. Visit www.milwaukeerep.com.
