By Mary Boyle

In Milwaukee, one of the best places to see Shakespeare happens to be with the First Stage Young Company.  Young Company consists of high school aged kids from all over the greater Milwaukee area who receive college-level training from some of Milwaukee’s finest actors and directors, performed in a professional-level performance space at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC), which makes for some of the best and most economical live theatre in the area.  Each season, YC chooses one classical production, usually from The Bard, and this year’s selection is THE TEMPEST, a musical, magical, storm-tossed gem of a romantic comedy that is widely appealing to most audiences.

Along with Twelfth Night, The Tempest has the honor of featuring the most music of any of Shakespeare’s plays, though only the lyrics and none of the melodies are given, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation.  Marcella Kearns, who directed the play, also composed much of the music for this production, along with Sophia Bernhardt.  The opening song, which covers the prologue to this most classic of stories, is the only song used that wasn’t composed by Kearns and Bernhardt, but their music takes off where the opening song began, giving the entire production a modern sound to go with the stark and modern costumes and set design that YC is known for. 

The Tempest is a tale of Prospero (Silver Anderson) who, along with his infant daughter, Miranda (Alice Rivera), were banished to sea when Prospero's brother, Antonio (Lola Onorato), stole the Dukedom with the help of  Alonso, the King of Naples (Lucy Kuhnen-Grooms), and the King's brother, Sebastian (Cole Sison).  Prospero and Miranda land on an island inhabited by the spirit Ariel (Josie Van Slyke) and a human-like creature named Caliban (Maya Thomure), who become servants to the now wizard-like Prospero after he rescued them from Caliban’s mother, who was an evil witch.  Three other spirits also wander the island (Sophia Bernhardt, Laura Mendoza-Sanchez, and Amélie Davis-Quiroz).  Many years have passed when Prospero senses his enemies are near to the island and, seeing his chance at redemption, he whips up a storm that tosses them to his shore, separating the King's son, Ferdinand (Abram Nelson), from his father, Sebastian, Antonio and the gentle old Gonzalo (William Swoboda), and sending the drunkard Stephano (Elena Marking) and the fool Trinculo (Thatcher Jacobs) into Caliban's path, thus setting the stage for Prospero's revenge.

Among Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest is an easy one to follow for those who are unfamiliar with his works.  Full of comedy and romance, it’s easy to get the jokes in this play, even if the words seem a bit strange.  Alice Rivera is positively delightful as the naïve Miranda, whose sudden romance with Ferdinand is as humorous as it is sweet, but the real laugh award goes to Elena Marking and Thatcher Jacobs, whose drunken antics as Stephano and Trinculo are spot on.   Maya Thomure is excellent as the lowly Caliban and Josie Van Slyke delivered a truly impressive performance as Ariel.  MYAC’s Goodman Mainstage Hall’s theater-in-the-round is an ideal and intimate space for this production.  Truly, you can’t get a better intro to Shakespeare than this show and, if you’re already a fan, you still will not be disappointed.
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THE TEMPEST runs through December 15th at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, located at 325 W. Walnut Street in Milwaukee.  Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at firststage.org or by phone (414) 267-2961.
 
About First Stage
Founded in 1987, First Stage is one of the nation’s leading theaters for young people and
families, and a driving force behind the creation of the best and most innovative plays for family audiences, theater training programs for young people, and education initiatives for its schools and community.  First Stage produces plays that honor the young person’s point of view, include diverse and traditionally underrepresented voices and inspire meaningful conversations. First Stage has presented more than 70 world premiere productions that address important subject matters relevant to today’s youth. The Theater Academy is one of the nation’s largest high-impact theater training programs for young people (3-18 years old). Through a challenging curriculum taught by professional teaching artists, the Academy nurtures life skills through stage skills and includes the Next Steps Program that tailors Theater Academy classes to the needs of autistic
young people. As Wisconsin’s leader in arts-integrated education in schools, First Stage’s
dynamic Theater in Education Programs cleverly blend theater activities with standard
curriculum – allowing more than 10,000 students annually to learn traditional academic
subjects through creativity and self-expression.  First Stage ensures that all programming is not only accessible to its community but that it is reflective of the community it serves. In order to do that, First Stage relies on its community of donors. With an annual operating budget of $5 million, more than half of First Stage’s revenue comes from generous contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, government sources and the United Performing Arts Fund. Join First Stage’s community of donors with a contribution today and transform lives through theater.  First Stage is a member of TYA/USA, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, the Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education, Milwaukee Arts Partners and is a cornerstone member of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF). firststage.org
 
About Young Company
First Stage Young Company, the Theater Academy’s award-winning training program for
advanced high school actors, is open to students who want to take their work to the next level.  Accepted students will complete college and graduate-level training in Acting, Voice, Movement and Shakespeare as well as electives ranging from Auditioning to Stage Combat to Dialects. Traditionally, the Young Company hosts master classes with guest artists from across the nation, produces a season of three plays and facilitates special excursions to the Utah Shakespeare Festival and American Players Theatre. To learn more, please visit:  firststage.org/theater-academy/young-company/

By Mary Boyle

In 2022, a new theatre company popped up in Milwaukee called Vanguard Productions.  They staged a holiday dramatic reading of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 by Peter Rothstein, which is based on the true story of an unsanctioned and unapproved cease fire on Christmas Eve between the German and Allied troops on either side of “No Man’s Land” in World War I.  The reading was such a hit that Vanguard remounted a full production inside their new home at the beautiful Calvary Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee for this past season. This season, ALL IS CALM returns, even more vocally powerful than before, to prove why it deserves to be a part of the show lineup for the holiday season. 

Directed by Joshua Pohja, with music direction by Paula Foley Tillen , All is Calm is a fast-paced, powerful, and moving production with period music sung by the actors on the stage, interspersed with quotes from the actual soldiers who wrote about it after the event in journals and letters to their loved ones.  The church makes for a beautiful setting with good acoustics, which is important, because these performers can really sing.   Isaac Brust, Kai DeRubis, Tomás Dominguez, and Marvin Hannah were all in last season’s production.  Joining the cast this season is Adlai Kim, Liam Ledford, Shayne Patrick, Hans Pfrang, Aundre Reid, Matthew Torkilsen, Coltyn VonDeylen, and Wesley Yaroch.  The lighting design by Antishadows Theatrical Designs adds drama to the production exponentially; combined with the costumes by Amelia Strahan, it feels as though the soldiers have stepped forward in time to encourage us all to wonder, "What if we'd all walked away and refused to fight?"

“…it remains one of the most storied and strangest moments of the Great War—or of any war in history,” write A.J. Baime & Volker Janssen for History.com.  “Enemy soldiers began to climb nervously out of their trenches, and to meet in the barbed-wire-filled ‘No Man’s Land’ that separated the armies. Normally, the British and Germans communicated across No Man’s Land with streaking bullets, with only occasional gentlemanly allowances to collect the dead unmolested. But now, there were handshakes and words of kindness. The soldiers traded songs, tobacco and wine, joining in a spontaneous holiday party in the cold night.”

This story, which tells the tale of men who chose to disobey their commanders, lay down their arms, and celebrate the season for one night; to see each other as fellow human beings and not as enemies or others, is the ultimate example of the spirit of Christmas, of peace on earth, and of goodwill toward men.  This is a story that needs to be told right now, and it is a holiday production that is truly for all ages and all people, regardless of faith or tradition, as the “Great War” is a part of our collective human history.   All is Calm is almost the antithesis to The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol in that it is not fiction but historical proof that people are truly capable of goodness and choosing peace, but it is our leaders who often cause us to stray from what we know is right.  We all have that choice to make and, ultimately, every time we choose kindness, we get that much closer to peace on earth.

ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914 runs through December 22, 2024, at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, located at 935 W. Wisconsin Ave.  Tickets may be purchased online at: https://www.vanguardmke.com/tickets-and-events.  

Join Vanguard Productions for their final show in their 2024-2025 season, a new take on Shakespeare's HENRY V, May 23-25, 2025!  
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About Vanguard Productions
Founded in 2022 by Co-Founders George Lorimer and Joshua Pohja, Vanguard Productions strives to elevate Milwaukee Theatre and create a shared sense of community through excellent performances.  Vanguard Productions is committed to thoughtful and engaging storytelling that is reflective of the diverse and vibrant community of Milwaukee. We believe that theatre is a necessary and sorely needed source of community in an increasingly alienated world. We hope you'll join us onstage, in the rehearsal room, or in the audience.  Learn more at vanguardmke.com.