Milwaukee Chamber Theatre presents: OLD WICKED SONGS

Brett Rybeck and Steve Watts in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's production of OLD WICKED SONGS, through October 5, 2025 at the Broadway Theatre Center in downtown Milwaukee. Photo by Diego L. Pedroza.

By Mary Boyle
 
American playwright, librettist, and lyricist Jon Marans’ first play premiered in 1995 in Philadelphia.  The following year, it was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which is no common occurrence.  The play was written against the backdrop of a relatively current event that occurred a decade earlier:  the election of Kurt Waldheim as Austrian federal president – a man whose nomination was opposed all over the world; a man who was put on the US Nazi watchlist.  Thirty years later, OLD WICKED SONGS is, unfortunately, more relevant than ever, and it happens to be the opening production of the 2025/26 season for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.

Directed by Elyse Edelman, Old Wicked Songs is set in a rehearsal studio in Vienna in 1986 where 25-year-old American piano prodigy Stephen Hoffman (Brett Ryback) has just arrived.  Thinking he will be studying with Professor Schiller, who he hopes will help him with a very bad case of burn out, Stephen is more than annoyed when he finds Professor Josef Mashkan (Steve Watts) waiting for him, who is to teach him basic accompaniment and singing, which Stephen feels is completely beneath him.  Stephan does begin to make progress, despite the Professor’s smugness, but the relationship is under strain from a source unrelated to the music: secrets both men are keeping to maintain peace between them.

The music of Old Wicked Songs is based around the Romantic Era German pianist and composer Robert Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love), but the lyrics to the songs come from the German poet, Heinrich Heine.  In the play, Mashkan tells Stephen what makes these artists great is the combination of both great joy and great sadness, encouraging him to find the depths of those emotions.  The feeling of the sadness – not the denial of it – is what allows the healing, which then allows it to alchemize with the joy, thereby creating greatness.  There is a great lesson to learn in this play and, if we ever needed to learn it, the time is now.

A native of Muskego, Brett Rybeck is half of the duo (along with John Maclay) that created Nate the Great and Arthur & Friends Make a Musical, which both premiered at First Stage in Milwaukee, but has been on the stage playing piano before with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre as Liberace! in 2023, which featured original music written by Rybeck’s piano teacher and local actor, Jack Forbes Wilson.  Forbes Wilson was originally cast as Mashkan in this production; however, after a successful preview show, he became ill, and Watts needed to be called in on opening night.  Though he wasn’t quite off book and some adjustments needed to be made, I can’t imagine an understudy stepping into the role any better than Watts did that night, who played the role with immense heart.  Both actors need to be able to not only play the piano, but play it convincingly as masters, and Watts and Rybeck deliver.  Their chemistry on stage, particularly considering the unexpected situation, convinced me that this very important and timely show is in very capable hands.

Sadly, we learned that Jack Forbes Wilson passed away on September 29th.  Milwaukee Chamber Theatre wrote:

Beloved musician, actor, educator, artist, and human, Jack passed while comfortably in hospice care at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Monday, September 29th, one week following a surprising diagnosis of end-stage pancreatic cancer.

Jack shared his unique light with audiences, students, and friends across parts of five decades in Madison, Milwaukee, and across Wisconsin. To know Jack was to be graced by the company of a relentless creative vitality combined with a profound empathy fueled by a bottomless well of joy. It was often said of Jack that he taught half the city of Milwaukee to play the piano. But the lessons that Jack imparted took place in countless venues outside of his living room, too: from schools to theaters, from amateur to world class environments, and through his longstanding role as a church musical director. 

I was lucky to see Jack in SOUVENIR with the Milwaukee Rep in 2017.  He was clearly beloved by many in Milwaukee's theatre and music world and a great loss for our community.  I am sending peace and good memories to those who knew and loved Jack Forbes Wilson.

Partnering with this production is Violins of Hope Wisconsin, presented by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO).  MYSO is bringing Violins of Hope, a collection of instruments owned and played during the Holocaust, to the Wisconsin community for a five-month residency of educational and cultural programs, exhibits, and performances from September 2025 to January 2026, including a concert on November 16th at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.  Old Wicked Songs is one of the first opportunities to see one of the violins – the one on the stage during the performance is known as The Dachau Violin, which belonged to Abram Merczynski of Łódź, Poland.

“In August 1944, Abram and his brothers Isak and Zysman were deported from the Łódź Ghetto to Auschwitz, and later to Dachau. Abram, then 21, carried his violin with him and played wherever he was, even in the Kaufering labor camp, a subcamp of Dachau.  Remarkably, Abram, his brothers, and the violin all survived.”   Violins of Hope Wisconsin

Live theatre has a unique way of opening hearts and minds and connecting people; this play is a powerful way to combat the rising tide of hate and fascism in our community and around the world and an inspired choice to kick off MCT’s 51st season.

OLD WICKED SONGS runs through October 5th in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, located at 158 N. Broadway Street in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.  Tickets may be purchased in person at the box office, by calling (414) 291-7800 (M-Sa, 12-6pm and 2 hours before BTC showtimes), or online at:  https://www.milwaukeechambertheatre.org/old-wicked-songs.
 
Special Events:

• Saturday, 9/27 — SipStudio: An Insider Experience, with behind the scenes sneak peeks and drinks provided by our SipStudio Sponsor — 6:00-7:30pm, between the matinee (4pm) and evening (8pm) shows, free and open to all Saturday ticketholders.
• Thursday, 10/2, 7:30pm — Thursday Talkback, a post-show discussion with the artists

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About Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Founded in 1975, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) produces intimate and accessible theatrical works that engage and challenge the audience, while employing and nurturing principally local theatre artists.

*This article was updated 9/30/25 to acknowledge the passing of Jack Forbes Wilson.