By Mary Boyle

Perhaps no other man captured the spirit and life of early 20th Century America like Carl Sandburg.  A true renaissance man and raconteur, Sandburg was born and raised in Galesville, Illinois and, after graduating eight grade, he went on to try just about every path a man of his time could try: laborer, hobo, soldier, college student, political activist, poet, journalist, biographer, musician, husband, and father.  He traveled the country and the world, collecting the folksongs and stories of the people, adding stories and poetry of his own, and became the voice and memory of his generation. 

Not everyone knows that Sandburg spent some of his most formative years in Milwaukee.  The Cream City is where Sandburg met his wife and lifelong love, Lilian Steichen, when they both worked as organizers for the Wisconsin Social Democratic Party.  Sandburg's concern and passion for the American worker formed the underpinnings of the majority of his work; work that has always been a favorite of Milwaukee native and well-known local actor, Jonathan Gillard Daly, who has spent nearly four years working to bring the Sandburg experience to a new generation.  How fitting is it that the World Premier of The Eagle In Me: An Evening Of Carl Sandburg took place in Milwaukee, and was conceived, written and performed by a son of Milwaukee, in honor of one of the city's most esteemed residents?  Talk about making history...

The show is simply Daly channeling what one of Sandburg's traveling performances likely consisted of around 1920: his poetry interspersed with the folksongs he collected and a smattering of small talk and observations, while simultaneously telling the story of Sandburg's life in chronological order.  Though it's clear that Daly isn't an accomplished or confident guitarist, his skills are enough to carry the show at an even pace.  Literature fans will likely recognize Sandburg's most popular poems, The Fog and Chicago, while folksong aficionados will most assuredly recognize the pieces Daly selected to share from Sandburg's famous American Songbag, published in 1927, including Hallelujah, I'm a Bum and Lincoln and Liberty.

Gale Childs Daly, who is both Director of the play and wife of its sole actor, said that Sandburg had a profound influence on her life.  In high school, a teacher encouraged her to sign up for Forensics because she thought she would be good at interpreting poetry.  Of all the poets on the list she was handed to choose from, Sandburg was the only name she recognized, and it was his book of children's poems (the only book of Sandburg's her school library had) that she selected poems from, winning first place in her first tournament.  Adding more Sandburg to her repertoire, Daly went on to win many more tournaments, and "Forensics led to drama, drama led to a double major of English and Theatre in college, and that led to a 45 year career in show business."  In fact, the Daly's credit Sandburg with their marriage: Jonathan recited one of Sandburg's stories to Gale when they met, and she knew they were fated to be together.  "We've come full circle," she said.

Besides the Daly family, the production had a dedicated crew of Milwaukee theatre people who helped get it off the ground, including Michael Wright and Marcella Kearns at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, who hosted and guided the first public reading, and David Cecsarini of Next Act Theater, who guided its second reading.  Finally, Chris and Jane Flieller of In Tandem Theatre Company agreed to give the production a home for its World Premiere; I can only imagine that the casual, easy atmosphere of the Tenth Street Theatre is a place that Carl Sandburg would have appreciated.
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The Eagle In Me: An Evening Of Carl Sandburg runs through October 21st at the Tenth Street Theatre, located at 628 N. 10th St. in Milwaukee.  Tickets are available by calling 414-271-1371, or online at http://www.intandemtheatre.org/events/carl-sandburg/

By Mary Boyle

Voices Found Repertory is a relatively new and small theatre company in Milwaukee with a strong and dedicated focus on classical works, particularly by Shakespeare (their inaugural 2016/17 season consisted of no less than five of the Bard's works).  Now in their third season, the troupe takes on the Bard's bloodiest, most violent play: Titus Andronicus.

The tale is inspired by one of Ovid's Metamorphoses stories, Procne and Philomel, which is actually referenced in the play.  In the Bard's version, Titus Andronicus (Maya Danks) is a soldier and hero of Rome, returning home from war with the Goths.  His prisoners are the Queen of the Goths, Tamora (Robin Lewis), and three of her sons.  Despite Tamora's pleading, Titus sacrifices her firstborn son, and she and her two remaining sons, Chiron (Donald Kozinski) and Demetrius (Thomas Sebald), vow to get their revenge.  As it happens, Rome is in need of a new emperor, and Bassianus (Robert Torres), who is promised to Titus's daughter, Lavinia (Alexis Furseth), loses to Saturninus (Kyle Conner).  Saturninus claims Lavinia for his bride and Titus agrees, but Bassianus runs off with Lavinia, so Saturninus chooses Tamora, instead.  With the help of her servant and lover, a Moor named Aaron (Brittany Faye Byrnes), and her two sons, Tamora sets about taking her revenge against Titus Andronicus, who goes from a hero to "the woefullest man to ever live in Rome."

Unlike Shakespeare's other tragedies, Titus has almost no humor to balance the non-stop horrors of this intense and bloody tale, and this production does not spare the blood — the tiny, sparse stage at the Underground Collaborative is downright sticky with it by the play's end, and yet they manage to keep it from becoming trite or farcical.  Though the play is well-cast and admirably acted, it's not difficult to understand why this particular tale is rarely told; on the other hand, the rare chance to see it performed is a large part of its appeal.  The sparse staging works, but they could have gone farther — I would have preferred to see the production look more like their video teaser, with the actors and stage all in black, stark and modern.  Still, a worthy telling of an ancient tale.

Directed by Hannah Kubiak, Titus Andronicus runs through October 7th at the Underground Collaborative, located at 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee in the basement of the Grand Avenue Mall.  This play contains violence and mature themes, and is not recommended for anyone under the age of 16.  Tickets are $12 and available for purchase at https://vfrtitus.brownpapertickets.com/.  For more information about Voices Found Repertory, visit their website at  www.voicesfoundrep.com.

By Mary Boyle

Residents of, and visitors to, Port Washington's harbor may have noticed a new ship over the course of the summer.  Her name is JAKAB, and she's  a smaller-scale replica of a 1929 to 1937 America's Cup J-Class racing sloop.  Her Captain, Andrew Sadock, is also Captain of the well-known tall ship, Red Witch, but he wasn't always at the helm of a sailing ship; in fact, he took a very unusual path to his current role.

"I attended medical school with the intention to become a pediatric psychiatrist," Sadock said.  "I became disillusioned with the primary strategy of prescribing medications -- so I quit med school [and] lived in California, learning holistic medicine at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, with indigenous healers from China, India, Ecuador, Tibet and Brazil. While at Esalen, I met America's first T'ai Chi champion, who invited me to San Francisco to learn Dragon and Tiger Qi Gong (a proactive healing method).  While there, I lived aboard a sailboat in Sausalito, as it was affordable, and that's when I learned to sail."

About 17 years ago, Sadock returned to Chicago to care for his parents while he worked on writing books about holistic psychology and bioenergetics. Needing other employment, he was offered a job at Oakton Community College working in financial development, but only lasted an hour in his new "office" — a closet-sized room with no windows.  As he drove to North Avenue Beach in Chicago he called his father, who suggested Sadock visit Navy Pier and apply for a job on the big boats.  He was offered an $8 per hour job essentially carrying garbage, which he did for two years before becoming captain of the largest architectural tour boat on Lake Michigan, where he piloted 200,000 passengers on 3,500 architectural tours.

In 2011, Sadock bought the Red Witch, a tall ship that was voted Chicago's "Best Tour and Charter Boat" in 2009, 2010, and 2012 (3rd overall) by the prestigious Illinois Meetings + Events Magazine. In 2017, Sadock decided to move Red Witch to Kenosha, where the Tall Ships Challenge will be held in 2019.   Meanwhile, Sadock had purchased JAKAB in 2014, and proceeded to spend the next 3 years converting her from a recreational hull to a U.S. Coast Guard-approved commercial tour boat. JAKAB served St. Clair, Michigan in 2017, and then sailed from Port Huron, MI to Port Washington this past June. 

The name of the sailboat is in honor of Sadock's father, who passed away while Sadock was rebuilding the vessel, and the rest of his immediate family, with each letter being the first initial of a family member's name.  The name is "Jacob" in Hungarian, which is how most people pronounce it, though some go with "Yah-Kub" — either way is fine, as far as Sadock is concerned.
 
Passengers are often surprised to find that sailing on the JAKAB is a very different experience than on tall ships like Red Witch or the Denis Sullivan.  For one thing, JAKAB is much faster — especially in winds under 20 knots (Sadock compared it to a ride in a race car as opposed to a wagon ride), as tall ships are heavy and racing ships are designed to sail fast in light winds.  Despite its slim look and speediness, the JAKAB is actually more stable than a tall ship, as it is designed for ocean racing in heavy seas and, despite the openness of the deck, passengers need not worry about getting wet (unless it rains on them — in which case, they can make use of the large, commodious cabin below-deck).

While Sadock continues to write books, it's unlikely he will retire from sailing anytime soon.  "I love the serenity of sailing, and bringing people to nature," Sadock explained.  Though the sailing season is coming to an end for this year, between the JAKAB in Port and the Red Witch in Kenosha, Sadock should get in plenty of sailing, as well as driving back and forth along Lake Michigan, beginning next June.  

The JAKAB can comfortably accommodate 34 passengers, and is available for private and public sails out of Port Washington's harbor.  For more information, see www.sailportwashington.com.