All the World’s a Stage Sonnet Slam

You’re Invited to…

Optimist Theatre’s “All the World’s a Stage Sonnet Slam” to Support Free Shakespeare in the Park

All the world’s a stage,

and all the men and women, merely players-

they have their exits and their entrances,

and one man in his time plays many parts,

his acts being seven ages.

As You Like It Act 2 scene 7, 139-143

Please join us and play your part upon the stage at Optimist Theatre’s “All the World’s a Stage Sonnet Slam”.  What’s a Sonnet Slam?  It’s a fun, optimistic party jam-packed with sonnets and laughter in a delicious setting.  Appetizers and pizza provided by Transfer Pizzeria, sonnets presented by As You Like It actors Todd Denning and Kristin Hammargren plus special guests including: “Fast” Fres Oquendo* the currently ranked #5 Heavyweight and former WBC, WBO & WBA Latino Heavyweight, and NABF, NABA & USBA Heavyweight boxing champion.

Got a Sonnet?  Give it!  There will be 3 sonnet sessions throughout the evening.  Sonnets do not have to be memorized and they don’t have to be by Shakespeare.  Proceeds support 2013’s free Shakespeare in the Park.

When: Monday, May 13, 2013 – from 8:00pm to 11:00pm

Where:

Transfer Pizzeria and Cafe

101 West Mitchell Street (in Bay View)

Milwaukee, WI 53204

Parking: Free parking along Mitchell Street

Cost: $35 per person.  $20 per ticket is tax deductible. Space is limited, so don’t wait.

100% of your ticket purchase goes to support free Shakespeare in the Park and $20 is tax deductible.  To purchase tickets, click the BUY NOW button at…

More Information:  Tom Reed treed@optimisttheatre.org or 414-524-9050

*Fres Oquendo appears courtesy of FOBA 

About Optimist Theatre:

Optimist Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit theatre company that produces free Shakespeare in the Park for the greater Milwaukee area.  Shakespeare in the Park is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

 

Youngblood’s Fall Launch Party

TICKETS – $20 (include food and drink)
http://youngbloodfalllaunch.bpt.me/

How do you spend your Sunday evenings? Watching Breaking Bad like the rest of us?

Well, DVR it and come join us for our Fall Launch Party on Sunday, September 9th at Transfer Pizzeria.

Join the Youngblood Ensemble and artists of the upcoming productions of [SIC] and CARTOON for music, drinks, food and the chance to win some wicked items donated by many of the fine establishments of Milwaukee, or a choice bottle from our Wall of Wine.

We’ll be pre-partying at 8:00 in Transfer’s backroom. At 9:00 the party will move to the rest of the restaurant.

Music will be provided by the very talented Kevin Hayden Trio (http://www.kevinhayden.net/). Check them out, we are excited to have them!

Your $20 ticket, in addition to benefiting the rest of our kick-ass season, will get you access to free food provided by Transfer, free beer, and a first look of what Youngblood has up it’s sleeve for rest of ’12 (and maybe ’13 – but not making any promises).

Are you still reading this?! Go reserve your ticket and come hang out with Milwaukee’s hottest theatre company!

Or just come for the food. Either way.

TICKETS – $20 (include food and drink)
http://youngbloodfalllaunch.bpt.me/
http://www.youngbloodtheatre.com/falllaunch.html

Call to action follow up

David has put this more eloquently than I ever could have.   Theatre and the arts are constantly being attacked, but seldom in such an overt manner.  Please make your voice heard.

Fletcher

 

You know what, my theatre and theatre-loving friends?   (This link sets the scene…)

 

http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2012/08/radio-bullies-push-around-theater-geeks-in-the-burbs/

 

The biggest fear I have in all this Reduced Shakespeare – radio preacher censorship nonsense is not protests, crank calls, or balloons filled with red paint that might stain Next Act’s pretty gold walls.  It’s this: now that Brian Faracy of Phantom Cicada has secured our venue to produce THE BIBLE, Milwaukee’s complacent self will half-rear its lazy head and dribble mediocre houses out of one side of its drooping mouth.

 

That may sound cynical and harsh — no, I admit, it IS.  But it’s based on years of experience with this sort of flash-in-the-pan agitation followed by some movement of the issue, and then a rapid drop-off of interest and action.  And as I sit here in my office at 8:15 pm Friday night, half a day after the word was given that Next Act will host THE BIBLE — hurrah, the show goes on — it’s very quiet.  …Yeah…too quiet.  Y’know??

 

Brian Faracy and Bo Johnson have been fighting this fight for weeks, while simultaneously rehearsing, producing and holding down real jobs.  I’ve arrived at the last minute and we’re happy to provide a space for the production to land.  But it’s only a minor victory to simply produce the show.  Brian could have done that one time in someone’s parking lot and called it a win.

 

The only thing to do now is to buy Brian’s tickets…all 1200 of them.   That’s less than 2 Powerhouses; it’s about 2.2 Todd Wehrs, one Pabst, 3 Cabots, 6 Stiemkes,12 Studios, about 9 Helfaers, a dozen Stackners, a Riverside…well, you get the point.  Think of the past work that has crammed these spaces to capacity over the years and then ask , “How much of that work was a direct expression of Freedom of Speech, of standing up to censorship, or answering a literal bully pulpit with the gentle but palpable protest of showing up to be counted?”  What a time to be counted.

 

This is about ART.  And it’s about speaking truth to power.  Answering ignorance with light.  Responding to fear with humor.  Which brings us back to ART.  And…this very silly show.

 

It’s 15 bucks a vote.  Do we have what it takes?

Aug 31 – Sept. 9   Friday 7:30,  Saturday 4:30/7:30, Sunday 2:00

 

And, by the way, if you’re out of town and can’t make a show, you can still buy a ticket or two and sponsor someone who can’t quite muster the dough.  A democracy sponsor…sounds nice, huh?

 

414-278-0765 if the Box Office #.  If you get VM, leave name and #, we’ll track you down.

 

Or this address gets you to the online ticket site (you have to paste it):

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/270533

 

Please pass this on to your circle.  Don’t worry if yours intersects with others.

 

Come for the Fun…stay for the Freedom of Speech.  And, you can take your drink in with you.

Thanks.

 

- David

 

David A. Cecsarini
Producing Artistic Director

 

NEXT ACT THEATRE
P.O. Box 394
Milwaukee, WI  53201

 

Admin:      414-278-7780               www.nextact.org
Box Offc:  414-278-0765
Fax:          414-278-5930

Champions of the Arts

 

Awards given to three outstanding Milwaukeeans

Celebration and fundraiser supports city-wide Cultivating Community through Public Art Projects

Milwaukee Public Theatre’s third annual Champions of the Arts Celebration will be held on Wednesday, June 20, from 5 to 7:30 pm at Historic Turner Hall Ballroom, 1034 N. Fourth Street, Milwaukee. The event honors three individuals who are notable supporters of the arts in Milwaukee: Reuben Harpole, long-time arts/community activist/unofficial “Mayor of Milwaukee”; Lucy Rosenberg, community advocate, philanthropist and poet; and Michael Reyes, President of Latino Arts, advocate for and specialist in Latin music.

The celebration and fundraiser includes the awards ceremony, a silent auction, and entertainment including jazz singer Adekola Adedapo. A cash bar and other refreshments will be available. Kathleen Dunn of Wisconsin Public Radio, will emcee the evening.  All proceeds will benefit the Milwaukee Public Theatre’s Cultivating Community collaborative public art projects, including the Summer of Peace All City Parade and Peace Rally, the Dia de los Muertos Parade and the Walnut Way Harvest Day Parade—free-to-the-public art workshops and events that bring people of all ages, cultures and abilities together throughout Milwaukee’s diverse neighborhoods to create giant puppets, floats and masked creatures that showcase our community.

Individual tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Patron level tickets of $100 include two tickets to the event and recognition in the program booklet.  Details on sponsoring tables of eight and other sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting MPT at 414-347-1685 or mptheatre2@gmail.com, or by visiting www.milwaukeepublictheatre.org.

Advance tickets must be reserved by Monday, June 18. Online ticket ordering and downloadable forms are available at http://www.milwaukeepublictheatre.org  or by calling 414-347-1685.

Artists, youth, and community groups will transform funds raised at this event into wonderfully imaginative masks, puppets and parade floats in arts residencies throughout the community and in Make-A-Parade workshops held at the Grand Avenue Mall MPT’s Artivity Place (see below for details). Visit http://www.milwaukeepublictheatre.org for other info, including photos and videos from 2011 and earlier parades. The Turner Hall Ballroom is also accessible through an elevator on the northeast corner of the building which may be reached from the parking lot.

The 2012 Cultivating Community through Public Art projects are partially funded by the Wisconsin Arts Board and the National Endowment for the Arts, Milwaukee County CAMPAC, City of Milwaukee Arts Board,  Milwaukee NIDC, the United Performing Arts Fund, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Abert Fund, the Helen Bader Foundation, the Max Fund, the Medical College of Wisconsin Violence Prevention Initiative, ACLU of Wisconsin, MPS Partnership for the Arts, Merrill Lynch, the Shepherd Express and many individuals.

Cultivating Community: Free Make-A-Parade Workshops, June 21 through July

Make puppets, masks and floats out of recycled materials at MPT’s Artivity Place, and see them come to life in neighborhood celebrations this summer. Workshops are drop-in and open to the public and groups. Groups of 10 or more are requested to register in advance. Children must be supervised at all times. Donations of materials are welcome. Contact MPT at 414-347-1685 for further information. Updates will be posted at http://www.milwaukeepublictheatre.org.

Make-A-Parade Workshop Schedule

MPT Artivity Place in the Shops of Grand Avenue, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Sessions run from June 21 through July

Wednesdays, noon-3 pm

Thursday, 5-8 pm

Fridays, 12-3 pm

Saturdays, 10 am-2 pm

Other Cultivating Community through Public Art projects

Summer Arts Residencies

Additional  make-a-parade workshops will be scheduled  June – July:

Westside Academy/Our Next Generation

Washington Park Urban Ecology Center

Sherman Park Neighborhood Association

Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club

Walnut Way Conservation Corps

Wednesday, July 4

Cultivating Community: Gordon Park Energy Independence Day

Bike decorating for the parade, workshops in the Art School Tent led by MPT artists.

Friday, July 27, 10 am –6 PM

Cultivating Community: Summer of Peace All City Parade and Peace Rally.  Presented with Urban Ecology Center, Washington Park Partners, Sherman Park Neighborhood Association,  MCW Violence Prevention Initiative, Safe & Sound, ACLU/PASA, Running Rebels, Boys and Girls Clubs , UNCOM agencies and many other organizations and individuals. All ages are invited to participate in a parade between Sherman Park and Washington Park.

August 2, Hillside and August 7, Kosciuszko Park
Cultivating Community: National Night Out events
MPT will present stiltwalkers, drummers, jugglers, face painters, craft artists and small parades in several of Milwaukee’s National Night Out observances in County Parks.

Wednesday, October 10
Cultivating Community: Walnut Way Harvest Day Parade features masks, puppets, headdresses and floats created in neighborhood workshops and residencies.

Friday, November 2
Cultivating Community: Dia de los Muertos Parade
Presented with Milwaukee Mijas, United Community Center/Latino Arts, and Walker’s Point Center for the Arts. Lively cultural celebration featuring masks, puppets, headdresses and offrendas created in neighborhood workshops. The entire community is invited to join in the early evening parade from UCC to WPCA, view the offrendas in both art galleries, and enjoy dancers and drummers in performances after sunset.

The Last House Party

Come one, come all to:

“The LAST HOUSE Party” An Evening of Short Films

Last House Productions invites everyone to The LAST HOUSE Party, an evening of short films from Last House Productions (LHP). This event will be a fundraiser for LHP’s newest film endeavor, Neptune. www.facebook.com/LastHouseProductions

WHERE: Verduras Tea House and Café located in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, 181 N. Broadway
WHEN: Thursday, March 29th from 7:30-10:30pm
SUGGESTED DONATION: $10 at the door

The films included in the screening are: Are You The Walkers, The Somniloquist (starring Milwaukee resident Nate Press) and the multi-award-winning dramatic short films I Want You To Know and The Bully. The Bully stars Wisconsin residents Richard Heim, Joel Kopischke, Alex Losi and Henry Shotwell. In addition, there will be a screening of the promotional teaser for LHP’s upcoming feature film, Neptune.

Verduras Tea House and Café will be open for beverages and food during the event. Wine, beer and soft drinks will be available for a donation. Prizes to win at the event include tickets to professional community arts events, LHP promotional posters, Music CDs by local musicians Lisa Gatewood and Mark Mantel, photo and art prints from the artists Claire Hanel, Chris Winters, Angie Nemanic and Anja Notanja.

For updates visit The LAST HOUSE Party Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/328763443838653/

All proceeds from The LAST HOUSE Party will support LHP’s current film, Neptune, the third collaborative effort between director Derek Kimball and co-writer Konkel. With producing teams in both Maine and Wisconsin, photography for the film will begin in summer 2012 on location in Maine. The film’s projected completion date is 2013.

Neptune is an exploration of an orphaned adolescent’s manic journey to self-discovery, dictated by the tragic death and disappearance of a peer and the solitude of life on a small Maine island. “Identity search is a rich and wide subject matter both Derek and I are fascinated with,” says Konkel. “With Neptune we hope to expand on the themes established in our short films I Want You To Know and The Bully, and create a piece that further explores the elements of identity search while pushing the boundaries of cinema story.”

All ages are welcome to attend The LAST HOUSE Party, however, some content in the screenings may not be suitable for children under 13.

Last House Productions is seeking funding for the first production phase of Neptune through the web-based fundraising platform IndieGoGo. The current fundraising period continues through April 13th. To learn more about Neptune, please visit our IndieGoGo page at http://igg.me/p/51440?a=319118
–
Neptune Indiegogo Campaign

http://www.indiegogo.com/Neptune?a=319118&i=wdgi

Matthew Konkel
Last House Productions
Official Website

Christmas Comes Early!

Ah, the holidays.  Shopping, food, drink, travelling, family, friends, office parties, football…and heartburn, lots and lots of heartburn.  That time between Thanksgiving and the New Year seems to fly by and sometimes we forget to simply take some time to relax and be entertained.  So in the spirit of giving, we wish to give you an evening of pure entertainment.

 

The Bunny Gumbo Theatre Company proudly presents The Best of Combat Theatre…so far!  One night, and one night only, you can revisit 8 of the best plays from the last decade.  8 gifts which will be presented one last time before they are put away forever.

 

The Cowboy by Patrick Holland

Desperately Seeking Septums by Michelle Hoffman

Heartbeats and Hoofbeats by Jim Thibodeau

Love Bites by Doug Jarecki

Pee Wee’s Fan Adventure by Randy Rehberg

So-So Sorenson Saves the Day by John Van Slyke

To Pee or Not to Pee by Julie Pandl

Triumph of the Still by Tony Wood

 

Saturday, December 17^th at 8:00 pm

The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC)

325 W. Walnut (on the corner of Walnut and MLK Drive)

Tickets for this special benefit show are $25 and available at the door only.

 

In addition to this fine evening of entertainment there will be many items up for grabs at our silent auction, so bring your checkbooks.

 

Bunny Gumbo; we do it because we can!

 

www.bunnygumbo.com

http://bunnygumbo.wordpress.com

A Scandal of Epic Proportion

There’s a sleepy little community on the east coast where life moves at a different pace.  It’s a little slice of heaven; cookouts, block parties, ice cream socials and everyone knows their neighbors.  The kind of place where doors are left unlocked and bikes are left on the lawn.  Secluded from the rest of the world, the people here don’t have to face the problems of the big city…or do they?

Someone is preying on the children.  There’s a dark secret that has been kept quiet for decades, but now, at long last, the truth is starting to leak out.  A man in this community, a seemingly harmless man with the perfect excuse to be working with children all the time, is not who he seems to be.  And when this secret comes to light it will rock the entire community.  This man must be stopped.  This man is a clown and his name is…

…Pennywise.

 

Abhorrent, yes, but dig beneath the surface a little bit and you’ll see that there’s another side to this child-eating clown.  Underneath the grease paint lies a deeply conflicted man, a man in love.  And against all odds his love, Susan, finds herself falling for this clown.  They both want children, but can they face his awful truth or will it tear their world apart?

Doug Jarecki tackles the difficult and all too relevant issue of child-eating clowns in his dark drama, Love Bites, and it can only be seen one place and on one night.

 

The Bunny Gumbo Theatre Company presents The Best of Combat Theatre…so far!

Saturday, December 17^th at 8:00 pm.

The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC)

325 W. Walnut Street, on the corner of Walnut and MLK Drive

 

Tickets for this benefit show are $25 and available at the door only.

 

Bunny Gumbo: you’ll laugh so hard you’ll sprout a clown nose.

 

For more info visit us at www.bunnygumbo.com

Pants on the Ground

It’s the nature of Combat Theatre that most of the pieces are comedic.  The writers are given a ridiculous pairing of a subject and location and the jokes tend to follow.  But every now and again one of our writers is inspired to write a drama, and that’s just what Michelle Hoff man did when she drew the pairing of Sleep Disorders on a Soap Opera.

Little Billy needs a septum transplant to save his life and there’s only one institution that performs such a delicate procedure and that institution is Desperate Hope Hospital.  And there’s only one surgeon with the hands capable of performing such a feat and that surgeon is Dr. Brock Stronghand.  And there’s only one actor capable of playing such a role, but we’re going to let Jarecki play it again anyway.

Watch as Brock, Dr. Haley McShane and Nurse Celeste race against the clock to save Little Billy’s life, and keep Doug from taking his clothes off.  It’s “Desperately Seeking Septums” and you only have one chance to see an encore of this play originally produced in June of 2007.

It’s “The Best of Combat Theatre…so far!” 

One night only: Saturday, December 17^th, 2011

The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center , 325 W. Walnut (on the corner of Walnut and MLK Drive)

Tickets for this benefit for the Bunny Gumbo Theatre Company are $25 and available at the door only.

You’ll laugh so hard, you’ll need a new septum.

What if you could go back?

The beauty of Combat Theatre is that it arrives in a flash.  A show that didn’t exist 24 hours earlier is fully realized, and those in attendance get to share the great joy of having 8 shows smack them in the kisser.  But those shows only exist for that single evening, residing in the collective memories of that particular audience, but never to be seen again.

But what if you could go back?  Maybe not to every show, but to those really special shows that everyone talks about; the ones you could kick yourself for having missed.  Would you?

You have that opportunity, but only for one night and in one place.  8 of the best plays from the last decade will grace the stage once again with many of the original cast members inhabiting the roles they originated.

Magicians in Northern Wisconsin

Fast Dating at the Running of the Bulls

A Fan Dance in Pee Wee’s Playhouse

Hamlet in a Kiddie Pool

Stephen King in a Nest

A Drug Experience at an Accident Scene

Sleep Disorders on a Soap Opera

and

Nazis in Mayberry

The Bunny Gumbo Theatre Company presents: The Best of Combat Theatre…so far!

Saturday, December 17^th at 8:00 pm

The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC)

325 W. Walnut (on the corner of Walnut and MLK Drive)

Tickets for this special benefit show are $25 and available at the door only.

You’ll be able to tell your grandkids you were there!

For more info visit our website at: www.bunnygumbo.com

And for info about Bunny Gumbo and all other theatre events, go to: http://bunnygumbo.wordpress.com

Bunny Gumbo – We do it because we can!

Win tickets to see The Best of Combat Theatre…so far!  Send pictures of your Halloween get up to bunnygumbo@wi.rr.com  The winning submission will receive two tickets to the show.  Act fast!  All submissions must be received no later than midnight on November 2^nd, 2011.  Get your Bunny on!

Get your Bunny on!

The year is 1960.  Things are well in America.  We’ve won World War II, survived the Korean War and Vietnam isn’t even on the radar yet.  Jack Kennedy is on the cusp of being elected and leading us into the golden age of Camelot.  CBS seizes upon this season of good will and introduces widower and sheriff Andy Griffith and his son Opie.  Set in the sleepy town of Mayberry North Carolina, Sheriff Andy sets out to clean up…well nothing.  Mayberry is as idyllic a place as you could wish for.  Wisdom is dispensed freely in the barber shop, fish are as fresh and abundant as the good will in the town, and apple pies cool on every windowsill for miles and miles.

Things are perfect in Mayberry…or are they?  Let’s slow that camera down just a wee bit and see what’s really going on.  Wait a minute, what’s that over there?  Is that..yes I believe it is…it’s NAZI’S!  Nazi’s in Mayberry!  For the first time explore what really happened in Mayberry during the Cold War.  It’s Tony Woods’ The Triumph of the Still and it will blow your mind.

Bunny Gumbo presents The Best of Combat Theatre…so far!  Eight of the greatest plays from the last ten years.  One night only, Saturday, December 17^th at 8:00pm.  The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC) 325 W. Walnut Street (on the corner of Walnut and MLK Drive.)  Tickets for this special benefit are $25 and available at the door only.  You’ll laugh so hard, you’ll grow a little moustache.