Publisher Description

Milwaukee's live theater scene is the sum of several exciting parts. For many, Milwaukee live theater means world-class productions done by resident actors at one of the nation's leading regional theaters. For others, it has been defined by the machinations of a respected experimental theater troupe that traveled throughout Europe in the 1980s and was once honored with an Obie Award. There was a time when Milwaukee live theater meant a big top arena where some of the biggest stars of American musical theater frolicked and played for local audiences. Audiences in Milwaukee have enjoyed the classics, new plays, and contemporary hits performed by never-say-die producers who boast personalities larger than the stages their companies play upon. The Milwaukee theater style is not fussy or overblown. It is informed by a thrilling past, buoyant future, unsurpassed community support, and unfailing devotion to solid midwestern work ethics channeled into artistic innovation. Simply put, Milwaukee's live theater scene is the best-kept artistic secret in the United States.

Author Biography

Jonathan West is a writer, director, and actor living and working in Milwaukee. He writes about the arts in Milwaukee and beyond for his blog, Artsy Schmartsy.

Review Text

Title: Local Limelight: Remembering Milwaukee Theater Author: David Luhrssen Publisher: Express Milwaukee Date: 3/26/09 Unlike some American heartland cities, Milwaukee was settled by Germans, Jews and other immigrant groups with an appreciation for theater. The Pabst was built to satisfy that love, touring companies came to town often in Milwaukee's early decades, local companies proliferated and two of the early 20th century's great stage actors, Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontaine, lived nearby in Genosee Depot. The latest in a series of booklets on Milwaukee by Arcadia Publishing, Milwaukee's Live Theater, travels along the memory lane of limelight from the earliest performances through the present. As with all Arcadia books, black and white photographs of varying clarity scoured from archives and scrapbooks outweigh the text. But author Jonathan West, an Equity actor who co-founded the defunct Bialystock and Bloom and currently manages the long-running Sunset Playhouse, capably puts the pictures in context and maintains that Milwaukee was "one of the first metropolitan areas in the Midwest to establish a theatrical tradition as part of its civic personality." From those roots sprang the Milwaukee Rep, the Skylight and other institutions. The pictures are fun, including playbills from the Melody Top, a poster of a very young (and thin) Jackie Gleason at the Davidson Theater and many snaps of Milwaukee actors such as John Schneider, Ruth Schudson, Montgomery Davis, David Cecsarini, Laura Gordon, Dale Gutzman and more. Milwaukee's Live Theater will be published in April.

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