Murderous Monologues
Theater Review
Next Act continues its season with Jeffrey Hatcher's Murderers, three monologues set in and around the fictitious Riddle Key Luxury Senior Center and Golf Course in Florida. Next Act has put together a trio of seasoned actors to bring Hatcher's comedy to the Off-Broadway Theatre.
Norman Moses plays a man who is marrying his lover's terminally ill mother so that he and her daughter can inherit all of her money tax-free. Ruth Schudson plays a resident of the community who suspects her husband of cheating on her. After a brief intermission, the show closes with Linda Stephens as an employee of the senior center who finds herself quite busy with activities not found in her job description.
It might seem a tad dull to sit through a full play of monologues, but the actors craft interesting performances out of a truly brilliant script. Hatcher's stories are anything but isolated to these three characters. It is mentioned briefly in passing that one of the many characters who doesn't appear onstage lives in a residence overlooking the 17th hole of the golf course. It's a very dense, symbolic and witty line that is accompanied by countless others throughout the course of the play. A script that is so tightly packed and populated by tiny significant details gives the world of the play a kind of reality that can be difficult to come by onstage.
Moses, Schudson and Stephens add to the depth with performances that are richly detailed. The cast is aided by the production's detailed set, lighting and prop design. There isn't anything onstage that doesn't need to be there, and careful attention is paid to detail with everything that appears onstage. This is a perfectly balanced production.
Next Act's Production of Murderers runs through Dec. 14 at the Off-Broadway Theatre.
Also in Theater:
- Wed
7 - Thu
8 - Fri
9 - Sat
10 - Sun
11 - Mon
12 - Tue
13
The American political drama that began in the upheaval of the 1960s reached its climax with the Watergate scandal and ended in 1974 with the resignation of Richard Nixon. An epilogue was added to the story when Nixon emerged from seclusion in 1977 for an
In 1964, the time of Doubt, no one spoke of pedophile priests, even if the Roman Catholic Church was already riddled with them. Directed by John Patrick Shanley from his own play, one of the most provocative recent productions on a Broadway that has surre
Although the wacky, anonymous, eyeball-mask-wearing members of The Residents make a point of labeling it a collection of "pop songs," The Bunny Boy isn't simply a pop album. It's also a cryptic Internet series that "inspired" the album, a live performance
Steve Grimm's place in Milwaukee music history remains secure for having fronted one of the city's most prominent bands to make it to a major label. It's been a while since Bad Boy was a happening entity, but Grimm remains vital-if inextricably linked to
Mitchell Street was once known as the Polish Grand Avenue, the main drag for Milwaukee’s large Polish-American community. The Poles began moving away in the 1970s, making way for new chapters in the city’s immigrant story. Mitchell Street has
Little touches set it apart: the twist of lime on the rim of a glass of cranberry juice, the faux modern paintings on the wall… Ten years after it opened, Metro Bar & Cafe, just off the lobby of Hotel Metro (411 E. Mason St.), remains a timelessly
Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin asserted Wednesday that Roland Burris should be seated in the Senate, becoming the second Senate Democrat to publicly break from party leaders on the controversial appointment.
In an interview, Feingold said Democratic arguments that Burris should be denied a seat because he was [...]
