Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
For me, it’s the end of the year . . . in a way. The Milwaukee Theatre Year traditionally begins in August as companies like Milwuakee Chamber Theatre and smaller companies like the late Dramatist’s Theatre open their first shows of the new se
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
The Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove is getting set to start its new season. The opening show is a production of the Jerome Lawrence/ Robert Lee adaptation of the classic Patrick Dennis novel Auntie Mame. It’s the story of a young man who finds himsel
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
This summer has been a bit bewildering. It feels like there’s a new theatre company opening every week. Actually, my best realistic estimation is something like - - - three companies starting up in a four week span.Putting it into perspective: Thou
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
As appealing as the life of a traveling artist seems to me, I’d never really be able to pull it off. Coming from a childhood of virtual poverty, I have very little experience traveling. I’ve never really been able to communicate all that coher
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
Having just returned to Milwaukee, the early summer trip to American Players Theatre is fully behind me. Full reviews of each of the three outdoor shows will appear in print over the course of the next couple of weeks. On the whole, it was one of the bett
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
The annual June trip too Spring Green for American Players Theatre has been lengthened a bit by their current budget. Having canceled their June matinees, out-of-towners looking to take in all three of the early season shows end up staying for three conse
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
My wife nad I had arrived in Spring Green Friday afternoon. I would be covering all three of American Players Theatre’s early show this weekend . . . and because there are no matinees, the three shows on three consecutive nights means more time than
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
It was my last show before a weekend with the APT . . . a local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that Carte Blanche Studios. And., as usual, there wasn’t room in the print review to mention everything . . . here are a few impressions
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
A number of people have asked me about the Skylight Thing. My response has been more or less the same every time someone’s asked me if I’m going to write anything about it. I simply tell them: Nothing I’m going to say is going to add
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Russ Bickerstaff
Curtains
It’s easy for me to joke about hating musicals, but I see so many of them that it’s difficult not to understand the appeal in most of them on some level. While I don’t share much of the country’s obsession with the American musi
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