Russ Bickerstaff
It’s that time of year again—with all of the holiday shows winding-down, there are almost no openings between mid-December and mid-January. For someone who usually attends 2-3 theatre openings per week, this can feel like a pretty dramatic the
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Russ Bickerstaff
That night they would end up exchanging clothing in a house in Riverwest. I was invited, but I didn’t make it. My wife’s sister Allison had invited us out to The Social to hang out with a bunch of people who looked disinterested in some mock a
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Russ Bickerstaff
REMEMBER: IT’S AN OPENING NIGHT—NOT A PRESS JUNKETIt’s always an interesting crowd at the opening night of a Milwaukee Shakespeare show. Opening night of Twelfth Night was no exception, though it was taking place far from the heart of th
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Russ Bickerstaff
It’s just three people talking. And they’re not even talking to each other. Somehow, three people delivering monologues in a studio theatre in Elm Grove can have an undefinable kind of compelling magic. If it’s the right three p
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Russ Bickerstaff
The exact pattern of elements that make for a pleasantly memorable trip to the theatre can be very, very precise. The exact mix of things that will emotionally draw-in an audience changes every night. The exact mix of things the will emotionally draw-in a
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Russ Bickerstaff
The size of an audience going to “some bullshit musical at the Marcus Center”* (or the Milwaukee Theatre for that matter) is considerably larger than what would be seen at a main stage show at the Rep. The audience seeing just about any show a
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Russ Bickerstaff
New York-Based Director Timothy Douglas has had a remarkable career thus far. Having worked on projects all over the country. He has had the distinction of directing the world premiere of August Wilson's Radio Golf at the Yale Repertory Theatr
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Russ Bickerstaff
Being the smallest guys in the room, Do It Yourself theatre companies don’t get a whole lot of money from those traditional sources that their bigger commercial cousins do. Quite often the budget is limited (or, strictly speaking, nonexistent) on su
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Russ Bickerstaff
In spite of my best efforts, I will NOT be making the open auditions tonight. For the third time, I have had my work as a script writer accepted for a local DIY program—Pink Banana’s upcoming show entitled: Shorts: The Next Big Thing. This tim
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Russ Bickerstaff
SummerLast month’s Milwaukee Ballet production of Bruce Well’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream served as a prelude for a couple of upcoming summer productions of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays in different distant
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