Renaissance Theaterworks Blog

Oh yeah.  It’s that fun!

Some of the most impotant roles at Renaissance Theaterworks

are played by people who never appear on stage, but are our stars.

They’re our Friends Group and we want to cast you!

The Friends Group provides Renaissance Theaterworks with the

volunteer power needed to produce each season of theater.  

You can join the Firneds Group as a Friend (volunteeer) or as a Pal (supporter.)  

You tax deductible contribution of $25 to the Friends Group will sponsor this season’s Friends activites.

You are invited to our Friends Group Kick-Off

Monday Evening, Septimber 8th

5:30 - 7:30 pm

in the Skylight Salon

2nd Floor. Broadway Theatre Center . 158 North Braodway. Miwaukee

RSVP by September 1st.  Call Lisa Rasmussen at 414-273-0800 ext 202

Join the renaissace Theaterworks Board and Staff for refreshments

and a bit of socializg (something we love to do) and learn more

about becoming a memeber of the Friends Group.

And by all means, bring a friend! 

The successful bidder for the Greek dinner for eight offered by former RTW board member (and Greek goddess), Angela Toeptzes Strelka at the spring fundraiser was a group of RTW season ticket holders that included board member Cathie Anderson, and friends Cindy Angelos, Kathy Block, Linda Burke, MaryLynn Cinaelis, Miriam Horwitz and MaryNell Regan.  Our dinner was held on Thursday, July 31st at the home of Cindy Angelos and Ed Ehrlich. The deck where the meal was served overlooks Lake Michigan. It was filled with pots and pots of flowers, the work of Cindy’s green-thumbed husband Ed, and festively decorated in Greek blue and white. With Greek music playing in the background (no Abba), we truly felt we were on an island in the Aegean Sea. In fact, some of us were so taken with the spirit we even attempted to execute a Greek dance (we are not giving up day jobs and going on tour). Angela and her husband Tom prepared a marvelous meal allowing us to graze throughout the evening. The evening started with typical Greek appetizers, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), taramasalata (caviar tip), melanzanasalata(eggplant dip), sardines, octopus, loukaniko (Greek sausage) with tzatsiki (yougurt sauce) and three Greek cheeses. This feast was followed by entrees of horiatiki salad, spanakopita (spinach/cheese pie), pastitsio (Greek lasagne) and loin lamb chops.  Just when we thought we could eat no more, the desserts came: risogolo (a cinnamon-spiced rice pudding), baklava, kourabethies (power-sugar covered ladyfingers) and diples (potato- chip looking dessert dripping with honey).  All of this washed down with Notios wine, Mythos beer, ouzo and metaxa brandy left us shouting OPA! Angela and her husband Tom were terrific event hosts, amusing us with stories about the Greek community and Greek customs and traditions (like the movie, Big Fat Greek Wedding, Angela and Tom claim all Greeks are cousins, but unlike the movie, not all Greeks believe Windex is the universal cure for what ails ya!), and explaining the origins and ingredients of many of the foods. A highlight was when Angela told us that the round pan she used to make spanakopita (the spinach pie) is over a 100 years old and was brought to this country by her mother’s mother and passed down to Angela. Now that’s tradition!Another nice Greek tradition we enthusiastically embraced was the fine tradition of cooking way too much - and giving the leftovers to the party guests! On behalf of our entire group, a thank you and “OPA” to Angela and Tom and to RTW for putting this item on the auction table so it could be on our dinner table. Reviewed by:  Cathie Anderson (top photo left) 

We’ve had a few bugs to work out, but we are back on target with our blog and are committed to giving you all the inside scoop and juicy details of Renaissance Theaterworks.  And just in time for the new season.  But before we jump to the exciting 2008-2009 Season, I wanted to give you a quick view of what’s been going on since the run of Fat Pig.Fat Pig was a HUGE success.  The actors were fantastic, the show was funny and touching and made you a bit uncomfortable (how could it not when you are calling a beautiful, charming woman a Fat Pig!  Kudos to the actors, Susan Fete, the director and all the people behind the scenes to make this one of the most sought after shows in Milwaukee.  Tanya  Braden  Leah Wayne

Let’s see, we also had a smashing success at our annual fundraiser “Salon Soiree”.  This year’s fundraiser had a theme of Renaissance Men.  We had different types of Renaissance Men in the house, that meant different things to Renaissance Theaterworks.  Among the men in attendance were  Norman Moses, Wayne T. Carr, Mayor Tom Barrett, philanthropist Harry Franke,  Josh “making it big Off-Broadway in NYC” Schmidt, as well as many other RTW fan favorites.  They all told a personal insight into their lives in the theater as well as what makes Milwaukee a great place to live and to see great theater.  It was truly a good night for Milwaukee theater.  Plus we raised a few bucks!

Keep checking back often.  We have some reviews coming from students at MATC who saw FAT PIG.  We’ll see what they thought of it.  Plus we’ll be hearing from the Renaissance Theaterworks Friends Group and about the upcoming Play Reading “Smell of the Kill.”

See you soon!

We had our first read through of Fat Pig last week.  If you’ve never been to a read through, it’s pretty cool.  You get to hear from the designers and get an idea of what they are thinking as they create the look of the show.  On this first read through, we got to hear from Amanda Cervenka, the set designer.  She showed us a little mock up of what the set is going to look like at different times of the show.  Then she showed us the different pieces of furniture that she cut out of magazines - it was pretty exciting.Another one of the designers that we got to meet was Holly Payne. Holly is the costume designer.  She showed us her sketches of the different costumes and what each character means to her.  She gave us background information on each character and how their clothing impacts them.This is going to be a great show.

There is a going to be a change in the cast of Red Pepper Jelly when it does the remount in Sheboygan.  “Say it isn’t so” you say.  “We love them all” you say.  “How can this be” you say.  Well, it’s actually happy news.  John & Susan are expecting a baby.  That’s right - another little baby pepper - yea!

Have you signed up to be a part of the Renaissance Theaterworks Team?  As a member of the team, you will be helping raise money for United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), which helps to fund the performing arts community in Milwaukee.  50% of all donations and ride registrations will come back to Renaissance.

Check out the Ride for the Arts at www.millerliteride.com.  Let me know if you want to be a part of the team and I will email you the super-secret password to become a part of the Renaissance Team.

Can you believe the most popular bike route with the Reniassance Team is the 25 mile route?!  Yahoo!

Wait a minute…what’s that?…Another chance to see Red Pepper Jelly III???  That’s right!!  Red Pepper Jelly III, the best receipe is going to be up in Sheboygan at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center June 17-22, 2008.         All of your favorite peppers will be back, John & Susan, Jennifer, Raeleen and Erika (all the way from NYC.)  Be sure to check it out - I’m sure the tickets will go fast.  You can contact the John Michael Kohler Arts Center at 920-458-6144.

I know that you are thinking about how much fun it will be to be on the Renaissance Theaterworks Team for the Ride for the Arts bike ride on June 2.  But you are probably thinking about what kind of equipment do you need…I know the place for you.  Wheel and Sprocket is having their 24th Annual Bike Expo at State Fair Park, Wednesday, March 19 - Saturday, March 22. 

It’s a great time to get a new bike.  Then, remember to sign up for the Ride for the Arts as a Renaissance Theaterworks team member.  Ride with us on June 2 while raising money for the performing arts in Milwaukee.  50% of the money that is raised by our team members will come directly back to Renaissance.  That’s a really great thing!

So, let’s see…you get a new, shiny bike (the bell is optional), join the Renaissance Team, get in shape, raise money for Renaissance (as well as other theater companies in Milwaukee) and it’s FUN!! 

Who’s ready for a bike ride?

For years, BUS STOP has been one of the titles we’ve tossed around on our Play Selection Committee – the response often was, “That old thing?  I’ve seen that a million times”.  Funnily enough, I hadn’t ever seen it.  Written in 1955, BUS STOP was one of the favorites plays written by William Inge.  (He also wrote PICNIC, COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA, among others.)  When Marilyn Monroe starred in the movie version, it became even more popular and famous.  But the play suffered from being a product of a style and era of theater that had gone out of fashion.   

We read it as a committee and liked it, so decided to do it as a play reading, to see how it played to a contemporary audience.  We’ll be using the Skylight Bar Monday, March 10^th at 7:30, with the actors reading simply from the text in our usual reader’s theater style.  We have lots of patrons who love the form – we hope you join us.

BUS STOP is set in the 1950’s in a café in the windy and snow-swept plains of Kansas – where the bus stops intermittently during the day and night and nothing spectacular happens. The world of BUS STOP is the world William Inge grew up in.  Born in Independence Kansas in 1913, Inge liked to write plays about people from small towns, where you knew people well – knew their dreams, their secrets, their loves, their failures.

The charm of the piece is its characters.  We have a great cast to read them, too:  Julie Swenson (our Producing Director) plays Grace, the world-wise café owner; Brian Mani plays Will, the Sheriff; Drew Brhel plays Dr. Lyman, the philandering academic; Toni Inzeo, plays Elma, the wide-eyed high school girl behind the counter; Jim Fletcher plays Carl, the bus driver; Andy Truschinksi plays Bo, the rowdy cowboy; and Carrie Coon plays Cherie, the nightclub singer on the run from him.  Come to the reading and see how this 1950’s classic romance plays out in 2008!

 By Marie Kohler, director of BUS STOP

Check out the postcard that was sent out about our upcoming play reading of BUS STOP.  I’ve never seen the movie version, but those legs look a little sassy.  Hope to see you Monday, March 10 for the show in the Skylight Bar.