‘Passing Strange’ to kick off Chamber Theatre’s next season
As the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s incoming artistic director, Brent Hazelton wants the group’s conversation with audiences to be multigenerational as well as multicultural.
“The point of doing the work is never just to do the work; it’s to make some sort of impact with the community,” said Hazelton, who worked for 20 years with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater before joining MCT. He is only the third artistic director in Chamber’s 45-year history, succeeding C. Michael Wright, who is retiring at the end of this season.
Hazelton’s first season as MCT’s artistic captain includes a musical, a timely drama about violence against women and an American theater classic.
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre performs at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. Here are the 2020-’21 shows, in chronological order:
“Passing Strange,” Aug. 13-30. This semi-autobiographical musical by the performer known as Stew and Heidi Rodewald is in Hazelton’s mind a universal story of someone trying to find his own voice. Hazelton said it also explores questions of identity for middle-class African Americans. The cast will include DiMonte Henning and Malkia Stampley.
“The Way She Spoke,” Oct. 2-25. Playwright Isaac Gomez funneled his research on the rampant abuse and murder of women in Juarez, Mexico, into this one-actor play. Michelle Lopez-Rios will perform, with Hazelton directing.
“The Thanksgiving Play,” Nov. 20Dec. 20. In Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse’s satirical comedy, four “woke” white people try to create a Thanksgiving school pageant that honors Native Americans, with laughable results. The four people “are approaching it for all the right reasons, they just get it horribly wrong,” Hazelton said.
“A Moon for the Misbegotten,” Feb. 12- March 7, 2021. Lisa Kornetsky will direct Eugene O’Neill’s haunting drama that centers on a troubled alcoholic’s romance with the daughter of his tenant. Kelly Doherty plays the role made famous by Colleen Dewhurst.
“Indecent,” April 2-18, 2021. Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman’s play with klezmer music explores the uproar caused by Sholem Asch’s “The God of Vengeance” on Broadway in 1923, which featured a lesbian kiss and prompted intense conflict within the Jewish community. Hazelton, who will direct, said MCT will collaborate on related programming with local Jewish organizations, including UWM’s Stahl Center for Jewish Studies, the Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay and Jewish Museum Milwaukee. For subscription and other info, visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com or call (414) 276-8842.