Once again, playful ‘Guys on Ice’ both amuses and warms the heart
With exquisite timing, Milwaukee Repertory Theater celebrated the arrival of both a stunning Packers playoff victory and a brutal cold snap by opening a new production of the greatest ice fishing musical ever Sunday evening at the Stackner Cabaret.
Since its Door County premiere in 1998, “Guys on Ice” has entertained umpteen audience members in Wisconsin and lesser states with its silly, sweet and sometimes touching concoction of goofy jokes, folkish songs and male bonding Badger style.
Steve M. Koehler and Doug Mancheski have performed more than 1,000 shows together as ice fishing buddies Lloyd and Marvin. It shows in their easy rapport onstage, in their vocal harmony and in Mancheski’s exquisite facial expressions as the doofus Marvin slowly grasps Lloyd’s jokes.
In their ice fishing shack, armed with cheap beer and with fathead minnows for bait, Lloyd and Marvin are two guys working things out. Lloyd’s wife has decamped to the in-laws after he prized Packers tickets over their anniversary; Marvin is trying to find the self-esteem and courage to ask out a cashier at the local grocery store.
Their fretting is occasionally interrupted by Ernie da Moocher stopping in to see what he can cadge. On opening night, Tim McNurlen filled in ably for Dan Klarer, who is expected to return to the role in a few days. McNurlen nails the role of the crafty nemesis. He also has a fantastic crowd-work segment between acts, bantering in character with audience members in a quiz show format.
With songs titled “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit” and “Fish Is the Miracle Food,” “Guys on Ice” is a foremost a comedy (albeit one with a fresh take on the miracle of the loaves and fishes). But it’s also good at illuminating male vulnerability and how grown men connect — sometimes through loving abuse, other times though an empathetic grunt or just the right favor.
“Guys on Ice” is the greatest of many hits to come out of Door County’s Northern Sky Theater (formerly American Folklore Theatre), the Motown of this lighthearted, familyfriendly style of musical. Jeffrey Herbst, who directed that 1998 production and many since them, also helmed this one. The late Fred Alley, who originated the role of Lloyd, wrote the book and words; James Kaplan composed the sweet tunes.
Music director Ryan Cappleman plays keyboards for this compact show, with Koehler contributing harmonica and McNurlen pitching in on percussion, ukulele and kazoo.