Through Thomas’ wondrous language, seven actors portray sixty-seven vivid and colorful characters from a small Welsh village, as they dream, gossip, sing, play, fight and love their way through the course of one spring night and day. The pay-what-you-can performance is a collaborative presentation of the Marquette Performing Arts Department, Bucketworks, and Nice Plays, Inc.
The cast features Flora Coker and John Schneider, founding members of Theatre X, repeating the roles they played many times during the years when Theatre X presented Under Milk Wood as its semi-regular holiday offering.
As a leading performer with Theatre X, Coker is an internationally acclaimed theatre artist. She has performed with Milwaukee theatre companies large and small, and she also teaches and gardens. She was recently featured in the Milwaukee Mask and Puppet Theatre’s production of The Ballad of Joseph K at Vogel Hall and at Minneapolis’ Illusion Theatre.
Schneider is currently an adjunct faculty member in the performing arts program at Marquette, and Nice Plays, Inc. is the name of his new production company which also includes Project Non-Violence, a theatre for young people presenting original work about Milwaukee city life.
Also featured is Phylis Ravel, playwright, director, distinguished Professor in Marquette’s Performing Arts program, and former chair of the program and artistic director of the Helfaer Theatre. Her play Censored on Final Approach opened the Helfaer’s season this fall to acclaim. Ravel will recreate the roles she played as a member of the cast of Theatre X’s last presentation of Under Milk Wood a decade ago.
The cast also features James Carlson, who has made a major contribution to Milwaukee’s cultural life as the founder and executive director of Bucketworks, Inc, home to a vast array of creative projects from all fields. Who knew he was also an accomplished storyteller, vocal impersonator and singer? Everyone will know it now.
Also featured is Rip Tenor, aka Art Kumbalek, columnist for the Shepherd Express newspaper, candidate for many political offices, stand-up comedian and legendary jazz saxophonist. Tenor has been a performance artist all his life, and has also performed in many Theatre X productions. He is a co-founder of the pop-jazz-cabaret band, The John Schneider Orchestra, and The Hotel Milwaukee Radio Show.
Finally, the cast features two young alumni of the Marquette theatre program. Brian Sheridan, also a Theatre X alumnus, graduated in 2002 and now performs in films and on stage in Los Angeles and Chicago. His newest film is a horror spoof called The Crustacean. Kate Gustin, a 2007 graduate, has returned to Milwaukee from grad school in Detroit to join the theatre community. She is a member of a well-known Wisconsin theatre family that includes another of Theatre X’s founders, Tom Gustin.
The performance will start at 2:30 pm. The Helfaer Theatre is on the Marquette University campus at 525 N 13th St Milwaukee, WI 53233-2204. Suggested donation $10.
For tickets, call the Helfaer Box Office: 414-288-7504
Please call John Schneider for more information – 414-807-8949.