PIX Flix Spotlight on the Board: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991, part of a resurgence of Disney animated musicals in the late 1980s through the early 2000s. From the very beginning, the film adopted a theatrical tone, with a grand opening number featuring the full cast. For its voice talent, veteran Broadway performers lent their voices to bring these now classic characters to life: Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, Jerry Orbach as Lumiere, David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth, Robby Benson as the Beast, Richard White as Gaston, and Paige O’Hara as Belle. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken filled the score with tunes that have now become unforgettable classic songs like, “Belle”, “Be Our Guest”, and the title song, “Beauty and the Beast”. The film went on to become the first animated film nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category.

The animated film was adapted into a stage musical that made its Broadway debut in 1994. It ran for 13 years and closed in 2007. Throughout its run, many famous singers played its iconic roles including Toni Braxton, Debbie Gibson, Donny Osmond, and Nick Jonas. In 2017, Beauty and the Beast was turned into a live-action film, starring Emma Watson as Belle, allowing a new generation to experience the magical story.

Coincidentally, my own introduction to Waukesha Civic Theatre started with Beauty and the Beast in 2008. Braving a snowy evening in an unfamiliar city, I drove to WCT to audition for my dream role: LeFou (Gaston’s sidekick). Being new to the city and new to community theatre, I felt very much like Belle upon entering the castle. I was nervous, unsure of expectations, and a little bit scared. While I ended up not being in that production, I was welcomed with open arms by the wonderful people here at WCT, just as Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip welcomed Belle. In no time at all, I found myself at home.

Beauty and the Beast has cast a magic spell on generations that is as enchanting as the talking objects found within the Beast’s castle. It is only fitting that the film returns to its theatrical roots as part of the PIX Flix Kids series. Get your tickets today for this iconic film!

Beauty and the Beast truly is a tale as old as time.

Peter Kao
Board of Directors
Secretary

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Spotlight On The Board Of Directors: Alice In Wonderland JR.

Welcome to Alice In Wonderland JR. at the Waukesha Civic Theatre presented by our A.C.T. program. Join Alice as she chases the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole and journeys through a topsy-turvy world that gets “curiouser and curiouser.” Meet the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, the Cheshire Cat, March Hare, Caterpillar, the flowers, Doorknob, Queen & King of Hearts and more unforgettable characters as they take to the stage.

This fun-filled tale is being performed by students aged 6-17 and they are having a great time. These students come to Waukesha Civic to experience participating in a Mainstage show. They get the experience of going through an audition process in a safe and encouraging environment. This program gives each student the opportunity to participate, as they are all guaranteed a role in the production. They are taught how to support their fellow actor friends and how to handle disappointment and to realize that all roles are important to make a show complete. Once casting is finished, the students go through a full rehearsal process and gain a better understanding and appreciation of everything that goes into a Mainstage production. This program wants every student to grow and gain confidence in their stage skills.

I have an older child that started in the summer A.C.T. Production shows about 5 or 6 years ago now. Her experience was amazing as she took to the stage and I watched her confidence grow. The support she received and the skills she learned are helping her in her current performances as well as helped shape her into the person she is today. So, it was no question to me when my next 2 daughters wanted to try acting as to where to send them. They are both in this Alice In Wonderland JR. production and once again the encouragement, skills training, and support from the directors and other kids is building their confidence and they LOVE coming to rehearsal 5 days a week in the middle of summer.

When I asked my 9-year-old daughter about her experience in the show, she said: “It is amazing! Just being here and being able to be a part of the show is amazing. You get to be someone else. You get to see a whole different side of yourself. And you get to try new things. Everyone in the show is so supportive which makes it fun and more comfortable.”

I realized, from observing my own children, that each of these kids may have overcome an obstacle to be on this stage today. They may have stage fright, extreme shyness, anxiety, or they might just be a natural performer who is working on enhancing their skills. This stage experience, along with the entire A.C.T. program at Waukesha Civic Theatre, is helping to shape their futures. Check out our theatre website for additional A.C.T. program opportunities.

 

Thank you for supporting the A.C.T. program. Sit back and enjoy the show!

Nancy McCaskey

Board Director

The Waukesha State Bank Art Gallery Presents: Francis Annan Affotey

Biography

Francis Annan Affotey was born and raised in Accra, Ghana. After graduating from Ghanatta College of Art and Design winning Best Student of Still Life, Best Imagination and Composition, and Best Abstract Drawing awards, Annan joined the Revolution Art Organization and displayed his work in several group and solo exhibitions in Accra. In 2013, Annan helped found the African Young Artist Organization (AYAO), an organization dedicated to supporting African youth in the arts through programs and exhibitions. Since coming to the United States, Annan has displayed his work around Wisconsin, New York, and Miami, was a Pfister Artist-in-Residence finalist, and has worked in Milwaukee Public Schools with Arts@Large.

 

Artist Statement

As a child in Accra, “poses” were part of daily life. I was surrounded by women peeling oranges, carrying head pans, and braiding hair. Children played in the dirt, invented games, took care of siblings, and cooked with their mothers. I did not realize at the time how much these images or poses had a lasting impression in my mind; little did I know how important they were in revealing the “secret” joys of which millions of Africans are familiar yet to which much of the world remains blind.

I use poses to expose the paradox of everyday African life. By depicting a pose as semiabstract, my paintings highlight both the mundane and the joy in everyday African life. Images that seem pitiful or sad to the outside world have much deeper implications. A woman feeding her family suggests pride, not inferiority. A child playing in a slum suggests friendship and imagination, not hopelessness. My artwork is meant to challenge those who only see Africa through the lenses of conflict, poverty, and corruption.

Since coming to Milwaukee, my work has explored stories with more universal themes, as I connect my past with my present. Milwaukee introduced me to many new cultures with surprising differences and even more surprising similarities to those back home. The similarities and differences have led me to use new media, new techniques, and new concepts.

Contact

Francis Annan Affotey

125 E. Wells St #403

Milwaukee, WI 53202

+1-920-791-0840

annanart.gh@gmail.com

Website: www.annanartgh.com

The Waukesha State Bank Art Gallery Presents: Scott Hatton

 “Locally Grown”

For this show I’m presenting some of my favorite Wisconsin based art. Being a Wisconsin native myself, I wanted to showcase some of the sights and scenery that makes it such a beautiful place to live. I hope that you see the beauty through my art.

Scott Hatton

Hatton Custom Design

hattoncustomdesign@yahoo.com

PIX Flix Spotlight On The Board: Grease

Grease is the word, and it means a great deal to me. Released in 1978, the movie made it to the still-relatively-young Home Box Office (HBO) in 1979, and at that time, HBO was available in the Milwaukee market on its own, as much of the market had yet to gain a cable television option. I know this because I was in my formative years at this time, and my family – for a short time that included this period – had HBO. The fledgling network was very different then: it was only broadcasting in the evening, and its library was small. Grease was on all the time, and I watched it a lot. Maybe it’s a guilty pleasure, but it’s still one of my all-time favorites. But why shouldn’t it be?

It was the number one movie of 1978, and it was set in the late 1950s – a time in US history often romanticized on film, in part because of the birth of rock & roll in 1955. Plus, it’s filled with now classic songs like Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, You’re the One That I Want, and the title track, Grease. Each of those songs charted on Billboard magazine’s Top 40, with each of latter two hitting number one in the U.S., but Summer Nights is the only one of the four that was also part of the original Grease musical.

The musical – which debuted in Chicago in 1971 – hit Broadway in 1972 with an original cast that included Barry Bostwick as Danny Zuko and Adrienne Barbeau as Betty Rizzo. Notable replacements for Danny include Patrick Swayze, Richard Gere, and Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie in the movie. John Travolta was also a replacement during that original Broadway run, but he played Doody. That original Broadway run lasted eight years, which – believe it or not – was good enough to be the longest-running musical ever at the time it closed. Since then, fifteen newer musicals have had longer runs. With the passage of time, records fall, but perspective is also gained. Consider the relationship between the year the musical debuted – 1971 – and the year of the Rydell High graduating class – 1959. If a similar musical were to debut in 2019 romanticizing that creator’s high school years, it’d be reminiscing about 2007! Crazy, isn’t it?

But time is on your side, because there’s still time to catch Grease on the big screen as our next offering in this season’s PIX Flix series.

 

 

Jim Mallmann

Board Director

 

Spotlight On The Board: The Giver

When I was asked to write something about The Giver a couple months ago, I had mixed feelings. I didn’t want to admit that this title is the book I purchased many years ago and didn’t even read a page of it yet. Honestly, the cover with the old man on it made me apprehensive to read it. Then my middle school daughter told me it was her favorite book? So with this task at hand and the encouragement of my daughter, I dusted off my book and starting reading…and reading…and reading. I was so intrigued by the book that when I found out it is a series of 4 books, I had to get them all. I am currently on the third book in the series. The old man on the cover has taught me to truly never judge a book by its cover. My daughter and I are now anxiously awaiting to see this book come to life on the Waukesha Civic Theatre stage.

The Giver is the story where Jonas lives in a utopia with no pain, no fear – and no choice. Language is precise and sterile; emotions and other physical impulses are controlled. At age 12, children are assigned a vocation. As Jonas approaches this momentous occasion, he notices strange things happening to ordinary objects around him – which no one else seems to notice. He is assigned a special job – to receive and keep the memories of the community. But what happens when he learns the truth – that there could be choice, and love, and what it means for a person to be Released? Based on the Newberry Award winning novel by Lois Lowry.

You don’t have to read the book to enjoy this show. So join us at the theatre for The Giver May 2-19, 2019.

 

 

Nancy McCaskey

Board Director

The Waukesha State Bank Art Gallery Presents: Catholic Memorial High School Students

For this exhibition, students created a photo story based on their interpretations of The Giver, representing the story either conceptually or through characters and plot using a variety of physical and dark room alterations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PIX Flix Spotlight On The Board: Camelot

“Don’t let it be forgot that once there was a spot for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.”

This favorite line of President Kennedy juxtaposes the creation of a utopia with the ubiquitous troubles of maintaining those ideals by imperfect mortals — who, inevitably, can never escape the pitfalls of human nature. Camelot asks the question, Can mankind ever escape its worst enemy: itself?

The Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot was brought to the screen in 1967 with a booming budget to provide grand, sweeping sets and costumes that breathe cinematic life into this well-known medieval tale of knights, chivalry, politics, and forbidden love.

Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Harris, and Franco Nero shine as the mythic characters of Guenevere, King Arthur, and Sir Lancelot. Their complex relationship is intertwined with the creation of a utopian round table government and kingdom — that is ultimately brought down by the actions of those who most believed in it.

The musical is a stage classic, and the film provides what the stage cannot: massive sets and costumes that stun the eyes while bringing you into director Joshua Logan’s vision of Camelot. Catchy songs are at times jaunty (“What Do the Simple Folk Do?”) while others simmer with the indescribable pain reserved only for love that is as powerful as it is doomed to destroy anyone it touches (“I Loved You Once In Silence”).

Themes of just governing systems were particularly relevant during the film’s Vietnam War era release, and these themes continue to remain relevant as contemporary notions of democracy remain tested and retested in modern times.

Children will enjoy the songs and scenes — but they may also note the familiarity of Richard Harris who, decades after playing King Arthur, brought a special magic to his portrayal of Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. Potter aficionados may also enjoy the political philosophy discussions present in both Harry Potter and Camelot regarding the best use of ‘might’ in enforcing ‘right’.

The movie opens at the close, with King Arthur surveying the tragic conclusion of decisions gone awry. His magical mentor Merlin urges him to look back to the beginning.

Arthur and Guenevere meet and find love in the songs “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood” and “Camelot.” King Arthur creates a political ideal with timeless symbolism that is as applicable now as the decades and centuries prior: a democratic round table governance, where men can come together to share ideas without a single ruler at the head.

Word spreads, bringing French knight Lancelot to Camelot. While most do not trust his boastful swagger (“C’est Moi”), Arthur and Lancelot quickly form a nearly impenetrable bond. A love triangle emerges that threatens to undo the greatness King Arthur has created.

As the story climaxes to dark conclusions, an idealistic youth crosses paths with King Arthur. Perhaps all is not lost! Tom wishes to be a knight of the round table, espousing dedication to Arthur’s original ideas: “Not might ‘makes’ right, but might ‘for’ right.” Tom brings with him a spark of hope that Camelot may be a phoenix that will rise anew from its own ashes.

Join me as we welcome this beautiful movie back to the big screen as we continue our PIX Flix series this season. Also, remember to check out any of our social media for what’s coming up next at WCT or talk to one of the friendly house staff!

Scott Fudali

Board Director

MAD Corner: Thoroughly Modern Millie

WCT is thrilled to bring Thoroughly Modern Millie to the heart of Waukesha, brought to life by incredible production staff and a robust and talented cast and crew. Millie premiered on Broadway in 2002, receiving multiple Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards, and ran for two years and over nine hundred performances, and since has been produced around the world.
Set in the 1920’s, Millie brings to the stage flashes of color in bold, swishy costumes, toe-tapping song and dance numbers, and much like the other shows of this genre, takes a tongue-in-cheek nudge at the political incorrectness of its time. This is not to say that we unabashedly jumped into the cultural references of this show, which can go over the line. WCT worked diligently to cast actors of Chinese descent in the roles of Bun Foo and Ching Ho, and when we were not able to fill these roles authentically, we worked with a culture and dialect coach through our diversity council to proceed in the most sensitive and respectfully authentic way possible. That said, we would like our community and audience to know that we are continuing to work toward a more balanced and diverse representation on our PIX stage.
I would like to thank everyone that supports Waukesha Civic Theatre! We wouldn’t be here without you. The volunteers are the heart of this theatre, contributing on stage and off, serving on the board of directors, ushering for our many events, providing maintenance and office support, and working on multiple production elements. You, our patrons, come to WCT to enjoy quality live entertainment which is only possible because of our incredible volunteers and staff.
How does our community theatre thrive? Through patrons like you, who return show after show to support our theatre community, and through our donors and community sponsorships. Our donors help keep us financially sound and looking to the future through gifts to the Annual Operating Fund, the Endowment Fund, and by including us in planned estate giving.
The generosity of the Waukesha community is mind-blowing and life-giving, and we at WCT truly appreciate the time, talent, and financial resources that each of you give to keep our theatre thriving.
The best way to support WCT is to spread the word about Waukesha’s top choice for live entertainment. Find us on social media, like and share, and help us spread the word. These are exciting times and we are thrilled that you are here with us.
We hope you are entertained, enriched, and challenged and that you come back for more!

Rhonda Marie Schmidt
Managing Artistic Director (Lady MAD)

Director’s Note: Thoroughly Modern Millie

Thank you for choosing to spend your time in 1922 New York City with us. We know that there are many things you could be doing, and the fact that you are here means more to each of us than you could even imagine. I would like to take a few minutes of your time to express my thoughts about Thoroughly Modern Millie, which hopefully will enhance your experience.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Music Director Yeng Parman-Thao; your musical prowess is certainly on display here. To Choreographer Jessica Fastabend: your creativity is as big as all outdoors. From Set Designer Marisa Abbott to Props Designer Johanna Kaye to Light Designer Mike Van Dreser. My dear friend, David A. Robins, who labors tirelessly with our sound design, shortly after the untimely passing of his father. Our Master Carpenter, Scott D. Prox, has never seen anything on paper that he could not build. Our Production Stage Manager, David Kaye, who kept everything organized and on track through all the rehearsals and through a very trying technical rehearsal process. Joshua Parman-Thao, who assembled and conducts our orchestra, an orchestra that boasts of some of the finest musicians to ever sit in an orchestra pit – most masters degree prepared in their instrument. Also, very special thanks to my friend and confidant, Jill Anna Ponasik, who lent her support and talent as vocal coach.

The list goes on and on, but it must be stated here for all to see. You will be amazed by the costumes designed by Nikki Maritch and assisted by Sharon Sohner, and our wigs by Eric Welch. These two areas which are often overlooked but absolutely are essential to this show.

This creative staff is without doubt one of the finest I have ever had the honor to work alongside. From concept to fruition of opening night, we had a vision for the production and we could not be more proud. This cast has never flinched and drove forward daily, striving to deliver the vision of the creative team. The words do not exist to praise them enough.

The original Broadway production won six Tony Awards and five Drama Desk Awards, including the win for Best Musical at both ceremonies. It is the vehicle that propelled Sutton Foster to stardom, as she stepped into the role of Millie after being the understudy for the workshop and preview performances!

All the way back in December, 2018, with auditions, we set upon our mission of providing the Waukesha Civic Theatre audiences an evening in the theatre that is enjoyable and special. We assembled our cast and made a very conscious decision to use the incredibly talented Keith R. Smith, in drag, as our Mrs. Meers. We were lucky to have two impressive actresses to play Ching Ho and Bun Foo, Delaney Schlake-Kruse and Anna Lapean absolutely amazed everyone with the amount of work they put in to learning and perfecting the Cantonese and Mandarin dialects. The entire cast worked through the awful winter and trudged through the snow and ice and the polar vortex to attend rehearsals and in the process they became the caring, loving family that they are. I believe we have assembled one of the most talented casts to ever trod the boards of the Civic stage. They are backed up 100% without question or pause by the production team – a team that I believe is unlike any team of creatives to work in the Milwaukee theatre community.

Thoroughly Modern Millie is a valuable show because it teaches us how a strong work ethic and desire to do what is right will always overcome evil and ill will. It entertains us with its exceptional musical score and helps us find a sincere level of cultural sensitivity.

Having said that, in our effort to achieve cultural sensitivity, we have done many things in regard to the roles of Ching Ho and Bun Foo. We reached out to the community to try to create interest in the audition process to cast these roles authentically. We did extensive research on dialect, costumes, make up, hairstyles and culture. We worked with a dialect and culture coach.

Our dialect coach was Waukesha Civic Theatre’s own Peter Kao. Peter has been involved with three other productions of Millie, and in fact had auditioned for this one but was unable to be in the cast due to some conflicts. Peter was a huge help in mounting this production.

The Thoroughly Modern Millie family is very proud of the show we have produced and are so excited to share it with you now. So come with us to New York City in 1922 and let’s have some fun.

I urge you to visit the lobby display featuring the work of the creative staff of Millie. The set drawings and costume plot as well as the lighting plot are all featured. See how the herculean task of putting a huge Broadway musical together is accomplished.

Thanks for coming and please enjoy the performance!

 

James Padovano

Director