Schlemiel! Schlemazel! Hassenfeffer, Incorporated!

Week 22: Milwaukee, WI

When you're a secretary in a brewery,
it's hard to pretend you're anything else.
Everything is beer.
--"All About Eve"

All I ever knew about Milwaukee was that Laverne and Shirley went there to "make all their dreams come true," and that there was a lot of beer. And there is a lot of beer in Milwaukee, primarily because it is home to many generations of German immigrants. And there is plenty of delicious authentic German food and beer to be had here.
On my first day, I found Mader's, a Milwaukee tradition and an unmistakable German restaurant. Dark wood, stained glass windows, beer steins, and waitresses dressed as beer maids--it's like the German pavilion at Disney World on steroids. And the food was fantastic, as was the beer. I was the sole person eating at the bar and I witnessed not one, but two transactions between the owner and beer distributors. The bartender, Gary, told me that all the major brands of Milwaukee beer--Pabst, Old Milwaukee, Schlitz--have moved their bases of operations out of Milwaukee and now it is the microbreweries that are keeping the tradition alive here in the city. Mader's was an authentic taste of the town.


We are performing this week at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, beautifully situated on the Milwaukee river. It is one of a wonderful cluster of theatre venues downtown; the massive Milwaukee Theatre, the historic Pabst Theatre, as well as the city's major regional theatre, Milwaukee Rep, are all in the neighborhood we are working in. Milwaukee is a real, working city and it has a feeling of solidity to it. There is a lively cultural scene and an enthusiastic audience for live performance. This week, I had the good fortune to be able to attend a midweek matinee at Milwaukee Rep. The theatre is highly reputable and I was excited that our schedule allowed me to see something. I saw a performance of a new play by Jeffrey Hatcher called "Armadale." Hatcher has written several plays based on classic literature, particularly 19th century literature and he is also the author of screenplays including "Boys Don't Cry." "Armadale" is based on an obscure Victorian gothic novel by Wilkie Collins, who also wrote "The Woman in White," which was made into a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The production was very fine, and the design of sets, costumes, and lighting, as well as an original score were all first rate. The show didn't exactly know what it wanted to be--a straight out melodrama or a campy over the top spoof. The inconsistency in the director's point of view made it a mixed experience but it was nice to see well produced, quality regional theatre and it gave me a little yearning for the classical work I was doing during the years before I got "Spamalot."


Thursday I visited the Milwaukee Museum of Art. Beautifully situated on Lake Michigan, the grandest feature of the place is the new pavilion designed by Santiago Calatrava, which is very much like the dock for a starship from some sci-fi movie. It is crowned by the Burke Brise Soleil, a huge kinetic sculpture with enormous wings that close around the glass roof of the Calatrava atrium, and are opened to spectacular effect a few times each day. I visited the museum's permanent collection, which has some very nice pieces from every era of art. As you have probably already figured out, I am a big fan of visual art. The Milwaukee Museum of Art did not disappoint. And I had a very nice lunch at their cafe with a sparkling view of the lake.


Thursday night, our resident party girl, Piper, organized a pub crawl to celebrate three birthdays that are happening this week--Jen, Tim and Bree-- and also as a sendoff for Piper herself, who is leaving the company after a great run as one of our swings. She will be sorely missed, as she was always the organizer of the various parties and outings along our trail and is a genius at it! Anyway, she hired a "party bus," complete with keg and stripper pole and we did a Milwaukee bar crawl. I will spare you the gory details but there was much carrying on and a good time was had by all.




Friday was a rainy day and I took my umbrella and made my way down the Riverwalk to the historic Third Ward, which is the "funky" part of Milwaukee. An old warehouse district, today the neighborhood is sort of like Soho in New York: art galleries, funky shops, and design stores and interior decor showrooms.
The Milwaukee Public Market is here also, which is a large covered market chock-a-block with gourmet goodies, fresh flowers, etc.; on the weekends there is a farmer's market here as well. All in all, Milwaukee has everything one could ask for to make a satisfying city lifestyle--plenty of culture, lots of nice bars and restaurants, ethnic and cultural diversity, and a very nice style in general. It has been a pleasant place to be for a week and the audiences have been great.


My Milwaukee dresser is Aggie. Aggie married into back stage work. Her husband is a sound guy and traveled with rock bands for many years. Aggie has done all manner of tech work and was also a restaurateur for a time. She is a very pleasant, level headed and delightful dresser and has been great this week. We have a day off here Monday before moving on to the next stop in our Wisconsin odyssey, Appleton. More from there next week. I want to take a moment to congratulate Clay Aiken on his successful run as Sir Robin on Broadway, as he performs his last weekend! Bravo! Maybe we will see more of Mr. Aiken on the Great White Way. And maybe you'll see me there in the not too distant future (God willing)...!