THE LAST ROMANCE

Feb 20 – March 3, 2013

Directed by: Mark Bucher

This charming and affecting comedy about discovering love later in life is by the author of numerous hit plays and books for smash musicals (OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS; MEMPHIS; I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE; and countless others) and will feature notable local Milwaukee performers.

The impressive local cast includes some of Milwaukee’s finest acting talent, including Michael Weber as “Ralph,” Anita Domnitz as “Carol,” and Barbara Weber as “Rose.” and Doug Clemons as “The Singer.”

LIVING OUT

April 24 – May 12, 2013

Directed by: Beth Monhollen

LIVING OUT is a unique play telling the story of a complex relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the Anglo lawyer she works for. Both women are smart. hard-working mothers. Both want better lives for their children. This play explores the shared humanity between them and the differences wrought by race, class, and status. Through Ana (the nanny), we understand what it means to have one child in another country and struggle to support another child while caring for someone else’s. Through Nancy (the lawyer), we understand the pressure on women today who face the challenge of battling the cost of fulfilling both personal and professional goals.

Lisa Loomer is a prolific playwright of Spanish and Romanian ancestry whose work has been produced around the globe. This play, considered an important example of current issues, is taught in women’s studies and Latino studies programs.

LIVING OUT is directed by Milwaukee actor, playwright and director, Beth Monhollen. Beth has appeared in numerous plays at the Boulevard, Windfall Theatre, and Optimist Theatre. She has authored plays portraying the struggles of poor college students and restaurant workers trying to realize the American dream.

Starring in the role of Ana, the Salvadoran nanny, is Marion Araujo. Nancy, the Anglo lawyer, is played by Rachel Lewandowski. The rest of the cast includes Jason Will, Nigel Wade, Brooke Wegner, Barbara Weber, Julie Alonzo-Calteaux, and Christina Mata.

Verse and Vino 2013

June 27, 2013

A veritable “LOVE BOAT” of talented actors, directors, writers & performers
read their favorite poetry while guests enjoy wine, refreshments and an absolutely swell silent auction. Join Milwaukee’s Boulevard Theatre as it closes its 27th season with its annual fundraiser at the Zimmerman Architectural Studios located at the CITY LIGHTS BUILDING, located at 2122 West Mount Vernon Avenue.Enjoy live poetry performed by local stars of local theatre, writers and other artists plus a stunning silent auction, wine tasting, & delicious appetizers. Here is the list of our fabulous performers!Mark Anderson
(Actor, producer, director and founder from Theatre Gigante)

Debra Babich
(Actress from Skylight, Next Act, First Stage)

David Flores
(Actor, director, singer from Skylight, Boulevard, Optimist, Alchemist Theatre)Martin Hintz
from the Irish American Post (Editor) and Milwaukee author

Isabelle Kralj
(Actress, producer, director and founder from Theatre Gigante)

David Lee
(Actor from the Boulevard Theatre and West Coast theatre)

Julie McHale
from the Waukesha Freeman (writer, reviewer)

Janet Peterson
(Actor, producer, director from Acacia Theatre)

John Schneider
(Actor, director, writer from First Stage, Theatre X)

Ruth Schudson
(Actress, producer, co-founder from Chamber Theatre)

Julie Swenson
(Actor, producer, manager from Renaissance Theatre)

Bill Theisen
(Actor, director, artistic director from Skylight Music Theatre, the Milwaukee Rep)

Nigel Wade
(Actor, spoken word performer from Skylight, Boulevard, Florentine Opera)

Ericka Wade
(Actress, singer from First Stage, Boulevard, Skylight, Uprooted)

Michelle Waide
(Actress from Windfall, Boulevard)

Carol Zippel
(Actress, producer, director from Windfall Theatre)

Bill Jackson
(Actor from the Skylight, Chamber, Milwaukee Shakes)

TIGERS BE STILL

July 31 – Aug 18, 2013

Directed by: Mark Bucher

TIGERS BE STILL is a delightful comedy which follows the misadventures of “Sherry,” a young art therapy graduate (charmingly portrayed by Shannon Tyburski), who battles joblessness while diligently sending out countless unanswered resumes. Upon returning to her childhood home, she discovers that her mother has taken to her bed and admits no one and that her heart-broken, boozing sister (a wild and hilarious Brooke Wegner) has taken up seemingly permanent residence on the couch, along with a loyal bottle of Jack Daniels and Tom Cruise movies!

In the meantime, a wild tiger has escaped from the town zoo and no one in town seems able to capture the fleeing feline. But Sherry lands her first job at a local middle school just as she gains her first patient, Zach, who happens to be both a troubled teenage kleptomaniac with anger management issues (an affecting, energetic Josh Wallace) AND also the son of Sherry’s new boss, Mr. Moore (a combustible Jaime Jastrab). The oblivious father is prone to give Sherry “pep talks” and butterscotch candies while avoiding the deeper cause of his son’s anger.

The cast features four of Milwaukee’s brightest talents (Jaime Jastrab, Shannon Tyburski, Josh Wallace, and Brooke Wegner) and their uncaged talent brings this roaring comedy to life with aplomb, skill and panache.

JERKER

Sep 18-22, 2013

Directed by: Mark Bucher

JERKER tells the tale of two men (“J. R.” and “BERT”) who “meet” via a series of phone
sex calls in 1985. The action occurs in the city of San Francisco, just as the mysterious “gay plague” (HIV/AIDS) is beginning to assert itself throughout the nation’s “gay mecca” as well as throughout the country. In response to this emerging health and social crisis, playwright Robert Chesley (1943-1990) created a two-person drama which deftly captured the sexual mores as well as the political and social events of the period. Chesley (who was also an
accomplished teacher, writer, critic and composer) authored a dynamic portrait of the specific intimacies between two men who happen to be gay while simultaneously illuminating the humorous, poignant, and tragic confines of any and every human connection. The brilliance of JERKER is that it adroitly maneuvers both a singular community rooted in a specific time and place while expanding on themes which emerge later in the play as universal. JERKER is neither a “gay” play nor a “non-gay” play. Rather, it is a brilliantly crafted and luxuriantly phrased (and critically over-looked!)

MARTY MCNAMEE (“BERT”): Marty McNamee returns to the Boulevard Theatre having last been seen in the Milwaukee premiere of noted playwright Conor McPherson’s THIS LIME TREE BOWER. A local Milwaukee actor, Marty has traveled regionally as a performer and has toured internationally (playing the role of “Corny Collins” in tours of the Broadway musical HAIRSPRAY). Most recently in Milwaukee, he was seen as “Bruce Niles” in Larry Kramer’s THE NORMAL HEART. Previous work with other local companies include appearances with the Skylight Music Theatre, Windfall Theatre, InTandem Theatre, as well as appearing at the Milwaukee Rep’s Stackner Cabaret.

BILL JACKSON (“J. R.”): Bill Jackson has performed at Skylight Theatre in AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre in ANGELS IN AMERICA: PERESTROIKA and MY CHILDREN MY AFRICA, Brookfield Players as “E.K. Hornbeck” in INHERIT THE WIND, and Milwaukee Shakespeare in THE TEMPEST. Roles with the Bay View Players included CHESS and Todd in SWEENEY TODD. He has currently rejoined the English Department at Milwaukee High School of the Arts where he directed A RAISIN IN THE SUN and WEST SIDE STORY. This year at MHSA, Bill will be directing BLUES IN THE NIGHT and his latest play, PAPA, in collaboration with the estate of Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Jackson is a member of Milwaukee’s newest African-American Theatre Company, THE BRONZEVILLE ARTS ENSEMBLE, which debuts this year.

THE OLD GARDE

Nov 21 – Dec 1, 2013

Directed by: Mark Bucher

The Midwest premiere of Milwaukee playwright Bruce Murphy’s comedy THE OLD GARDE. Local writer Bruce Murphy has crafted a comic concoction of a once-thriving theatre company which is now floundering on rocky fiscal reefs, due to one-too-many negative reviews by a power-mad critic (Mark Bucher as “BLOOM”) and shrinking audiences.

The company’s founding artists (Nigel Wade as “JOE” and Jason Will as “SIMON”) and their respective mates, who are actresses in the company (Marion Araujo as “REBECCA” and Nicole Gorski-Ray as “MARY”) are all well past “thirty-something” and all of the four face inner storms as well as the outer typhoons of low ticket sales, bad reviews and a general loss of youthful passion.

The outer storms have been with the struggling theatre for several seasons, but the inner tempests include the strong desire (for only some of them) to have children and start families, the struggle to grow beyond society’s restrictive vision of an “artist,” and the inevitable loss of youthful energy and enthusiasm.

As if these squalls weren’t enough, the theatre’s Board President (Christine Horgen as “MIRIAM”) is disenchanted with supporting the once-thriving company and is maneuvering to bring in a successful performance artist (Donald Lobacz as “RICK”) to simultaneously batten down the ailing company’s fiscal and artistic “hatches” while docking this theatrical Lothario into her own (romantic) port of call.

ALL ABOUT EVE (a special fundraiser)

Dec 27-29, 2013

Directed by: David Flores

The Boulevard is doing a limited staged reading of this classic story on Dec. 27th, 28th, and 29th. The reading will showcase an insanely talented cast including the brilliant Liv Mueller as “Margo Channing” and David Flores as “Addison DeWitt.”

Remaining Cast: