Boulevard Theatre, Milwaukee’s beloved grassroots theatre company, closes its 40th season with elevated concert stagings of two acclaimed playwrights: Harold Pinter’s adulterous comedy THE LOVER and Noël Coward’s promiscuous playlet COME INTO THE GARDEN, MAUDE.
These two fully rehearsed, elevated concert stagings will play Tuesday, June 23 through Tuesday, June 30 , 2026 and will showcase some of Milwaukee’s most talented performers and directors, including Mark Bucher, David Flores, Carole Herbstreit Kalinyen, Maggie Marks, Matt Specht, and Pamela Brown Stace. David Flores directs THE LOVER and Bucher directs MAUDE.
Pinter’s satire THE LOVER deconstructs a middle-class marriage with his trademark rapier wit and his telltale sly, subversive humor. Coward’s conjugal comedy COME INTO THE GARDEN, MAUDE simultaneously details the devolution of a marriage and the evolution of an affair.
These masterful comedies of matrimonial mishaps will occur in the lower level reception hall of Milwaukee’s Plymouth Church (2717 East Hampshire, one block east of the intersection of Hampshire & Downer).
These engaging enhanced stagings of Pinter’s THE LOVER and Coward’s COME INTO THE GARDEN, MAUDE showcase Boulevard Theatre’s unique Pay What You Can admission policy. Boulevard has utilized a “goodwill admission policy” since 2018 and this unique door donation format fosters opportunities for all local residents to still be able to enjoy stimulating, thought-provoking live theatre at an affordable cost that expands cultural accessibility for our Milwaukee community.
An entrance gift of $15 per guest is politely requested. Reservations are strongly suggested. Reserve seating at BoulevardTickets@gmail.com. Please visit milwaukeeboulevardtheatre.com for more information.
Artist Biographies (COME INTO THE GARDEN, MAUDE):
Pamela Brown Stace has acted, voice acted and directed in the Milwaukee area for more than thirty years. She has worked with the Boulevard Theatre (many times), Playwrights Studio Theatre, Theatre X, Memories Dinner Theatre, Bialystock and Bloom, The Noble Fool, Bay View Players, Milwaukee Players, Sunset Playhouse, Waukesha Civic Theatre, Dale Guzman, and Caught in the Act. Additionally, she founded Amethyst Productions (1995- 1999), and The Miramar Theatre (1998-2017).
Mark Bucher founded Boulevard Theatre 40 years ago and has directed & produced over 300 productions, concert readings, fundraisers, poetry/spoken word performances, and other assorted artistic events in that time.
He has also served as a guest director for other theatres (Stage West, Playwrights Studio Theatre, Inertia Ensemble, etc.). He is a proud recipient of the Milwaukee Arts Board ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD.He has won accolades for his acting appearances in Stephen Sondheim’s edgy, ground-breaking musical ASSASSINS (Windfall Theatre); Adam Bock’s dangerous comedy THE RECEPTIONIST (Windfall Theatre, again) and scored
critical praise for his comic portrayal of “Mayor Shinn” in Skylight Music Theatre’s staging of the classic American musical THE MUSIC MAN (directed by his school alum, Bill Theisen!).
Other appearances include: Theatre Gigante, Milwaukee Rep, Theatre X, and the film MAJOR LEAGUE. A respected and recognized free-lance writer, Mark has written for Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express, Footlights, and Art Muscle
Magazine. He is also an acting & audition coach and is available to take on new clients. [That is definitely a hint.]
Carole Herbstreit Kalinyen returned to the stage after retiring from her day job in Corporate America as the Director of Corporate Communications for Brady Corporation. She holds a BFA in Theater from UWM and has appeared at the Pabst Theatre and the Skylight Theatre, but most recently at the former Off The Wall Theatre in a variety of roles ranging from “The Gypsy” in Tennessee Williams’ rarely-produced fantastical drama CAMINO REAL to “Mrs. Antrobus” in Thornton Wilder’s beloved satire THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH; and musically from “Mr. Bellomy” (the father of “Luisa”) in the cherished musical valentine THE FANTASTICKS to the character of “The Producer” in Dale Gutzman’s original farce ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY.
Carole made her Boulevard debut as “Maude Gutman” in playwright Stephen Sachs’ artful dramatic comedy BAKERSFIELD MIST and served as “The Narrator” in Daniel MacIvor’s acclaimed familial comedy THE BEST BROTHERS. She lives in Germantown with her corgi, Winston.
