I’m music directing  Godspell at University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan and we open in a week, on Palm Sunday weekend! This show has come together so beautifully, thanks to director Simon Provan;  a fantastic cast including my students Marielle Schuchardt, who was recently accepted to the very selective UW-Stevens Point BFA Acting program, and Casey Campbell, accepted with scholarships in voice and basson to the music program at North Park University in Chicago, IL; and Danielle Rammer; and also due to the efforts of my band, all of whom have worked so hard to make this show come to musical life! Visit the link below to read comments from the director, to see rehearsal pics, and for info regarding tickets and showtimes. One weekend only–don’t miss it!

http://sheboyganhub.sheboyganpress.com/article/20120322/SHE04/120321163/UW-Sheboygan-stage-contemporary-version-Godspell-

I am so excited to announce that I will be performing in the world premiere of Buffalo Nation (bison bison) with Present Music. Composed by Jerome Kitzke, originally from Milwaukee, with a gorgeously poetic libretto by Kathleen Masterson, the piece concerns the history of the bison, or buffalo, from sacred importance in Native American culture to virtual destruction and back again. The piece is scored for sound effects choir, baritone, four actors, and instrumental ensemble. I will be one of the four actors featured in the piece. For more information regarding tickets, or Present Music, please visit this link: http://www.presentmusic.org/buffalo_nation_bison_bison.aspx

I recently had new headshots done by Braden Moran, an actor and photographer who splits his time between Los Angeles and Chicago.  He made me feel so at ease, referred me to a fantastic stylist who was also present for the shoot, and I am thrilled with the results! I recommend him 500%. He’ll take great care of you throughout the entire process, and his rates are incredibly reasonable.

You can contact Braden at info@bradenmoranphotography.com, or see more of his work at www.bradenmoranphotography.com. Thank you, Braden!

Carte Blanche Studio’s production of Reefer Madness, for which I am the music director and keyboard player, is getting some killer buzz! It is  ”…easily the single most enjoyable musical comedy this season…” according to Russ Bickerstaff of the Shepherd-Express, and Visit the following the links to read two wonderful reviews, then get your tickets for this Wednesday’s pay what you can performance, or for the regular shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We close this weekend. www.carteblanche.com for tickets.

http://www.examiner.com/theatre-in-milwaukee/carte-blanche-gets-bent-reefer-madness-the-musical-review   

http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/blog-7536-reefer-madness-musical-comedy-way-way-way-over-the.html

     Sexy, smoky, seedy, and spliffy–that’s Reefer Madness, opening this weekend at Carte Blanche Studios in Milwaukee, WI!  This rock-pop satire takes the premise of a 1940s era info-reel ( that smoking pot turns teens into sex-crazed, cannibalistic cannabis zombies) to literal conclusions that will leave audiences with political and musical munchies!
     I’m music directing and playing piano in the kick-ass band. Our killer cast is unbelievably talented, featuring Carte Blanche ensemble veterans, and many new faces as well.
Visit http://carteblanchestudios.com/ for tickets now. Don’t miss it–we had to add shows to meet the demand for our last musical collaboration, The Great American Trailer Park Musical. This show is on track to be just as amazing, but Thanksgiving will probably make added dates an impossibility. So get your Reefer Madness groove on now!  For adult audiences.

I haven’t posted a poem in a while. One from a midsummer, midwest road trip:

coralville chorus

The cicadas are singing in Coralville,
improvising an ostinato John Adams might envy.
Coreopsis and lavender tango in the humid dusk,
and walnuts fall and crack like skulls on the sidewalk.

Sweating in midwest July, I drink in the gardens,
So impossibly, gracefully undisciplined.
Fireflies linger just beyond reach, sharing phosphorescent secrets.
Bats dance crooked minuets and mourning doves flee the power lines as I pass,
Crying quietly: who, you? Read More | Comments

As my run of The Exonerated comes to a bittersweet close at Next Act, I’m already involved in my next project: vocal directing and conducting Reefer Madness at Carte Blanche Studios! We’ve got a fabulous cast and we open the first weekend of November, so get this smoking hit on your theatre calendar now!

I’m so thrilled to be a part of this incredible show, the season opener at Next Act’s brand new theatre space, and of what Milwaukee Journal Sentinel critic Michael Fischer described as a “stellar” cast.  Based on the true stories of several former Death Row inmates exonerated by DNA and other evidence, the piece leaves audiences with questions to ponder regarding the American criminal justice system, race, capital punishment, and incarceration. Here is a link to the MJS review: http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/131362423.html

Equally thrilling was watching as the theatre was finished literally before our eyes just before opening , the construction dust not yet settled as we christened the stage with our performance. What an incredible feat of patience, skill, and dedication. I’m grateful to have been a part of that process, and the ongoing storytelling. The Exonerated runs now through October 30. Check www.nextact.org for tickets and show times.

is getting rave reviews from critics in Milwaukee! Presented at Carte Blanche Studios under the direction of Jimmy Dragolovich, the musical also features vocal direction by me (I also play Betty, pictured here in costume) and choreography by Samantha Paige, who also plays Pippi. The common theme emerging in the reviews is that the cast presents this fabulously trashy musical with a lot of heart, giving the show a perhaps unexpected depth.  Here are links to some very nice reviews and previews; we were also featured in Milwaukee Magazine this month. Show runs this weekend, takes a break for Easter weekend, and closes May 1. Visit www.carteblanchestudios.com for tickets and other info!

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/119532979.html

Milwaukee Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/theatre-in-milwaukee/corn-dogs-with-heartache-on-the-side-the-great-american-trailer-park-musical-review

Shepherd Express
http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-14485-carte-blanches-charming-trailer-park-musical.html

Milwaukee Magazine Preview
http://www.insidemilwaukee.com/Article/482011-TheGreatAmericanTrailerParkMusical

I’ve been busy for the past month with rehearsals for this trashy, hilarious, and strangely heartwarming musical with Carte Blanche Studios. A storm’s a brewin at Armadillo Acres, North Florida’s most exclusive trailer park, after Pippi, a stripper on the run from her crazy ex-boyfriend, arrives and starts a relationship with Norbert, a toll collector married to Jeannie, an agoraphobic who hasn’t left her trailer in 20 years. Neighbors Betty (trailer park manager), Lin (former Ted Nugent roadie) and the hysterically pregnant Pickles get sucked into a wave of lies, lust, and Miller Lite. The score is an homage to country western, blues, and rock, although a disco number and some Andrews sisters trio singing sneak in as well. I play Betty and have also been vocal directing and conducting the kick-ass band! We’ve got a great cast and the show is sure to be a hit. Contact Carte Blanche Studios to reserve your tickets ASAP, y’all!