As The Comedy of Errors was winding up, we pinned our twins down long enough bring you a fresh "10 Questions!"

What brought you to theater and to Shakespeare?
// Connor - I saw Jack Black in School of Rock and wanted to be an actor. I auditioned for plays in high school and played Falstaff in my first Shakespeare play, Merry Wives of Windsor. During the production I fell in love with the language.

// Cole - Orientation for my freshman year of high school included improv games and some acting exercises. I had a lot of fun with them and the drama teacher, so I auditioned for the fall one-act. I've loved acting and been close friends with Mr. Ivkovich ever since. The first Shakespeare show I was in was A Midsummer Night's Dream at UW-Parkside, directed by Matt Schwader (I was Snug) and the concept was Steampunk which was a lot of fun.

// Rebekah - I was in my first play when I was six. It was a play my brother wrote and I didn’t have any lines, but I have loved being a different person on stage since then. As far as Shakespeare goes, my first favorite “book” was Twelfth Night. In middle school, I fell in love with the twin confusion and Feste the fool. How fitting that in this show, I not only got to play a clown, but also a confused twin!  

// Thorin - I grew up in rural Wisconsin, I loved books and movies (storytelling), but there wasn't much theater around me so I didn't see it growing up. When I got to University, I decided I wanted to take part in the storytelling and I started doing theater. I fell in love with Shakespeare after doing a month-long intensive in Lennox, Massachusetts with Shakespeare and Company.


What did 10-year-old you think you’d be when you “grew up?”
// Connor - I wanted to be artist and draw comic books.​

// Cole - I always wanted to be an artist because my grandparents have made their living off of their amazing art for 40 years now. If you want to see some of their work you can visit XNTrixart.com (XN-Trix, get it?!)

// Rebekah - A teacher (which I am so grateful I already get to do with First Stage). 

// Thorin - I thought I'd be an engineer because I was always good at math. My uncle was an engineer and I knew it was a good job. I changed my mind after I realized, although I did well in math, I didn't enjoy it.
​

What do you think is the greatest challenge of portraying your character?
// Connor - The greatest challenge is making Antipholus of Ephesus a sympathetic human being who doesn't just yell and hit things.

// Cole - For me it’s been the most difficult keeping Dromio positive. When I first read the show, I saw him as very resentful of his situation, and we get to laugh at his pain. However ML and Ron wanted to play his resilience and intelligence, along with his inability to not tell a joke, rather than focusing on any anger he may have towards his circumstances.

// Rebekah - I  think when you have a lot of good jokes, it can be really easy to just try to make people laugh, the challenge is to make people laugh because you are being present and honest in the moment. 

// Thorin - The greatest challenge was letting go of what he's "supposed to be," to find out who he is.

We've got a few tee shirts left and we want to free up that storage space, so take the opportunity to scoop up some bundled tee shirt deals. Shop now for shirts or other SitP logo or items!

We've wrapped The Comedy of Errors, but if you'd like to enjoy more from our amazing cast and crew, look for them here:

​The next project for Libby Amato, our Luciana, is exercising her creativity in the form of her handmade soap shop, Abbondanza Soap Co.

Set Designer and Scenic Charge Posy Knight is moving on to work on the 53212 Presents Open House during the Center Street Daze Festival, Saturday, August 10, 1-10 pm
731 E. Center Street (upstairs of Company Brewing).

​Jim Pickering, who appeared as Egeon and Balthazar, can be seen next as:

• Doc in West Side Story at the Milwaukee Rep (Sep. 17- Oct. 27)
• Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol at the Milwaukee Rep (Nov. 26-Dec. 24)
• Peter Michaels in No Wake, a new play by Erica Berman, at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (Feb. 21-Mar. 15, 2020)

You can see Nate Press, the Messenger and part of the Ensemble, as:

• Leo in In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)  for Outskirts Theatre Co. (Aug. 30-Sep. 8) at Danceworks 1661 N. Water Street
• Ensemble in The Beggar's Opera for Theatre Gigante (Sep. 27-Oct. 12) at UWM Kenilworth Studio 508, 1915 E. Kenilworth Place 

Please support theater in Milwaukee by checking out these and other performances!

Given the premise of The Comedy of Errors -- not one but TWO sets of identical twins causing all manner of confusion and mistaken identity...we've set aside 10 seats for every evening performance for those who come to the show as twins!

How does that work?​

• Come up with 5 points of twinning (clothing, accessories, some other characteristic(s)). Be imaginative!
• Present yourselves at the Information Booth to have a member of SitP staff verify your "twinhood."
• If you are one of the first 5 sets of "twins," we'll give you a wristband that will allow you to sit in the Twins Section!
• What if you are ACTUALLY a twin? If you both come and prove your twinship, that will count as ONE of your twinning points -- you'll still need to come up with four other elements to express your twinship, just to keep things fair!

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Greetings and Welcome to the 10th Anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park!
 
I confess, it’s hard to fathom that 2019 will mark the 10th anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park. How did that happen?
 
About a month before the cheers from the final standing ovation for King Lear became whispers, we started putting together this very special milestone season. The wild and raucous ride that is The Comedy of Errors seems like just the right way to celebrate.
 
Like any organization, there are regular tasks like budgets, balance sheets and board meetings. Specific to SITP19, we are or have already…

• Had post-production meetings with all of our partners and collaborators. We reviewed what we did, what worked, what didn’t and what we’d like to achieve next year.
  • So, The Comedy of Errors will have 12 performances in June and July of 2019 at the beautiful downtown Peck Pavilion!  
  • And, Optimist Theatre is the newest Resident Partner with the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts! I guess they liked what we did these last 2 years… ;-)
    ​
    

• Applying for grants, grants and more grants because, as we all know, Shakespeare in the Park is free to see but far from free to produce.  Funders like BMO Harris, Brico Fund, Isabel and Alfred Bader Foundation, Milwaukee Arts Board, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Harry & Lynde Bradley Foundation, Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation, Herzfeld Foundation, CAMPAC, Wisconsin Arts Board and a whole host of others make it possible to offer free SITP.
  
  Even with all that foundation firepower, would you be surprised to know that about 1/3 of our funding comes from individual humans like you and me? It’s true! (Thank You!)

 

• Begun assembling our dazzling design team, scheduling auditions, working our script cutting and all that other great pre-production jazz.
  
  Optimist’s own Artistic Director Ron Scot Fry and our longstanding Dramaturge extraordinaire M.L. Cogar are on board to co-direct The Comedy of Errors. Together, they make a powerhouse of skills in physical comedy and insightful wordplay. Ron's last directorial work for SITP was our lively homage to the summer of love, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. M.L. helmed The Winter's Tale as sole director, and more recently co-directed Julius Caesar.

 
There’s so much more that happens in the baker’s dozen of months it takes to create Shakespeare in the Park for 3,500-4,000 people each summer. In newsletters to come, I’ll share more insights about what and how we’re doing. In the meantime, it’s not too early to gather your confetti, plan your picnic and get ready to party next summer!
 
Optimistically,
Susan
 
Susan Fry is the Executive Director for Optimist Theatre. Contact her at [email protected]. Most of the time, she works alone and talks to her dog. Your email would be a welcome human interaction!
 
“We came into the world like brother and brother,
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.”
                                                                The Comedy of Errors, Act 5, sc 1