Chicago? Get real. New York City? Move over.
America’s new hotbed for innovative theater, at least for the next four months, just might be Wisconsin.
From Madison to Door County, the state will be the center of nearly a dozen new works for the stage, from a zany musical parody of Stephen King novels to the story of an Italian female portrait artist in the 17th century.
It’s all part of World Premiere Wisconsin, which starts Wednesday and runs through June 30 and is designed to launch new works that might become worldwide hits. For Wisconsin audiences, that means the chance to see new plays and musicals before anyone else.
Gray
“To our knowledge, this (festival) is the first of its kind,” said WPW creator Jennifer Uphoff Gray, founder and artistic director of Madison’s Forward Theater Company, which along with Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and Northern Sky Theater of Door County has spearheaded the statewide event.
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World Premiere Wisconsin is designed to strengthen bonds within the theater community, but also to get audiences excited by all the innovation that’s out there, and yet close by. With a website at worldpremierewisconsin.com listing scores of performances in Madison and across the state, the festival offers a “digital passport” that offers perks and swag for Wisconsin theatergoers.
“There’s a ton of theater happening relatively close to home that is created right here in our state, so you get the excitement of being part of this festival, but also the excitement of seeing a bunch of new works first,” said Gray. For example, the newest Lauren Gunderson play — the world premiere of “Artemisia” — opens April 13 at the Overture Center‘s Playhouse theater and runs through April 30.
“You’re going to get to see it here first before everyone else gets to see it all over the country,” Gray said.
At the Milwaukee Rep, “A major new play, ‘The Heart Sellers,’” a funny and moving story about the Asian immigrant experience in the 1970s, “is gorgeous — and I think it’s going to be one of the most-produced plays in America in a year or two,” Gray said. “It’s so charming and accessible. I think it’s going to get produced everywhere, but you get to see it here in Wisconsin first and be in early in a way that doesn’t always happen if you’re not in the major cities.”
Setting example
Gray came up with the idea for WPW in October 2018, when she was looking for ways for Wisconsin theater companies — often with small, overworked staffs and tight budgets — to share resources, ideas and best practices. During the COVID-19 shutdowns, those connections became even more essential, she said.
Now with nearly 50 Wisconsin theaters participating, WPW can serve as a national model, said festival producer Michael Cotey.
The world premiere of "Finder and the North Star," from Children's Theater of Madison, continues through Sunday.
“Theaters across the country are struggling,” he said in a statement. “By taking such a big swing with this festival, we hope to set an example of what’s possible in the spirit of collaboration and inspire others with the work we’ve done to rally theaters together in their state.”
Hearing about plans for the WPW Festival inspired composer Andrew Abrams, artistic director of Madison’s Capital City Theatre, and writer Colleen Duvall to double down on a musical spoof based on Stephen King novels. Their finished musical, written along with librettist Mark-Eugene Garcia and titled “Shining in Misery: A King-Size Parody,” opened last week in the Overture Center’s Playhouse, where it continues its run through Sunday.
“Because of the pandemic, (writing) ‘Shining in Misery’ got nudged back later and later,” Abrams recalled. With WPW, “We said, ‘Well, we could use this as an opportunity to light a fire under us and to finish this show.’ And it was go go go until the end. But we’re really glad we did it, because deadlines can make for great writing.”
Statewide support for the WPW Festival, including a $39,550 marketing grant from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, has been a great help in letting people know about “Shining in Misery,” Abrams said.
“It can be hard to sell tickets to shows people have never heard of,” he said. WPW has made that easier with “a boost of publicity in addition to our marketing. We’re selling more tickets than we’ve ever sold in the Playhouse, so it’s working.”
Stacey Garbarski appears in the new romantic comedy "Bad in Bed (A Fairy Tale)," which runs March 3-11 at the Bartell Theatre.
Time to shine
World Premiere Wisconsin also led to a first-time collaboration between Madison Theatre Guild and Madison College Performing Arts, said Madison playwright Karen Saari, whose new play “Bad in Bed (A Fairy Tale),” runs from Friday to March 11 at the Bartell Theatre. Billed as “a romantic comedy about old friends, unrequited crushes and a Scandinavian sex curse,” Saari’s play brings together actors from Madison Theatre Guild and students in the college’s Stage and Entertainment Certificate program to help learn the technical side.
Children’s Theater of Madison is currently performing another world premiere, “Finder and the North Star” written by CTM education director Erica Berman and running through Sunday. Some of the other Madison-area theater groups with productions on the WPW website include TNW Ensemble Theatre, Rotate Theatre MiniFest, CapitalQ Theatre Festival, Young Shakespeare Players, American Players Theatre, Fermat’s Last Theater Co., Broom Street Theatre, Strollers Theatre and Mercury Theatre Lab.
“Madison has thrown down for WPW,” said Gray. “There are so many events happening here for the festival, and I’m really proud of that.”
Gray, who grew up in Fitchburg, returned to the Madison area in 2005 as a freelance director after 12 years working in theater in New York. In 2009, she founded Forward Theater, a resident company of the Overture Center.
“To come back here and see the strengths and the talent and the creativity in what happens here, and how extraordinary it is — and how little anyone outside of our community knows about how much exciting work is happening here — that continually frustrated me,” she said.
“I’d be listening to podcasts or reading newspaper articles about the American theater, and they had so little understanding of the Midwest or anything not in New York. This festival was an idea to maybe make some headway on those fronts.”
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