Milwaukee Public Theatre

Actually, I'm thinking about my Dad! Every month here at St.Rita Square we tell stories about our lives on a different theme. Last month was "Mothers" and this month was, of course, "Fathers". So here are some excerpts of my story and a few pictures...I(kind of long...)'ll look forward to seeing some of your own!

My father was born in Philadelphia on September 12th, 1905. He was named William Bentley Broomall, His parents were Clara Junger Hesse and Robert Broomall. Unfortunately for him, his parents separated when was only 2 years old. It seems that the Broomall family was very wealthy, and very socially conservative. When they learned that their son had married a divorcee (yes, Robert was Clara’s second husband and she had two children…) they threatened to cut him off from the family fortune unless he left her,

Which he promptly did! So Clara was left with three children to care for on her own. Dad quit school after 8th grade to help out. He received apprentice training in the painting and paperhanging parts of home decorating and people in the neighborhood hired him to work for them on weekends until gradually he was working full time. By age 17 he had his own business—even hiring other people to work for him!

He also found he was good at helping to promote people who performed or gave talks on different subjects like books or plays or music or health. He worked on a morning newspaper called the Philadelphia Record and for the Public Ledger and became a radio announcer for CBS.

He met my mom in Chicago in 1933 when she was working at the Allerton Hotel, directing plays with the residents. She cast him in a part, and that was the beginning of their story… He was an aspiring playwright, and she loved acting. What a combo! They were married a few months later and decided to move to New York to see what they could do in the theatre world.

My mom got a job as an actress with the Clare Tree Major Children’s Theatre and my dad worked for them too as a promoter, setting up performances for them in nearby towns. He also worked part-time for Columbia Broadcasting as a script writer. He had just gotten started developing an entertainment booking bureau in Dallas, Texas when war broke out Dec. 7, 1941. Not good for business!

He volunteered to join the Navy at age 39 and was sent to, Espiritu Santo island in the Philippines as part of a battalion of older men that didn’t take part in battles, they built roads and air fields. Instead. He was made the Editor of the newspaper—“The Espiritu Santo Bulldozer”!

When the war was over in 1945 he came back to Sheboygan and looked for jobs in radio and then did public relations work for a program to raise money for the poor: The Community Chest. And then he handled Community chests in Oshkosh and then the American City Bureau in Memphis Tennessee!

Back at the ranch…While my dad was in the Navy my mom was pregnant with me. So she moved back to Sheboygan where she could be with family. My grandparents had a huge home 2 blocks from Lake Michigan, and they renovated it to became a duplex and we could live upstairs.

When dad came back I was three years old. Who was this stranger???!!! I was very wary….The only way he could get me to sit on his lap was to have candy in his pocket!

But growing up I always knew that he cared deeply about our family. One of his jobs I remember best was when he started a plastics business, with his good friend Dick Stiles. Mr. Stiles was very entrepreneurial—and adventurous. He even had his own plane. One of my best memories was when he gave my sister and I a ride on a very cloud day, and after it rained a most magnificent rainbow appeared! It was a huge circle—and we flew right through it!

That plastics business didn’t last—I don’t remember why. But Dad was committed to being the bread-winner and there weren’t many opportunities in Sheboygan. So we moved to Waukesha when I was a freshman in high school and Dad started work as a manufacturer’s representative helping to find jobs for people in business. But he was working on commission and times were just too lean. I got a job at 16. And mom got a job at the post office.

I got a scholarship to study at UW Madison and didn’t get to Waukesha much. Then I spent my Junior Year in France and got married right after my senior year. A few years later I was working on my dissertation on an Acting School in France started by Jacques Copeau. It revolutionized actor training all over the world—including the Juilliard School in New York and various schools in London.

In 1971 Mom had just finished her MA in Choral Speaking at Marquette University and knew Dr. Leo Jones, head of the Theatre Department there. So I thought what about starting a summer program for Marquette students to study some of the things Copeau’s school had taught—and I could sit in on the classes and get some actor training myself!

The London Theatre Workshop was born! My husband and I asked my parents to help set it up. They really came to life, met people we could interview in London, and even found rooms we could rent at the Imperial College.

Mike Moynihan and I started Friends Mime Theatre in1973/74 and in 1976 my parents were in their 70’s and feeling depressed that their creative life was over. Se Mike and I suggested that they start a theatre company to reach older adults. About a month later my dad called and said “Barbi, Charlotte and I have decided to form a theatre company.” They called it “Theatre Within You” and their motto was “You Can Be Practically Ageless!” Such a great motto! It continues to inspire me!

Yesterday I spent the day at the MPS Showcase for the Arts at Turner Hall, greeting children with my Bee and Butterfly puppets. Such fun! Some of the kids were afraid of the bee, but ended up talking to "Melanie" the Bumblebee, and patting her on the head. And they giggled when Mariposa" (the butterfly) fluttered onto their hands. I love being a Pollinator Ambassador!

We'll be starting a "Bee the Change" intergenerational Arts Residency this month with St. Rita Square and Cass Street School. Stay tuned!

If you can possibly get there, do see this play. Today is the last day, 2 PM show. Amazing!! Insightful! Fun! Educational! Revealing! Fabulous!!!

World Premiere!
​
THE NOT-SO-ACCIDENTAL CONVICTION OF ELEVEN MILWAUKEE "ANARCHISTS"
by Martín Zimmerman
​
April 26 - May 19, 2024 | Studio Theatre

Directed by Artistic Director Brent Hazelton**

Featuring Elyse Edelman, King Hang, Dimonte Henning, and
Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez
​
Designed and created by Peter Clare, Christopher Elst, Josh Hart, Adam Hastings, Amy Horst, Dani Kuepper, Michelle Lopez-Rios, Noele Stollmack, Dev Wiensch, and Madelyn Yee
​
Producer | Heil Family Foundation
​
Associate Producers | Don Fraker and Maja Jurisic, Barbara Haig and Dan Schley, Rachel Krause, Steve Weber and Kelly Schlicht

Yes, thinking about all mothers today, and so thankful for mine. Charlotte Crocker Broomall--wonderful storyteller/actress who inspires me to this day. So many memories!

My mother was born in 1903. Her father had a wonderful sense of humor. Grandpa wrote whimsical poems starting with A and working his way through the alphabet. The letter P was: “Ode to a Pencil”. He made a doll house for her so she could act out stories. He continued to nurture her creative talents, and she took that dream into a career as an actress—from Sheboygan yet!

She studied acting in Chicago and earned degrees in Speech and Drama from Emerson Collage, Texas State College for Women and later (in her ‘70’s!) at Marquette University. When her leg was shattered in a car accident early in her career, she vowed as soon as she could walk again she would play the invalid Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the Barretts of Wimpole Street.

She was directing plays at the Allerton Hotel in Chicago when she cast a handsome young man in one of the parts. William Bentley Broomall was a journalist and aspiring playwright. They married and moved to New York to follow their star. Although they never hit the big time, they were fascinated by all the different dialects of New York's diverse cultures and actually wrote and published a drama text book, Taking the Stage--which is still available today!!

But World War Two interrupted all that. My father volunteered and was sent to a naval base in the Philippines. But my mother was 40 and pregnant with me, so she moved back to Sheboygan in 1943—not the best career move…. But she found ways to cope…
Mom was an evocative storyteller. My childhood was filled with stories and fairy tales.
When I was in high school she developed her own business, giving book dramatizations about powerful women from all cultures, (she even became her own agent, developing brochures, calling about possible dates (“I’ll ask Charlotte if she’s available and get back to you….:)

As many of you know, I inherited the gene--although I went in a very different direction. In 1974 Mike Moynihan and I co-founded Friends Mime Theatre/Milwaukee Public Theatre—creating satirical shows dealing with social issues like Farewell to Farms or Food R***ed, and Dr. Plutonium’s Energy Circus (we were banned in Illinois). It was a far cry from my mother’s repertoire of Peter Pan and James Mathew Barrie but closer to her book dramatizations, and she was thrilled that we were following in her footsteps, sort of……(except she would comment about our satire…But Barbie, you could be so charming!”) Not!!

Around that time my parents were in their seventies and they were feeling depressed and aimless, so Mike and I suggested they could…maybe, start a theatre company? A month later my father told me, “Barbie, Charlotte and I have decided to form a theatre company.” And they did! Their own non-profit was called Theatre Within You. They toured nursing homes and senior centers and also developed and co-hosted "Now and Then", a WEZW radio program for older adults, all designed to ignite that spark of creative possibility in each of us—no matter what our age. Their motto? “You can be practically ageless!”

A great motto!
Thanks so much Mom and Dad!!

Quasimondo Physical Theatre is holding auditions for “Red White and Coup”, an exciting worldpremiere examining American politics, partisanship, and the January 6th Capital attack. We aresearching for 10 versatile performers to play multiple roles in this ensemble production featuringdrama, comedy, music, movement, and puppetry.Do you sing, dance, play an instrument, or like to impersonate political personalities? Join us!All Ages and levels of skill experience are welcome - most characters are aged 30–70 years.WHEN: Tuesday, April 30th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.WHERE: 650 W. Reservoir, Milw. WI, 53212 (Milw. Housing Auth. Office)MORE INFO and RESERVE YOUR AUDITION SLOT at this QR CODE:Walk ups are also welcomed!If you would like to be involved in this production or cannot make the audition, contact us:(414) 702 0392 or [email protected]

Hi Friends, Two big opportunities coming up! The Wisconsin Labor History Society is sponsoring another commemoration of the Bay View Massacre on Sunday, May 5th, 3-4 PM and YOU can be part of it! We need "strikers"! You're only line will be "The Eight-Hour Day!" (many times...) We'll have costumes available: long skirts, scarves, hats. And if you have any yourselves, please wear or bring! And please let me know you are coming..

Yesterday hundreds of people gathered in the beautiful sanctuary of St. Catherine's Catholic Church to remember and celebrate the life and legacy of Ernie Di Domizio, adopted son of Jackie Haessly and Don Di Domizio. What I especially loved were the stories his friends shared about his adventurous, intrepid and generous spirit and his amazing way of relating to young people and finding ways to support their dreams and possibilities. Thank you Ernie!
https://milwaukeejournalsentinel-wi.newsmemory.com/?clip_article&token=3L3R2s%252FW4c7GqrHW5NDG2trUwtnM3MbiyM2puMakkpajmJ%252BEmpKgkaidkXRzk6HPz%252BHJ4bjEzd3W6NfCrKGRpo%252BWoJShhJeXzcPVysBwcpbR2ZLd2aiDl5eblK6Wk3N5jqWWnZ2X

St. Patrick's Day is such a fun day to be born! Thanks so much for all your wonderful wishes! Rikki and I went to see the 50 Paintings at WAM and had a lovely Irish dinner with friends. Yay!💥And by the way, the wonderful green knit dress I'm wearing was actually made in Ireland and was last worn by me in 1965 when I got married on the highest bluff at Devil's Lake. (But that's another story...)

Julie Borouchoff and I led a workshop in "Finding Your Inner Clown" yesterday at ACAP(Adaptive Community Approach Program), for 33 people with a complete range of disabilities.
Here's the list they sent me: people in power chairs, walkers, people with Down Syndrome, Agenesis of Corpus Callosum with microcephaly, Cerebral Palsy, Apraxia, Cognitive disability, spastic Athotoid CP,
Intellectual disorder, Brain injury, Mitocondrial Disorder, Nunes Syndrome, Global Developmental Delay, ADHD.

When I saw the list I felt a bit daunted, but we had fun anyway! I can't send a photo, but by the end of the workshop picture almost all of them wearing fun hats and dancing! Whew!

Had a most creative week, including story-sharing about "someone who inspires you", to wild hat-making parties, a Mardi Gras Parade and a Variety Show on Friday!! Who says life can't be fun when you're old! Here are some of the parade pix...I'll send a link to the video when we figure out how to send it...(!)

A new FREE Resource Guide is posted on the website. Great for educators, so please share! Bee The Change, is a guide to the project about pollinators presented by Quasimondo Physical Theatre at Golda Meir Elementary School in 2021-2023. It provides a description of the classroom project, and focuses on the dangers facing our pollinators—bees, butterflies, birds, bats, beetles, moths and more—and ways we can help them survive.

ALL of our Resource Guides are free for your use.

Resource Guides — mpt Bee The Change, a free guide to the project about pollinators with Quasimondo in 2021-2023. It provides a description of the classroom project, and focuses on the dangers facing our pollinators—bees, butterflies, birds, bats, beetles, moths and more—and ways we can help them survive. Particularl...

Our 40th anniversary celebration in 2014. So many people worked on this event! Treasured memories.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.719238841481675&type=3&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6

From Barbaraa
Hi again Friends, You're invited to...
Every1In, It's a Wellness & Abilities Fair 🎉🌟 on Sept 30th in Milwaukee, live and virtual, dedicated to promoting wellness and providing support to those with chronic illness, pain, mental health challenges, and disabilities. Check out all the incredible vendors, speakers, workshops, and other resources devoted to healthy living.🌿

AND, I'll be performing my "Humor and Healing" talk there at 1:30 PM-- all about my healing process from a bad accident in which I was partially paralyzed.

What? How can that be funny??? Well, having worked as a clown for many years, I couldn't help noticing the quirky characters, and the surreal side of losing half my body--and somehow alll that all morphed into a show, The Survival Revival R***e! Creating that show with the support of so many wonderful artists totally changed my life!

Humor and Healing shares some of my discoveries about the healing power of humor and invites you to share your own stories.

Hope you can Join us!

The 2011 All-City People’s Parade theme was “Metamorphosis”. We again collaborated with Laborfest on the parade route. Another 200 or so people and organizations made it possible.
You can find the program booklet here, along with several other Resource Guides:

Resource Guides — mpt Food for Thought guide, as a companion to Out to Lunch, the fresh food variety show, 2013, with information on community gardening, nutritional facts, beekeeping and urban chickens, meal programs and much more. Updating is partially completed. Find out how you can help.

Photos from the 2010 Parade

www.facebook.com

In 2010, the All-City People’s Parade was planned ahead to join the Labor Day parade, from downtown Milwaukee to Laborfest at the lakefront. Our theme was “Waking Up”. Around 115 individual artists/performers and 75 community groups and funding sponsors made this possible.
You can find the program booklet here, along with several other Resource Guides:

Resource Guides — mpt Food for Thought guide, as a companion to Out to Lunch, the fresh food variety show, 2013, with information on community gardening, nutritional facts, beekeeping and urban chickens, meal programs and much more. Updating is partially completed. Find out how you can help.

Check out some photos from the first All-City People's Parade in 2009.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.798592612271429&type=3

Our first All-City People’s Parade, working with Milwaukee Mask and Puppet Theatre, was scheduled for August 5, 2009. It was rained out!
Miraculously, the Labor Day Parade invited us to join their route. We dried off and started again.
The theme was “Making A New Way—Together”. 200 people participated in this project!
You can find the program booklet here, along with several other Resource Guides:

Resource Guides — mpt Food for Thought guide, as a companion to Out to Lunch, the fresh food variety show, 2013, with information on community gardening, nutritional facts, beekeeping and urban chickens, meal programs and much more. Updating is partially completed. Find out how you can help.

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MPT worked with visual artist Amparo Rodriguez for many years. She also taught Spanish to MPT co-founder Barbara Leigh. We are so very saddened by the unexpected tragic loss of Amparo's talented daughter Sara and encourage the support of her friends and fellow artists.

Sara's Memorial Fundraiser, organized by Amber Grant My name is Amber and I am a long-time family friend of over 36 years. I have known Sara and So… Amber Grant needs your support for Sara's Memorial Fundraiser

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obituary on Jahmes Finlayson is behind a paywall, so we've copied it into our website.http://milwaukeepublictheatre.com/s/Jahmes-from-MJS-July-21.pdf