Waukesha Civic Theatre

💚These COSTUMES, you guys!!! 💚
Gwen Ter Haar, you have done it again and made our kids into the BEST fairytale characters ever!

July 26 - Aug 4
Sensory friendly performances Saturday, July 27th and August 3rd at 2:00 p.m.

Asl interpreted performance Saturday, August 3rd at 2:00 p.m.. please RSVP with the box office for preferred seating.

It's tech time, friends! 😁

Set, lights, props, sound, costumes -- and these kids are handling it like champs!

Do you have tickets to this weekend or next?

Did you know that we have two sensory friendly performances? Both Saturdays at 2:00 p.m., we will have sensory kits, a quiet zone, and reduced sensory impact during the performance.

On Saturday, August 3rd at 2:00 p.m. p.m. We will have ASL interpreted performance. PLEASE RSVP for ASL seating by calling or emailing the box office for preferred seating.

Please help us spread the word so that our friends who can utilize these services know they are available.

July 26 - Aug 4

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

'SHREK THE MUSICAL JR.' presented by Waukesha Civic Theatre Academy for two weekends only. GREAT for audiences of ALL ages!

July 26 - 28
and
August 2 - 4

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

Waukesha Civic Theatre Waukesha's prime location for live entertainment and theatre education since 1957!

In just two days, this cast and artistic team meet for the first read of AIDA which kicks off WCT's 68th Mainstage season. Check out this talented group!

Do you have your tickets? Remember, you can subscribe for the season and save on each ticket!

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

Aida – Patrice Hood
Amneris – Samantha Paige
Mereb/Amonasro – Ernesto Bell
Nehebka - Ashley Levells
Pharaoh – Jeff Hardy
Radames – Ben Ardis
Zoser – Jordan Pollard

Priests
Christopher Johnston, Ash Strean, Ernest Bell,
Lyndsey Bergman, Jeff Hardy, Ivee Jasper

Soldiers
Christopher Johnston, Ash Strean, Ernest Bell, Lyndsey Bergman, Jeff Hardy, Ivee Jasper, Amélie Davis-Quiroz, Anna-Christina Alcozer, Michelle DeLaMatter, Ireland Anderson, Kaia Mormino, Ashley Levells

Ministers
Christopher Johnston, Ash Strean, Ernest Bell, Lyndsey Bergman, Jeff Hardy, Ivee Jasper

Nubians
Ivee Jasper, Ernest Bell, Michelle DeLaMatter, Anna-Christina Alcozer, Christopher Johnston, Jeff Hardy, Amélie Davis-Quiroz, Ireland Anderson, Ashley Levells

Palace Women
Amélie Davis-Quiroz, Anna-Christina Alcozer,
Michelle DeLaMatter, Ivee Jasper,
Lyndsey Bergman, Ireland Anderson

One more performance of 'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' today at 2 p.m.!

Congratulations to the artistic team on a fantastic run of an outstanding show!

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

John D’Agata ............................................ Jake Konrath
Emily Penrose ................................ Julie Ferris-Tillman
Jim Fingal ............................................. Aidan Sternberg

Director .............................................. Meghan Hopper
Scenic Designer & Builder ......................... Evan Crain
Stage Manager ........................ Ariel Mitchell Williams
Intimacy & Fight Director ........................ Jenn Dobby
Costume Design ................................... Ashley Abshire
Props & Scenic Dressing .................. Teri Bergendahl
Lighting Designer .......................................... Petr Jaros
Projection & Sound Designer ......... Meghan Hopper
Sound Technician ................................. Aaron Schmidt
Properties Assistant ................................... Liebe Barry
Board Operator .......................................... Ro Longden
Electrician .................................................. Star Howard

You have three more chances to catch 'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' this weekend and you do not want to miss it! Great script and superb acting make for a great time at the theatre.

Saturday, July 20 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 21 at 2 p.m.

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' - Final Weekend - don't miss this hilarious and engaging play in WCT's Black Box.

Friday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 20 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 21 at 2 pm.

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

📷 Andy Holley Photography

'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' A Black Box Production
July 19 at 7:30 p.m.
July 20 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
July 21 at 2 p.m.

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

Based on a true story.”
“Inspired by true events.”
“Some of this actually happened.”

The process of adapting a real occurrence into a narrative story can be a tricky one. Whether it’s a journalistic, fact-based accounting of events; an embellished, raucous tale recounted to an adoring (or annoyed) audience; or a semi-fictionalized adaptation for the stage or screen, there is an art to telling a true story.

The Lifespan of a Fact is a play, based on a book, based on an essay, based on a true story. With every step of adaptation, that story is refracted a little more. So the questions become: At what point does this stop being a true story? How many little changes can a storyteller make before the non-fiction label can no longer apply? Are the labels of fiction and non-fiction absolute, or is there space for stories that live in between? And what are the ethical responsibilities of the people telling these stories?

This script first came to my attention in the summer of 2020. Working in the front office at WCT, I wasn’t sure we were ever get to do theatre again. We started looking for small-cast shows, shows that could be performed virtually, or socially distanced, or masked. This script was such a bright spot in such an uncertain time, and I’ve been advocating for it ever since. I’m so proud of this team and everyone who helped bring this show to the Black Box at Waukesha Civic Theatre. I hope you enjoy our production, and that it stirs a lively debate on your trip home!

Meghan Hopper
Director, The Lifespan of a Fact
Associate Managing Director, Waukesha Civic Theatre

📷 Andy Holley Photography
Pictured: Meghan Hopper (Director), Aidan Sternberg (Jim Fingal), Julie Ferris-Tillman (Emily Penrose), Jake Konrath (John D'Agata), Ariel Mitchell Williams (Stage Manager)

In this project, community members worked with local photographers to create an image that would communicate their unique story of resilience. Then, they created a personal narrative or chose a meaningful quotation to be presented with their photograph. Creative, therapeutic projects like this can help to maximize the natural resilience of individuals and communities affected by mass violence and improve their coping abilities, potentially preventing the development of mental health problems such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and more.

Time: 5:00-8:00pm
Venue: Waukesha Civic Theatre

What to expect: Doors open at 5:00 pm, and we welcome the community to join us for gallery viewing, light appetizers, and musical enrichment. We welcome guest speakers Taylor Kulich and Pardeep Kaleka, who will share their stories of resilience and help us celebrate, honor, and hold space for many of the stories here in Waukesha. This event is free and open to the community. We look forward to seeing you there.

Our friend JOE RICHTER is outside at Waukesha Riverside Rhythms until 1 - come on out!

✨Announcing the cast of Elton John and Tim Rice's AIDA the Musical! ✨
September 13 - 29 - Tickets: https://www.waukeshacivictheatre.org/production/eltonjohnandtimricesaida/

Aida – Patrice Hood
Amneris – Samantha Paige
Mereb/Amonasro – Ernesto Bell
Pharaoh – Jeff Hardy
Radames – Ben Ardis
Zoser – Jordan Pollard

Priests – Christopher Johnston, Ash Strean, Ernest Bell, Lyndsey Bergman, Jeff Hardy, Ivee Jasper

Soldiers – Christopher Johnston, Ash Strean, Ernest Bell, Lyndsey Bergman, Jeff Hardy, Ivee Jasper, Amélie Davis-Quiroz, Anna-Christina Alcozer, Michelle DeLaMatter, Ireland Anderson, Kaia Mormino, Ashley Levells

Ministers – Christopher Johnston, Ash Strean, Ernest Bell, Lyndsey Bergman, Jeff Hardy, Ivee Jasper

Nubians – Ivee Jasper, Ernest Bell, Michelle DeLaMatter, Anna-Christina Alcozer, Christopher Johnston, Jeff Hardy, Amélie Davis-Quiroz, Ireland Anderson, Ashley Levells

Palace Women – Amélie Davis-Quiroz, Anna-Christina Alcozer, Michelle DeLaMatter, Ivee Jasper, Lyndsey Bergman, Ireland Anderson

Ashley Jordan- Directing Consultant
Raven Dockery -Music Director
Julie Johnson - Orchestra Director
Ciara Hart - Choreographer
Meredith White - Stage Manager
Breanna Taylor - Dramaturg
Amayah Rockett - Scenic Designer, Painter, Dresser
Evan Crain - Lead Carpenter
Carlos Vergara - Costume Designer
Eric Rorholm - Lighting Designer
Antoine Reynolds - Sound Designer
Malaina Moore - Properties and Projection Designer
Jenn Dobby - Intimacy Director
Kara Penrose- Fight Choreographer

'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' July 12-21
GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

"...in the end, D’Agata has confidence in his storytelling. “I started with the facts … and I wrote to his spirit,” he says of the young man who died, railing about how slavishly sticking to the facts produces “overprocessed garbage” and “even the most precise numbers in this world tell you nothing.”

This is like a tennis match, with arguments batted back and forth like tennis balls. In one moment you see Fingal’s point. In the next, you agree with D’Agata. The match comes down to the final point as the deadline approaches to hold the essay or let the presses run with it. And it provides lots of food for thought.

These three performers hold your attention throughout, each striking the right tone for their character. Sternberg as the diligent fact checker is totally engaging, perfecting the bulldog-like tenacity of his character and youthful exuberance. Fingal’s crisp, neatly pressed pants, argyle vest and perfectly coiffed hair are a stark contrast to the rumpled D’Agata.

At times, their arguments turn into class warfare. D’Agata, who comes from modest roots, chides the privileged Fingal for being out of touch. “Did you ever want to curl up in a corner and die?” he asks.

Konrath’s D’Agata matches Sternberg’s passion and fits the arrogant, in-love-with-his-words writer to a tee. His indignation at his essay’s being questioned by this upstart is palpable.

Ferris-Tillman is the perfect go-between as the editor, trying to strike the right balance between allowing her star writer literary freedom and holding him to the facts that may get in the way of the story.

Director Hopper keeps the performers moving – in Emily’s office, D’Agata’s home, on the phone, standing sitting and gesturing -- so that the dialogue-heavy show doesn’t get bogged down. The actors do the rest as they are totally invested in their characters." - MARILYN JOZWIK

Photo by Andy Holley Photography (Fact-checker Jim Fingal (Aidan Sternberg), left, editor Emily Penrose (Julie Ferris-Tillman) and writer John D’Agata (Jake Konrath) read an essay D’Agata had written for a magazine in a scene from Waukesha Civic Theatre’s “Lifespan of a Fact.”)

We want to give a big shout out to our Academy picnic sponsor for bringing a tree climbing experience to our 2024 picnic!

You have two chances to catch 'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' today including a talkback with local author Kathie Giorgio following the 2:00 p.m. performance.

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT" opens tonight with a two-weekend run! You do not want to miss this hilariously clever script.

July 12 -21

Jim Fingal is a fresh-out-of-Harvard fact checker for a prominent but sinking New York magazine. John D’Agata is a talented writer with a transcendent essay about the su***de of a teenage boy—an essay that could save the magazine from collapse. When Jim is assigned to fact check D’Agata’s essay, the two come head to head in a comedic yet gripping battle over facts versus truth.

GET TICKETS

🌟ATTENTION FRIENDS OF WCT🌟- the Academy Kids need YOUR HELP to raise $10,000 by Saturday! If they hit the team goal, EVERY kid will get to throw a pie in Doug Jarecki's face!

So when you donate, you are not only contributing to the ACADEMY SCHOLARSHIP fund, which provides reduced and free tuition to students and schools in our community, but you are also providing the opportunity for revenge on MR. DOUG.

DONATE NOW: https://givebutter.com/6Qi6f9

The grand prize for the student who raises the most is a Nintendo Switch!

💃This Saturday COME DANCE WITH AMI MAJESKIE 🌟
Spend an hour learning an upbeat dance combo with Ami Majeskie. This is a great way to get in some extra dance time, practice for future dance call auditions, or just get your steps in for the day.

July 13: Mean Girls
This is modern feminism talking! The 10-15 class will keep the music cranked with a dance to “Whose House Is This?” and the 16+ class will run the world with the pop halloween jam “Sexy”.

REGISTER TODAY: lnk in bio

Save on tickets plus get a Subscriber Benefits Card with discounts at more than a dozen Downtown Waukesha establishments.

One ticket to each of our 7 shows and you can pick your seat! Your Season Subscription gives you $6 off of additional adult Mainstage tickets.

$175 | Available April May 1, 2024 through September 29, 2024.
SUBSCRIBEhttps://www.waukeshacivictheatre.org/box-office/tickets/

When you become a subscriber, you recieve discounts at eleven local businesses including our friends at Rochester Deli, Inc., People's Park, Allô! Chocolat, Crush, Magellan's On Main St,Mainstream Bar & Grill, Mia's, Salty Toad, City Wine House, The Steaming Cup, and Dave's.

68th SEASON

Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA: September 13 – 29, 2024

The Haunting of Hill House: October 18 – November 3, 2024

Legally Blonde the Musical: December 6 – 22, 2024

Akeelah and the Bee: February 7 – 23, 2025

Next to Normal: March 14 – 30, 2025

Enchanted April: May 2 – 18, 2025

The 39 Steps – June 6 – 22, 2025

Join us after the 2:00 p.m. performance of The Lifespan of a Fact on July 13, 2024 for a talkback with local author Kathie Giorgio.

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org
July 12-21

KATHIE GIORGIO is the author of a total of fifteen books: eight novels, two story collections, an essay collection, and four poetry collections. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction and poetry and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, the Silver Pen Award for Literary Excellence, the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, and the Eric Hoffer Award In Fiction. Her poem “Light” won runner-up in the 2021 Rosebud Magazine Poetry Prize, and her work has also been incorporated into many visual art and musical events. Kathie is the director and founder of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop LLC, an international creative writing studio. She lives with her husband, mystery writer Michael Giorgio, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Three of her adult children, Christopher, Andy, and Olivia, live close by, along with her solo granddaughter, Maya Mae. One adult child, Katie, has wandered off to Louisiana and lives among the mathematicians and alligators.

✨TICKET FLASH SALE✨
$5 off adult tickets using the word TRUTH
Saturday, July 6 and 7 only!

The Lifespan of a Fact
By Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gorden Farrell based on a book by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal

July 12 -21

Jim Fingal is a fresh-out-of-Harvard fact checker for a prominent but sinking New York magazine. John D’Agata is a talented writer with a transcendent essay about the su***de of a teenage boy—an essay that could save the magazine from collapse. When Jim is assigned to fact check D’Agata’s essay, the two come head to head in a comedic yet gripping battle over facts versus truth.

Get tickets to 'SHREK JR. The MUSICAL' at Waukesha Civic Theatre before they sell out!

Our Jr. Summer productions are great for all audiences including first-time theatre goers. Please bring your little ones to the production and teach them the joy of theatre from a young age to enjoy for a lifetime.

July 26 - 28 FOREVER CAST
August 2-4 BELIEVER CAST
GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

The Black Box stage is nearly set for 'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' opening next Friday! Next to add are lights, projection, sound, and costume!

Do you have your tickets? There are only 50 available for each performance, so don't wait!

July 12 - 21
GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org

Look out for #48! The academy kids are rocking their Shrek ears! 💚

We are set up and ready for our 4th of July Parade watching party with the academy families. Have a safe and fun holiday, friends!

We are thrilled to host our friends at UNITED FOR WAUKESHA RESILIENCY CENTER for the '1,000 WORDS Gallery Night' on Thursday, July 18, 2024, from 5 - 8 p.m. Free and open to the public.

'1,000 WORDS' is a photographic exhibit featuring stories and photos of Waukesha's resiliency following the Christmas Parade Tragedy.

Join us for a gallery night featuring inspiring local stories and portraits of resilience and community connections. Enjoy appetizers and music while listening to expert guest speakers. Let's come together to honor these remarkable stories!

Our final character in 'THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT' is Jim Fingal, played by Aidan Sternberg. Jim is a fresh-out-of-Harvard fact checker for a prominent but sinking New York magazine. When tasked to fact-check an essay by John D'Agata, Jim provides increasingly thorough and increasingly maddening details.

AIDAN STERNBERG is a rising senior at the university of Wisconsin Stevens Point as a BFA musical theatre major and is excited for his first show at WCT. This past spring, Aidan was fortunate to play the role of Daryl in “Bright Star” and will be in the Company of “Side by Side” this fall. Other acting credits include: “The Moors”, “Cabaret”, and “Newsies”. Aside from acting, Aidan is also an active playwright and has had two plays and one musical produced by the UWSP Players Organization.

GET TICKETS: www.waukeshacivictheatre.org