Waukesha Civic Theatre's 70th Season Promises "Challenging" Play; Specifics Withheld From Residents

WAUKESHA — The Waukesha Civic Theatre announced its 70th season Wednesday, unveiling a four-show lineup anchored by an original drama that theatre officials say is intended to "challenge suburban perceptions and expectations." What perceptions, and whose expectations, went unaddressed in a release distributed to 1,140 email subscribers at 9 a.m.

Subscription pre-sales opened the same morning at $72 per show, or $258 for the full season, a bundle theatre staff describe as "a savings" without specifying over what. By Friday afternoon, the box office reported the season 41 percent sold, a figure released without a comparison to prior years, though longtime subscribers say it's tracking ahead of last season's Cabaret revival, which took until October to clear 40 percent.

The three announced classics are a Thornton Wilder rotation of Our Town, a staging of A Doll's House, and a revival of The Music Man, the last of which theatre marketing materials describe as "a hometown favorite" without noting that River City, the show's setting, is fictional and located in Iowa.

The Fourth Show

Theatre director James Morton declined during a Thursday phone interview to name the subject matter of the season's original production, titled only Undisclosed in early marketing copy pending a final title. Asked directly whether the play addresses local politics, family dynamics, development, or some combination, Morton paused for what a theatre staffer nearby estimated at four seconds before answering.

"Some conversations happen better on stage than in Waukesha living rooms."

— James Morton, Waukesha Civic Theatre director

Pressed on what, specifically, would be harder to discuss at a kitchen table than in front of a paying audience, Morton said only that the script had gone through "several rounds of community sensitivity review," a process he declined to describe further except to confirm it involved more than one person and took place, in part, over lunch.

The play's cast list, released Friday, includes six actors identified only by first name and last initial, a casting-bio format the theatre has not previously used. A theatre spokesperson said the format was "not a statement" and would likely return to full names "closer to opening," which is scheduled for October 16.

Reaction Downtown

News of the announcement spread quickly among the theatre's regular subscriber base, a group the box office estimates at 310 households, several of whom described a mix of loyalty and unease. Diane Vandehey, 61, who chairs the county fair planning committee and has held a Civic Theatre season pass for eleven years, said she renewed within an hour of the email but admitted the vagueness gave her pause.

"I called my sister in Pewaukee and read her the whole release out loud," Vandehey said. "She said it sounds like it's about her. I told her it's probably not about her specifically. She wasn't fully reassured."

Councilman Gary Puchalski, reached at Tuesday's Common Council meeting, said he had not seen the release but offered general support for the arts "as a concept," adding that he intends to attend the original production "assuming scheduling works out and it's not, you know, about the council specifically."

Theatre board treasurer confirmed the $72 per-show pricing reflects a $6 increase over last season, attributed in the release to "production values" without further detail. Season subscribers locked in before Friday's price change received the prior rate, a distinction the box office says it will honor "on the honor system," as its point-of-sale software does not currently track the cutoff.

What Comes Next

The theatre's marketing committee plans to release additional details about the original production "on a rolling basis" through September, beginning with a title reveal tentatively planned for the second week of the month, pending what Morton called "a few internal conversations that are still happening."

Asked whether those internal conversations were themselves the kind better held on a stage than in a living room, Morton laughed, said "that's a good one," and did not answer the question.