“Bright Star” is a Peck School of Arts (PSOA) concert performance with timely themes brought to life by a group of talented UWM actors. This production is playing in the PSOA Theatre Building‘s Mainstage Theatre, and the remaining performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 and 2 p.m. on Oct. 14 for a final matinee performance.
General Admission Tickets are $22, $17 for UWM faculty, staff, alumni and seniors 65+ and $12 for UWM students and youth under 17.
The music is composed and written by duo Steve Martin and Edie Brickell with direction from Raeleen Mcmillion. The show is a time-jumping musical and dramedy period piece, inspired by a true story and set in North Carolina, that follows two main characters in the 1920s and 1940s.
The main characters are Alice Murphy, a magazine editor with a hardened exterior, and Billy Cane, an enthusiastic writer who has just returned from war.
The story explores themes of grief, perseverance and love with an important message of acceptance.
Included in the story are taboo subjects and an exploration of ignorance with grounded familial relationships that exemplify ideas of forgiveness and the growth of ideology.
The show could benefit from a narrowing of these themes as at times the sheer number muddles the main idea of the musical.
Characters and Their Actors:
The standout actors of the show were the ones who took advantage of moments to grow their character’s personality.
Maya Schmitz’s youthful performance as young Alice stood out as a great example of implementing physical presence into a character. Schmitz displayed true emotion in her solos and was successful at getting the character’s pain across to the audience.
Josh Thone created amazing characterization with Billy Cane, making the character feel like that one friend you’ve known since childhood. There was a charm and charisma coming from his portrayal, which led to the audience rooting for the character to succeed.
Mariah Kiefer served an underappreciated supporting role with dual assignments. Kiefer exceptionally jumped from playing the guitar with the band to acting in scenes.
The band and music felt like a character with fantastic performances of the Bright Star bluegrass score by John Nicholson and Susan Nicholson.
Another standout was Nathaniel Contreras as Daryl in the side character role that steals the show.
Even with being short in stature on the stage, Contreras had animated physicality and pointed snark.
A unique aspect of Bright Star was the full cast present on stage for the entirety of the show, and the ensemble actors took that as an opportunity to always be present in the background of scenes.
The performers should be commended for their handling of difficult subject matter, and they appropriately navigated the musical’s heart-wrenching scenes.
The technical crew built a simple and stationary set that worked well with the superb choreography, and the large ensemble moved around the stage set smoothly in a natural cadence.
Bright Star is a shining example of the importance of community as the show is only as strong as the actors who work together on stage.
Such an extraordinary review. Even though I wasn’t able to be there, I feel as though I got a wonderful portrayal of these characters by this writers review!