The Mountaintop Legacy Award | Honoring Milwaukee Change-Makers

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Art by Mikal Floyd-Pruitt

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is thrilled to share with its community Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall’s celebrated stage play THE MOUNTAINTOP, an inspiring reimagining of the final night of the life of legendary Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 3rd, 1968, after delivering one of his most memorable speeches, Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel, where a mysterious stranger forces him to confront his destiny and legacy. A classic of the modern theater that in humanizing Dr. King suggests that we all have within us the power to be the change we wish to see in the world, THE MOUNTAINTOP will be directed by acclaimed Milwaukee theater artist Dimonte Henning. 

In keeping with its larger mission of bringing its community closer together while celebrating what makes Milwaukee great, and in partnership with CopyWrite Magazine, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, and Zao MKE Church, MCT will highlight Black excellence in Milwaukee during the run of THE MOUNTAINTOP through the Mountaintop Legacy Award. MCT will recognize at each MOUNTAINTOP performance one Milwaukee difference-maker who exemplifies the ideals of unity, equity, and locally led movements highlighted by Dr. King in his final speech, commonly referred to as “The Mountaintop Speech.”

Mountaintop Legacy Award recipients will be selected by a panel of MCT artists and community partners from nominations by the public of individuals who best exemplify Dr. King’s ideals across sectors including but not limited to political, nonprofit, business, educational, art, and tech.  

[INFO PROVIDED BY /CW COMMUNITY PARTNERS AT MCT]

Happy Black History [everyday] Month from your /CW Fam!

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History is made daily.

Active practice is true performance.

Advocacy should be ambitious.

Challenges should never stop progressive change.

We are Black.

We are proud.

& you know why it matters.

Happy Black History Month from your /CW Fam

A Moon for the Misbegotten | Snap Shot Press Release

/ Milwaukee Chamber Theater/

“I don’t know what to think!”

It’s not a phrase I utter often [nor do I appreciate sentiments of equivocalness as a posture of perspective]. However, the phrase was the only thing that could come to my mind as the Sunday, January 21st, 2024 showing of Eugen O’Neill’s, A Moon for the Misbegotten, ended at the Milwaukee Chamber Theater.

In an effort to unpack my thoughts I had to confront my entry point into the play [the casting of La Shawn Banks as James Tyrone, Jr] and the thematic subtleties that would allow me to see past the rickety porch and vastness of “desolate Connecticut”. 

All images provided by MCT shot by Micheal Brosilow

The intimate glimpse into the periphery of society as a note of unideal existence is something that this revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten does well. A father whose drunkenness drives his sons away [Phil Hogan played by James Pickering], a daughter who uses her sharp tongue to avoid the pain of her insecurities while picking up the slack for her patriarch [Josie Hogan played by Kelly Doherty], and the thorn of socioeconomics in its human form as T. Steadman Harder [played by Zach Thomas Woods] gripes about his fence and ice pond when his neighbors live in subpar conditions. But Mike Hogan [played by A.J. Magoon] escaping without confronting his father is something I wish O’Niell had the foresight to correct. It denotes the subservience of a woman in society, as a nurturer of those who don't deserve to be nurtured. As sure as she robbed her father to free her brother of his suffering she does not enact her own freedom.

 [I hated that for her]

But that nuance of perspective coming from this 21st century feminist [YES I AM!] was minimal, noting that her love interest as a “foul” mouthed Irish woman was with a Black man. Now as plausible as it would have been for James Tyrone, Jr. to be an African American landowner and actor in the 1920’s, there would obviously be social scrutiny for Josie and James to be together no matter how many demons they both have collectively. Where the role was not originally written to cast a person of color, I applaud the selection because Bank’s portrayal was quite believable. His cityslicker slyness with overly emotional tendencies [it was giving an actor playing a person who is definitely an actor] was spot on. But I could only predict it would never work out. I could never really see even the alcoholc-ist of alcoholics encouraging their daughter to be with someone he knows could never maintain her publicly. Not even the ploy to get his money seemed reasonable because once they were seen together would that not be a social provision for violence in that time? It's rough because as a multiracial Black woman with Irish roots, I know how I got here [and it wasn't cute]. 

Similarly the whisky wagon never left the stage! The highs and lows of an alcoholic binge is always unsettling. The way Phil and James were throwing them back you couldn't be sure where their thoughts were coming from and if they had any control over their narcissistic behavior. And why should they when the bosom of Josie will be there waiting to care for them [Again, I hate that for her]? Even in her hope for something more with James, her agency was taken when he chastises her for saying she had been “around the way” with other men, and him so certain that it was fib [So men can do it but women can’t? Tuh! It’s given misogyny]. To then turn around and be all out of sorts for doing up a sex worker [repeatedly] on the train while bringing home is mothers dead body!?! If Mr. Tyrone was looking for sympathy, he could definitely look past me [If you like “city girls” just say that!] But again, as I analyzed what I had experienced take place on that stage, I could only imagine my father who suffered from alcoholism throughout his life and his womanizing tendencies. Could he have ever showed up to some ladies doorstep begging for comfort as an illusion of humility? Unfortunately, I will never know. 

The highs and lows of James’ drunken lust for Josie, cloaked with his attempt to “maintain” her chastity was too much for me. Make up your mind sir! Push her away from you one more time and its borderline domestic violence. The way her belligerent father was trying to get her in the bed with his drinking buddy and landlord for a few coins is wild [Pickering made me despise Phil Hogan]. I mean here is a man with no shame whatsoever. And yikes Josie! Grow a backbone! That self-deprivation got her nowhere but loveless, sexless, and moneyless [forget a drama, that makes it a tragedy]. She talks down on herself, she lets everyone in her life take advantage of her, and she is stuck. Stuck on that porch looking for something that you can only find inside of yourself. The way Doherty invited torture to her existence in this role showed commitment. There was no ego to bear and no diva to deliver in the shell of a woman that was left of Josie at the end.

What does this say about humanity? What does this say about a society that still feels O’Neill’s narrative should be shared?

I think it says we are flawed. I think it is a reminder that comfort is a luxury many can not afford. It says we have more to learn about why we break and what breaks us. I also think it says that the theater is a place to feel discomfort as long as it interrogates the boundaries of societal niceties. 

I did not love A Moon for the Misbegotten. But I respected it. It challenged my empathy and sometimes you need that from art.

Sometimes you need to know what uncertainty feels like.  


Lexi S. Brunson 

Editor-in-Chief /CW

/CW CREATIVE STUDIO + SHOP IS NOW OPEN!

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#AllThingsUrban just got more poppin’!

WE ARE OPEN! [TUESDAY- SATURDAY 11AM-5PM]

/CW Creative Studios + Shop

2201 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212

[Entry door on Garfield Ave]

We provide event rentals, video screenings, art exhibits, workshop space & more!


Ex Fabula | StoryStretch Workshop 11/18 [At /CW Creative Studios]

/ /CW Creative Studios/

/CW is hosting one of our fav community partners … Ex Fabula!

Looking to sharpen your storytelling skills? This workshop is for you!

Stretch your storytelling muscles with this guided, interactive training covering the nuance of the craft; led by our experienced coaches! Refine, shape, and share your stories with confidence. Space is limited. Reserve a spot today!

This workshop gives you…

  • Ways to improve your personal branding story

  • Tips on how to avoid common storytelling mistakes

  • A great professional development opportunity

  • The tools to become a superb storyteller or public speaker

Do you Bublr? | Bublr Bash Recap coverage w/ CopyWrite Mag

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Do you Bublr?

/CW is all for a glam ride and with Bublr Bikes you get just that! /CW Head Entertainment Journalist, Carrie “Noni Juice” Mahone, spent time at this years Bublr Bash event learning more about Bublr and its mission. With new bike kiosk popping up everyday [even right around the corner from /CW HQ] we hope that more of our community will consider this economical and eco friendly way to explore our beautiful city.

#SupportTheLocal

SnapShot Press Release: Laughs in Spanish [Gallery Life Off The Wall]

/ Milwaukee Chamber Theater/

Nobodies documenting the Telenovela that is gallery life. 

You know the pretentious acting curators, the thirsty for stardom gallery assistants, and the notably irrational and irresponsible artist who would prefer to be on some remote island with a stiff drink, conjuring inspiration for their next big thing.

Ashley Oviedo, Isa Condo-Olvera, Jenna Bonofiglio, Arash Fakhrabadi, and Rána Roman [All Images provided by milwaukee chamber theater via Michael Brosilow]

Okay well maybe somebody is, but these idiosyncrasies void that this performance of art culture is an overtone of whiteness that fills gallery white walls, with white washed economics, and white narratives that are positioned to be “profound”. 

*Did she really just go there?*

Ohhhh, yes! I did!

The scene I just “painted” [See what I did there? Lol]  is one that can be drastically altered when considering how non-white bodies navigate these spaces. These bodies start to resemble people whose characteristics feel familiar, feel like friends, feel like family, and feel like voices I intimately knew existed but seldom get to hear.

Saturday's [September 23rd, 2023] opening night of Laughs In Spanish, by Alexis Scheer took me there. Giving the audience Miami realness with the complexities of the modern human experience including motherhood, divorce, pregnancy, abandonment issues, high off THC conversations, same-sex relationships, immigration, and a monologue by Rána Roman that had me totally reanalyzing my own journey into motherhood. Its scenic set design of gallery aesthetic with Miami glam by Em Allen, had my critical “interior designer by trade” mind fangirling on that vibey beach air balcony hidden behind those opaque white rolling walls. With DJ Palante giving the music vibes in the lobby, to a Latinx artist installation curated by Katie Avila Loughmiller, the tone was set before the show even began.  It truly brought me back to my last visit to Art Basel. [If you have never been, this play will inspire you to book that trip].

Labeled as a “crime comedy” [Yes, because stealing art from galleries is definitely a trope the world needs more of. Art is valuable, monetarily and culturally!] It cleverly uses its title as the punchline in an exchange of wisdom and remorse that is easy to share between strangers, when it should be saved for the people you love.  

How do you “laugh in Spanish”? 

¡JAJAJA! 

I died at the subtlety of that hilarious cultural exchange and felt warmth in knowing my upbringing had allowed me to understand [and have access] to the inside joke.

This again is a familiarity that Isa Condo-Olvera [Mariana] , Arash Fakhrabadi [Juan], Ashley Oviedo [Carolina], Rána Roman [Estella] and Jenna Bonofiglio [Jenny] provided by pulling at emotions through their characters that went beyond the surface.

Mariana reminded me of my mother; guarded and jaded by the world. But of course there is a reason why.

Juan was ready to risk it all for Carolina. [Love me like that or not at all] 

Jenny, is that voice of annoying reason that you really should listen to. [Don’t you hate it when they’re right?]

Carolina questioning her career for motherhood echoed by Estella’s choice to be ambitious to inspire her daughter but failing to hit the mark in Mariana's eyes is. . . me. 

Can I escape the narrative that a woman can’t do it all? Only time will tell.

Laughs In Spanish is a think piece. It’s “profound” without pretentiousness. It's relatable without stunting the growth and impact of Latinx culture. It is palatable because it is plausible. If you know you know and if you don’t, Alexa will understand you want to change the song the first time you ask. 

So if you need a little art in your life, consider looking away from the walls and feeling up a seat at the Milwaukee Chamber Theater.

Lexi S. Brunson for /CW