Milwaukee Chamber Theatre to Stage JEEVES IN BLOOM, 4/11-28

P.G. Wodehouse's beloved comic characters will once again come to life on the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) stage this spring in JEEVES IN BLOOM, April 11-28, 2013. This quick-witted British comedy is written by Illinois playwright Margaret Raether, who brought us our successful 2010 production of JEEVES INTERVENES. Reprising their roles from JEEVES INTERVENES are Matt Daniels as Jeeves and director Tami Workentin. JEEVES IN BLOOM performs in the Broadway Theatre Center's Cabot Theatre in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

The lovably loopy Bertie Wooster always manages to get into socially precarious situations. In JEEVES IN BLOOM, he finds himself dodging romantic entanglements with a starry-eyed young woman, eluding an enraged chef wielding a meat cleaver, and begrudgingly helping his Aunt Dahlia to commit a burglary. Thank heaven Jeeves is there to save the day!

Tami Workentin returns to the helm after directing JEEVES INTERVENES in 2010. Workentin is also familiar to MCT audiences for her many appearances on the stage including THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES, PICNIC, THE SUM OF US and WELL. Matt Daniels returns in the title role of Jeeves. Daniels also performed in MCT's A THOUSAND CLOWNS and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. The cast also includes Milwaukee favorites Karen Estrada (CRIMES OF THE HEART), Marcella Kearns (MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS), Norman Moses (AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, TALKING HEADS), Chase Stoeger (MAIN-TRAVELED ROADS, HAY FEVER) and making his MCT debut Matt Koester.

Margaret Raether's play, JEEVES IN BLOOM premiered in Illinois in 2009. A longtime fan of the Jeeves and Wooster stories, she has written three plays based on the popular comic characters. The first is JEEVES INTERVENES which premiered in 2006 (produced by MCT in 2010) and the third is JEEVES TAKES A BOW which premiered in 2012. She is a founding member of Artists' Ensemble Theatre in Rockford, Illinois, and most of her plays have debuted there or at New American Theater, where she spent two seasons as playwright in residence. In addition to the Jeeves series, Raether has written several other plays and her works have been performed around the country including productions in Chicago, Minneapolis and New York.

The characters of Jeeves and Wooster were originally created by P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975), an English writer whose body of work includes novels, collections of short stories and musical theatre. He is best known today for the Jeeves and Wooster, Blandings Castle, and Psmith novels and short stories. Wodehouse was also a playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of 15 plays and 250 lyrics for some 30 musical comedies, many of them produced in collaboration with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical ANYTHING GOES (1934) and wrote the lyrics for the hit song "Bill" in SHOW BOAT (1927). He enjoyed enormous success during a career that spanned more than 70 years. Wodehouse was knighted in 1975 just six weeks before his death at the age of 93.

CAST
Jeeves: Matt Daniels
Madeline Basset: Karen Estrada
Dahlia Travers: Marcella Kearns
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle: Matt Koester
Thomas Travers /Anatole: Norman Moses
Bertie Wooster: Chase Stoeger

PRODUCTION STAFF
Director: Tami Workentin
Scenic Designer: Steve Barnes
Costume Designer: Kim Instenes
Lighting Designer: Noele Stollmack
Properties Master: Nikki Kulas
Sound Designer: Phil Wooding

PERFORMANCE DATES
Thursday, April 11 - 7:30 pm, Preview
Friday, April 12 - 8:00, Opening
Saturday, April 13 - 8:00 pm
Sunday, April 14 - 2:00 pm
Wednesday, April 17 - 1:00 pm
Wednesday, April 17 - 7:30 pm, ViewPoints
Thursday, April 18 - 7:30 pm, Talkback
Friday, April 19 - 8:00 pm
Saturday, April 20 - 4:00 pm
Saturday, April 20 - 8:00 pm
Sunday, April 21 - 2:00 pm
Wednesday, April 24 - 1:00 pm, Talk Theatre
Thursday, April 25 - 7:30 pm, Talkback
Friday, April 26 - 8:00 pm
Saturday, April 27 - 4:00 pm
Saturday, April 27 - 8:00 pm
Sunday, April 28 - 2:00 pm

SPECIAL EVENTS:

--Pre-performance ViewPoints: Meet the playwright! A free, pre-show presentation by JEEVES IN BLOOM playwright Margaret Raether on Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Skylight Bar & Bistro.

More Articles by This Author...