Indecent
Music Theatre of Madison
UW Memorial Union-Play Circle 800 Langdon St., Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Julia Luebke
Kelsey Anne Johnson and Lizzie Cutrupi star in the Music Theatre of Madison production "Indecent."
Music Theatre of Madison presents the Wisconsin premiere of Indecent, by Paula Vogel. The Tony-winning musical explores the controversy surrounding Polish/Jewish playwright Sholem Asch’s work, God of Vengeance, which was produced both in Europe and the U.S. in the early 20th century. By portraying the love between a prostitute and the daughter of the brothel’s owner, the playwright and actors face obscenity charges, while fighting against censorship, homophobia and antisemitism.
1/31-2/15, UW Memorial Union-Play Circle, at 7:30 pm on Fridays-Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays, plus 7:30 pm, 2/6. $35.
press release: Music Theatre of Madison will begin its fourteenth year of professional, lesser-known pieces by presenting the Wisconsin premiere of Pulitzer prize-winner Paula Vogel's INDECENT, January 31-February 15 at the Play Circle Theater in the Wisconsin Union. The play includes original music by Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva. Performances are January 31, February 1, February 6, February 7, February 8, February 14, and February 15 at 7:30pm and February 2 and 9 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets, ranging $10-$35, are available at www.mtmadison.com, or by calling the Campus Arts Box Office at 608-265-ARTS. Tickets are also available in person at the Union Theater box office.
INDECENT tells the story of a Yiddish play called GOD OF VENGEANCE by young playwright Sholem Asch, its controversial 1923 Broadway debut, what led up to it, and what followed. Some saw the play, which featured a love scene between two women, as seminal work of Jewish culture-others as an act of traitorous libel due to the depiction of Jews as flawed, flesh-and-blood characters. This powerful, highly original, and deeply moving work uses an ensemble of seven and three live musicians to tell the story of the people who risked their lives for love, identity, and art.
"When I first came across this play two years ago, I thought, 'there's no way we can do this,'" says MTM Founder and Executive Director Meghan Randolph. "And then it haunted me. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I knew that we had to do it. I had to figure it out." She started by enlisting local music director Mark Wurzelbacher to manage the onstage musicians. Wurzelbacher offered to learn to play accordion to perform with the ensemble so he could serve as a conductor onstage. She also paired with Brian Cowing, locally acclaimed director and choreographer, to create movement for the piece. “Mark has played, music directed, orchestrated, sung, acted, and now played accordion for us. His list of talents is seemingly endless. Brian has such a terrific eye for movement that evokes emotion and meaning, which is a key part of the performance. I knew that I wanted them both to be part of this process.”
The production’s cast features actors with roots in Madison and Milwaukee. Six of the seven actors play multiple roles, with one playing Lemml, the Stage Manager, who is the consistent throughline of the show. The cast, who sing, dance, and speak multiple languages, is Lizzie Cutrupi (MTM’s Bonnie & Clyde), Erica Halverson, Adam Qutaishat (MTM’s Held,), Seth K. Hale, Kelsey Anne Johnson (MTM’s Hephaestus), and Mark Snowden (MTM’s The Glorious Ones), with Micah Cowsik-Herstand (MTM’s Bonnie & Clyde) as Lemml. The onstage musicians are Wurzelbacher, Taryn O’Neill Pettersen on Clarinet, and Rin Ribble on Violin.
In conjunction with the event, Music Theatre of Madison will provide an online and printed study guide, a visual display outside the event, pre-show talks and talkbacks with local experts on the subject matter of Jewish history, Yiddish drama, and LGBT persons portrayed onstage. These experts include UW Professor Emeritus Robert Skloot, UW Yiddish Professor Sunny Stern Yudkoff, LGBT artist and writer Emily Mills, and Joel Berkowitz, the original Yiddish advisor on INDECENT during its developmental stage and Broadway run, who is the chair of Jewish Studies at UW-Milwaukee.
“Presenting this show without context was never an option,” Randolph said. “There are so many layers to peel back, and the show is going to affect different people in different ways. This is a piece that will leave people with numerous questions, and we want to help answer some of them or at least lead them on the journey to exploring those questions.”
INDECENT is made possible by grants from the New Harvest Foundation, Wisconsin Humanities Council, Dane Arts, and Wisconsin Arts Board, with additional support provided by The Wisconsin Union Theater, Vogel Bros, Electronic Theatre Controls, and Roost Realty.