The Milwaukee Post

April 21, 2017 • Milwaukee County Post • 15 ENTERTAINMENT By Julie McHale TimeOut Theater Critic MILWAUKEE — It is no small feat to transform a sprawling novel into a play, but Gale Childs Daly has managed to do just that with her creative take on Charles Dickens' classic work "Great Expectations." Using just six actors and one musician to take on more than 30 roles, she has maintained the heart of the story and challenged the cast and director (Molly Rhode) with a daunting task. The only actor who has just one role to master is Josh Krause, who plays the main character — Pip. The stage is set with sev- eral bookcases and some clothes racks with many costumes so the actors can change from one character to another right on stage. Since there are many set- tings in the story, the scenic designer, Lisa Schlenker, used a minimum of props to suggest each venue. Books are often used as props to create sound effects, which is quite ingenious. As is true of many of his works, Dickens is always aware of economic class distinctions; also how humans are capable of change if they learn from their mistakes. When Pip was asked to visit Miss Havisham so her adopted daughter Estella would have a playmate, he was exposed to an altogether different life, which prompted him to decide that he no longer wanted to be a blacksmith's son but was motivated to move to London to acquire culture and an extensive education so he would be worthy to pursue Estella, who was not the slightest bit interested in him in his present unre- fined state. At this point in time, he was informed that he had a benefactor, who he assumed was Miss Havisham, but it turns out it was the crimi- nal he helped many years earlier that was rewarding him for his kindness in pro- viding him with food many years earlier. This is one of the many surprises that await us in Pip's journey. There are many subplots going on here, and it is dif- ficult to keep track of all of the characters, but it turns out that throughout the story, love and kindness are found to be more worthy goals than wealth and pres- tige. Our "great expecta- tions" often turn out to be empty and not as satisfying as those we had envisioned them to be. Through the loyalty of his stepfather, Joe, and the caring helpfulness of his tutor, Biddy, Pip learns that much of what the world prizes is vanity and connec- tions with our fellow humans are much more rewarding. Even in his helpfulness to the escaped convict, he learned that we are often repaid for our empathy. The five actors who took on multiple, varied roles are quite convincing. Deborah Staples is especial- ly effective as Miss Havisham, the bitter ex- bride who was deserted at the altar and carried her bitterness into the raising of Estella. Zach Thomas Woods affords a lot of the humor in his roles as Herbert Pocket and the actor Mr. Wopsle. Karen Estrada shows her versatil- ity as the warm and bubbly Biddy and the cold, arro- gant Estella, whom Miss Havisham has taught to break men's hearts. Jonathan Gillard Daly, in his many roles, is especial- ly affecting as the grateful criminal, Abel Magwitch, and as the lawyer who acted as an intermediary between Pip and his anony- mous benefactor. Out of of his multiple roles, Chiké Johnson is a particularly endearing figure as Joe, the humble and caring black- smith. All in all, it is an interest- ing new look at Dickens' great novel, thanks to Daly's ingenious script. Andrew Crowe provided a versatile musical accompa- niment to all the goings-on on his trusty violin. "Great Expectations" The Dickens classic runs through April 30 in the Cabot Theatre in the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee. Call 414-291- 7800 or visit m i l w a u k e e c h a m b e r - theatre.com. At a glance 'Great Expectations' lives up to its title The cast of Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's production of "Great Expectations." From left, back row: Andrew Crowe (the musician), Chiké Johnson, Jonathan Gillard Daly; front row: Deborah Staples, Josh Krause as Pip (the only actor to play one role), Karen Estrada; and foreground: Zach Thomas Woods. Paul Ruffolo By Tom Jozwik TimeOut Film Critic "Gifted" refers to 10-year- old Mckenna Grace's char- acter, Mary, in the new dramedy directed by Marc Webb from a Tom Flynn script. That word could be applied to the diminutive actress as well, for Grace definitely steals the show with perhaps the best per- formance by a preteen I've seen as a movie reviewer. (With numerous TV credits, Grace is hardly a novice before the camera.) Unfortunately, "Gifted" is pretty much a one-trick pony. Beyond Grace's rendi- tion of a math prodigy and pretty little picture of pre- cociousness (and source of some snappy dialogue), Flynn and Webb give us a muddled story in which every other character could've been credibly played by a score of actors. After all, two gifted per- formers, Jenny Slate and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, are reduced to foil roles, Slate as a caring edu- cator called Bonnie, Spencer as a caring but bothersome neighbor named Roberta. Slate and male lead Chris Evans as Mary's guardian uncle, Frank, have the audi- ence rooting for a true love situation, but that possibili- ty is questionably allowed to die aborning at about the time Frank's formidable Dramedy 'Gifted' a one-trick pony Chris Evans and Mckenna Grace play, respectively, uncle Frank and niece Mary in "Gifted." Wilson Webb

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