A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Milwaukee Repertory Theater

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Wladziu Valentino Liberace. MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER • Winter 2010 • 8 MR. SHOWMANSHIP – WALTER LIBERACE: MILWAUKEE’S NATIVE SON I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places that this heart of mine embraces all day through. Liberace is an icon. The colorful musician and performer sold out shows across the United States and beyond. From the 1950s through the 1970s, he was the highest paid performer in the world (and was so named in the 1978 Guinness Book of World Records). The notorious fashion of Liberace shocked his critics, who often deemed him hideously flamboyant, but in the same turn lauded his act as thoroughly entertaining. Through it all though, Mr. Showmanship could be heard laughing all the way to the bank. He was a brilliant man who lived to perform and share his gifts with the audience he loved and they loved him in return. Many are the stages of his storied career, but they all share the same beginning; it’s here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the man and the musician were born. To see Liberace perform was like nothing else. With equal amounts of free-form grace and precision of craft, he was able to transform the classics into something new, exciting and completely his own. He was the original single-moniker superstar and there will never be another like him. Such a man is not born in a day. He was born Wladziu (Walter) Valentino Liberace to an Italian father and Polish mother in the city of West Allis. His father was an accomplished musician himself, playing French horn with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and other notable organizations around Milwaukee. It was under him that young Walter began his tutelage. They attended shows at the Pabst Theater, where Walter could study the techniques of great musicians first-hand. Through some family ties, Walter was introduced to renowned Polish pianist, Ignaz Paderewski, at a young age. The boy who would become Liberace made such an impression on Paderewski that he recommended the prodigy for a scholarship with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. In his teens, Walter followed in his father’s footsteps, playing with the MSO and other local symphonies, performing often at the Pabst Theater he attended as a child. However, much to his father’s chagrin, he would also eschew the classics and play gigs at Milwaukee honky-tonks. He created dual personalities to better match his diverse venues, but even his classical performances were starting to stand out for their hints of flair and showmanship. On a night in 1939, in the city of LaCrosse, Walter’s two paths would converge during the encore of one of his classical performances. A mocking request came from the audience for the then-popular song Three Little Fishes, and the entertainer was quick to oblige. He played the tune in the style of several classical composers, all (Continued on next page)
(MR. SHOWMANSHIP . . . continued) PROLOGUE • Winter 2010 • 9 the while shooting what would become his trademark winks and flourishes at the audience: Liberace was born. From this point on, Liberace’s career was in an up-turn, carrying him to venues in New York, Las Vegas and around the world, but he never forgot his roots. He loved Usinger’s Famous Sausage and reportedly held wild, all-night parties at Mader’s German Restaurant. In 1982, he graced Milwaukee’s beloved Summerfest, performing to a crowd of 9,000 fans. Two years later, he played to capacity crowds at the Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall and in 1986, between commitments at Caesar’s Palace, he made his final hometown appearance, selling out the Riverside Theater. This past month, the famed Liberace Museum in Las Vegas closed its doors. The performer had wanted it to be built close to home in Wauwatosa, but it was not to be. However, there will soon be a chance to revisit the spectacle of Liberace in the city of his youth. Milwaukee’s native son returns for one final performance, so that he might once again revel in the love of the audience he so deeply appreciated. Relive the flamboyant legacy of Mr. Showmanship and honor the memory of the genius musician, Walter Valentino Liberace. LIBERACE! runs from November 19th through January 16th in The Rep’s Stackner Cabaret. Jacob Crawford, Guest Contributor/UWM Film Studies graduate PERFORMANCE INFORMATION LIBERACE! Written and Directed by Artistic Associate Brent Hazelton World Premiere In co-operation with the Liberace Foundation LIBERACE! is generously sponsored in part by: PERFORMANCE DATES & TICKETS Previews: November 19 and 20, 2010 November 21, 2010 – January 16, 2010 Tickets: $35.00 & $45.00 CAST LIST Jack Forbes Wilson* *Member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Wladziu Valentino Liberace.
Page 1 and 2: The Rep’s Insider Newsletter 2010
Page 3 and 4: MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER • Win
Page 5 and 6: Caroline O’Connor. A DREAM COME T
Page 7: MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER • Win
Page 11 and 12: (A CHRISTMAS CAROL . . . continued)
Page 13 and 14: MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER • Win
Page 15 and 16: FUN FACTS FROM PRODUCTION - SECRETS
Page 17 and 18: A SEASON OF FIRSTS As we began thin
Page 19 and 20: GET INVOLVED REP EVENTS AND NEWS MI
Page 21 and 22: BASIC INFORMATION TICKET OFFICE: 41

A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Milwaukee Repertory Theater

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