This ambitious, affable kid sits in front of me, and he looks a bit like Michael Cera, that actor from Juno and Superbad. He’s also funny, mildly self-deprecating and an actor – and he and five friends from UW-Milwaukee’s theatre program formed Youngblood Theatre Company in 2009 to keep young talent in Milwaukee.
This kid, Michael Cotey, is the artistic director of the group and is eager to get back to performing the play Red Light Winter. Youngblood premiered the work last year, but actor Andrew Voss suffered a tragic injury, which forced the company to put the play on hiatus. Under the direction of Benjamin James Wilson, the original cast of Tess Cinpinski, David Rothrock and Andrew Voss will again take to the stage for a drama about the dark side of human nature complete with sex and nudity – all in the smallest theater space in town.
Red Light Winter, the original work by Adam Rapp was a Pulitzer-prize finalist in 2006 and tells the tale of two former college buddies who take off to Amsterdam and end up in a bizarre love triangle with a beautiful young prostitute. One of the characters falls in love with the prostitute, and she follows them back to New York with a secret. Sounds scandalous, right?
Youngblood’s website calls Red Light Winter “A play of sexual intrigue that explores the myriad of misguided ways we seek to fill the empty spaces inside us.” That’s a pretty fancy way to say sex complicates things, but an astute observation nonetheless. “We were nervous about how people would react to the roughness,” Cotey says. “But we weren’t giving our audience enough credit; people walked away with a pretty visceral experience and were very receptive.” There were three sold-out performances of Red Light Winter last year before Voss’s injury.
Although the emotions may be raw, both of the main characters in Red Light Winter are writers, so the dialogue is intelligent and polished. “It’s just tragic the way these people treat each other, but they are very close friends, and it’s very real,” Cotey says. “You can only do something that terrible to someone if you really love them.” How truthfully ironic.
Aside from just supporting young talent, Youngblood is looking to fill a void in Milwaukee during the summer months when theater offerings are a little dry. Youngblood is also geared toward performing newer works that are more imaginative in nature and often present in non-traditional theatre spaces or stage site-specific performances.
See Red Light Winter at the Alchemist Theatre (2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) Jan. 19-Feb 5. For tickets, click here. “Pay What You Can” tickets are available on a first-come first-serve basis for the Jan. 24 and 31 performances.
One more not to miss: Benefit for Berkeley – Friday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Conservatory (1584 N. Prospect Ave.) There will be a cash bar and donations accepted at the door.
Milwaukee jazz great (with a great name) Berkeley Fudge suffered a stroke in November, and though recovering, he will not be able to work for the foreseeable future. Enjoy an evening of live performances from all genres and show your support for this marvelous musician and community member.
Performers scheduled to play are: Adekola Adedapo, David Bayles, Jason Behr, Jamie Breiwick, Mark Davis, Teresa Drews, Robert Figueroa, John Foshager, Phillip Grossman, Stefanie Jacob, Eric Jacobson, Colin O’Brien, Jim Paolo, Robin Pluer, Matt Schroeder and Paul Silbergleit.
