Famous Friends
June 2, 2013Events

Famous Friends

It’s a relatively simple premise. A man buys a very expensive, very white painting. His two friends “react.” But Yasmina Reza’s 1994 play Art finds enough juicy comedy in this story to charm actors and audiences alike. For most of its nearly 20-year history, A-list actors have lined up for a role. It was a smash hit in Paris, and since its English version (by Christopher Hampton) opened in London in 1996 and New York in 1998, it has featured the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Alan Alda and Joe Morton. It’s no surprise to see three of the…

BY Paul Kosidowski

It’s a relatively simple premise. A man buys a very expensive, very white painting. His two friends “react.” But Yasmina Reza’s 1994 play Art finds enough juicy comedy in this story to charm actors and audiences alike. For most of its nearly 20-year history, A-list actors have lined up for a role. It was a smash hit in Paris, and since its English version (by Christopher Hampton) opened in London in 1996 and New York in 1998, it has featured the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Alan Alda and Joe Morton. It’s no surprise to see three of the area’s best actors on the marquee for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s season-opening production: Brian Mani, Tom Klubertanz and MCT’s producing artistic director, C. Michael Wright.

Art (Aug. 8-25). Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Cabot Theatre. Broadway Theatre Center. 158 N. Broadway, 414-291-7800, chamber-theatre.com.

Paul Kosidowski
Paul Kosidowski is a freelance writer and critic who contributes regularly to Milwaukee Magazine, WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and national arts magazines. He writes weekly reviews and previews for the Culture Club column. He was literary director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater from 1999-2006. In 2007, he was a fellow with the NEA Theater and Musical Theater Criticism Institute at the University of Southern California. His writing has also appeared in American Theatre magazine, Backstage, The Boston Globe, Theatre Topics, and Isthmus (Madison, Wis.). He has taught theater history, arts criticism and magazine writing at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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