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Glimpsing 'The View From Here' at Soulstice Theatre

Milwaukee's theatre scene is continually growing, especially the smaller production companies. One of those companies - The Umbrella Group Theatre - will close out their second season with the Milwaukee premiere of the one-man musical, The View From Here.

The musical, running from February 12-28 at the Soulstice Theatre in St. Francis, follows a nameless novelist in New York intent on publishing his first book. In a series of letters back home, the audience must discern truth from fiction as they see the story through characters that are not visible.  

"I'm the best and worst actor in the show," jokes Doug Clemons, the key actor in the musical. 

For Clemons, the show created a unique challenge for him as an actor. In what he describes as "a marathon," the performance does not stop until the show is complete. Clemons needs to encompass all characters on stage and use imaginative staging in order to tell the story to the audience. 

"It's been a giant education for me because you really don't get any excuses during the show...you really have to be on the entire time," he says.  

However for director Kelly Doherty, the show presented her the opportunity to "(tell) a story in its simple most basic form," with the key component centered around the narrator's perspective. 

"Especially in today's world with so much social media, everyone's lives and what's happening in our lives is very curated," says Doherty."We have this very manufactured view of our life that we present to everybody else and that is very much what (the character) is doing with these letters back to his wife." 

The View From Here is an intimate show both on stage and off, and that is also due to the smaller theatre company producing it. Without the network of both theater fans and professionals, the opportunity to be in a one man musical would not have come to Clemons. 

"This show is such a testament to the Milwaukee community...the success of this show depends on this network of the theatre community," he explains.

In addition to the trials of putting on a smaller show is the fundraising need to cover the costs of producing a production, something Clemons and Doherty became directly involved in through their unique and witty 'thank you' videos to donors.

"We wanted it to be interesting and entertaining," says Doherty. 

For long-time Milwaukee actors Clemons and Doherty, working closely together on the production has been rewarding both professionally and personally. "It's been a family operation from the beginning and seeing it finally come to fruition is extremely rewarding and humbling," says Clemons.

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.