It’s been more than 50 years since the last streetcar roamed through Milwaukee. But some Milwaukee-natives, like Mark Bucher, still remembers them.
Bucher is the artistic director of the Boulevard Theatre, and one of the creators of their new show, Where the Streetcar Bends the Corner, Down by the Zoo!The show is both a reflection on Milwaukee’s past, and look to its near future. The production is a combination of original sketches and musical numbers, along with a concert version of The Zoo - a one-act opera, set in 1850's England.
This production transports The Zoo to 1950's Milwaukee, by using references to the city's history. Co-creator, David Flores, did much of the historical research for the production.
"I was able to just plug in some things about our own city and that time - breweries, and beer barons, athletes who were active at that time," says Flores. "The Braves were in Milwaukee at that time, so we have references to that; local things: gemütlichkeit, and brats, and all sorts of fun things like that."
Where the Streetcar Bends the Corner, Down by the Zoo! is a collaborative production by the Boulevard Theatre and the Plymouth Chorale. The show opens Saturday, October 22, at Plymouth Church, and runs through next weekend.
