The best of the 2017 Milwaukee theater season

By Gwendolyn Rice, OnMilwaukee.com

As the end of the year approaches, it's time to take stock of 2017 and spend a moment marveling at all we've experienced and accomplished. For a theater nerd, it's also time to look back on the performances I've seen in the past twelve months and celebrate the ones that made me think and feel more deeply, astonished me in their originality and impressed me in their execution. 

All "best of the year" lists of performances are subjective and incomplete because it's impossible to see everything, everywhere. But as a devoted theater patron and unabashed fan of the medium, I'd like to recognize the following Milwaukee-area productions for providing extraordinary moments of artistry and storytelling over the past year. 

Best Solo Performance: Jessie Fisher in "Grounded," Milwaukee Rep
In this harrowing 75-minute tour de force, Fisher flawlessly portrayed a hotshot Air Force pilot whose life and career take a sharp turn when she is grounded from flying due to an unexpected pregnancy. Becoming a mother and wife changes her, but so does her new assignment: sitting in a little room in the deserts of Nevada and coordinating bombing missions in Afghanistan via drones. Fisher's emotional journey was staggering and her storytelling was flawless. 

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