The Miracle of American Players Theatre

By Dominique Paul Noth, UrbanMilwaukee.com | July 18, 2018

American Players Theatre near Spring Green this month and several panelists emphasized what the critics’ own eyes realized in watching the APT’s productions – that they were witnessing miracles in the hot rural Wisconsin summer.

The first miracle is the nightly audience of 1,100 braving mosquitoes and rain at the APT’s outdoor On the Hill theater to relive ancient stories or meet new ones with classical appeal – a hardy brand of Midwesterners who climb hills or ride trams, some feeble with canes, some gymnastic tattooed youth, some bearded woodsmen and college grads, some pot-bellied golfers. They also fill the smaller air-conditioned Touchstone Theater – another hardy walk or tram ride with its own slate of similar repertory roles, another reason against all odds that APT draws 100,000 visitors a year.

So this audience is the first miracle. The second miracle is assembling an enormous company of skilled artisans and actors familiar to urban audiences and committed to the repertory concept (diverse roles in multiple productions, all demanding un-amplified voices and full-body physicality) spread over half a year of performance and production.

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