‘The Spitfire Grill’ to open at Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee
The heartfelt musical about hope and second chances hits the stage on Feb. 27.
1123 A POWERFUL MUSICAL ABOUT SECOND CHANCES IS RETURNING TO THE MILWAUKEE STAGE. THE SPITFIRE GRILL IS CELEBRATING ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY AT SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATER. JOINING ME NOW TO TALK ABOUT THE PRODUCTION ARE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MICHAEL UNGER AND MICHAEL FRIEDMAN, WHO STARS AS PERCY TALBOT. THANK YOU BOTH FOR BEING HERE. GOOD TO SEE YOU. THANKS FOR HAVING US. SO LET’S START WITH WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT, THE SPITFIRE GRILL. I WAS TELLING YOU JUST BEFORE COMING ON AIR HERE. I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE SHOW. TELL ME ABOUT IT. IT’S A BEAUTIFUL SHOW SET IN WISCONSIN, WRITTEN BY WISCONSIN WRITERS. IT’S BASED ON THE FILM FROM 1996. THE FILM IS NOT SET IN WISCONSIN, BUT THESE AUTHORS RESETTLED IN WISCONSIN. AND IT’S A BEAUTIFUL STORY ABOUT SECOND CHANCES. AND AS THE AUTHOR WHO IS ALSO DIRECTING THE SHOW, JAMES VALCQ, SAYS ABOUT WELCOMING THE STRANGER INTO YOUR COMMUNITY, AND FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING WE DO AT SKYLIGHT, WE HOPE CAN SPEAK TO TODAY’S WORLD AND BE SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP US CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. AND THE SHOW, ONCE THE COMMUNITY ACCEPTS THE STRANGER, THEY LEARN FROM THE STRANGER AND THE STRANGER LEARNS FROM THEM. SO IT’S A BEAUTIFUL STORY. FABULOUS FOLKSY SCORE, AGAIN DIRECTED BY ONE OF THE AUTHORS. AND IT’S THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION. WE’RE SO PROUD TO HAVE IT. YEAH. MICHAEL, YOU PLAY PERCY TALBOT. TELL ME WHO PERCY IS ALL ABOUT. YEAH, PERCY IS SHE REPRESENTS, AS MICHAEL WAS SAYING, THE OUTSIDER. SHE COMES TO THIS TOWN, AND THE TOWN IS CALLED GILEAD. AND THEY ALL. IT’S A TYPICAL SMALL TOWN. THEY’RE VERY INTERCONNECTED. THEY KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER. SO HAVING AN OUTSIDER KIND OF RUFFLE SOME FEATHERS AND PUT SOME RIPPLES IN THE WATER, AND SHE KIND OF SHOWS THEM AS MUCH AS SHE’S LOOKING FOR SOME HOPE, SHE SHOWS THEM THAT THAT THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO FIND SECOND CHANCES AND HOPE IN SOME UNEXPECTED PLACES AS WELL. YEAH. PRETTY COOL. MICHAEL, WE MENTIONED THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT SPITFIRE GRILL HAS BEEN THERE AT SKYLIGHT. LIKE THE THIRD TIME OVER THE YEARS. HOW UNIQUE IS THAT AND WHY DID YOU GUYS DECIDE TO BRING THE SHOW BACK? SO WE DON’T TEND TO REPEAT OURSELVES THAT OFTEN, BUT THIS IS ONE OF THE SHOWS MY PARTNER, SUSAN AND I ARE OFTEN IN THE LOBBY AND WE HEAR PEOPLE SAYING, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO BRING BACK SPITFIRE GRILL? IT’S ONE OF THE SHOWS THAT IS SORT OF OFTEN REQUESTED. AND JAMES REACHED OUT TO US, ACTUALLY, BECAUSE IT WAS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION. JAMES HAS DONE LIKE 56 SHOWS AT SKYLIGHT, EITHER ON THE STAGE. HE STARTED OUT AT SEVEN YEARS OLD IN AN OPERA CALLED WOYZECK, AND HE’S BEEN IN THE PIT AS A CONDUCTOR, COMPOSER AND ACTOR. SO BUT AGAIN, PROBABLY BEEN ON STAGE AT SKYLIGHT, ARE INVOLVED IN SKYLIGHT PRODUCTION THAN NEARLY ANYONE ELSE. BUT IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO CELEBRATE THE SHOW. THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY. WISCONSIN. SET STORY. SO IT MADE PERFECT SENSE TO DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AS A DIVISIVE WORLD. YEAH, MICHAEL, KNOWING THAT AND KNOWING HOW UNIQUE THIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION IS OF THIS SHOW, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE A PART OF THIS CAST? OH, THIS IS SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY. THIS IS MY PERSONALLY MY SKYLIGHT DEBUT AS WELL. AND SO GETTING TO ENTER WITH THIS PARTICULAR CAST, WITH SUCH A UNIQUE SITUATION, WITH THE DIRECTOR ALSO BEING A CO-WRITER, IT’S JUST IT’S BEEN SUCH AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY. YEAH. REALLY QUICKLY. WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT AUDIENCES TAKE AWAY FROM SEEING THE PRODUCTION? THAT SECOND CHANCES CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE, AND THAT IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START AGAIN, AND TO ASK FORGIVENESS AND TO FIND HOPE. FANTASTIC. MICHAEL AND MICHAEL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. WE APPRECIATE IT. THE SPITFIRE GRILL RUNS FEBRUARY 27TH. THAT’S THIS FRIDAY THROUGH MARCH 15TH AT THE SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATER’S STAGE IN MILWAUKEE.
‘The Spitfire Grill’ to open at Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee
The heartfelt musical about hope and second chances hits the stage on Feb. 27.
A powerful musical about second chances is returning to the Milwaukee stage on Friday, Feb. 27. “The Spitfire Grill” is celebrating its 25th anniversary at Skylight Music Theatre. Artistic Director Michael Unger and actress Micah Friedman joined 12 News at 11:00 to talk about the production.
A powerful musical about second chances is returning to the Milwaukee stage on Friday, Feb. 27. “The Spitfire Grill” is celebrating its 25th anniversary at Skylight Music Theatre. Artistic Director Michael Unger and actress Micah Friedman joined 12 News at 11:00 to talk about the production.