Acacia Theater, Milwaukee’s faith-based theater company, reaches a new level of professionalism with its production of Tuesdays with Morrie, a play based on the New York Times’s best-selling memoir by Mitch Albom.
Tuesdays with Morrie opened in 2002 Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theater. The play’s co-author is Minneapolis-based playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. Readers may also be familiar with the TV movie starring Jack Lemmon.
As the play opens, Mitch (David Sapiro) sees an episode of Ted Koppel’s TV show, “Nightline,” that focuses on the last days of one of Mitch’s favorite college professors. It has been 16 years since Mitch saw his former teacher and mentor, whom he came to call, “Coach.” The title turns out to be a fitting description for the sweetly irascible, charming, and down-to-earth sociology professor, who is now dying of ALS. When Mitch leaves Detroit (he’s a writer for the Detroit Free Press) to visit Morrie (Drew Brhel) in Massachusetts, he’s not sure exactly what he will find. He doesn’t know what frame of mind Morrie will be in as he walks in the door. What he finds is a man content with his life yet willing to explore its last days with a sense of wonder—and peace. The agnostic Morrie also grapples with the possibility of life after death.
When Morrie asks Mitch, “Are you at peace with your life?” it triggers memories that Mitch once had of embarking on a career as a jazz pianist. While he never became the lawyer his parents wanted him to be, Mitch eventually traded his dream (as a pianist) for life as a successful journalist. Yet, Morrie’s question also makes him think of a late uncle who played an important part in his past. He was unable to share his feelings with his uncle as he neared death, and he fears he won’t be able to handle Morrie’s eventual decline.
Almost impetuously, he pledges to make a weekly pilgrimage to Morrie’s house, on Tuesdays. The play details the events of these visits.
While the themes expressed in Tuesdays with Morrie tend toward the predictable, they are told with great skill and energy by Acacia’s two actors. Under the capable direction of Elaine Wyler, Drew Brhel (Morrie) and David Sapiro (Mitch) hold the audience in complete control. Brhel, a veteran Milwaukee actor, makes his Acacia Theater debut in this production. It’s easy to see why he—or any older actor—would be tempted to play such a juicy role as Morrie. As Morrie holds court in his living room (and, eventually, his bedroom), Mitch comes to listen and learn. David Sapiro is an excellent complement to Brhel’s Morrie, as the two bring out the best in each other.
Another aspect of Acacia’s growth as a theater company is its new “home” in a brand-new, 99-seat theater within the walls of St. Christopher’s Church in River Hills, Wis. The intimate nature of this play is ideal for the thrust stage and three-part configuration of the theater seats. Even the back row is just steps away from Morrie’s living room, and the seats are supremely comfortable.
The minimal set is nicely illuminated by Dan Hummel’s lighting and complemented by Samuel Fitzwater-Butchart’s sound design. A small but efficient stage crew whisks fairly large set pieces on and off the stage.
The combination of an excellent cast, exceptional direction and high-quality production values produce a performance that is a pleasure to watch and to share. Although future productions are scheduled for Acacia’s former home at Concordia College as well as at St. Christopher’s, one hopes that the latter theater will become the theater’s permanent new performing space.
