From backstage to center stage, front of house or in front of a classroom, our public performances are a vehicle for training students in every aspect of theatre. They are also a source of high-quality live entertainment for our campus and community.

In 2024-2025, join the UWM Theatre Department for a season filled with journeys and storytelling, exploring themes of loss, reconciliation, and family reunion. Travel with us across the Ancient World, the mountains of North Carolina, the glamour of Broadway and the maze of contemporary London.

Upcoming Events

2024-2025 Theatre Season


UWM Theatre: Bright Star Promo Image

October 9–October 13

Bright Star – Concert Performance

A tale of love and redemption set in the mountains of North Carolina in the mid-20th century. Written by American icon Steve Martin and singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, Bright Star features a Tony-nominated score with a bluegrass musical style all its own. This uplifting and heart-rending story inspired by true events follows a literary editor and a young soldier just home from World War II on their transformative journey through loss and separation to grace, reconciliation and reunion.


UWM Theatre: Pericles Promo Image

November 6–November 10

Pericles

An epic tale of shipwreck and devastating loss, love and redemption across the Ancient Mediterranean. One of William Shakespeare's later plays, Pericles is ultimately a story of the triumph of the human spirit, exploring themes that dominate headlines today: the Middle East, refugees, perilous sea crossings and sex trafficking. It offers spectacular grace and one of the most beautiful reunions this master of the theatrical stage ever wrote.


UWM Theatre: Dames at Seas Promo Image

March 5, 2025–March 9, 2025

Dames at Sea

The show that launched Bernadette Peters as a Broadway star, this delightful, funny, tongue-in-cheek love letter to Hollywood musicals of the 1930s tells the story of sweet Ruby's journey from her small hometown to New York City to become a Broadway star. There, she meets Dick, a sailor with ambitions as a songwriter. In grand Hollywood fashion, they tap dance their way from the chorus to stardom on the deck of a passing battleship. Dames at Sea is a non-stop ride of romance, laughs, dance and musical delights.


UWM Theatre: The Ballad of Maria Martin Promo Image

April 2, 2025–April 6, 2025

The Ballad of Maria Marten

“It’s been a year since I died and still nobody has found me.” Thus begins Maria Marten’s tale of her own murder in 1827 in the village of Polstead, Suffolk, England. “I could tell you that story,” she says, “but I don’t want to yet.” The notorious “Red Barn Murder” sent shockwaves throughout England, retold over the years by playwrights, filmmakers, and balladeers. While the story has all the hallmarks of a classic crime drama—a missing body, a country location, a disreputable squire, a village stuck in its age-old traditions—it is not just a murder story. Told from the victim's perspective, Maria Marten reveals “who I really was. Before.” in an unexpectedly joyous story of female friendship and resilience.


UWM Theatre: The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time Promo Image

April 30, 2025–May 4, 2025

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

15-year-old Christopher has an extraordinary brain: he excels at mathematics but struggles to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched, and he distrusts strangers. One night, at seven minutes after midnight, Christopher discovers his neighbor's dog, Wellington, has been speared with a garden fork. Suspected of the crime, Christopher is determined to solve the mystery. His detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a thrilling journey that upturns his world. Based on the best-selling novel by Mark Haddon and winner of Tony and Olivier Awards for best play in New York and London.

Past Performances


2023-2024 Theatre Season

State Fair promo image
State Fair
October 11–15, 2023
Mainstage Theatre
Stage Director, Steve Decker
Music Director, Donna Kummer
The Moors
The Moors
November, 1–5, 2023
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Written by Jen Silverman
Directed by Ralph Janes
Macbeth Promo Image
Macbeth
December 6–10, 2023
Mainstage Theatre
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Bill Watson
You on the Moors Now promo image
You on the Moors Now
March 6–9, 2024
Mainstage Theatre
Written by Jaclyn Backhaus
Directed by Jeffrey Mosser
Pipeline Promo Image
Pipeline
April 3–7, 2024
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Written by Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Katie Avila Loughmiller
New Dramaworks: Short Play Festival 2024 Promo Image
New Dramaworks: Short Play Festival
April 7–21, 2024
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Curate by Alvaro Saar Rios
Mentored by Ralph Janes

Directed by UWM Theatre Students
Once Upon a Mattress 2024 Promo Image
Once Upon a Mattress
April 24–28, 2024
Mainstage Theatre
Music by Mary Rodgers
Lyrics by Marshall Barer
Book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, Marshall Barer
Directed by Sheri Williams Pannell

2022-2023 Theatre Season

mystery of edwin drood promo image
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
October 19–23, 2022
Mainstage Theatre
Written by Rupert Holmes
Directed by Bill Watson
The Sparrow Promo Image
The Sparrow
November, 2–6, 2022
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Written by Chris Mathews, Jake Minton, Nathan Allen
Directed by Marcella M. Kearns
piggsville promo image
Piggsville | A New Dramaworks Production
December 7–11, 2022
Mainstage Theatre
Written by Alvaro Saar Rios
Directed by Sheri Williams Pannell
All Night Strut Promo Image
All Night Strut
March 8–12, 2023
Mainstage Theatre
Conceived by Aaron Thielen, Marc Robin
Directed by Steve Decker
sweat promo image
Sweat
April 19–23, 2023
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Ralph Janes
Rivals Promo Image
The Rivals
May 3–7, 2023
Mainstage Theatre
Written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Directed by Bill Watson

2021-2022 Theatre Season

Street Signs
Street Signs
October 20–24 and 29–30, 2021
Mainstage Theatre
Written and Directed by Steven Decker and Sheri Williams Pannell
Hamlet
Hamlet
November, 17–21, 2021
Mainstage Theatre
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Bill Watson
This is Modern Art
This is Modern Art
March 9–13, 2022
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Written by Kevin Coval & Idris Goodwin
Directed by Katie Avila Loughmiller
Prince Of Denmark
Prince of Denmark
April 6–10, 2022
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
Written by Michael Lesslie
Directed by Ralph Janes
The Laramie Project
April 20–24, 2022
Kenilworth Five-0-Eight
By Moisés Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by Jim Tasse
UWM Into the Woods Highlights
Into the Woods
May 4–8, 2022
Mainstage Theatre
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by James Lapine
Directed by Sheri Williams Pannell

2020-2021 Theatre Season

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
October 14–18, 2020
Mainstage Theatre
Written by Bertolt Brecht; Translated and Adapted by Bruce Norris
Directed by Ralph Janes
Day the Music Came Back
The Day the Music Came Back
April 7–13, 2021
Streaming
Written by Alvaro Saar Rios
Directed by Katie Avila Loughmiller
Working: A Musical Promo Image
WORKING: A Musical
April 21–27, 2021
Streaming
From the book by Studs Terkel; Adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso; Songs by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers & Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, and James Taylor
Directed by Raeleen McMillion
Songs of Work and Protest
Songs of Work and Protest
April 7–13, 2021
Streaming
Directed by Sheri Williams Pannell
Playboy of the Western World promo image
Playboy of the Western World
April 28–May 19, 2021
Streaming
Written by J.M. Synge
Directed by Jim Tasse
Twelfth Night Promo Image
Twelfth Night
May 5–19, 2021
Streaming
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Bill Watson

Upcoming Featured Events