TOUCH-A TOUCH ME. Local diva Miss Dee-Lovely lovingly portrayed Dr. Frank-N-Furter in last year’s CVTG production of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Despite all the fishnets, the show was well-received.

When a local theater group wants to bring a potentially controversial show to the stage, they take several risky factors into consideration. Will the board of directors give the OK? Will it be able to play at a big venue? Will the season ticket holders like it? Will it sell with our area’s conservative public? Is the play’s subject matter just plain off limits?

Twenty years ago, theater groups and venues were far more likely to look at the risks and shy away, but a series of bold stage productions that saw success in our market have made them realize that on-stage swearing, sexuality, and even nudity don’t automatically mean failure.

“Art is all about expression and people express themselves in different ways. For some people that’s Sondheim musicals and for others it’s crossdressing and using coarse language,” said Ben Richgruber, executive director of Eau Claire Regional Arts Center. “But (Kinsey Sicks) was really well received and certainly something an element of this community wants to see. There are people in this town that are probably sick of seeing the same old musicals.”

The university has traditionally been known as the place in town to turn for controversial or risqué performances, Richgruber said, citing several shows in his memory that have featured nudity. At least part of the reason is that the university is a bit more financially insulated than community theater groups, so if a few shows in their season don’t sell particularly well they aren’t going to be in dire straights.

But they won’t be the only ones pushing the envelope for long.

Last fall, Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild opened Rocky Horror Show for the first time in Eau Claire, unsure of how it would be received. It not only sold out every show, but they added more shows to accommodate the demand.

Audience surveys for Rocky Horror, as well as quazzi-risqué shows like One Flew and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, have helped Ann Sessions, CVTG’s executive director, think that maybe times have changed. “Maybe the audience is more open than we all think,” she said.

Sessions said these shows necessitated careful promotion and organization to appeal to a different audience and tell families that this one might not be for them. “And I literally got zero complaints.”

Sessions made sure to add the caveat that they can afford to take those kinds of risks at a smaller venue like the Grand Little Theatre, whereas The State Theatre is a different story.

“We’re a big venue, so for the risqué stuff that will only draw a small audience we aren’t the best choice,” Richgruber agreed.

That’s not something that’s stopping Eau Claire Children’s Theatre, though, as they gear up to present Rent at The State Theatre.

    “With any show you’re taking a gamble with who is going to want to come. There’s probably some that don’t ever want to see a specific musical ever again,” said Wayne Marek, ECCT’s executive director. “But the show is still a month away, and already we’re getting tons of calls about tickets.”

The fact that Rent has won Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, played on Broadway, and became a movie may make it an exception, however. And Marek doesn’t believe that local audiences have changed all that much over the years, but they refuse to let that dictate their shows.

“If we were that absolutely worried about that, we wouldn’t have Rent on the bill,” he said. “Even though some people might raise their eyebrows, it’s still going to sell, and the people that raise their eyebrows won’t come anyhow. We’ll do our best to make sure there’s no confusion about what audience this is for.”

These examples aren’t to say that Eau Claire is ready for anything, as some groups still admit hesitation to bring shows to a local stage.

When ECRAC’s board was thinking about the upcoming season, Richgruber said they considered a production with a title that had racial slurs in it. “It was written by three people of those racial backgrounds and the play was about togetherness and equality, but I’m not sure we’re ready for it, and we’re not sure Eau Claire’s ready for it. There’s just come things I won’t put up on the marquee.”

Perhaps the most positive development in this “wave of risqué” is yet to come, as infamous local performer Miss Dee-Lovely has approached a board member and the executive director of the Menomonie Theater Guild in hopes of doing a local production of the transgender rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

“With Hedwig, my opinion is you do it in a way that the people that will be most offended just don’t show up,” MTG’s executive director Blaine Halverson said, entertaining the idea of doing the play. “You don’t do it at 7 o’clock on a Friday night at the Mabel Tainter. Maybe you do it at 10pm, and maybe at a local coffeehouse or bar. Do it in a way that says it’s different and alternative, so the people that buy season tickets aren’t showing up going, ‘What’s an angry inch?’ ”

Hedwig is a show that will shock a lot of people’s sensibilities, Halverson and Dee-Lovely agree, but it’s also one that certain audience-goers in the Chippewa Valley will celebrate.

“When choosing what art to perform, obviously you have to take the audience into account,” Halverson added. “When you have bills to pay and you offend your audience, you’re in trouble. But at the same time you can’t make all your decisions based on the audience. Sometimes have to create art for the sake of art. That’s just my philosophy.”

RECENTLY RISQUÉ:
   • UWEC’s Bent (nudity, sexuality)
  • CVTG’s Rocky Horror Show (sex)
  • MTG’s Art (swearing)
  • ECRAC’s Kinsey Sicks (sexuality, swearing)
  • MTG’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (language)
  • ECCT’s Rent (sexuality)
  • CVTG’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (sexuality)