The mesmerizing samba music of Grammy winner Sergio Mendes and his group, Brasil ’66, occurs periodically throughout the play. The music is filled with both joy and pathos, and provides an evident undercurrent of relief to Harriet and her children.

The cast, a mix of members of the resident acting company and itinerant performers, are well suited to their respective roles, doing an admirable job all around. It includes Elizabeth Norment as Harriet, Lanise Antoine Shelley as Bia, Monette Magrath as Harriet’s daughter Jane, and Tyler Pierce as Harriet's twin sons Brian and Michael. Other cast members include Jonathan Gillard Daly as Jane’s husband Todd; Antonio Edwards Suarez as Joel, the captivating owner of a hotel at Ipanema Beach, who charms Harriet from the beginning; Bruno Irizarry as Henrique, the arrogantly obsequious ladies' man who meets Harriet’s children when they arrive in Rio; and Jonathan Dickson as the bartender who serves Brian his medication of choice.

The interplay between the family's guilt and grief and the joyous, free atmosphere generated by the samba and the national psyche of Brazil in itself makes the play extremely interesting. The stage props are sparse, with dimming lights and quick, efficient exchanges of props occurring as needed; sometimes two scenes occur simultaneously on opposite sides of the stage, lights dimming on one side as the action shifts to the other.

The title is the Brazilian version of the English expression, "The night is young." I won’t say anything more about the surprise toward the end so as not to give it away.

A bonus was the Caché and Rumba Calienté Dance Troupe, which performed before and after the performance.

Quadracci is a prominent name in Milwaukee, and this theater is one of two public places that people around the globe have heard of and marveled at. (The Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is more famous.) Harry V. Quadracci was the founder of Quad/Graphics, which, according to Forbes Magazine, is the third largest printer in North America. The Quadraccis are art collectors and benefactors of a number of civic, cultural, and educational endowments in the Milwaukee area.

The Night Is A Child opened last night and runs through April 13, 2008. Tickets may be obtained online.

“Art is the salve that heals our wounds.”
– Anonymous, related by the playwright, Charles Randolph-Wright