Jenna Wyse and Joey Ford accompanied by drummer Marcus Bohn, performing songs from The Hollow and others
I had the pleasure of attending a happy hour hosted at La Doña Cerveceria tonight to showcase Trademark Theater’s upcoming world premiere The Hollow. After some visiting and star spotting, time for those inclined to belly up to the bar for samples of La Doña Cerveceria wonderful brews, Jenna Wyse and Joey Ford took up their instruments and began playing. What followed was about an hour of listening to two of the most perfectly matched voices since Simon and Garfunkel. Wyse and Ford, a wife and husband team who have written all of the songs for The Hollow over the past three years, played selections from The Hollow, other original songs, and a beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country.
I got a chance to visit briefly with Tyler Michaels King, founder and Artistic Director of Trademark Theater, to get a better idea of what to expect when The Hollow later this week. The description on promotional materials describes it as a Concept Album/Contemporary Performance Hybrid. Michaels King described a show that while not telling an explicit story there is a through line or arc of the performers. The show is the collaboration of two couples, Jenna and Joey and Tyler and his wife Emily Michaels King. The musicians and singers will be on stage and performing their songs while Tyler and Emily will be performing a cross between modern dance and performance art to accompany the music.
I cannot speak to the dancing as this was a music only sampling of what was to come. Now a brewery taproom is not the best environment for listening to live music. But even with less than ideal acoustics, noises from brewery operations, and another event occuring at the other end of the bar. Based on what I heard tonight, Tyler and Emily can stand in one place jumping up and down and it will still be worth every penny. Once the Hollow closes one can only hope that Wyse and Ford immediately embark on a tour of small theaters and bars playing their original songs and hey, a few Dylan songs wouldn’t be out of line.
The Hollow Opens this Friday Oct. 4th, with Preview Performances Wednesday and Thursday. It runs through Sunday Oct. 20th at The Tek Box in The Cowles Center. You can purchase tickets from the Trademark Theater website at this link http://www.trademarktheater.org/current-season I will be attending the show Oct 11th, if you are there please stop over and say hi.
Wyse and Ford were joined onstage for several songs From The Hollow by Jennifer LeDoux
What’s better than discovering a new theatre? Discovering a good new theatre of course. This was my first experience at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo. The theatre is in a strip mall, but do not let that deceive you. Inside it feels quaint and unique, the lobby is not the sterile suburban space you are expecting. There is seating all around with atmospheric lighting, a little concession stand serving the usual candy and nuts, wine and beer. Bent Paddle seems to be their favored brewer, a favorite of mine from my drinking days, but they also have a selection of soft drinks for the teetotalers among us. Inside the theater is a thrust stage with seating on three sides. There are about 120 seats total, so I can’t imagine there is a bad seat in the house. There seemed to be ample parking, I imagine the only time there might be competition for the parking spots would be matinees when other strip mall stores might be open. I’m unsure of the dining options around the theatre I did see a Perkins down the street, but I don’t think that’s really a selling point. I think there is a story to be told more in depth on this theatre and so I will leave it at that for now as I may try and do a profile of the theatre and it’s founders in the future.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tell the story of Christopher a young man on the Autism Spectrum, who in trying to discover the killer of the titular dog. Along the way he uncovers deeper secrets. The main mystery though is how Christopher’s mind works and how he will get through the dark secrets he unveils and his Math A levels. The play deals with the way Mark Thinks and sees the world, the way in which he interacts with his Father, his teachers, friends, strangers, and police. It is at times heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting and positive. I first read the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, on which the show is based, shortly after it was published. Partly because the Blurb at the time noted that the main character had Asperger Syndrome. Full disclosure my oldest son Alex was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when he was young. He was 5 when the book was published. So this show contains a little extra oomph for me. The relationship between the Father and son held lots of moments of recognition for me, not just with Alex but also my younger son George. Yes it got a little dusty in the theatre again this week.
I saw the National Touring company production a few years ago and was blown away by the visuals as well as the story itself. If you’ve read the book, you can’t really imagine how they could translate it into a stage play. I knew that a small theatre in a strip mall in Osseo MN was not going to match the spectacular technical wonderment that marked the Original National Theatre, West End, and Broadway productions. I assumed they would go in a different direction, but they didn’t. The show still uses video projection to help you understand what is happening inside the mind of Mark, how it works and how he sees the world. It is largely through these visuals as well as the book Mark is writing for a class assignment which allows for Mark to speak what he perceives is happening, that make the transfer of an interior novel work on the stage. The staging, the use of projection, the set design and lighting were so creative and I applaud the skill of the artistic and craft staff at Yellow Tree. They captured for their small theatre the same things the larger company did for the giant theaters like the Orpheum. I was truly impressed with these elements of the production. I feel that the heads of those areas deserve to be singled out for praise. Emmet Kowler (Projection Designer), Arina Slobodianik (Scenic Designer), Courtney Schmitz (Lighting Designer), Matthew A. Gilbertson (Technical Director) Also needing to be acknowledged are Ellen Fenster (Director) and Simon Stephens the playwright whom without his words none of the rest would have mattered.
Last item I want to discuss are the performances. There are basically 4 main actors who as far as I can tell play only the one character, then there are 5 Ensemble actors who take on different rolls. Everyone is good, from the leads down to the ensembles, the Ensemble actors do a great job of creating multiple unique and engaging characters. I’d like to mention briefly the two actors that play Christopher’s parents Corey Mills, and Stacia Rice. They both did top notch work bringing to life these characters who are deeply flawed and doing the best they can to raise a child who is challenging. For the play to work it’s best we have to understand the horrible decisions they have both made but still see them as characters we want to succeed. The 3rd main actor is Laura Esping who plays Mark’s teacher Siobhan. This character is at times part of the action and at other times outside of the action. It is not a showy roll or one that allows the actor to plumb the emotional depth, as the parents do. Ms. Esping has the thankless role of shepherding us through the story, and it almost goes unnoticed, but not quite. There is something about her that exudes control and confidence, she is not only Marks physical teacher but also the avatar he carries with him in his mind to remind him of his tools for dealing with stressful or new situations.
The lead is a little more problematic, Zach Schnitzer gives a great performance playing Mark. I have a small quibble with a choice he made or was directed to make. He plays it much more twitchy than I think is appropriate. When I saw the play before he was not played that way and as such I related more to the character as a stand in for my son Alex. So that is a very personal response to that choice that I must admit is very specific to me. I also think it doesn’t sit quite as well for more universal reasons. When he is all twitchy it’s harder to understand why the police don’t realize sooner they have to interact with him differently. The more physical performance makes that feel less understandable. Also this space is so intimate, it feels wrong to go for a more broader performance. That said and that choice aside it is an impressive performance all the same and certainly there would be people you could find in real life that present in that way, so a valid choice, just not one that sat perfectly for me.
Normally I try and review shows early in their run so that if someone sees the review and decides they want to go they will have a chance to do so. Unfortunately I hit this show right in the middle at the beginning of the third weekend, it has the rest of this weekend and two more weekends left so still plenty of time you say… But, sadly no. I just checked and the remaining 17 shows are completely sold out. That was with recently adding three shows. If I hear of them adding any further performances, I’ll let you know…after I buy myself some more.
It was brought to my attention that there was an existing blog with a similar name. Twin Cities Stages has been publishing for several years already and to avoid confusion, I’ve decided to rename my blog, The Stages of MN. I apologize for the change, but things are early enough in the blog history that changing it now seems better than 6 months from now. I encourage everyone to check out http://www.twincitiesstages.com for the blog written by Laura Kulm.
I am in the process of updating the facebook page as well. I probably should have said something in the welcome post, but I would really appreciate if people will subscribe to the blog page, that way you will get updates automatically whenever a new blog is posted. Also please share the posts and like them on facebook. Forward the blog page to people who may enjoy it. this page isn’t just for theater nuts, it’s for anyone who enjoys something different every once in awhile. The couple that is looking to do something other than watch the TV or go to a movie some night.
My first experience with Theater Latte Da was last fall’s production of Once. I was impressed with the little theater, the space was perfect in that there could be a decent sized audience but even the seats at the back were decent, which is where we were for the first half of last season’s shows. My greatest theater experience, not just there but probably ever, was their production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which I saw once from the third row and twice more from the first. This is a theater that puts on productions that rival The Guthrie, in terms of talent on and off stage. Theater Latte Da houses itself at the Ritz Theater, situated in a Northeast Minneapolis neighborhood, with a lot to offer in terms of before and after show dining and drinks. Just down the street is a great place for Fish and Chips The Anchor, or if pizza is more to your liking, we tried Young Joni just a few blocks away and rated the Cauliflower appetizer on a scale of 1 to 10 a solid I want to eat this everyday.
We enjoyed the front rows so much for Hedwig that we decided for Chicago to go one step further and sit on the stage. This is not a new idea, I sat on the stage a few years back at The Jungle Theater when they put on Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is a fun way to make the live theater going experience even more immersive. There are twenty seats on the stage, they are general admission, so if you were lucky enough to get one, do yourself a favor and come early, first in gets first choice. The set is designed like a speak easy and you are sitting at the bar which becomes the stage, with space for your drink, much like a strip club. And that is not where the comparisons end. The performers are performing right in front of you, as well as behind you, and also directly too you. They are also frequently wearing very little and what they are wearing is designed to titillate. I found myself unsure where to look at times. Do you make eye contact, do you allow yourself to look at the legs and other things that clearly you are supposed to be admiring. When you do catch yourself admiring something other than the lively faces of the performers, you immediately become aware that the rest of the audience, those not seated on the stage, can see you. And you also realize, they can tell where you are looking. These are not the seats for introverts.
Chicago is a show I am only familiar with from the film adaptation, and of course a couple of the songs which have seeped into the cultural consciousness such as And All That Jazz. I liked the film, but had heard from others that the show could be a little harder to like, filled as it is with mostly despicable characters. This productions largerly overcomes it’s lack of likable characters with a wealth of likable performances. Rather than play up the seedy side of the characters, they play those aspects with a nudge and a wink and that allows us to enjoy their amorality rather than be appaled by it. The show plays like a series of vaudville routines like those it’s style was based on. By not playing it as rea,l it lets us off the hook, we are allowed to be entertained. Once you relieve the show of it’s immorality and all that jazz, it becomes fun. Instead of being appalling, the characters are playing appalling. That allows for more humor than I anticipated.
The story focuses on Roxie Hart played flirtingly, at least with me, by Britta Ollmann who shone last season as the girl in Once. Roxie opens the play by killing a man for trying to break off an affair with her. The show follows her through her time in Mama Morton’s women’s prison with her fellow inmates, all seemingly trying to win their trials and launch careers as celebrities. She hires the slickest defense attorney in Chicago to get her off, Billy Flynn. Billy Flynn is played like a vaudeville barker or a game show host by Robert O. Berdahl. Roxie and Billy manipulate everyone from the press to Roxie’s sad sack husband Amos Hart to get what they want . Somehow the show manages to jettison our judgement about the characters while still leaving our hearts intact so they can be broken by Reed Sigmund’s portrayal of Amos Hart. True, this character as written is halfway to breaking your heart straight out of the gate. But that shouldn’t diminish the work of an actor who is able to capitalize so completely on that characters arc. When Sigmunds’ Amos leaves the story for the last time the audience audibly pitied him. The other standouts in a uniformly good cast are Regina Marie Williams as Mama Morton and Michelle De Joya as Velma Kelly.
One change I would encourage the director of the show, Peter Rothstein, to consider before the show exits the preview stage is the curtain call. It maybe the stage, it maybe that there are audience members onstage, but for some reason the curtain call was not designed to allow the audience to fully show the actors and musicians the appreciation they wanted too. All of the featured actors deserved a bow of their own. The performers did a fantastic job, give us the opportunity to show them how much we appreciated their work.
The Lyric Arts Main Street Stage in Anoka was a discovery for me in the summer of 2014. My girlfriend at the time and I decided to have a stay-cation, the kids were off at camp if I recall correctly, we took some time off work and decided to book a bunch of shows. I looked around online and found this theater in Anoka was staging RENT. RENT is, if not my favorite show, it’s top 5…and maybe number 1. Micky had never seen it live, I had seen it 3 times already at that point. That long weekend will forever be etched in my heart. It’s the weekend I got engaged to the woman who occupies my heart and the seat next to me in the theater, and also as the weekend I saw the best production of RENT I’ve ever seen. That includes the front row center seats I had last month at the Orpheum. We loved it so much we took the kids to see it the next weekend. When I say kids, I mean teenagers. Ever since that performance I’ve been back to the Lyric at least once a season, and that will increase this year as their lineup was so good that we bought season tickets. If you haven’t been to Lyric Arts, do yourself a favor and book a show. There is not a bad seat in the house, I’ve sat in the back, off to the side, and front and center. In fact if you haven’t been I recommend booking a seat for their current show Bright Star which runs through Sept. 29th.
Bright Star is a musical written by Steve Martin (yes that Steve Martin) and Edie Brickell. This is not your typical musical though, these songs are done in the Bluegrass style of music. I was not that familiar with Bluegrass music, and you don’t need to be. It is not a polarizing musical style like say Jazz or Death Metal. It’s easy to listen to, it can be upbeat and joyous or soft and melancholy, but it was always beautiful and beautifully performed. I didn’t leave the theater singing any of the songs, but I’ve been listening to the original cast album on Spotify and it’s becoming more and more fixed in my mind. But as good as the music is, it’s the book that was the real star for me. I’m not going to spoiler the show and in fact I’m hesitant to say much of anything about it. I didn’t know anything about the story going in and I felt like I had been punched in the stomach about four times during the show. In a good way. Let’s just say it had this audience member leaking at the eyes on three separate occasions. It is sad at times but also joyful and uplifting. I hesitate to say more.
The set design is simple but clear, mostly conveyed via furniture and props moved on and off stage. The band was on stage raised on a platform that the action sometimes encompassed as well. The story swaps back and forth between two time lines. Some maybe confused by the first transition, but I found it to be an effective way on conveying the flashback. The lead actress Katie Strom Rozanas who plays Alice Murphy found the perfect ways to always make clear to us which age Alice she was playing. Along with the more obvious hair and wardrobe changes she had a youthful playfulness to the younger Alice and a stiff maturity to the older Alice that differentiated them quickly. That they were both real and truthful was what made it a success. There was a moment at the beginning of the performance that I got very worried, when the show started and Ms. Rozanas began signing I could not hear her, and I was in the front row. By the next time she appeared on stage what I can only assume was a microphone malfunction had been corrected. After that opening number it was smooth sailing, no issues hearing anyone.
The cast were all good, I’d like to single out a couple of the more exceptional cast members. A lot of really good lead work from the above mentioned Katie Strom Rozanas as Alice Murphy (at two ages), Chris Paulson as Jimmie Ray Dobbs (also at two ages) Cam Pederson as Billy Cane, and Maureen O’Malley as Margo. Top shelf Character work from Nykeigh Larson as Lucy, Carl Swanson as Daryl. Also a shotout to one of the ensemble Caitlin Featherstone whom I saw in Be More Chill last spring at the The Minneapolis Musical Theatre, kick yourself if you missed that show directed by Sara Pillatzki-Warzeha it was one of the highlights of the Twin Cities 2019 theater scene. Bright Star was ably directed by Scott Ford and the music director was Elise Santa. The musicians were spot with members of the cast accompanying them after the intermission for a song. A very talented cast and crew to be sure.
I hadn’t been to The Ordway in St. Paul for several years until this last summer when I saw their production of 42nd Street. I only went to that because local favorite Tyler Michaels King was in the cast. After today’s performance of Smokey Joe’s Cafe I feel confident in saying that The Ordway specializes in putting on first class productions for small audiences. I saw 42nd Street on a Saturday night and Smokey Joe’s Cafe a Saturday matinee. Both seemed woefully under attended. I’m not sure if I just hit the wrong performances or if that is the norm. If it is the norm, based on the two performances I saw I’m at a loss to understand why. I guess I’ll find out as I’m a season ticket holder this year. One last thought on The Ordway as a venue, they are the first theater that has ever had the bathrooms right. Maybe it was the low number of patrons, but it seemed to this audience member that there were plenty of urinals and stalls. If you’ve ever been to the theater and needed to use the restroom at intermission, you’ll appreciate this aspect of The Ordway.
The ship has sailed on on 42nd Street and if you missed it, you missed some really impressive footwork. But Smokey Joe’s Cafe runs through Sept 22nd, so let’s talk about it. The show is the songs of songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. And that is exactly what it is. There is no story. This isn’t Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, where you have a bio-play about her life filled with the songs she wrote. Nor is it a Mama Mia, where they tell a story using the songs of ABBA. This is nine performers, almost all of them local talent, singing and dancing the songs of Leiber and Stoller. So if you like a plot or a story with your musicals you are out of luck with Smokey Joe’s Cafe. Now many of the songs tell a little story of their own, as if they are music videos, so it isn’t just actors singing or doing dance choreography. Each song is performed by some combination of these 9 performers, occasionally solo’s,but most are performed with multiple members of the cast and several utilize the entire cast.
The show contains 36 songs, one leading right into another. They include such timeless classics as Stand By Me, Jailhouse Rock, Yakety Yak, There Goes My Baby, Hound Dog, Love Potion #9 and On Broadway. I could list 29 more titles but you can google that if you really want to know. The truth is if I listed the rest, chances are you’d think you know about 8 of the other titles, and you’d really only know 5. This show is wall to wall songs, most of which sound familiar, but that’s probably because they either inspired a more well known song or are emulating a more well known song. I spent probably 1/2 of my radio listening time in Jr. High and high school listening to the oldies channel, which at that time was 50’s and 60’s and just starting to creep into the early 70’s. If you are in your 60’s you may remember more of these songs, but if you are late 40’s and younger unless you’ve spent 75% of your radio time on the oldies, or for some reason a follower of these songwriter’s specifically you’re going to top out at about 15, that’s where I landed. The first song I’d heard before was the 10th one in the show, Kansas City. The good news is, just because you don’t know them doesn’t mean you wont like them. There are songs that must have been just on the cusp of joining the collective memory the way that Stand By Me has. A lot of the songs feel like the B sides of number 1 hits, good enough to have been a hit but overshadowed by the greatness on the flip-side.
Should you see the show? Absolutely!!! They are not the greatest songs ever recorded in rock and roll history, but there isn’t a bad song in the playlist. Besides the star of this show, isn’t the songs, sorry Leiber and Stoller, it’s the cast. I’d like to single out the most exceptional members of this cast, but I can’t, they are all fantastic! This is an incredible assemblage on talent. When they are singing, you do not care that you don’t know the song they are singing, it doesn’t matter, you are wowed by their talent and their stage presence. I mentioned that while there is no linking story elements most of the songs do tell a little story, through the staging or performances. The cast makes every song enjoyable beyond just what they do with their voices, Mostly via humor or their footwork. Joshua Bergasse who directed and choreographed the show has really done an amazing job of giving each song it’s own flavor and identity, brilliantly coaxing humor out where appropriate and just plan coolness in every moment. Hats off as well to the scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt and lighting design by Jeff Croiter, I took a photo of the set but am not sure if it is appropriate to post. If anyone can give me an answer to that I’d love to share it, as it bowled me over from the moment we entered the theater.
Hello fellow theater enthusiasts. I’m Rob Dunkelberger and this blog exists to provide fellow theatergoers with information about shows and theaters in the Twin Cities Area.
I am not an actor, director, writer, or producer of theater. Why am I writing this blog? Because I love theater. I did perform in plays and musicals a little in Junior High and High school. I was also in Pizzazz the Fargo South High Show Choir. My first year of college I majored in Theater arts at NDSU. After that I transferred to what is now called the University of Minnesota Moorhead, where my major changed to Speech, Radio, TV, Film. I did take some acting and theater classes there as well as work promotions one summer for the Straw Hat Players. So while I’m not an expert on theater, I’m not without some knowledge of theater history, performing, and what it takes behind the scenes to mount a show.
I have always enjoyed theater, but it wasn’t until later life that I began to attend theater more regularly. Basically it took finding a person who enjoyed going to the theater as much as I did. That person is my wife Micky (pictured above with me). Before Micky the first 39 years of my life, as far as I can recall, I saw 32 theatrical performances at the college or above level. Since Micky and I saw our first show together I have seen 89 in the last 8 years. As of this writing 9/14/19 We have 26 shows scheduled in the next 12 months. And I don’t intend that to be all. I’m going to tell you about the shows I see and the theaters I attend them at. I’d like you to recommend theaters and shows that I should check out. That is going to be our mission, to share our experiences and learn about new ones.
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