Month: January 2020

Minnesota Opera’s Flight Got Me High on Opera

Photo by Dan Norman

My first post of 2020 I said that 2019 was the year I got serious about theater. Well 2020 might just be the year I get serious about Opera. Kelly Turpin Artistic Director of Arbeit Opera Theatre (AOT) has kindly offered to point me in the direction of Operas around the city so that I can get exposed to and learn more about this artform. Thanks in part to Kelly’s recommendations I already have three other Opera’s on the schedule before the end of March. Flight is perhaps the perfect Opera for a newcomer like me. There are a lot of elements in it that are not typical of Operas but are common in Musical Theater, so it makes a nice bridge between the familiar and the unfamiliar. Flight is in English, many Opera’s are in Italian, German or really they can be any language. The Ordway still projects the English captions above the stage as they would with an opera in a language other than English. It’s necessary as operatic singing is so stylized at times it can be challenging to understand the individual words. Being able to glance above and see what is being sung, helps you tune your ear into the words. It also allows you to let go and listen to the sounds rather than words, for the beauty of the music and the emotional tone is the focus of Opera. Flight is also a comedy, my sense is that the majority of operas seem to be tragedies.

Flight music by Jonathan Dove and Libretto by April De Angelis which was first performed in 1998 uses as one inspiration the same true story as Steven Spielberg’s 2004 film The Terminal. Which is the story of an Iranian Refugee who lived in Charles De Gaulle Airport for nearly 20 years after his passport and refugee paperwork was stolen and he was not allowed to leave the airport by French authorities. In Flight, the refugee is one of an ensemble of characters the rest of whom would feel right at home in a Neil Simon play. We have the married couple, Bill and Tina, who are going on holiday to try and rekindle the intimate fires of their marriage. The older woman who has come to the airport to meet her fiance, a younger man she met when she was on vacation. There’s the Minsk Couple, the woman very pregnant who decides at the last minute not to get on the plane and her husband leaves without her. There’s the Stewardess and Steward who can’t keep their hands off each other. They even have a quicky behind the ticketing desk, pretty much in full view of everyone. There’s the Immigration Officer who appears from time to time to be watching for the refugee, who asks the others to help him and hide him so he won’t be arrested. Finally, there is the Controller, she watches everyone from up in her tower. She dislikes people but loves planes so she sits above and apart from the rest of the characters, though she does seem to feel a connection to the refugee. Act 1 sets up the characters and ends with the controller announcing that all flights are delayed due to storms. Act 2 takes place that night as the refugee befriends all of the women by giving them each a magic stone which they think will make their wishes come true. They all get drunk and when they discover they all have been given stones they turn on the refugee and end up knocking him unconscious. They then conceal his body in a trunk. Meanwhile, the Steward and Bill “hook up” in the Controllers Tower. Act 3 brings the end of the storms and the return of the Minsk Man on the first plane. The final act deals with the outcomes from the nights activities and the return of the Immigration Officer.

What that summary hints at but doesn’t fully convey, is the humor with which the Opera unfolds. I was not expecting the level of sexual content or the humor. The Stewardess and Steward played by Crystal E. Williams and Christian Thurston can’t keep their hands off each other, but only seem to enjoy it when there is the chance of being caught. The performers wring a lot of laughs out of these situations with extremly funny physical performances. Renee Rapier as the pregnant Minsk Woman has one of my favorite moments when in the last act she gives birth in the airport, her labor screams are performed Operatically, the last push being particularly effective. She is one of the stronger voices in the show and that particular part displayed her impressive vocal power while also earning a laugh. Lisa Marie Rogali as Tina and Christian Sanders as her husband Bill had the most easily understandable voices. Sanders in particular along with Thurston, were two performers that I rarely, if ever, needed to look at the projected titles. Cortez Mitchell as the Refugee gives a beautifully soulful acting performance, and clearly had an elegant voice, but it lacked the power of projection. I was seated in the first half of the theater center stage and there were times I couldn’t hear him at all. Perhaps it was a pitch my ears have trouble hearing. Aside from The Refugee, I did have trouble hearing Andrew Gilstrap as the Immigration Officer as well. In general, I was very impressed with the talents of all the performers. Opera is surely one of the most difficult styles of singing, the breath control needed is truly astonishing. While in Musical Theater you have songs that you go out humming, that isn’t the case with Opera. Here, the music flows over you, it doesn’t seem to lead the lyrics the way a show tune will, rather it accompanies the vocal performance. The orchestra conducted by Geoffrey McDonald supported the singers magnificently.

The scenic design by Dave Dunning and the projections design by David Murakami was extraordinary. The set is a two level airport terminal, the upper level contained the Controllers tower as well as the boarding gates. The lower level was the waiting area and ticketing desk and in the background there are large video screens. Director David Radames Toro uses the two level set design to great effect in several instances. Shifting focus between what is happening with the women and the refugees on the main level and the two men getting to “know” each other up in the Controllers tower. Also, the Immigration Officer looking for the Refugee from the upper level adds tension and a sense of the hunter and his prey as the refugee tries to avoid being seen below. It also illustrates the role of the Controller who is always apart and looking down on the others physically and otherwise. The projections on the wall at times display what would be realistic backgrounds of planes pulling up to the gates, or illustrating the storm. At other times, it’s more stylized with multiple planes from different angles filling the screens. One of the most interesting uses was when the refugee was telling his story of how he came to be in the airport with no papers. The screens frost over as he tells about the cold he experienced during is flight, and then when it is revealed what happened to his brother, whom he has been waiting for, the way the projection handles that, brings an added level of emotion, in one of the few serious moments in the evening.

If you are intimidated by Opera but also curious, Flight is the perfect place to start. Accessible and funny, it is filled with performers who make you laugh while also moving you with their singing. I was hoping for an evening of fine music and talented vocals, expecting it to be impressive, I was not expecting it to be this much fun. This is for mature audiences, I would not recommend it for anyone younger than high school age. Flight runs through February 2nd, for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://mnopera.org/

The Bridges of Madison County at Artistry in Bloomington

Jennifer Baldwin Peden and Eric Morris Photo by Devon Cox

This was my first visit to Artistry in Bloomington and it reminded me of my first visit to The Jungle Theater, Lyric Arts, and Theater Latte Da. When I left each of those after the first performance I said to myself, I love this theater. The similarities? If you’ve been in these theaters you’ll know they look nothing alike. The similarities, there isn’t a bad seat in the house and my first show in each was a stunner. I was expecting the production to be good, I’ve had friends and colleagues rave about the music of this show and the quality of musicians at Artistry shows in general. I also knew that when when the book on which The Bridges of Madison County is based was published it was considered a romance, something akin to a Danielle Steel novel, though with more cross over appeal. But I was just out of high school and it was what all my friends Mom’s were reading and not something I would have picked up. I saw the Clint Eastwood film in the theater but since that was 25 years ago I can’t say I remember much but the basic plot. It was what we called a “chick flick” back in our less woke times of the mid 90’s. That thought stayed with me as I headed out to the theater tonight. Well this is not a … whatever the theater equivalent is of a “chick flick” is, it’s a “middle aged flick”. And it will not only appeal to your friends’s mothers, it’ll resonate with anyone who has ever had regrets, even if only for a moment, about where they are in life or felt an attraction for someone new. In other words this is a show that should have almost universal appeal.

Jennifer Baldwin Peden stars as Francesca a middle aged Iowa Housewife who came to America after WWII from her home in Italy. With her American G.I. husband over the next 20 years they raised a family and built a home together. Her husband Bud played by Charlie Clark and their children Carolyn played by Alyson Enderle and Michael played by Ryan London Levin head off to a state fair in Indianapolis. Photographer Robert Kincaid played by Eric Morris pulls up to their house, he works for National Geographic and is on assignment taking photos of the covered bridges in the area but he cannot find one of them. Francesca offers to ride with and show him where it is. After that she invites him to stay for dinner and over a bottle of Brandy and dinner they get to know each other. As they spend more time together they fall for each other and must decide what to do with those feelings.

I said early that this is a “middle aged show” One of the things I mean by that is that it seems more mature than say a show like Rent or Be More Chill, it isn’t better than those shows, it just has a different temperament. It’s a more contemplative work. It isn’t a show simply about passions and plots it is grounded in real life emotions and the characters are not simply archetypes. For instance the noisy neighbor Marge played by Wendy Short Hays. When she is introduced as a binocular using neighbor watcher we anticipate the troubles she will cause the lovers. But the play subverts that stereotype and she, along with her husband Charlie played by Fred Mackaman, provide comic relief but also wisdom and another view of life in small town Iowa. The show could have presented this life as a suffocation for Francesca and a dead end life of washing clothes and cooking meals. That would have been enough to justify the temptation Robert, a world traveling Photographer, presents her. But it takes the time to present the positive elements of this life as well. The Song “You’re Never Alone” emphasizes the care they all feel for each other, their sense of community, and the willingness to help each other. The dichotomy of the the two perspective are personified by Francesca and Bud’s two children. Michael does not want to be a farmer he wants to get away from this small world. Carolyn loves the farm life and has raised an award winning steer. Francesca has made a life here, made friends, and raised two children she loves. She also loves her husband, but she is at one of those moments that we all come to from time to time. Where you lose sight of the love, it has been lost temporarily in the day to day chores of life. It is this more encompassing view of life that gives it the nuances that I associate with the patience and understanding that comes with achieving middle age. The show has an understanding of the shades of grey that make up the world, whereas many musicals rely on a more simplified black and white perspective, so that they can focus on other aspects.

The book of the musical written by Marsha Norman alternates scenes between Francesca and Robert with scenes of Bud and the kids on their trip. They call home and talk to Francesca frequently reminding her and us that they exist. Never allowing us to lose sight of Francesca’s reality, at times it illustrates why she would be tempted away, at other times it makes clear who she would be hurting and what she means to them and they to her. The Music and Lyrics were written by Jason Robert Brown and it is a truly beautiful score. There is a nice full sound to the orchestrations and the acoustics at artistry are amazing. The Songs themselves are beautiful particularly when performed by such a talented cast. From the moment Jennifer Baldwin Peden began the first song “To Build a Home”, it was clear I was hearing one of the best singers in the Twin Cities. Sometimes when a singer has an operatic quality to their voice, which Peden does, I find I lose clarity of the lyrics. This is not the case here, I never lost a single consonant. I was expecting the other actors to pale in comparison, but that didn’t happen. Eric Morris was also phenomenal, their Duets were powerful, their voices perfectly matching the hauntingly beautiful score particularly on the song “One Second and A Million Miles”. Clark, Short-Hays and Mackaman, all have their moments to shine musically and they all contribute to the high level of the show.

The direction by Benjamin McGovern is tight, the show is perfectly paced. Shifting focus between the farm and the group at the fair, the neighbors, and flashbacks seamlessly. The scenic design by Rick Polenek was very creative. The perspective of depth created by the three arches representing the covered bridge and the truck cab that is moved around the stage by other performers as they characters drive around. The farmhouse kitchen with it’s detached door which can be turned so we can follow the character from the kitchen out the door and then observe them on the front porch. The phone booth that can be pushed out on the stage so we can watch both ends of phone conversations. The lighting design by Michael P. Kittel also deserves praise. It hard to articulate the perfect match that is achieved between the mood of the music and the lighting, but they are perfectly in sync. Lastly, the Orchestra under the direction of Anita Ruth is the incredible foundation of which this entire production builds.

The Bridges of Madison County at Artistry is a work of maturity featuring some of the most amazing vocal work I have heard. I was won over by this show and it’s incredibly talented artist both on and backstage. You couldn’t ask for a more accomplished and deeply rewarding evening at the theater. The show runs through February 16th for more information and tickets go to https://artistrymn.org/

A Flight of Short Musicals at the Elision Playhouse in Crystal. Drinks included.

image created by Megan Gooden

My first visit to the Elision Playhouse was a mixed bag, I didn’t enjoy the show, but I was impressed with the Performers. So I was excited to see what they did next. The current production is a series of 6 short musicals complemented by a flight of beverages. It’s a fun idea and the cast executes it well. You sign up when you buy tickets whether you want wine, cocktails, or Non-Alcoholic drinks. Based on what you chose, you get a different wristband or no wristband. As you enter the theater you get your first beverage. I chose the Non-Alcoholic version, and I enjoyed all three of my drinks, the first was a warm caramel apple cider and it really helped to take the chill off the MN winter evening. The second was a mocktail with Palm Juice, Ginger Beer and Lemon I believe, it was served by the cast after the first two musicals. The Third was my favorite, a virgin Mai Tai served between the second two and final two musicals. Logistically this sounds crazy, but the serving of the drinks works pretty efficiently. The Musicals are not fully staged productions. If you’ve ever been to Musical Mondays, the first Monday of every month at Lush in NE Minneapolis, you’ll be able to picture what it like. The performers basically stand behind music stand and perform their parts. Usually one cast member is off to the side reading the stage directions. That might sound disappointing but if you accept it and move on, you’re in for a very enjoyable evening. The entire program ran about 1 hr and 45 minutes, including the drink serving. Because each piece is so short to describe much of the plot would be to give everything away. So I’ll be brief and light on the synopsis.

The Manifesto a musical about the writing of the Communist Manifesto by Germaine Shames and Nadav Amir-Himmel. This was my least favorite, which is to say it was still very enjoyable. A good one to start out the evening, it’s maybe the driest and a bit political, but I really enjoyed the ironic touches and the reactions of the other characters when one would be singing, just because they are standing behind music stands doesn’t mean they didn’t interact. This one seemed a little operatic musically and tonally.

Five Minutes – written by local playwrights/composers, Ben Larson and Eric “Pogi” Sumangil. this one edges out 2 others as my favorite. I don’t want to give anything away about this one, but I will say it got a little dusty in the theater. It deals with someone who is going to be meeting her birth mother in 5 minutes. This was probably the shortest of the musicals and it above all the others, I could see being turned into an entire full length musical. There is basically one song in this one and that song could be at the beginning, the middle or the end of a larger story. I really responded to this one.

Der Strunkenwhitenlieder written by Scott Guy. it’s like a elongated Schoolhouse Rock segment titled “Apostrophe”. This was one of those in the running for best in show. It’s also the one I wish I had a video of, as it’s very useful for keeping apostrophe usage straight. And when I say elongated I mean it, this is a 8 act musical, which was very amusing.

Missing Karma is by Timothy Huang. This is one that starts out as one thing and seems to turn into another altogether. But really, both the beginning and the ending are about saying goodbye. It starts with a couple in a park burying their dog, named Karma. This contained the best acting performances in the show. I was really surprised how real it got at times, kudos to Anna Hickey and Justin Michael Cooke. Unfortunately, Cooke was clearly struggling with a head cold or sore throat and his vocals were not very strong or on key, but an A for acting and for embodying the show must go on credo.

Jenny by Flight of the Conchords. Christine Wade and Harrison Wade who are the Vocal Director and Music Director/Pianist of the show perform this piece. Which is basically a girl running into a guy that she has met before, he doesn’t remember it at all and keeps trying to save face and fake his way through it. Apparently the Wades are recently married in real life and performed this at their wedding reception. It went over so well that they decided to include it here and we are lucky they did, it is really delightfully awkward and absurd.

“My Boyfriend is an Alien, and I’m OK with that”.  Written by Christine Toy Johnson and Bobby Cronin. This was the final musical of the evening and deals with exactly what the title implies. This has a sort of early 60’s feel to it, complete with three of the women in the cast singing backup. It’s the weirdest and silliest of the three, and a fun note to end the evening on.

The entire cast of this production are good singers and even though it’s basically staged as a reading they all know how to perform the parts just enough to add humor and emotion when required. What was fun about this evening was that if you didn’t care for one of the pieces it’s no big deal it will be over shortly and you’ll have another musical to connect with. The strength of the evening is that you never feel that way about any of the shows, they are all enjoyable, fun well written and catchy. I wish this was playing for at least one more weekend. The show closes Saturday Jan. 25th. I think most fans of musical comedies would get a real kick out of these shows, and I can only hope that Theatre Elision repeats this show again, or mounts another flight. For more information and to snatch up the last few seats for Saturday’s performance go to https://www.elisionproductions.com/short-musicals

Jesus Christ! Superstar is Not the Second Coming at the Orpheum

Photo by Matthew Murphy

I don’t love the show Jesus Christ Superstar but I like it, I love several of the songs. The last time I saw a production of JCS was in a church in South Minneapolis and I’m sorry to say this production for all it’s money and production values falls short of that production. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission. That’s a relatively short run time, so why was I thinking just kill him already at the one hour mark? I’m not sure what it was, I see that this revival has won some major awards, so there must have been something there once. Maybe the spark has died, perhaps they actors are feeling like they should have reached the end of the tour by now. You know the story is loosely based on the Gospels and follows Jesus through the last weeks of his life focusing on his relationship with Judas Iscariot. Most of which, there is no basis for but it’s a rock opera and it makes for an interesting take on an old story. I went to Sunday school as a child and I’ve seen films about this time period and know the broad strokes quite well and can follow what is being represented throughout the show. My companion for the show was raised in a religious home but had no Sunday school and has never seen a film about Jesus. The thing is, with this production, maybe with all productions of this show, if you don’t know the basics, this show doesn’t give them to you. The Production assumes you know the story of Christ beyond the bare fact that he was the son of God and was crucified on a cross. It assumes you know the Apostles, who Judas was, what he did, and who Mary Magdalene was. All of these things are assumed. I didn’t even realize that until we were discussing the show afterwards. My companion thought this was probably the worst show she’s ever seen. I wouldn’t go that far, but I knew what was going on. Maybe the show doesn’t have to work for people who don’t know the story of Jesus’ last days. Shouldn’t a show work without beforehand knowledge? How is this show going to work for the generation coming up now? Sure a lot of them still go to Sunday school, but I bet if you asked the churches around town they would let you know that while the population in the country has increased the number of people, attendance in church has decreased. You don’t have to be a statistician to draw the conclusion.

I didn’t feel this cast was committed to this production or capable of it. There are several good singers Jenna Rubah as Mary and Eric A. Lewis as Simon are the best. But Rubah doesn’t seem to know the role she is playing. She sings well enough, but she is smiling throughout two of the best songs “Everything’s Alright” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and these are not songs her character should be smiling through. The result is a nice performance of the songs but no acting, no character. But somehow that’s better than Aaron LaVigne as Jesus and James Delisco Beeks as Judas, who seem to remember to act, but suspect they need a rest.

The production Design by Scenic designer Tom Scott and lighting design by Lee Curran are the best part of the show, a little basic but an oversized cross on the floor that is used to throughout the show is dynamic looking. The Choreography by Drew Mconie did nothing for me. Honestly when Jesus’ followers are dancing around I suddenly pictured the kids in the orphanage in Annie singing “It’s a hard knock life”. I don’t know who deserves the criticism for the portrayal of Jesus as a hipster, I suspect that falls on the director Timothy Sheader. If that is their attempt to update this show for the 50th Anniversary, it needed more than that and the other smallish bones it throws out to try and make it seem modern and hip. After seeing this production I think the only way this show can be relevant again is to completely reimagine it. Instead of trying to make it contemporary, I think they should go the other direction and make it more of a traditional musical than it has ever been. It was designed originally to be a rock opera performed as a concert, not as a musical. Someone needs to turn it into a real musical, using the same songs. The original songs were not broken, but embody the show with real emotion and actually tell this story so that someone who doesn’t know it already can learn it. Perhaps add dialogue if needed, there is a lot going on in these songs, but you have to know who the characters are and what their relationships are in order for the inherent emotions in them to play correctly.

Jesus Christ Superstar Plays through Sunday January 26th at the Orpheum theatre in Downtown Minneapolis, for more information or to purchase tickets go to https://hennepintheatretrust.org/events/jesus-christ-superstar-broadway-tickets-minneapolis-mn-2020/.

Noura Captivates at the Guthrie Theater

Photo by Dan Norman

Noura written by Heather Raffo is inspired by A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, but stands on it’s own as a dynamic and moving work that explores the question of identity. The Guthrie Theater has assembled a brilliant cast that brings a complex and dramatic script to life. I’m going to dispense with the Ibsen comparison right away. If you’re familiar with A Doll’s House, you will see the connections that exist. If you’re not, it will not hamper your enjoyment one bit. If I hadn’t recently seen A Doll’s House and known that there was a link, I doubt if I’d even have made the connection. It’s obvious when you are very familiar with Ibsen’s play, but this is not a modern retelling. Noura is it’s own story, it shares a structure and some character motivations with the original, but it has its own soul.

Noura and her husband Tareq and son Yazen have spent the last 8 years since fleeing Iraq becoming United States citizens. They have changed their names to Nora, Tim and Alex, a change that Noura is not as excited about as the males in the family. It’s Christmas Eve and they are getting ready for the holiday, preparing traditional Iraqi foods, and wrapping presents. They expect two guests for Christmas dinner Maryam, an orphan from Iraq who Noura has sponsored but never met, and their childhood friend Rafa’a, a Doctor. Both stop over on Christmas Eve and reveal something to Noura which she did not expect. Those secrets and what they represent bring to the forefront other hidden feelings and details from the past. Noura struggles with the difference between how she grew up, surrounded by family and neighbors and how things are in America, which is more about the individual and less about the community. Her husband is more comfortable with the American lifestyle and wants his family to stop looking back and to move forward as Americans. But as secrets are revealed, we see that in many ways he too is stuck in the past. There are so many ideas at play in the work, from gender roles, the loss of culture and assimilation of another, to the nature of human sexuality and it’s differences between cultures. Noura is a women struggling to determine what she wants and how to move forward. We see that from the beginning and as more and more is piled onto her, the way forward becomes more and more paradoxical.

Noura is played by Gamze Ceylan. Noura could be played, by a lesser actor, as a bundle of contradictions. Noura wants different things and they are not always compatible. Ceylan somehow always makes it clear to us that she understands the disconnect and we understand her motivations within a given moment. She’s not a string of random acts, it all comes from her character. Ceylan clearly has an understanding of that character and so she feels real to us. Whether she is being a loving mother to Yazen or having a devastatingly candide argument with Tareq, she is absolutely in the moment, a truly mesmerizing performance. Tareq as played by Fajer Kaisi is a much more dimensional character than Torvald is in Ibsen’s play. He is not the domineering and controlling master of the house, but her partner. Kaisi shines when he revealed his long held secret thoughts, they are ugly and hypocritical and also painfully human. Kaisi expertly shows us the ugly side of his character while still letting us see that he is a man, with good and bad in him, not a villain. Layan Elwazani who plays Maryam, and Kal Naga who plays Rafa’a are both excellent in their roles. They are a contrast to Noura and Tareq, they seem to know who they are and what they want. They’ve both moved on from their pasts and don’t feel the push and pull that Noura does. Yazen is played on alternating nights by Aarya Batchu and Akshay Krishna, I believe I saw Krishna on the night I attended. I was taken with how natural he seemed as a member of this family, his interactions with the others seemed comfortable. It’s impressive for such a young actor to achieve that level of naturalness on stage.

Taibi Magar’s direction must be credited for making an evening of theater so filled with big ideas, difficult concepts, some truly horrifying realities such a pleasure. I recently saw a production that dealt with some similarly heavy themes and material and it was a chore to sit through and think about. This show engaged the audience so that the darker moments were more keenly felt rather than simply putting the audience off. There are difficult themes and subject matter in this play but it is never difficult to watch. I don’t know when I was this engaged to the point where I wasn’t watching actors read lines but people communicating with each other. That indicates a sure hand at the wheel guiding the actors and pacing the action perfectly. You’d think after years of attending the Guthrie I’d stop being amazed by their sets, but I always am. Matt Saunders Scenic design and Reza Behjat’s Lighting Design combine to create a space that represents not just an apartment, but also the block it’s located on. It’s on a scale which places the action within the apartment into a larger world. The Uhaul boxes that make up the walls of their apartment symbolizing that Noura has still not fully unpacked in America, a part of her is still in Iraq.

Noura is theater of ideas made concrete and real by the contradictions within the characters. Those contradictions reflect our own uncertainties in life. This is must attend theater, it is engaging, thought provoking and moving. Noura is brought into existence by an excellent cast lead by Gamze Ceylan and Fajer Kaisi. The play runs through Feb 16th for more information and tickets go to https://www.guthrietheater.org/ .

The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Returns Us to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear at the Park Square Theater

This one might get a little personal. I was introduced to the classic radio show Suspense by my father. He had 4 little box sets of I think 4 cassettes each probably 1 show on each side, complete with commercials for sponsors Roma Wines and Autolite Spark Plugs. We would listen to the shows in the car together and we loved them. Last night at the Park Square Theatre, though my Dad has been gone for 15 years now, I was transported back to those car rides together. Listening to tale after tale well calculated to keep us in …..SUSPENSE!!!

The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (MORLS) recreated live, two classic radio thrillers from the 1940’s. The performance included live music and sound effects just like they did in the golden age of radio. The group used the original scripts including the CBS identification and the Sponsorship ads. The first script they did was “Sorry, Wrong Number” and it was from the series Suspense. Boy, the memories come flooding back when I heard that ad for Roma Wines. The second script was from the radio series Escape titled, “Three Skeleton Key”. This title also brought back memories of my old college professor, mentor and friend Ted Larson. He played for us, in a class on Radio and TV, a recording of Three Skeleton Key starring Vincent Price. It was an ear opening experience and always stuck with me as a perfect illustration of the power of the theater of the mind. The sound of all those rats!!!! I’m not going to go into the details of these stories as the remaining shows scheduled at Park Square Theatre will each contain 2 different scripts per show.

Using their voices to paint a picture in your mind so vivid that if you close your eyes you can see the action in your minds eye. Like my father before me, I also introduced my kids to this type of story telling when they were younger. My youngest used to listen and re-listen to Bradbury 13, a series of radio adaptations of Ray Bradbury stories created in the 1980’s. There’s something magical about stories told this way. It engages the audience more than TV or film does and because of the sound effects and voice acting, it tends to paint a more vivid picture in our minds than reading a story in a book does. It’s a very special process and I encourage everyone to experience it for yourselves. And parents, do what my father and I did, share this with your kids. It will be a unique experience unlike anything they have experienced before. Take them to a theatre let them watch as these performers bring to life multiple characters and create a world of sound using props. And then have a discussion about what it was like back in those days before TV, before the internet. This will be a unique and entertaining experience for the whole family.

For more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming performances visit http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/ or https://parksquaretheatre.org/ The show I attended was sold out from what I could tell, so I advise you to plan ahead and get tickets sooner rather than later, you will not be disappointed. Upcoming performances at Park Square Theatre are February 17th, March 9th, April 20th, and May 11th. The group also hosts a weekly podcast visit http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/ I know I’ll be checking that out.

Image of one of those box sets of Dad’s

Theater Latté Da presents Bernarda Alba

Photo by Dan Norman

Theater Latté Da’s production of Bernarda Alba is an Aesthetic triumph. Scenic Design, Costuming, Sound Design and lighting are is such accordance that the sense of oppression becomes a character itself. I would be highly surprised if these elements were not in the conversation for the best of 2020 next January. Aided by a top notch cast, Bernarda Alba almost transcends the tragedy and gloom of its story. Theater fans are going to find a lot to admire in the production, there are very few things that don’t work perfectly. This is a great company doing great work in service of a truly downbeat story. I don’t mean to discourage you from attending, not all shows or even musicals have to be upbeat. I think it is important to understand going in that you are going to get very little light at the end of the tunnel. For some people that is not how they want to spend their time out, but I think for most knowing that going in you can appreciate the work on it’s own terms.

The Words and Music are by Michael John LaChiusa based on the play The House of Bernarda Alba by Frederico Garcia Lorca. The story revolves around Bernarda Alba played by Regina Marie Williams, the newly widowed Mother of 5 daughters. Bernarda rules her daughters and her house with an iron fist. The daughters are like prisoners in the estate, they all long to be free and to marry. The main plot incident is the engagement of the oldest daughter Angustias played by Kate Beahen, the one child by Bernarda’s first marriage, to Pepe, a local suiter. The engagement causes conflict between the daughters, particularly when it becomes obvious that Pepe is in love with another daughter Adela, played by Stephanie Bertumen. He is only marrying Angustias because she has a dowery from her late father, as the father of the other girls was not wealthy. This is the primary conflict and it doesn’t change throughout the play. There is little in the way of new information fed to the audience, more like a confirmation of what we’d already assumed. The story seems underwritten in general, we get mood instead of conflict. I’m not sure this needed to be adapted into a musical. There are some good songs, and of course all of the music is performed and sung beautifully. There is one odd element of the songs, a technique at the end of certain lines to screech out the last word. I’m not familiar with this technique and hope I never become to. Thankfully, it is sparingly used as it just seems odd and unnecessary. This seems like a show that treads water for a significant portion of Act 2. and the songs only add to the feeling of padding. It helps that the show runs only about 90 minutes, but there is no intermission, and I think that might be one of the few missteps. A break might have lessened the feel that we seem to be living with the same information without really any new developments for too long.

As I said, the the material is lacking but the production itself is flawless. The entire cast is good, a few standouts for me were; Meghan Kreidler as Martirio, supposedly the ugly sister, perhaps some make up to at least try and get that across visually would have helped. Kreidler is such an intelligent and striking performer, that it’s hard to remember she’s supposed to be ugly and thus unlikely to ever marry. She has the largest emotional swings of the daughters and sells every new emotion or thought completely. Regina Marie Williams commands the stage as completely as her character does the household when she speaks, characters and audience alike take notice. Aimee K. Bryant as Poncia the housekeeper, with the wisdom of an outsider on the inside, shines as a character who in so many different things, making those transitions seamlessly, from protector, to voice of reason, to underling. Finally, Kim Kivens as Maria Josepha, Bernarda’s aged mother who is kept locked away most of the time. Her appearances make clear the motivations of Bernarda, which are all about appearances. She is a tragic character, who has obviously began to fall into dementia. Kivens brings an air of innocence to her her ramblings that we see her as really another daughter being locked away by an overbearing mother.

Photo by Dan Norman

The Scenic design by Kate Sutton-Johnson is another of Theater Latté Da’s brilliant sets. Large wooden beams dominate the ceiling making the set feel like a fortress, keeping the world out and the family in. The Lighting Design by Mary Shabatura does as much as the set, performers and music in creating the atmosphere of grief, oppression and tragedy. It is masterful in directing our eyes and manipulating our mood as we watch. Alice Fredrickson’s costumes are another homerun, of particular note was a white dress Bernarda wears in a number. It begins as a normal dress and unfolds into to parachute size that spins around her as she rotates within. The sea of white fabric all of a sudden after so much black and darkness is one of the most breathtaking moments in the show. The music Direction by Jason Hansen and the Sound Design by Kevin Springer round out the exemplary technical team, that creates a production that is soaked in atmosphere.

Bernarda Alba runs through February 16th at the Ritz Theater in North East Minneapolis for more information and to purchase tickets go to http://www.latteda.org/