OK here is something really unique and if it’s anything like their last production I attended, it will be a blast. Getting the word out early on this as it runs for only five days and the number of attendees per performance is limited. There is a preview Thursday the 27th and then twice daily Friday thru Monday at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM with each performance lasting about 1 hour. This is not a sit in your seat and watch a performance type of show. The League will be a multimedia interactive immersive theatre experience.
Audience members step into Holmes’ shoes and team up with Dr. Watson to investigate recent strange events surrounding a local art gallery. Along the way, they uncover a layered mystery, complete with secret aliases, con artistry, an attempted heist…there’s even a large tree branch.
– From Sparkle Theatricals Website
Sounds fun doesn’t it? I’m sure it will be given my past experience with this Theater Company, here’s a snippet from my review of their production Feed Your Head.
I can’t think of a more unique and fun activity for a family to do over the next three days then take in one of these shows. It’s fun, it’s not too long, it’s full of humor, a great introduction to kids that maybe haven’t been exposed to much in the way of theater. But also for older kids who are interested in theater it’s a great display of some wonderful creativity and spot on character work. Don’t get me wrong though, you don’t have to have kids, there wasn’t a single person under 20 in my group and I think it’s safe to say we all had a great time
– The Stages of MN read the full review of Feed Your Head here http://bit.ly/2PxFfx9
Do not wait to book this, apparently you will receive clues ahead of the performance via emails and even snail mail, the sooner you book the more information you’ll get ahead of time. For more information and to get your tickets go to http://www.sparkletheatricals.org/theleague. And because you my best friends, here’s a code to use at checkout to save $10 off each ticket SHERLOCK. I’ll be attending Friday Oct 28th the 9:00 PM show so if you want to, we can combine brains and try and crack this case wide open together!
****UPDATE additional discount code I’ve just been sent Buy 2 tickets at full price, get a 3rd for only $10 when you use the code TRIO.
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The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (The MORLS) has transferred their monthly live performances of old time radio scripts from Park Square Theater in St. Paul to the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater in Uptown Minneapolis. In the wake of the new theater season opening I missed their first performance in September. That was a missed opportunity that I deeply regret as they performed one of my favorite radio scripts from the series, Suspense “The House in Cypress Canyon.” As disappointing as missing that is it’s a nice reminder that one has to seize the moment when it comes to live theater. You cannot binge these things at your own convenience. Theater happens, and then it’s gone. If you’ve never been you are in for a treat.
The MORLS is four performers: Eric Webster, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Shanan Custer, and Tim Uren. Once a month they perform live shows drawing from old time radio scripts. While acting out multiple voice roles, the four also create all of the sound effects and music cues live, creating a theater of the mind. I’ll frequently close my eyes for stretches and just listen and let my imagination create the visuals. These performances are always entertaining. The stories that held audiences glued to their radios in some cases more than 80 years ago frequently still have the same effect. This months program is something a little different as rather than using existing old time radio scripts, the MORLS have written their own scripts and we are getting three stories rather than the usual two. Here’s what is on the program titled Dracula: Principium et Finis
“Dracula’s Guest” from Dead Men’s Tales. Lost in a mysterious cemetery, Jonathan Harker fights for his life against an unknown foe. Eric Webster’s adaptation of the deleted first chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula!
“Farewell, My Bloody” from Jimmy Montague, Antiquarian-for-Hire. A madman named Renfield lures Jimmy to an insane asylum where he must confront demons from the past and vampires from the present! Joshua English Scrimshaw continues his hardboiled retellings of supernatural classics with this latest installment in his MORLS original series.
“The Red Six” from Rip Roaring Adventures. Doctor Van Helsing leads a last ditch attack on Castle Dracula! Tim Uren reimagines the climactic final chapters of Dracula as a thrilling radio adventure!
From the Ghoulish Delights website
Sounds appropriately spooky doesn’t it? Aside from the program itself I’m excited about the new venue. I only recently realized after listening to one of their podcast episodes that Bryant-Lake Bowl is where I first encountered these four performers. When my oldest son was just a wee lad he was very into monsters and we would go with my brother and his wife and son to the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theatre and see a serial production called London After Midnight. The four MORLS were all involved in that production, and if I remember right that is where Eric met the others. So I’m kind of looking forward to some waves of nostalgia, and enjoying some tasty food, another perk that the Park Square venue was missing. The show is Sunday Oct 23rd and begins at 7:00, but the doors open at 6:30 and you can bring food and drinks in from the bar area.
For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.ghoulishdelights.com/. Seating is general admission. I’ll be there so if you come make sure to say hi and join us. You can also find information about their podcast at the link above and how to be become a Patreon supporter with all the honors and benefits that entails.
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Alice D. Piar Acevado, Mariadela Belle Alvarez, Abigail Chagolla, Bethmari Marquez Barreto, and Xochi De la Luna. Photo by Molly Weibel, 1000 Words Photography-MN
This production of the Josefina Lopez play Real Women Have Curves is a collaboration between Lyric Arts and Teatro Del Pueblo. Teatro Del Pueblo produced the play last summer in Minneapolis with most of the same cast, I did not attend that production so am grateful for this remounted production at Lyric Arts. It’s a very well written play originally set in 1987 that has been updated to include cell phones and mentions of Instagram. Dealing with issues that seem as relevant today or even more so then when it was first produced in 1990. It’s a pleasant production that features a cast that so endearing that by the end it overcomes whatever shortcomings they have.
The Script is in the vein of Steel Magnolias or The Dixie Swim Club as it puts the focus on a group of women, in this case Latinas, exploring their relationships with each other while also spotlighting their roles socially and politically in the larger world.
Set in a tiny sewing factory in East L.A., this is the outrageously funny story of five Latin-American women who are racing to meet nearly impossible deadlines in order to keep their factory from going under. And while they work, they talk…about their husbands and lovers, their children and their dreams for the future. Ana, however, has dreams bigger than sewing the rest of her life away. Her world-weary coworkers can’t help but laugh at her ambitions and what they consider her “idealistic feminist philosophies.” As the summer unfolds, the threat of deportation and cultural pressures mount. The women navigate issues of self-image while uniting to achieve their seemingly impossible goals; learning to love and appreciate not only one another, but themselves in the process. A microcosm of the Latina immigrant experience, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES celebrates women’s bodies, the power of women, and the incredible bond that happens when women work together.
From Lyric Arts Website
What is interesting for a white midwestern male is how universal but also unique the relationships are. Some of the relationship nuances, like the mother daughter dynamics and the willingness to sacrifice for each other could be any group of women. But the constant fear of a raid by ICE, even for those who are no longer illegal, is where we in the audience stop knowing and start learning. That is one of the wonderful aspects of the script, we can relate to the characters in so many ways which invites us into their world. Then we are confronted with aspects we have never had to deal with but because we have been able to relate to the characters it allows us to better onboard the new perspective making the empathy we feel that much more tangible. This is a really good script and the reason to take in the production, it’s let down a little by the execution.
The cast is hard to comment on. They all have moments when they really bring it where you completely buy them in the roles, most of them also have moments where you see them as actors reciting lines they have learned. Most of them do not physically measure up to the roles. The dialogue that pertains to weight and body size loses it’s reality and the message of empowerment and acceptance, is dulled because of this. Maybe it’s wrong to criticize not casting by body type and then in the next sentence praise them for being inclusive in their casting as I’m about to. The role of Rosali is played by a transgender performer Xochi De la Luna, not as a trans character but as one of the women in the factory. This is as it should be, but I think we are still at a point socially that when unbiased gender casting occurs it should be applauded at the theatre companies acknowledged. The one performer who is never seen acting is the performer new to the cast Alice D. Piar Acevado who plays Pancha. She is Pancha from start to finish, the only false moment she has is when she, the petitist of the cast, has to make her declarations of having curves. All that said, by the end of the show, the cast has shown their hearts and whatever they may lack in polish is outweighed by the way they have endeared themselves to the audience.
I’ve seen, reviewed or been a part of enough productions over the years to differentiate between a good script and a bad one regardless of the production. This is a good script, the production at times feels ununified and unfocused. The themes are there in the script but they are not focused in the staging or performances and I think this is attributable to the Co-Directors Lelis Brito and Adlyn Carreras. The show just doesn’t flow as it should, the camaraderie between the women doesn’t feel natural at times. There is the decision to have Acevado get on a chair and change the hands of the clock on the wall everytime there is a passage of time between scenes. It’s a distracting bit of stage management that isn’t needed, ignore the hands on the clock or remove the clock. Perhaps it’s an attempt to recognize the deadline for the project they are working on, if so there’s a better way of handling it and emphasizing it through design and performance. In general, design wise the show looks and great. The set design by Mikha Aleman is excellent as are the lighting by Shannon Elliott and sound design by Eric M. C. Gonzalez.
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Of Pigs and Pianos is an evening I will cherish and carry in my soul. It’s not often you can say you were in the room with true genius, but that was surely the case last night as I sat in the Jungle’s intimate little theater and listened to Sara Davis Buechner share her story and her talent. What resounds most throughout the evening is her love of music. We often hear people say they love this or they love that. Here’s an instance where you actually watch someone embody their love for something. When she talks about her love of music and then sits and plays a piece from Mozart, Chopin, or her own composition, she isn’t playing music, she’s playing her love, and it is beautiful. I came to this production primarily because Ms. Buechner is transgender. As regular readers know, my youngest son is transgender and so these stories always hold an extra draw for me. Seeing the stories of transgender artists shared is important, it speaks to and can be an inspiration for those who share that journey and it creates empathy and understanding in a world that seems increasingly hostile to the diversity that should be enriching our lives.
Sara Davis Buechner opens by telling us about the piano teacher who asked her at a very young age what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her reply was a piano player, and a pig farmer. She spends the all too brief evening sketching out her life, from a young boy who wants a blue dress and yellow hat like Madeline, to award winning concert pianist. As with most on the transgender journey, Buechner’s story is not all piano concerts and happily ever afters, she bravely shares the unhappy alongside the happy as they were frequently coinciding. This helps the audience to get some understanding of the dysphoria that can be so much a part of someone trying to understand their place in the world and to find themselves. What resonates most keenly is the moment when she becomes herself, the moment she looks up into the sky and becomes Sara. After that moment, though she begins to see all she has achieved slip away, she’s OK with it, because at last she is herself. I’ve seen the release that understanding can bring, the weight that can be lifted, the joy that can be found from figuring out who you are and being able to live as that person. Buechner communicates that moment and how that feels so eloquently and clearly.
I came for the trans but was enraptured by the music. I enjoy classical music. My first exposure that left an impression was Disney’s Fantasia in the theater when I was five. I don’t come into regular contact with it aside from covering the occasional Opera, so I was confident I would enjoy the musical portion as well as the personal story aspects of the production. I underestimated the effect the musical interludes would have upon me. It’s one thing to attend an orchestra concert and enjoy the piano solo; it’s nice, how lovely, what talent. And then, there is sitting with maybe 100 other people and watching Buechner play. It’s like a completely different art. I read in the press release that the performance was an hour with no intermission. Thankfully, that isn’t accurate, it was closer to an hour and a half, and too brief at that. I could listen to Buechner tell her story for hours. Shockingly, I think I could sit and listen and watch her play for days. I don’t think I’ve been transported by classical music this much since seeing Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” brought to visual life by the wonderful Disney animation artists in 1977.
Is this for everyone? Probably. I can’t imagine anyone not benefiting from seeing this show. Sara Davis Buechner is brilliant pianist and a remarkable role model for the LGBTQ+ community, do not miss this opportunity to see a musician of this calibre in person. But, do heed the content warning on the Jungle theaters website which states “CONTENT WARNING: OF PIGS AND PIANOS contains strong adult content and language. Recommended for audiences 16 and older.” I would agree with that age recommendation. The Jungle Theater has a wonderful program called “Pay as you are.” The suggested ticket price is $45 dollars, if you cannot afford that, you can pay what you can. If you can afford to pay a little more, that allows them to continue this program making amazing performances like this accessible to everyone. When you go, I recommend getting seats house left if possible, I was house right and many of the projections were obstructed by the Piano lid. Now, if only house right seats are still available take em, its the Jungle Theater, there isn’t really a bad seat in the house. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.jungletheater.org/of-pigs-and-pianos
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It must be Monster Month because the Twin Cities Horror Festival starts up next week, and I for one cannot wait!!! For the uninitiated, the TCHF is a Festival which uses the Fringe Festival model but on a smaller scale. For example, instead of multiple venues every performance takes place at The Crane Theatre in NE Minneapolis. As an added bonus, it’s actually possible to see every production unlike Fringe, so you don’t have to pick and choose. This year for their 11th season there are 11 different productions each scheduled for multiple performances over the 11 days of the Festival. I don’t know about you, but I’m noticing a pattern there. On each given evening or day of the Festival there is a new performance every 90 minutes. Each of these little staged horror themed plays runs a little under an hour, then they have about 30 minutes for the show that just performed to clear the stage and the next production to set up. This will be my third year covering the festival and believe me, some of the shows are fairly sparse when it comes to sets and design, but others are surprisingly elaborate given the restrictions.
People ask me are the plays really scary? Well, there is usually one or two of the shows that will give you that fear rush or make you scream. The others vary from creepy to humorous but all have some sort of connection to horror. In general, I’ve had very few if any, that I didn’t think were worth my time. It’s almost always enjoyable in some way. If you are looking for scary or the not as scary ones you can go on the festival website, click on the lineup, and then the learn more button under each production. From there besides a description of the show and the dates and times of its performances, you’ll see a rating system. This will help you determine which shows are right for you, your children, and grandmothers. But the 11 various productions are not all the Festival has to offer there are also things to do in the lobby between performances. There is Tarot Readings by Nissa Nordland Morgan as well as some yet to be announced activities by Amber Bjork and Lauren Anderson (YES!!!). Visit the website for times, options, and details and to reserve your Tarot reading time. There is also some wonderful merchandise on sale, previous years have had everything from T-shirts and hoodies to bars of soap.
I have had a great time covering this festival in the past and look forward to it every year. If you enjoy spookables and bumpities as much as I do, I hope you’ll join me for a few or 11 of these unique and creative productions. I think it’s safe to take a chance on any of these shows so I’m posting my schedule here so you can join me, if you do please be sure to say hi. If you like to play it safe though I’ll be posting brief reviews of each production within a day of seeing it so watch this site for day to day reviews.
The Stages of MN TCHF Schedule:
Thursday 10/20 6:00 PM: Edgar Perry 7:30 PM: Stabby Stab stab 9:00 PM: The Shrieking Harpies 10:30 PM: Gillman Genesis
Sunday 10/23 1:30 PM: Victor Invictus 3:00 PM: Bad Egg 4:30 PM: All Your White Darlings
Thursday 10/27 9:00 PM Ted’s Talk
Saturday 10/29 1:30 PM Dead Mountain
Now to make your own schedule and to purchase tickets, each performance is $15 but you can also purchase a 5 punch pass for $70 (it looks like on the website that the $120 all access Skeleton Key passes are sold out) go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/
And remember, it’s only a play…right?
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The Guthrie Theater hosts its first of two world Premieres of the season which also marks their 60th year. Sally & Tom is a play about a play about the relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. There are basically two stories being told, that which is the play being rehearsed and then, the story of the theater company that is mounting the production. It’s an extremely effective way to comment on the historical through the contemporary mindset and the parallels keep revealing themselves the more you meditate on them. A powerful and playful script brought to life by an exemplary cast. As with their first production of the year Vietgone, the only fault I can find with the cast is the under representation of local talent. Only Guthrie regular Sun Mee Chomet and relative newcomer to the Twin cities Daniel Petzold in a cast of eight are not imported for the production. Of course once again they are all brilliant so it’s hard to raise too much of an issue. The season is off to a positive start as the Guthrie seems to be embracing diversity, not only in cast, but in the stories it is telling and the behind the scenes talent who are bringing these stories to the stage.
Sally & Tom is written by Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog, which is just one of the many honors her writing has garnered. After seeing this play, it’s not hard to see why she is such an honored writer. Each of the stories on view are more or less straightforward and not overly complex in and of themselves. The complexity comes in the way in which the stories interact, and the commentary that isn’t stated but implied between them. The play that the theater company is putting on and of which we see large portions of performed during rehearsals is powerful and thought provoking as you can imagine. The part of the play that takes place outside of the play within a play is more light hearted on the surface but on reflection there are some modern day parallels. To be fair, there is nothing equivalent to the impact of slavery in the modern thread. But what’s clever is the way we are given real everyday relatable problems that help us understand that world of the past while also showing us the different option the modern day counterparts have. Just Looking at the relationships between Sally and Tom and the actors who are playing them, Luce and Mike, who are also the Writer and Director of the play. Luce has options Sally doesn’t in terms of her relationship. Mike uses financial excuses to try and justify his worst behavior just as Jefferson did. There is also along the way a nice examination of how art is created and in what must be a playwrights dream, there is a speech in the play within the play that is powerful and wonderfully performed. Parks, finds a way to have her cake and eat it too, by having the speech which really is too long and on the nose, performed in rehearsal and then cut from the play as it rightly should be.
As I’ve said, the cast is fantastic. Kristen Ariza as Luce and Sally Hemings, Amari Cheatom as Kwame and James Hemings, and Luke Robertson as Mike and Thomas Jefferson shine in the largest parts. Cheatom in particular gets to have that speech I wrote of earlier and he delivers it brilliantly as the character James Hemmings, but he’s also equally convincing playing the almost too cool for the production actor Kwame. I’d like to spotlight our local talent a little. Sun Mee Chomet plays Scout who in the play within a play is performing the role of Polly, Jefferson’s youngest daughter while also stage managing the show. she gets a nice little story thread of her own and makes the most of it. She comes to the realization that having worked her way up in the company to an onstage role, that is where she truely aspires to be. When she declares that in the show it’s a testament to the performer that the moment moves us. Chomet is a wonderful character actor, always finding a way to make an impression and endear herself to the audience even without a lot of dialogue or stage time. Daniel Petzold plays, as the actor character Geoff states, many different roles. I don’t know what it is about Petzold, but he’s quickly becoming a favorite. This is his third performance I’ve seen and in each one he brings something special. Sometimes there are performers that just become your favorites, the ones who you’ll go to a show just to see what they will do with a role. Petzold seems destined to join that list for me alongside other local favorites Tyler Michaels King, Sally Wingert, Nissa Nordland Morgan, Sam Landman, Joy Dolo Anfinson, Tom Reed, Lily Tung Crystal…. OK there are more but I digress. Petzold does indeed play many different roles within the play within a play, but it’s his role as the actor Geoff that really captures the audience’s attention. Making the most of the comedic relief bits he’s given, he also has a wonderfully sweet romantic thread that works perfectly due to the vulnerability he infuses the character with.
Director Steve H. Broadnax III makes his Guthrie debut, hopefully they coax him back for future shows. This is a wonderfully staged production, Broadnax uses the space creatively allowing the stage to be a stage for a play with scenery that drops in as needed, but it also becomes the stage of a rehearsal in a theatre, we have lights that drop down, when we suddenly hear the stage manager call to take 10 (minutes). The flow between the actors performing the play and the actors working on the play is masterfully worked. At times it so jarring because we forgot that the play within the play, was a play within a play (my God the play within a play thing is getting ridiculous isn’t it?) we are so wrapped up in it. The Scenic Design by Riccardo Hernandez and Lighting Design by Alan C. Edwards are as flawless as we have come to expect from a Guthrie production. They work beautifully together to create this world of theatre onstage, backstage, rehearsal, performance, they get the feel of all these moments just right.
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I attended the world premiere of the MN Opera’s brand new opera Edward Tulane based upon the novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by celebrated Newbery Award winning Minnesota author Kate Dicamillo. The Production Design is simply stunning and the episodic nature of the story allows for that aspect to really shine. What struck me as well about the Opera is it’s generous use of humor. It’s a children’s tale told in a way that could appeal to children but also plays well to the mainly adult audience. Performed in English and with English captions projected above the stage. The captions are needed, not just because the operatic style can make it difficult to catch every line, but also because much of the humor comes from what it is said not simply the gist and the emotions behind it. I found it to be a thoroughly enchanting production, accompanying Edward on his journey was magical.
The Libretto is by Mark Campbell with music by Paola Prestini, having not read the novel I cannot comment on how faithful the adaptation is. I can say that the story as told, works. We meet Edward, who is a large China rabbit doll, when he is received as a christmas gift by Abilene. Abilene loves Edward from the moment she lays eyes on him, he is more reserved. That first night Abilene’s Grandmother tells her a bedtime story that is wonderfully dark and very cleverly acted out for us, it’s a highlight of the production. When Edward is lost overboard on a sea voyage he begins a journey that will take him in contact with many characters and bring him into very different lifestyles. Along the journey he will spend time under the sea (beautifully realized), then rescued by a fisherman and his wife who are empty nesters. Next with a drifter and his dog, riding the rails and finally with a young girl named Sarah Ruth, who is gravely ill, and her brother Bryce in a home with an abusive father where Act 1 ends. Act 2 begins with the revelation that Sarah Ruth has died and Bryce and Edward run away to become street performers. Finally after a violent attack on Edward in a diner, he ends up in a doll store, repaired but one of many dolls all hoping to be adopted. These various homes and owners all teach him how to appreciate love and how to show it. By the end of the story he is ready to love unreservedly when he once again comes into the possession of a new little girl and her mother.
I cannot with any confidence evaluate the quality of the various performers singing voices. I can say that for me the stand outs vocally were Jack Swanson as Edward, Brian Vu as Bryce, and Jasmine Habersham as his sister Sarah Ruth. Swanson, a native of Stillwater MN is said to be a rising star on the Opera scene and it’s not hard to see why. There is a sequence in the second act that wonderfully showcases his range in a way that even a novice operagoer like myself can appreciate. But in addition to his voice it was his performance choices that brought to full force the dry humor of the script. Edward is a character that watches and listens, and never really gets to interact verbally with the other characters, he shares his thoughts, mostly directly to the audience. We feel like we know the character and more than anything else his temperament, which is a testament to Swanson’s nonverbal performance as much as to his vocals. Of the other performers there was definitely a volume issue with some of the performers, making again the captions a necessity rather than an occasional convenience.
Certainly a production like this the other creative departments deserve equal praise with the performers. The magnificent set designs by Walt Spangler create a larger world for Edward to traverse. Whether it’s that wonderful under the sea sequence, which also highlights the brilliant costumes designs of Victoria (Vita) Tzykun and lighting design of Marcus Doshi, or the Fisherman’s crooked home, it all looks like a children’s story book come to life. And not the broad cartoonish illustrations of most children’s books but the detailed and textured illustration like those of the novels illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline. Tzykun’s costumes are wonderful throughout, the standout being those of the undersea creature, that sequence is so wonderfully realized that we wish more of the story took place there. It’s simply a stunning production design from top to bottom and the entire productions comes together seamlessly under the stage direction of Eric Simonson and Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya. With so many location changes happening fluidly it seems fitting to also give some praise to the Stage Manager Jerry K. Smith.
Edward Tulane is a great introduction to the Opera for young audiences. It is a story they may know, it has wonderful sets and costumes which can introduce them to the creativity and real world magic that live performances can embody. The Opera runs through October 16th for for information and to purchase tickets go to https://mnopera.org/season/2022-2023/edward-tulane/.
Here are few more photos by Cory Weaver from the production to wet your appetite:
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