“Once” at DalekoArts is Worth the Journey to New Prague. It Would Actually be Worth a Trip to Fargo.

Based on the enchanting film by John Carney, Once loses none of it’s charm in the transition to the stage. In fact, this particular production may have picked some up. I’d like to just say it’s fookin brilliant and leave it at that, but I think you expect a little more than that from me. That’s essentially what it boils down too. This blog was born in part from two experiences at the theatre in the spring of 2019. I saw two shows that blew me away and had me going back multiple times, bringing new people with to each performance. The energy I felt after those shows and desire to share it with others gave birth to the idea that became The Stages of MN. Tonight I’m feeling that same energy, that same desire to go again and bring everyone I know with. These shows that get you this high are rare. I’ve seen a lot of really good theater in 2022 already, fantastic shows, but something about this one has that special feeling. That desire to take everyone you know to it and remind them of how involving, joyful, and moving live theater can be. I had never been to DalekoArts in New Prague, probably because it’s in New Prague. If this is the kind of work they’re regularly putting out, I’ve made a huge mistake and denied myself some great theatre. In my defense, I hadn’t really heard of it until right before the pandemic. For me, it’s a 40 minute drive but hey, so is St. Paul when the traffics a little heavy. DO NOT LET THE DISTANCE STOP YOU.

So if you haven’t seen the film Once, it’s set in Dublin and follows the story of a guy and a girl who meet on the street when she hears him playing his guitar and singing a song. She is also musical and recognizes his talent, but recognizes that he’s about ready to give up on his music and himself. She doesn’t let him and they grow close in a very short amount of time. She learns about his life, losses, the girl he wrote the songs for has gone away to New York, his Mother has died, and he works with his father repairing Hoovers. He learns about hers as well, she is a Czech immigrant living with her mother, young daughter, her husband has gone home to Czeckloslovakia and things are not good between them right now. She convinces him that they should make a Demo of his songs and he should take it to New York to be with his girl and share his music. They raise the money for the demo and with the help of their friends make the demo, but all the while their feelings for each other grow stronger. The book is by Enda Walsh and it takes some liberties with Carney’s original story but they all work to create a tighter community within the world of the play and a sense of community is what is so remarkable about this production. That and the songs carried over from the film including the Oscar winning “Falling Slowly” most of which are by the stars of the film Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Before the show proper begins the members of the orchestra and most of the cast are on stage performing songs. This has a very relaxed and spontaneous feel to it which carries directly into the show. Every member of the cast appears to be an accomplished musician. At any given time there are three or four guitars in use along with various other stringed instruments that I cannot name but I may have seen in an episode of Star Trek as a kid. Throw in a violin or two, a cello, a couple of pianos, and various percussion instruments, and assume probably anyone on stage at any given moment can play any of them. And when they do, but they do it so well, and here’s the key to the shows success they seem to do it on a whim. Like they are listening to someone perform and decide, hey I’m going to grab and instrument and join in. My first assumption when I saw the sheer number of guitars in play was that Chris Paulson who plays “Guy” probably couldn’t play and so he would fake strum along and the other guitars would handle the actual music. Nope, he’s not only a fantastic singer he’s really good on the guitar too. The Music Director and pianist in the orchestra Bradley Beahen is also on stage and again I thought maybe Leslie Vincent who plays “Girl” can’t really play the piano very well so she’ll be miming it as Beahen plays. Nope, not only does she have a great singing voice, but she can play piano very well. Folks what I’m saying is these are not The Monkees, these people are playing their own instruments, and singing, and acting, and there’s a little dance too. The music is sublime, kudos to Director Amanda White and Beahen for assembling such a musically gifted cast.

Aside from the film I have seen the stage musical Once before at Theatre Latte Da when they mounted a production in 2018 or 2019. I’m a big fan of the film and I enjoyed the Latte Da’s production as well. But there was something about this small theater, with a stage about 1/4 the size of The Ritz Theater. With just as many performers that created an atmosphere that surpasses what Latte Da with a budget probably 10X DalekoArts’ was able to conjure. I was in my favorite spot front row center, and you feel like you are part of the show, that you are just part of this environment where people just sort of grab a guitar and join in making fantastic music. This is why we restage shows, why we can go see a show at one theatre and go see the same show at another theatre. Different productions even with the same quality or musicians and performers can feel totally unique. This cast is perfect top to bottom. I’m a soft touch, but they moved me to tears of joy on at least three separate occasions. It isn’t just Paulson and Vincent either, though they are beyond perfect in the roles, it’s every single one of them. Even the ensemble player Shelby Lengyel, who has a short scene as the guys ex-Girlfriend brought me to tears in what, a 90 second scene. This cast and this production are off the hook. White’s direction keeps the show flowing like a winding river that doesn’t seem to know where it’s flowing to but still gets to exactly where it needs to be at exactly the right time. The casual atmosphere allows for transitions between scenes to feel organic and natural. You never forget you are in a theatre, but you do forget you are watching a scripted performance at times. In short it’s fookin brilliant.

DalekoArts is located in New Prague MN, the theatre is general admission get there early I think the performance I attended was sold out other than a single here and there, I saw a couple of parties have to split up. I also highly encourage you to sit as close as you can, front row is not too close, but really the theatre is so small there isn’t a bad seat in the house. For more information and to purchase tickets you can go to https://www.dalekoarts.com/home

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Monsters in a Mirror a Horror Anthology of Six/Four Short Plays in Uptown

Monsters in a Mirror is advertised as a horror anthology of six short plays each with a different director. All of the plays are adapted from stories in the collection Monsters in a Mirror Strange Tales From the Chapel Perilous by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low. The thing is by my count, it’s four short plays with four musical performances between them. If the musical performances called “Fast Talking” are considered plays as well, then it’s either five or if they’re counted together, it’s eight. Mathematically what I saw tonight cannot be calculated as six. I’m assuming that two segments were cut, presumably the scary ones. The show clocks in at about 70 minutes, and it definitely should be categorized in the humor column rather than horror. As a horror show it fails, as an evening out, it’s enjoyable. Frankly, it made me curious about the source material. The four “plays”, I think they are using that term loosely, are quite varied and it’s not easy to picture all of them as short stories. For example the bookend, pieces are related to each by a character and are both a little more than sketches. They play very well live but it’s hard to imagine the form they take in the book.

So what you get is eight segments in about 70 minutes, with some downtime (minimal) for staging changes. To go into the plots would be to rob you of the entire experience. The bookend segments Speak Now, or Forever Rest in Peace and The Sleeper, Woke as I mentioned are basically sketches. They are ambiguous as to what is actually transpiring, but that doesn’t matter. The joy in these are all in the dialogue. The jokes and the wit come in a stream of consciousness that’s really very charming as are the performers Rob Ward who appears as Penner in both segments, and Remy Chacon as the Figment in the first. My favorite was the second segment Say Yes. This was the one that had a dark little idea behind it that kept one upping itself in a cleaver twisted way. The third segment, while my least liked, was actually my companions favorite. It’s performed as an old radio show with the cast doing the sound effects on stage. For me, the story wasn’t engaging enough; however, the performers were all strong. The minimal amount of sound effects were a disappointment after attending far more entertaining radio style performances of the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society at Park Square Theatre. Finally, the musical interludes are short but fun, performed by My Very Friend in a Mask with a Ukulele. The first song of the evening was the best and oddly reminded me of Lou Reed. Although I cannot really defend that statement, it’s just how it struck me at first.

So to sum it up, it isn’t what it’s advertised as, but it’s still enjoyable. I wouldn’t make a special trip into the city to attend it, but if you live in the Uptown area or are there for dinner there’s enough good stuff here to warrant stopping in and checking it out. But don’t go looking for horror, here there be clowns not tygers. For More information and to purchase tickets for Monsters in a Mirror go to maximumverbosityonline.org The Show runs through May 7th at the Phoenix Theater in Uptown Minneapolis.

Memphis at Artistry in Bloomington a Brilliant Ending to a Month Full of Great Theatre

Memphis Opened this past weekend at Artistry Theater in Bloomington, this is the regional premiere of the musical which won 4 Tony Awards including Best Musical in 2010. It’s my first exposure to the show and I went in with very little beforehand knowledge. Whatever expectations I went in with, have been exceeded. Memphis is a fictionalized history lesson about the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in memphis in the 1950’s. The show has music and lyrics by David Bryan of the rock band Bon Jovi with book and lyrics by Joe Dipietro. One of the things I loved about this show were the period sounding original songs. In that respect, it reminded me of the underrated Allison Anders film Grace of My Heart, which does something similar with the singer songwriters of New York’s Brill Building in the 1960’s. Although a fiction, it’s loosely based on real events and while it has great music and plenty of humor, it doesn’t ignore the social realities of the 1950’s in the Southern United States. Many of the characters are black and this doesn’t shy away from the language of the time. Race is as much a part of this story as music is. This would be a nice jumping off point for parents of teenagers to discuss how things used to be verses how history is written by those in power. As director of Memphis Aimee K. Bryant points out in her program note, many credit Elvis Presley with inventing rock ‘n’ roll, but he learned it from the black musicians on Beale Street in Memphis. Bryant further points out that the play does the same thing, it credits DJ Huey Calhoun with the music taking off, rather than the people who created the music. There is a lot to unpack and discuss with children old enough to understand the use of certain words and phrases in an historical context.

This is the story: Huey Calhoun who seems lost, especially to the patrons in the bar he enters at the beginning of the show. Huey loves the music he hears in the bars and clubs in the areas of town where white men like himself don’t usually go. He hears the owner of the bars sister Felicia singing and proclaims in song that this is “The Music of My Soul”. Huey vows to make Felicia a star, even though he can hardly hold down a job. He convinces his boss at the department store he works at to let him play records over the store speakers in order to sell records. He makes a success of it but is fired anyway because he is playing “inappropriate music”. Huey then sneaks his way into a DJ booth at a radio station and plays some of his own records. Before they can throw him out of the station the phones start ringing off the hook with everyone asking for more of Huey Calhoun. His popularity grows, culminating in his own TV program. Along the way he begins to woo Felicia, much to her brother Delray and his Mother’s dismay. We get a view of history through the eyes of the people we come to care about in the story, we also see how music can bring people together. There is a nice little scene in the middle of the play where we see people getting excited about Calhoun’s show and “his” music. In addition, we see black teenagers and white teachers begin to mingle a little over their shared love of the music.

The cast is stacked top to bottom with stellar performers. Matt Riehle demonstrates a superb voice backed up by a winning performance as the idealistic and color blind, Huey Calhoun. Everyone in the play seems to understand the reality of the time in place in terms of race but Huey. This could have come off as unfathomable, but Riehle sells Huey’s naivete through his idealism. Vie Boheme as Felicia is his match both vocally and in acting. She knows the world and tries and keep Huey from having unrealistic beliefs. Boheme has us feeling with her the frustration in getting him to tone down his expectations and make sensible choices but also when she gets carried away by his optimism. Those two alone would make for a show worth attending, but they are also surrounded by so much talent, one hardly knows where to start unless you are going to run through the entire cast. Dante Banks Murray as Delray and Wendy Short-Hays as Mama Calhoun are standouts as well as is Rudolph Searles III as Bobby Dupree who Huey meets at Delray’s bar and later at the radio station where he works as a janitor only to end up singing on Huey’s TV show. Fun character work from Jay Albright and Rodney Patrick Fair in multiple roles and Carl Swanson at the owner of the radio station. Final mention of Emily Madigan as Gator, this is the third time this month I’ve attended a production that features woman or a non-binary performer in the role of a male character. In each instance it has been my sense that there was no intended comment on the work in such casting. In all three, I thought the casting was spot on and Madigan was perfect. I hope we continue to see casting along these lines which is to say, casting the person whose talents are the best match the role.

Aimee K. Bryant brings everything together with an energy that matches Huey Calhoun’s enthusiasm, which is no small feet. She does a wonderful job of producing a show that doesn’t shy away from some difficult subject matters but also doesn’t get bogged down in them. We still have an enjoyable entertainment, but one we talk and think about as well. A tricky balance no doubt but Bryant walked that tight rope and made it look easy. She’s got a terrific group of collaborators as well in Leah Nelson’s Choreography and Ginger Commodore’s music direction. When I saw stills of the Set Design by Michael Hoover and lit by Lighting Designer Kyia Britts, I wasn’t too impressed, but in the actual production I loved it. I thought the use of different levels whether we are at the DJ booth on the mid-side level or walking down the street on the upper level, created a well defined sense of place. In a moment when Huey and Felicia are at their highest, placing them on that upper level was a nice visual representation of where the characters were at emotionally.

Memphis runs through May 15th at Artistry for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://artistrymn.org/

Hands on a Hardbody, a Musical Performed in a Car Dealership!

It’s always fun when a company decides to stage a show in a unique environment. For example, I’ve seen several shows at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul including Minneapolis Musical Theatre’s (MMT) own production of Daddy Long Legs. But tonight may be the most unique experience I’ve had. MMT staged Hands on a Hardbody at Luther Cadillac in Roseville. The space adds some challenges but it also lends the program an energy all it’s own. The show is immensely enjoyable, something we’ve come to expect from MMT, but this one sneaks insight into humanity as well. Here’s an affordable show (the unique seating system allows for everyone’s budget) to take the teenage kids to, where everyone is going to have a good time. It’s also a great way to expose people to the idea that theater doesn’t have to be seats facing a stage in a theatrical building. I think these exercises help to open people’s minds to new creative possibilities. I’m sure the artists behind this production found it challenging at times but I suspect it’s the type of challenges that result in new ideas and get the creative juices flowing in a rewarding way.

Hands On a Hardbody is based on the 1997 documentary film Hands on a Hardbody by S.R. Bindler. Remember when they used to make movies out of musicals rather than the other way round? Well, this is a case where the end results justifies its existence. The premise will be familiar, I’m fairly certain that any sitcom that lasts more than five seasons is required to have a show that uses this situation as a premise. Contestants are required to keep one hand on a pickup truck at all times except for during a 15 minute break every 6 hours. If your hands come off the truck you are out, the last person standing wins the truck. The setting is a Texas town that has seen better days, and the contest means more than just winning a new ride. Each contestant is in it for their own reasons. For one, it is a way to get a degree. For another, a way out of this town. And another, a way to start their own business. We have a nice cross section of people, an older man with some health issues, a soldier, a pair of young people who fall in love, a devout Christian, and of course there has to be a villain, in this case it’s the reigning champion who won a pick-up truck 2 years ago and has some tolerance issues. He’s not the only character that falls into the villain category but all those that do, are not traditional villains anyway. They all get some redemption and are not totally evil people.

I was surprised at the size of the cast considering the limited space, but then the circumstances of the play limit the amount of space needed to stage the show. There are 18 performers listed in the program. To be honest, not all of the performers were really up to the singing requirements. No one was terrible but the results were uneven across the cast. There were definitely some standouts vocally. Roland Hawkins II not only blew our socks of with his singing but he had enough charisma to energize the entire room. James Lane as Benny was another standout. Some performers had to struggle with songs that at times were pushing their range, the songs Lane performed were solidly in his sweet spot and he nailed them. Aly O’Keeffe doesn’t has as large a role as Hawkins or Lane, but she had a beautiful voice when she got the chance to sing. She shares a couple of songs with her characters husband J.D. played by Christian Unser. Unser can sing well, not great, but he compensates and elevates the singing with is acting. His J.D. was my favorite character and his final song with O’Keeffe found me surprisingly close to tears. One final performer I want to take note of is Emily Rosenberg. They play Greg, one half of the young bumper crossed lovers. I’ve noticed them a few times since the theaters reopened through their work with Theatre Pro Rata. Every once in awhile you come across an actor that you can just tell is someone to keep an eye on. Rosenberg has something, I don’t think we’ve seen their best work yet, but it’s coming.

There’s not much to say from a technical standpoint, the set is practically non-existent. One assumes that’s an actual truck and not something whipped up by the Scene Designer. If I’m wrong, then this is the greatest set design of any Twin Cities theater company, ever. But it’s a real truck. The direction by Sara Pillatzki-Warzeha is perfect as it was with her last MMT show Be More Chill. She keeps what is basically a parked truck with people standing around it visually interesting. We get characters moving around the truck allowing us to see all of the characters wherever we may be seated. Some lively dance routines choreographed by Abbi Fern also help to keep the stationary subject matter from becoming static visually. The Ensemble lead by Music Director Jean Orbison Van Heel sounded great. I’m sure that was a relief given the space, you never think about the acoustics of a car dealership showroom. The one area the production did stumble on was the Lighting Design by Jeffrey R. Johnson. I’m sure it’s challenging to tear down and remount the lighting for each show, this is a car dealership that is in business during the day after all. But unless this was just an off night, they need to sort something better out, more than once the cast was left unlit or only partially lit. It was a distraction and the only real shortcoming of an otherwise successful show.

Hands on a Hardbody runs through May 8th. Tickets are limited to only 100 per performance, the range in price depending on your seating preference which includes a bring your own chair option and standing room. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.aboutmmt.org/tickets-2/

The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Returns Us to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear Once Again at Park Square Theatre

*(Portions of this entry were taken from my previous write ups of MORLS productions)*

The Park Square Theatre Hosted The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society again this past monday. If you missed it see the bottom of this entry for upcoming performances. Each show is different – Monday’s show entitled “Future Tense” was a double feature of science fiction tales. “The Veldt” was an adaption from (1951) of the classic Ray Bradbury story for the radio program Dimension X. The second story was “A Logic Named Joe” from a 1955 broadcast on the radio program X Minus One. The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society are Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren and Eric Webster. This Quartet of radio fanatics bring to life scripts from the golden age of radio. Their performances perfectly emulate the style of the radio programs of suspense, horror, mystery, and science fiction from the 1930’s thru the 1950’s. Along with their vocal work, they also create the sound effects that accompany the tales on stage. Using their voices to paint a picture so vivid that if you close your eyes you can see the action in your minds eye. There’s something magical about stories told this way. It can engage the audience at times even more than TV or film does because we are given the audio in a way that we use our imagination to fill in the visuals, it requires a more interactive response on our part.

I was introduced to the classic radio show Suspense, by my father. He had four little box sets of four cassettes each probably one show on each side, complete with commercials for sponsors of Roma Wines and Autolite Spark Plugs. We would listen to the shows in the car together and we loved them. Like my father before me, I also introduced my kids to this type of story telling when they were younger. My youngest son George used to listen and re-listen to Bradbury 13, a series of radio adaptations of Ray Bradbury stories created in the 1980’s. Tonight, George now almost 19 years of age, accompanied me to the program so that we could experience this live version of “The Veldt” that he used to listen to in those Bradbury 13 days. We both had a great time. George was reminiscing afterwards of listening to “The Veldt” and “The Screaming Woman” to go to sleep to at night, around age 8. Interesting how even an 18 year old can become engaged and be jogged into nostalgia by something that originated 70 years ago.

If you’ve never experienced a performance like this in the style of those old radio broadcasts you really need to check it out. I highly recommend these shows for families, including grandparents who may even remember listening to some of these very shows. It’s a unique opportunity to step back in time and show the younger generation what home entertainment used to look like. I think you’ll be surprised at how well they respond to something that seems so old fashioned. George and I started the MORLS podcast on the ride home from the show, it just left us hungry for more.

Upcoming productions of The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society at Park Square Theatre:

Friday May 27th 7:30 PM – Legends of the Old West

“Death of a Picture Hanger” from Crime Classics (1953) – A true tale of the Old West told with wry wit and a sense of tragedy.

“Matt for Murder” from Gunsmoke (1954) – When Marshal Dillion is accused of murder, the governor sends another legendary lawman to Dodge City.

Sunday June 26th 2:00 PM – More Best of the Worst

“Battle of the Magicians” from Lights Out (1934) – What do magicians, airplanes, and zombies have in common? Absolutely nothing. But logic is no defense against this madcap mystical mash-up from the mind of legendary radio writer Wyllis “Quiet Please” Cooper.

“The Cup of Gold” from Dark Fantasy (1942) – A sports reporter’s investigation into the death of a golf pro leads to a series of shocking revelations! Scott Bishop’s murder mystery turned Surrealist manifesto will keep you guessing (or at least scratching your head) until the bitter, inexplicable end

go Park square theatre for tickets for in person or to stream from the comfort of your own home. Also for more information about these shows as well as an upcoming production at Open Eye Theatre of Rattus Rattus a double feature bill of Rat Centric Stories featuring the classic “Three Skeleton Key” and “The Rats in the Walls” go to http://ghoulishdelights.com/ .

Passing Strange at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo.

There is a gem of a theatre up in Osseo Minnesota called Yellow Tree Theatre that has put on some really good productions the last few years. Passing Strange is perhaps their most accomplished production that I’ve seen. A Tony Award winning (Best Book) musical that takes the musical form in a unique direction. Breaking the fourth wall from time to time and eschewing traditional musical style songs, we’re taken on a journey rather than being told a story. The journey is of a young man, a songwriter, and his quest to find what is real. The way Passing Strange is narrated, it’s easy to see its influence on Hadestown. I also saw the influence of Rent on Passing Strange. It is through these connective tissues that we try and understand something like Passing Strange that feels familiar and yet wholly new. Passing Strange will speak to young artists just starting out. Those of us who are older will see a lot of truth and it reminds us of what it felt like to be young and searching.

Malo Adams plays the Narrator, the role originated by the co-author of the musical Stew. Adams stands on a stage behind a music stand holding a guitar which he plays throughout the show as he tells us through song and dialogue about our hero, the Youth. Right from the start we’re all in with Adams because, well frankly, he’s so damn cool. You could almost sit and watch him perform the show without anyone else. When he breaks the fourth wall and speaks to the audience, you feel like the cool kid whom, you didn’t think even knew your name, does and is trying to engage you in some friendly banter. Adams performance alone is worth the cost of admission. He’s accomplished in everything he does on stage and this feels like a an opportunity to see someone special doing something great, and those chances don’t come along very often. The Youth is a young black man growing up in L.A. who revolts against anything he sees as phoney, which includes the people at the church his mother drags him to. The Youth, who is male in the story is portrayed by Valencia Proctor who is female. I didn’t sense that the gender change was done in order to open up new ways of looking at the work as it was in the Guthrie’s recent production of The Tempest. I may be wrong but I took it to be a positive step towards breaking down gender barriers in casting. Having seen Proctor’s performance, I’m assuming she was simply the best person for the role. I’m sure most audience members had to listen closely at the beginning to make sure we understood that an actor who was clearly female was playing a male character. Once I was clear that’s what was happening, I was able to forget about it and view Proctor as the Youth. And in case it wasn’t clear, she was fantastic in the role.

We follow our hero as he joins the church youth choir not because he wants to be in the choir, but because the hot girl who normally wont give him much notice, appears excited when she thinks he is joining. An example which is one of many throughout the play about the paradoxical nature within the youth. He hates going to church and doing normal things because it’s phoney, but when faced with an attractive girl, he is willing to be something he isn’t. This will be repeated throughout as he moves from L.A. to Amsterdam then onto Berlin. We don’t criticize him for these hypocrisies, because we recognize the idealism of youth living in conjunction with the reality of desires and needs. Whether it’s misrepresenting his past in order to avoiding being kicked out of the house, he’s staying in or adopting a style for his music that doesn’t reflect inner artist, he’s doing what we all do. He’s putting on a different face for different situations and it isn’t being a phoney, it’s being human. Part of the joy of the show is all the different people he encounters on his journey. There are four actors who play multiple roles in L.A., Amsterdam, and Berlin each of them making the new characters distinct, some radically opposed to the last one they played. It’s a talented cast who appear to be having a great time with each new character and accent.

Passing Strange was co written by Stew and Heidi Rodewald and this production was directed quite inventively by Austene Van. Jeff Bailey is the Music Director and his band who is on stage and in view of the audience is really good, some of them even have some funny bits of dialogue. The Scenic Design by Justin Hooper gives the impression of the band and narrator playing in a club in front of a brick wall looking a little above the performers below, suggesting they have a little distance and perhaps time from what we are seeing and can comment more truthfully on what is transpiring. Lighting Design by Sarah Brandner did a nice job of reinforcing this perspective, guiding our eyes with her lighting as Adams directed our thoughts with his voice. All around, this is a first rate production of a Musical that I was unable to see before now, this isn’t going to play at Chanhassen, and when it’s produced again in the Twin Cities, it will most likely not feature Malo Adams. For this reason, you should get out to it while it’s on stage at Yellow Tree Theatre.

Passing Strange runs through May 8th for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://yellowtreetheatre.com/passing-strange.

A Play By Barb and Carl at Illusion Theater is a Powerful New Play Featuring Masterful Performances.

Kimberly Richardson and JoeNathan Thomas as Barb and Carl. Photo by Alex Clark

A Play by Barb and Carl could have the tag line “based on the incredible true story”. And while it’s based on fact that would sensationalize a story, it’s about the intimate lives of two people in love who are dealing with a situation that isn’t fair or just, it just is. The play is written and directed by Carlyle Brown and is inspired by him, his wife, and dramaturg Barbara Joyce Rose-Brown’s experience. A couple that worked closely together around a common shared love of language. The play is a snapshot of Barb and Carl’s life from the time she takes a fall in the hallway suffering a stroke which leads to her Aphasia. Aphasia is having a moment in the spotlight recently due to actor Bruce Willis’ retirement after being diagnosed with the condition.

Aphasia is a condition that affects your ability to communicate. It can affect your speech, as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language.
from the Mayo Clinic’s website https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/aphasia/symptoms-causes/syc-20369518

Barb’s right side is paralyzed and she can no longer speak much more than No and OK. But the play allows her to speak to us in moments, letting her explain what is happening to her. The play was written with Rose Brown acting as dramaturg accomplished the program says by “working in a room with actors and creative team”. I’m not sure how that worked specifically, but what it resulted in was Barbara having a way for her voice to be heard. I think having the character of Barb able to share her inner dialogue with us was a way to honor Barbara’s contribution and to let her be heard.

Kimberly Richardson, who wowed me last fall with her performance of all the characters in The Red Shoes, does it again in the role of Barb. Most of what little humor there is in the show comes from Richardson, but it’s her dramatic work that we are seeing showcased here. In a scene where she has fallen and cannot get up and must wait until Carl gets home, she is allowed her voice to share her thoughts in that moment. She invites us into the soul of someone whose mind is trapped in a body that has betrayed them. One of many moments that makes an impact on the emotions of the audience. Richardson is well matched in JoeNathan Thomas as Carl. One might think it’s the intimacy of the space allowing for a very subtle and natural approach, but the fact is these are high caliber actors who know how to “be” on stage. Thomas’ performance is on a level that can make other performers look like they are pretending. Thankfully, not his costars in this show. There is beauty and truth in the realness of these characters, we are not just shown their love and support for each other. We also see them fighting, and yes, Barb can fight. It’s showing the reality that makes the moments where the love shines bright all the more moving. Because Brown hasn’t written a fairytale about love conquering all, he has written a truth about how we can fight, struggle, want to give up, even want to die. Love doesn’t solve any of that, but it’s why we go through it.

Aside from Carl and Barb, the cast includes Laura Esping as a Healthcare Worker, she plays more than one and is the stand in for those in the medical field that interact with Barb and Carl. Esping does a good job with what’s really a role to fill in information. The show runs about 65 minutes, the material could definitely be expanded to a 90 minute runtime. There could be more for the Healthcare Worker to do, and we are left wanting more time with Barb and Carl. I would have no problem spending an Act 2 with Barb and Carl as they get the idea for and figure out how to collaborate on a play about the situation. I’m not criticizing Brown’s play, which I think is deeply moving and effective, I’m encouraging him to tell us more. The performance space is small and intimate with not much in the way of set, but for a large painting hanging behind the actors that shows us a representation of neurons. The painting changes with the lighting effects with red and blue flashing lights when the ambulances are on their way with sirens blaring. It’s simple but a nice way to symbolize the role the brain has played in what has transpired and suggest things that would be impractical to show. The Scenic Design is by Dean Holzman, Lighting by Alex Clark, and Sound by C. Andrew Mayer.

A Play by Barb and Carl runs through April 30th at the Center for Performing Arts in South Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.illusiontheater.org/.