Tag: Gary Briggle

Glensheen Continues to Delight New Audiences in its 10th Anniversary Production

The Cast of Glensheen Photo by Rick Spaulding

Originally produced by the History Theatre in 2015, Glensheen returns once more to the stages of the History Theatre on this its 10th Anniversary. This was my third visit to Glensheen, and each time I venture back to the haunted mansion on the North shore I bring along someone new to share this wonderful true crime musical comedy with. This year it was my son and his Fiancé and they were very entertained, which gives me so much joy. Sharing great theater is what it’s all about, and when I get to see someone responding so positively, it replenishes my determination to share what I love with the world. It’s easy to see why the History Theatre brings the show back, it’s an incredibly fun production, that seems to get better the more times you see it. I really liked it the first time I saw it, and it just keeps getting better every time. I’m not a true crime fan, but it turns out you don’t need to be to enjoy this show. It’s less about the details of a true crime as it is watching in disbelief the train wreck of humanity that is the main character, Marjorie Caldwell. The amount of suspicious things that have happened around her and the lack of punishment she received is mind blowing. It makes for a fascinating story but it also raises serious questions about the criminal justice system…oh wait, we already had those doubts didn’t we? What’s amazing is how enjoyable the whole thing is. I spoke with playwright Jeffrey Hatcher two years ago on the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat (you can listen to that episode by clicking here https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/2150807/13157328 ) and he made a comment about it being a real story that seems populated by the characters from Fargo. I thought that perfectly embodied what Glensheen the Musical is. A great cast brings us into the past with songs that oddly do not feel out of place in a story as weird as this.

The book for the musical is by Hatcher with the songs written by Chan Poling who was a member of the alternative rock band The Suburbs. The two have collaborated several times on musicals including the History Theatre production, The Defeat of Jesse James, which was another wonderfully original piece of musical theatre. Hatcher’s script leans into the craziness of the events without drawing us into that frame of mind. This allows us to view them through our reality thus we see them for the absurdities they are. He tells us the story of Marjorie Caldwell and her husband Roger who conspired together resulting in the murder of her mother Elizabeth Congdon and her nurse, Velma Pietila. Very quickly, Roger is arrested and found guilty but Marjorie proves to be a much harder catch for the justice system. She’s a master of staying one step ahead of everyone, but also seems to lose a half step with every one that she takes. Always avoiding the punishment but somehow also losing the prize. Poling’s songs are fun, often witty, sometimes quite touching. Favorites are the hilarious “Conspiracy” performed by Marjorie’s defense team. The defense they mount is so crazy, it works. On a sweeter note is “Just You & Me” which is a duet between Marjorie and Roger. It’s a beautiful moment on the surface, but underneath it’s incredibly dark as it’s simply Marjorie manipulating Roger to save herself.

The cast is filled with actors familiar to theatergoers of the Twin Cities, most of the performers play multiple rolls. My favorite was Wendy Lehr who plays Elisabeth Congdon and Marjorie’s defense attorney among others. Her over the top defense attorney was a big reason that the song “Conspiracy” was a crowd favorite. Dancing like a man half her age, she was as believable as the elderly matriarch as she was unbelievably outrageous as the attorney for the defense. She also plays the Nurse Velma, and her sweet song “Stay With Me” is a nice moment playing tribute to a woman who was needlessly murdered just for agreeing to come out of retirement to help Nurse Elisabeth that night. Gary Briggle, whose rich vocalizations are a highlight and bolster every song especially the ensemble pieces. Dane Stauffer is perfect as the out of his depth, easily manipulated, Roger. He has the dumb and dumber act down perfectly and you are surprisingly sympathetic to him as the man in over his head. Jen Maren holds the whole show together as Marjorie, she perfectly straddles the line between being a smart manipulator and not quite smart enough to get what she wants.

Ron Peluso directs the show with a playfulness that lets the tone shift dramatically from scene to scene while still feeling like a cohesive whole. Rick Polenek’s set design is very impressive, recreating a section of the Glensheen mansion including the staircase on which the nurse was murdered. Bill Healey’s lighting design helps to emphasize the tonal changes and is cleverly used for dramatic effect, lighting flashes to create the dark and stormy night in an old mansion which basically screams for a murder. Bold flashes of red to strike a cord that syncs with Marjorie’s evil actions. It all works wonderfully with Sound Designer C. Andrew Mayer’s soundscape. David Lohman as musical director along with his orchestra are just off to the side stage right, with Lohman’s piano doubling as a bar. The choreography by Tinia Moulder is small and contained, it has to be due to the size of the stage. But Moulder makes every move count and the dancing and moves in “Conspiracy” are what makes that the showstopper it is.

Glensheen is running at the History Theatre in St. Paul through July 27th. If you’ve never seen it you should check it out. And if you have, you know you want to go again. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets https://www.historytheatre.com/2024-2025/glensheen

Necessity requires that going forward in order to produce a weekly YouTube show and podcast that reviews will become shorter. There are only so many hours in a day, but I have no intention of abandoning the blog version. Faithful readers, you have year after year grown The Stages of MN audience. While I hope you will become viewers or listeners as well, there will always be things here that cannot be found there. This will be the place for longer reviews, though slightly shorter than before, as well as Reviews of more shows than can be covered on the YouTube and Podcast versions. Essentially there will be some overlap, but each format will have unique content.

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Theatre Coup d’Etat’s Production of Rogue Prince is a Streamlined and Accessible Version of Shakespeares’ plays Henry IV Parts I and II.

Gary Briggle, James Napoleon Stone and Bruce Bohne. Photo by Craig James Hostetler

Rogue Prince: Henry IV parts 1 and 2 is Theatre Coup d’Etat’s condensed adaption of William Shakespeare’s plays Henry IV parts I and II. The production is being staged at Calvary Baptist Church in South Minneapolis and the space is well suited for the job. As one enters the church basement there is a ticket and drinks counter where you can purchase, water, Ale’s or a Hot Buttered Rum, which I thought was a nice touch. Seating is general admission, there is a large open at one end rectangle of chairs running from the stage to the back of the room which forms the boundaries of the performance space. In the center of the this there are tables, chairs and benches which along with the stage area is where the actors will perform. I’d recommend sitting centered along one of the sides, I sat along the back and while for the most part I could see everything there was one point in which an actor stood with his back too me blocking my view of the action on and in front of the stage. Overall I enjoyed the immediacy brought to the play by sitting in such close proximity to the actors.

Rogue Prince focuses it’s plot on the relationship between Prince Hal, the future King Henry V and Sir John Falstaff: a fat, lying, cowardly yet undeniably charming Knight. The portions of Shakespeare’s plays dealing with aspects other than this primary relationship are present only in as much as they are needed to give that story context. King Henry IV must put down a rebellion, we are given the motivations and details of the rebellion so that when Prince Hal and Falstaff go off to battle we understand why. We are also given scenes with Henry IV expressing his displeasure with Prince Hal’s use of his time and the company he is keeping. When we see what that entails, robbery, drinking and other low activities we can understand his fathers frustration. Throughout the evening we see Hal grow from a wild young man to a King who is ready to take up the responsibilities of that position and turn his back on his wild ways and the rapscallion who taught him them. The Script which as adapted by Gary Briggle is influenced heavily by Orson Welles script for his film Chimes at Midnight, which likewise focuses on the relationship between Falstaff and Prince Hal. Briggle who along with co-directing the play with Wendy Lehr also stars as Sir John Falstaff. Like Welles’s film was to him, this play is clearly a passion project for Briggle.

Gary Briggle while not quite as large in height or girth as we are used to seeing our Falstaff’s he easily obscures that fact with his command of the language and understanding of the role. Briggle handily portrays all of the characteristics of Falstaff: his charm, his wit, his ridiculousness, his weariness and finally the heartbreak and betrayal when Hal turns him away. He covers all of these aspects and more and blends them seamlessly into a cohesive character that feels like more than the sum of his parts. He has a scene with Doll Tearsheet, a Prostitute whom he has an ongoing relationship played excellently by Anna Leverett. The purpose of the scene plot wise is for Hal to overhear Falstaff speaking ill of him. I found the interactions between Flastaff and Tearsheet in this scene to be an unexpected moment of quiet, like Falstaff taking a breathe and a break from being larger-than-life. This is Briggle’s show and he carries it nicely. The other standout is James Napoleon Stone as Prince Hal, who convincingly transforms from the aimless prank playing youth to a properly commanding king. All of the cast speak the lines like they understand them and that makes it very easy for us to adapt to Shakespeare’s language. The audience is never left wondering what is happening, And that is something the cast should be congratulated for.

The set in minimal, basically some tables and chairs and a bed, but it is all that is needed to convey the settings. Costuming was a little underwhelming, some looked like leftovers from the Renaissance Festival, Bardolf’s costume in particular struck me this way. But others conveyed what was needed effectively enough. I found King Henry’s costumes worked especially well, and costumes helped to emphasize the transformation of Hal as well. One issue that did arise, there are by my count 30 roles, played by 11 actors. For the most part I had little trouble keeping straight what characters were on stage with the exception of Damian Leverett’s characters Prince John of Lancaster and Poins. This is no mark against Leverett’s performances. This strikes me as a character that either has to be played by two different actors or there needs to be a more pronounced costume change. Both characters look the same and hang around Prince Hal at different times, and it’s very easy to assume they are the same person but have different names as do other characters i.e Hal/Harry/Henry and Sir John/Jack Falstaff.

Rogue Prince: Henry IV parts 1 and II runs through October 26th at Calvary Baptist Church in South Minneapolis tickets can be purchased at www.theatrecoupdetat.com.