Never too late for the chance of a lifetime

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Is one moment of exhilaration worth the risk of a lifetime? That's the question posed by "Exit Strategy," a two-act drama that weighs the risks of grabbing for the brass ring, discovering new dreams, and learning it is never too late to take a chance.


Romantics of both active and passive dispositions will appreciate this story by Twin Cities playwrights Bill Semans and Roy M. Close. Their characters, the unrelated elders Mae and James, live on fixed incomes with much time on their hands. They are 30-days-and-waiting from being evicted from the shabby rooming house they call home. Enter Alex, a man on a mission with an intriguing proposition, who jolts awake Mae and James' very existence.

The play receives its west coast premiere at the Falcon Theatre in Los Angeles, Oct. 23-Nov. 15, under the direction of Casey Stangl. Written originally for the actors Charles Nolte, Shirley Venard, and Semans, "Exit Strategy" was first presented in Minneapolis last year at the Mixed Blood Theatre. The current, all-star cast features Debra Mooney ('Mae'), John C. Moskoff ('Alex'), and James B. Sikking ('James').


"The great thing about 'Exit Strategy,'" wrote Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, "is that it strikes such an entertaining balance between tragedy and comedy, ultimately providing a sense of reassurance that life isn't over until it's over, and until the lights go out, interesting things can still happen."


Semans and Close will attend the final preview and opening night performances in Los Angeles, Oct. 22-23. Family members joining them for the festivities include sons Andrew and Macrae Semans of New York, spouse Linda Close of Minneapolis, and daughter Maggie Close of Denver. 


Semans started acting in his native Minneapolis before moving to New York in the 1960s. He returned home to found the Cricket Theatre in 1968, where he produced nearly 100 new American plays over 12 years, including works by Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson, and David Mamet. He has written and directed eight documentary films plus one feature film, "Herman, USA." which was "appallingly unsuccessful." He is presently working on a Civil War documentary series for HBO.


Close, a Twin Cities native and graduate of the University of Minnesota, covered theater, classical music, and dance for The Minneapolis Star from 1971 to 1981, and then served as a critic and editor for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press until 1992. The Brave New Workshop staged "Lies, Lies, Lies," his 1996 musical about the newspaper business. His portfolio of short plays includes "A Postcard from the Corn Palace," "Zambezi Blue," and "Your Call Is Very Important to Us." He is currently Director of Resource Development at Artspace Projects.


A veteran of theater, opera, and film, Stangl has worked with many producing entities, including the Guthrie Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company, Minnesota Opera, Portland Opera, and, most recently, the El Portal Theater in Los Angeles. She was recognized as 2004 Artist of the Year for her work at Eye of the Storm Theater, the company she founded in Minneapolis. Her short film "C U @ ED'S" has screened at 18 film festivals, won an Audience Award at DC Shorts, and was a finalist in the USA Film Festival National Short Film Competition.


Mooney ('Mae') has enjoyed an extensive career, with Broadway performances that include "The Price," "The Odd Couple" "Talley's Folley," "Death of a Salesman," "Getting and Spending," and "Chapter Two." She has appeared all over television screens in "Everwood," "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice," "The Closer," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The Practice," "Murphy Brown," "Rosanne," and "ER." Film buffs have seen her in "Domestic Disturbance," "Anastasia," "Napoleon," "Dead Poets Society," and "Chapter Two."


If you missed Moskoff ('Alex') in more than 300 television commercials, you may have seen him on "Friends," "Golden Girls," "Mad About You," "Desperate Housewives," "ER," "Brothers & Sisters," and "Everybody Hates Chris." (Among others!) He has performed in films, and on the boards on Broadway and throughout the U.S., including the role of Oscar for several productions of "The Odd Couple."


Sikking ('James') was a series regular on "Hill Street Blues," for which he was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter. He also was a regular on "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "Brooklyn South." His visage graced the big screen in "American Primitive," "Fever Pitch," "The Pelican Brief," and "Ordinary People." He has appeared in "The Big Knife" on the London stage, toured in "Plaza Suite," and performed in "The Price" in Washington, D.C. and "Nobody Loves an Albatross" in Los Angeles.

"Exit Strategy" runs through Nov. 15 at the Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank, CA. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 4pm. Tickets $27.50-$40. Call 818.955.8101.

Twin Cities: Take the St. Croix Valley arts survey

Minneapolis, Minnesota


At first blush, artists and audiences in the Twin Cities might overlook or dismiss an  online survey about space needs of artists of all disciplines in the St. Croix River Valley along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. While talk is cheap and so are surveys, the results of both do get used to determine how and where communities invest their infrastructure dollars. Thus, metro residents should take a few minutes to complete the survey by Oct. 1.


The valley communities of Stillwater and Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and Hudson, Wisconsin, are at the center of a growing population and an increasingly vigorous, sub-regional arts scene. As artistic activity has increased, so too has interest in the physical amenities in which artists and audiences gather to experience, work, and perform.


Nine organizations in the area have joined together to sponsor the online survey that is being circulated by mnartists.org. These organizations include the Art Reach Alliance, Lake Elmo Regional Art Center, The Phipps Center for the Arts, Stillwater Area Public Schools Community Education, Trinity Lutheran Church, Theatre Associates of Stillwater, Performing Arts Study Committee, Valley Chamber Chorale, and St. Croix Valley Community Foundation. Survey results will be shared early in 2010. [Disclosure: I attended one meeting of this group last year on behalf of the organization conducting the survey.]


During the current economic recession, individuals and organizations should be using their time to position and prepare for the recovery and their futures. Twin Cities artists and audiences who perceive that they have an interest in the East Metro's cultural life should take the survey to help shape that area's potential impact on their lives and careers.


The passage last November of the Legacy Amendment guarantees that Minnesota's statewide public investment in arts and culture will increase significantly for 25 years. The impact of those funds will be leveraged when they meet the aspirations and plans of communities throughout the state, like those in the St. Croix Valley.


Aspirations and plans are everywhere.


Early this year, the new Burnsville Performing Arts Center opened for business just south of the Minnesota River from Minneapolis and Bloomington. If it finds its programming voice in the next two years, the Burnsville PAC will have a significant impact on community and professional music, theater, and dance. The Center has the potential to become a regional powerhouse in a manner akin to that of the four halls of the Carlsen Center on the campus of the Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.


The Burnsville experience may hold interest and influence for the folks in Rochester, Minnesota, the state's third largest city, who have been trying to thread the needle for a new performance hall for years. The embryonic emergence of a University of Minnesota campus in Rochester has added fuel to their hopes and thinking.


The St. Croix Valley may or may not build new performance facilities that anchor the East Metro, but – like communities elsewhere – its cultural leaders are determined that the area will serve artists and audiences in ways better than it does now.


Help them to make that happen and take the survey.

- 

Steppin' up and out for the Midwest Arts Conference

Minneapolis, Minnesota


When Minneapolis-St. Paul last hosted the Midwest Arts Conference in September 2001, current events had rendered the four-day summit of cultural leaders and mavens nearly prostrate. The air travel system barely had a pulse after the euphemistic "events of Sept. 11," the stock market was in the tank, and many artists and their purveyors stayed home. Huge question marks hung over all aspects of a world accustomed to all-but-certain predictions and expectations.


Since then, we have realized that the shocks of those days altered our cultural life but did not destroy it, our expectations adapted to less predictability and greater bewilderment, and the Midwest Arts Conference scheduled its return to the Saint Paul RiverCentre next month, Sept. 9-12.


In preparation, artists from throughout the U.S. are primping and preening, ready to display their wares to the wholesalers of the cultural establishment. This is especially true for Minnesota artists and, in particular, choreographers and their dance companies.


Just as fundraisers know that donors contribute to and invest in people with whom they have some degree of relationship, performers recognize that the process of connecting with audiences begins by forming relationships with the performing arts curators and directors who contract the engagements that define their venues. Thus, when Arts Midwest annually convenes hundreds of these pooh-bahs – they are called "presenters" in the trade – many more hundreds of artists, their managers, and agents also join the party.


Arriving mostly from 15 states in the middle of the continent between Canada and Mexico, more than 1,000 people are expected to attend this year's four-day series of workshops, seminars, and social gatherings. For most, primary attention will focus on the Marketplace exhibition hall and the rounds of showcase performances that will consume hours of introductions, window shopping, and deal-making.


More than 4,000 artists will be represented in Marketplace exhibit spaces for visitors wandering the aisles with varying degrees of purpose and intention. In the essential simplicity of the information exchange that occurs there, presenters will relate the problems they need to solve and artists will make the case that they have the solutions to those problems. When there is congruence, performances and community outreach activities will get scheduled and subscription seasons will be created.


This business of buying and selling usually begins at some earlier time when presenters first attend performances of the artists they eventually will invite home to meet the folks. The Midwest Arts Conference provides numerous opportunities for presenters to attend a variety of performances.


Twin Cities Triple Play: Opening Night, Wed., Sept. 9, 7:15pm-8:30pm


Sampler performances by 10 Twin Cities dance, theater, and jazz ensembles will be presented simultaneously at three venues in downtown St. Paul. These samplers are ticketed events, restricted to Conference attendees.

The Walker Art Center's Philip Bither curated the dance sampler at the McKnight Theater of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Performers will include the Twin Cities dance organizations Buckets & Tap Shoes, Catalyst Dances, and Hijack.


Robin Gillette, the Minnesota Fringe Festival's executive director, pulled together the theater sampler at The Lowry Theater, featuring performances by the Four Humors Theater, Nautilus Music-Theater, and Rockstar Storytellers.


Lowell Pickett, resident impresario at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, programmed the jazz sampler at The Saint Paul Hotel's M ST. Cafe. His musical menu will include The Atlantis Quartet, Irv Williams Quartet, Tanner Taylor Trio, and Fat Kid Wednesdays.

Spotlight Showcases: Thu., Sept. 10, 6:30pm-9:30pm; Fri., Sept. 11, 3:45pm-6:45pm


The adjudicated, 15-minute Spotlight Showcases will feature 18 performance groups over two days at the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. One Minnesota-based group is included in the line-up: Cantus, a men's vocal chamber ensemble, will perform Thu., Sept. 10, at 6:55pm. A listing and schedule of the other 17 acts, including bluegrass music from Alaska, can be found here.


Live Performances at the Conference


The Midwest Arts Conference will include several live music and dance performances as part of its proceedings. Single-day tickets can be purchased from Arts Midwest.

Happy Hour, Thu., Sept. 10, 4:30pm-5:30pm, RiverCentre
A performance by Jeremy Davis & The Fabulous Equinox Jazz Orchestra will feature original arrangements of Johnny Mercer tunes and the Great American Songbook by a trio of male vocalists based in Rincon, Georgia.


All-Conference Luncheon, Fri., Sept. 11, Noon-1:30pm, RiverCentre
As it did in 2001, Minnesota's James Sewell Ballet will present a 20-minute performance from its repertoire of original, contemporary ballet. The company is beginning its 17th season in Minnesota.


Northrop Dance Series, Fri., Sept. 11, 8pm, University of Minnesota
In what for many will be the Conference's pièce de résistance, Wayne McGregor / Random Dance will kick off Northrop's 2009-2010 dance season with "Entity," a full-length work combining neuroscience, physical choreography, and software engineering. The British McGregor is resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet, and Random Dance is the resident company at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Single tickets available, $31-$55, 612.624.2345. Northrop Auditorium is located on the Minneapolis East Bank campus of the University of Minnesota.


Conference Brunch, Sat., Sept. 12, 11am-12:15pm, RiverCentre
Fans of television's "Days of Our Lives" and Broadway's "A Chorus Line," will want to add a dash of Kevin Spirtas to their eggs and java. Fresh from his gig as Corney Collins in the Las Vegas production of "Hairspray," Spirtas will croon a mix of Broadway and pop standards. (Spirtas also will showcase with Linda Purl, Fri., Sept. 11, 8pm, at The Lowry Theater.)

Independent Showcases: Thu.–Sat., Sept. 10-12, various times and venues


More than 75 artists and ensembles will perform at venues throughout downtown St. Paul – and two in Minneapolis – at independently-arranged showcases. Many of the acts will welcome locals. Performances by artists with Minnesota connections are listed below; a complete list of all showcases can be found here.

Minnesota's Butch Thompson, the legendary jazz pianist and former regular on "A Prairie Home Companion," will hold forth at The Artists' Quarter in the Historic Hamm Building, Wed., Sept. 9, at 9pm, 9:30pm, and 10pm.

Ananya Dance Theatre will present three, full-length performances of "Ashesh Barsha" at the Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis, Thu., Sept. 11, 7:30pm; Fri., Sept. 11, 8pm; Sat., Sept. 12, 8pm. Tickets are available at 612.340.1725, or from Conference Booth 921A. The Southern Theater is located near the Minneapolis West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota.

Mathew Janczewski, artistic director of ARENA Dances, has organized Twin City Dance, late-night showcases for 13 diverse Twin Cities ensembles – plus two guests – at the St. Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts, Roy Wilkins Studios, RiverCentre, 5th Street entrance. Performers for Thu., Sept. 10, and Fri., Sept. 11: Maggie Bergeron & Company, 9:30pm; Cathy Wright Dance, 9:30pm; Bryan Gerber, 9:45pm; Shapiro & Smith Dance, 9:45pm; Flying Foot Forum, 10pm; Black Label Movement, 10pm; Buckets & Tap Shoes, 10:15pm; Zenon Dance Company, 10:15pm; Live Action Set, 10:30pm; Ragamala Dance, 10:30pm; Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater, 10:45pm; Kate Weare Company (NYC), 10:45pm-Thu. only; Epitome-No Question, 10:45pm-Fri. only; ARENA Dances, 11pm; Koresh Dance Company (Philadelphia), 11:15pm. Locals are welcome at these free performances.


8 @ 8 - The CIA (Choreographers in Accord) will showcase nine Twin Cities dance companies on stage at The Ritz Theater, 345 - 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, Thu.-Fri., Sept. 10-11, 8pm-9:15pm. Tickets are available at 612.436.1129, or from Conference Booths 902, 900B, and 724B. Ensembles include Ballet of the Dolls, Ethnic Dance Theatre, Flying Foot Forum, Jawaahir Dance Company, Katha Dance Theatre, Shapiro & Smith Dance, TU Dance, Zenon Dance Company, and Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre.


New Folk Booking will present several modern-acoustic, Celtic, folk, and world musicians in the Kellogg III room on the lobby level of the Crowne Plaza St. Paul – Riverfront: Thu., Sept. 10: Dáithí Sproule, 9:30pm; Billy McLaughlin, 10:10pm; Boiled in Lead, 10:50pm; Dennis Warner, 11:30pm. Fri., Sept. 11: Cooker John, 8pm; Greg Herriges, 8:45pm; Lehto & Wright, 9:30pm; Todd Menton, 10:15pm; The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, 11pm.


Theatre of Fools will display its version of Vaudeville for the 21st Century, Thu., Sept. 10, at 10:01pm, 10:13pm, 10:23pm, and 10:37pm, in The Lowry Theater.


Buckets & Tap Shoes will present two performance segments, Thu., Sept. 10, Midnight and 12:30am, in The Lowry Theater.


Cantus will present selections from its 2009-2010 touring show in the Ramsey County Room 317, Landmark Center, Fri., Sept. 11, 8pm, 9:15pm, and 11pm.


The Rose Ensemble will present a free, full-length performance of early choral music at Central Presbyterian Church, Fri., Sept. 11, 8pm.

In addition to showcase and networking opportunities, the 22d Midwest Arts Conference will offer professional development workshops and seminars on topics such as Classical Music Basics, Innovating in Turbulent Times, Family Programming Basics, Dance Basics, Self-Represented Artists, Artist Managers and Agents, and Presenting 101.


A list of Marketplace exhibitors can be found here.

Minnesota's Buckets & Tap Shoes performed for 5,000 people at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater and the Vail International Dance Festival, Tue., Aug. 11, 2009. Engagements like this one often are the result of relationships built at regional and national arts conferences.

An evening at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center

Burnsville, Minnesota


That "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" won seven Tony Awards after its Broadway premiere in 1979 may have owed more to the weakness of its competition that year than to the strength of its own merits. It is a dreadful story of maniacal revenge told using a torturous score. Easy listening it is not. Still, it won for best musical, actor (Len Cariou), director (Harold Prince), score (Stephen Sondheim), book turned into musical, scenery, and costumes.


Staging the work requires ambition and endurance by any who would attempt it, including those of the Summer Theatre program of Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191. Working with a cast of 10 principals, a chorus of 30 men and women, and an orchestra of 20, director Randy Day and his colleagues opened a decent production at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, July 16. Several hundred people attended the July 18 performance.


The impressive range and facility of Javier Ferreira's voice in the title role stood out for its competence and clarity. For the rest, a dampening of sound from the main hall's orchestra pit, by whatever means, would have been welcome, as the un-miked instruments often overwhelmed the miked singer/actors as they faced-down the challenging lyrics and melodies.


Sally Graff's costumes conveyed a convincing authenticity of mid-19th century London styles. While serviceable, the un-credited set design made for awkward changes of scenery and failed to fully utilize the huge proscenium opening; resource limitations may have accounted for these results. The production runs through Aug. 1.


The access of student thespians to the grand facilities of BPAC had to inspire. A central feature of the complex is the all-glass, two-story lobby that defines an entire side of the building, with the second level lobby area accomodating 300 in banquet settings with views over the Minnesota River valley. A proscenium stage theater (45' x 100' – with 48' proscenium opening and orchestra pit) provides excellent sightlines for at least the lowest 700 (of 1,000 total) seats, while a black box theater can seat 150 in various configurations. The Center also includes a 2,000 sq. ft. art gallery, meeting rooms, and large rehearsal room.


Beginning this fall, BPAC also will be home to the Envision Academy of the Arts, a magnet school featuring dance, music, and theater, offered tuition-free to students in the District 191 communities, plus neighboring Lakeville. The Academy will have connections with MacPhail Center for the Arts, Minnesota Orchestra, Gustavus Adolphus College, and the Children's Theatre Company.


The BPAC is part of Burnsville's Heart of the City development, combining housing, retail, parks, plazas, arts, and eventual hotel in a central walking district. It is operated by VenuWorks, a management firm for venues throughout North America. Executive Director Wolf Larson hails most recently from northern California. Stephen Rueff, production manager, may be familiar to many Minnesotans as a longtime stage manager and event producer. Steve's early days included stints as a dancer for New Dance Ensemble and Zenon Dance Company. While living in New York, he toured with Meredith Monk and the Blue Man Group, among others.


The Center's only discernable misstep to-date has been its affiliation with TicketMaster. No self-respecting venue that respects its patrons should work with an operation that charges a $5.75 per ticket "convenience fee," on top of a $2 per ticket facility charge, and $2.50 for the convenience of printing the ticket on one's own computer/printer. Adult tickets for "Sweeney Todd" at BPAC were listed at $18 – before these add-ons.


Much more user friendly is the series of late-night meet-ups to introduce the facilities to artists, audiences, and their friends. The first of the series was held July 18, with two more scheduled for Sat., July 25 and Aug. 1, 9pm to midnight, in the first-floor lobby and art gallery. Live music and live-working visual artists will be on hand to facilitate conversation and networking.


Those attending the July 18 event included Denise and Rick Vogt, co-directors of Ballet Royale, a classical academy opening in September in Lakeville. Both are former dancers, and Denise is certified by the Royal Academy of Dance.


As a sign of the excitement and interest that the new Center is generating, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council will hold its annual meeting at the BPAC, July 28.

"Stimulus" funds on way to arts groups

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The National Endowment for the Arts announced today its FY 2009 Grant Awards for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A total of 631 arts organizations nationwide will share $29,775,000 in grant amounts of either $50,000 or $25,000.


Minnesota arts organizations (26, or 4% of the grantees) will receive $1,025,000 (3.4% of the total dollars) to support the preservation of jobs that are threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn.


The grantees include American Composers Forum, St. Paul, $25,000; Art Start, St. Paul, $25,000; Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis, $50,000; Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, $25,000; East Side Arts Council, St. Paul, $25,000; Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, $50,000; Graywolf Press, St. Paul, $25,000; Guthrie Theatre Foundation, $50,000; Heart of the Beast Theater, Minneapolis, $25,000; Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, $50,000; IFP-Minneapolis, $25,000; Illusion Theater & School, Minneapolis, $50,000; Loft, Inc., Minneapolis, $50,000; MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis, $50,000; Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, $25,000; Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, Minneapolis, $50,000; Minnesota Opera Company, Minneapolis, $50,000; Minnesota Orchestral Association, Minneapolis, $50,000; Minnesota Public Radio, Inc., St. Paul, $50,000; Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Minneapolis, $25,000; Penumbra Theatre Company, Inc., St. Paul, $25,000; Public Radio International, Inc., Minneapolis, $50,000; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society, St. Paul, $50,000; Springboard for the Arts, St. Paul, $25,000; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis (museums), $50,000; and VocalEssence, Minneapolis, $50,000.


With the exception of the Franconia Sculpture Park, no Minnesota arts organizations located outside of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul – in those places where philanthropic and other support is harder to come by – made the cut.


Also noteworthy: in spite of having the second or third most thriving dance scene in the U.S., not a single Minnesota dance organization was granted stimulus funds to save jobs. Nationally, 60 dance organizations (9.5% of the total grantees) were awarded $2,650,000 (8.9% of total dollars).


The economic stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year included $50 million for the arts, of which today's grants are a part. In April, the NEA awarded 63 grants, totalling $19.8 million, to 63 state and regional agencies; in that round, the Minnesota State Arts Board received $316,000, and the Minneapolis-based Arts Midwest received $514,400.

Investing for success

Minneapolis, Minnesota


"Where do you want your business to be after this harsh recession and how bold do you plan to be in achieving that goal?"


That's the question posed by Nelson Davis on huffingtonpost.com as he recounts the pitched competition between cereal company rivals W. K. Kellogg and C. W. Post in Battle Creek, Michigan, during the 1930s. Their story is a classic illustration of the adage that one cannot cost-cut one's way to survival and success during tough times. Traction and dominance in the marketplace follow from investments in products and their marketing.


Michael Kaiser, the so-called arts-turn-around guru who now leads the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, has long voiced the mantra "Good art, well marketed."


Many artists and their organizations will not survive the current recession and, indeed, many of them should proactively cash in what few chips they have. I have been working with several excellent artists in recent months, however, who are just warming to the challenges before them.


I have been telling them to do what they must in order to "survive," and to use this time to plan and position themselves for the recovery: order their financial processes, build their networks, hone their artistic craft to an engaging excellence, and own their niche with the most effective visibility.


With 10% of America's workforce now under- or unemployed, individuals can adapt the same advice to their own particular circumstances. It is not always a pretty effort, as the Kellogg-Post story showed, but it is a necessary one, and a part of life's grand adventures.

Seasonal affect disorder

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Throughout March, the Minnesota Playlist site has featured reports and commentaries about how, and how well, Twin Cities theaters go about the business of assembling a season of plays. The site's editor, Alan Berks, has just posted No one asked me but... in which he tries to evoke and provoke. Example:

Don't do plays to 'raise awareness' or 'inform' or 'put a human face on a problem.' ... Why is theater the only business on the planet that expects to get a new audience with the same product? ... They know what your theater does – it's not a marketing problem – they don't want to see it.

Worth a read.

Preview: Coming to the Guthrie

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Follow this link to a YouTube conversation between Galen Treuer and Ellen Swanson about "My Father's Bookshelf," the new Live Action Set production premiering June 18 at The Guthrie's Dowling Studio in Minneapolis.


[Live Action Set website] [Live Action Set Facebook] [Related Minnesota Mist post.]

Yes, they can!

Minneapolis, Minnesota


When everything in the world seems to be going wrong, it is easy to overlook the things that are going right.


Things will be going very right for the four artistic co-directors of Live Action Set when they head to Campinas, Brazil, Jan. 27, for three weeks of study, collaboration, and preparation for their debut at the Guthrie Theater in June.
The directors, Noah Bremer, Megan Odell, Galen Treuer, and Vanessa Voskuil, will study together in week-long workshops with the collaborative, physical theater artists of Lume Teatro, located in the Barão Geraldo district of Campinas.


Although the trip was not planned for the middle of Minnesota’s most biting winter in years, none of the quartet are complaining about the prospect of Campinas’ tropical climate and temperatures in the 80s and 90s. Their timing also will allow them to participate in Brazil’s Carnaval, ending on the eve of Ash Wednesday, Feb. 24.


The travelers see the trip as a rare opportunity for themselves as individual artists and as an organization. "The four of us have never had the opportunity to train together, to focus on growing, and learning a shared performance vocabulary,” said Treuer.


“We are very much looking forward to spending some focused time away, studying, and doing some research for our next performance at the Guthrie Theater."


With a population exceeding one million, Campinas is a city and county in the state of São Paulo on Brazil’s southeastern coast. It hosts an international business presence by the likes of IBM, Motorola, Nortel, Compaq, 3M, Texas Instruments, and Honda, among many others.


During two decades, the Lume company has become a global magnet for theater and dance artists interested in studying clown, Butoh, Noh, Kabuki, and other styles within an atmosphere of collaboration and exchange. In addition to its workshops, the company creates and performs original productions, touring with them to more than 20 countries to-date.


The Live Action Set artists will devote four hours daily to classes, followed by hours of thematic, physical, and language research needed to develop their latest original production, “My Father’s Bookshelf.”


“My Father’s Bookshelf” is a new work about dementia, neuroscience, and the mortality of families. This original play is a mix of family drama and gentle humor, interlaced with a neuroscientist’s passionate lecture on Alzheimer's.


It will be the company’s 13th production since the four artistic directors began creating ensemble-driven performances in 2003. Their work has been a favorite of Fringe Festival audiences and others at several Twin Cities venues.


The Brazilian adventure is supported by a Travel & Study Grant from the Jerome Foundation and additional, individual fundraising. Live Action Set’s artists will share their experience with other Minnesota artists in a two-day workshop in Minneapolis, Mar. 21-22.


[Related Minnesota Mist post.]


My Father’s Bookshelf will be presented in the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio, 818 S. 2nd Street, Minneapolis, June 18-28. Single tickets are priced from $18 to $30, with opening night seats at $34. Tickets are on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

The Hunter's Moon

Minneapolis, Minnesota


I want to acknowledge that the full Hunter's Moon rose several hours ago. I always find this moonlight comforting, associating it with turning inward, walking at night, and the theater. There is a story here, one that begins in 1966. Unfortunately, Gabe wants his nightly walk in the park and time is scarce. The fall foliage is particularly stunning this year, and the trees in Fair Oaks Park, across the street from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, are at their peak, even at night!

Cheers for young people, jeans, and scuffed shoes

Minneapolis, Minnesota


They held the annual Ivey Awards in downtown Minneapolis last night to celebrate our 68 professional theaters and to recognize artistic excellence among organizations large and small and people old and new.


Festivities began with a VIP pre-party at Seven on Hennepin, followed by the main awards show at the State Theatre. The red carpet post-party took place at Mission and its spill-over "patio," the IDS Crystal Court. Thanks are due to the financial sponsors.


Melissa Gilbert and Steve Blanchard, lead actors in the Guthrie Theater's production of Little House on the Prairie, served loosely as emcees of the tightly-run State Theatre proceedings, attended by 2,000 of the onstage, backstage, and front-of-house people who make the theater community tick.


Performers from several organizations provided entertainment throughout the 90-minute production, including members of the Brave New Workshop, Buffalo Gal Productions, the Guthrie Theater, Nautilus Music-Theater, Theater Latte Da, and Cantus.


Awards for overall excellence were presented to Open Eye Figure Theatre for Prelude to Faust, and to Workhouse Theatre for 'Night Mother. Recognition also was bestowed upon Frank Theatre for the emotional resonance of The Pillowman; Interact Center for the innovative concept and idea behind Broken Brain Summit; Ordway Center for the Performing Arts for costume design, scenic design, and choreography of Cabaret; Gremlin Theatre – and Gary Geiken, Katie Guentzel, John Middleton, Carolyn Pool, Matt Rein, and Alan Sorenson – for ensemble acting in Orson's Shadow; and to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres and Tamara Kangas for choreography in 42nd Street.


The Ivey Awards recognized three actors for individual performances: James A. Williams as Troy Maxson in the Penumbra Theatre production of Fences; Kate Eifrig for her portrayal of nine characters in 9 Parts of Desire at the Guthrie Theater; and Jarius Abts for his performance as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Jungle Theater.


Matthew Amendt, a 26-year-old actor, received the Emerging Artist Award for writing The Comedian's Tragedy, presented at the Theatre Garage last summer.


A 90-something-year-old Don Stolz was summoned to the stage to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from Diana Pearce of KARE TV and from the Guthrie's legendary – and last year's lifetime recipient – Sheila Livingston. Stolz founded Minnesota's Old Log Theater 67 years ago, pre-Guthrie, pre-Children's Theater, and pre-all-the-rest. According to the couple next to me, Stolz was still giving pre-show curtain talks as recently as Sunday night.


I had a blast and enjoyed every minute of the evening save one. Following his introduction by Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak, I joined whole-heartedly in the standing ovation that greeted Dominique Serrand's arrival to present an award. He could and should have made the presentation and dispensed with his lament for the demise of Theatre de la Jeune Lune, the organization he co-founded 30 years ago that crashed and burned earlier this year, following a recognition that years of financial mismanagement and accumulated debt necessitated closure.


"The angels we hoped for have not appeared," he mourned. "The powers that be have spoken with their silence." Invoking Samuel Beckett in blessing, Serrand concluded, "Go on failing. Only next time, try to fail better."


I appreciate that Serrand has a background in European traditions where generous and indulgent support for the arts is a given and carries the character of an entitlement. While I laud the sensibility of that approach, my sympathy has its limits. Enough!


Too many of us work too hard to convince our fellow citizens, of all political stripes, that the arts merit even a pittance of public support. At our best on this side of the pond, we offer investment in artistic endeavors that require the reciprocity of good stewardship: pursuit of artistic excellence, good governance, and fiscal responsibility. Ultimately, Jeune Lune failed on the latter two points.


Several young people took the stage to receive awards last night. Unable to afford fancy suits, in their jeans and scuffed shoes they represented all the starving artists who seek only a chance to create and present their work. The tears they choked back bespoke their disbelieving amazement that, for a brief moment, the community in which they labor had lifted them from the ashes of their chimney hearths and welcomed them to the ball.


Serrand and his colleagues burned their tickets to the dance on the altar of organizational dysfunction and inattention to business basics. In this, they were abetted by what I call "the collective we" that looked away when deficits became chronic, plans became unrealistic, and the ties that bound them to the community frayed beyond repair. Finally and, perhaps, unfairly, we acknowledged that we owed no more and, in the tradition of Minnesota Nice, we kept the angels at bay and allowed the silence to speak for us.


I believe in second and subsequent acts, however, and hope that in his next adventures Serrand will be able to "fail better," if fail he must.

spark24

Minneapolis, Minnesota


If you want anything cultural promoted in the Twin Cities, Scott Mayer is the go-to guy to get it done, even on Labor Day weekend when any resident who has not left town is either sleeping-in or preparing for a day at the Minnesota State Fair.


Mayer's latest project, spark24, showcased the Minneapolis-St. Paul arts scene to a global audience in a 24-hour marathon, running from 5pm, Aug. 30, to 5pm, Aug. 31.


Activities centered on Orchestra Hall and the adjacent Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis. The Minnesota Orchestra kicked things off, followed by 27 half-hour blocks filled by the likes of VocalEssence, the Minnesota Opera, Zenon Dance Company, Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, Mu Daiko, Arena Dances, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, and many more.


More than 60 public and private venues around downtown got into the act with some form of live entertainment between 10pm and 2am. At 4am, 800 people were attending activities inside Orchestra Hall.


When performances moved back outside to Peavey Plaza at 6am, five hardy souls had been present since 5pm. By 9am, one stalwart remained and vowed to stay the full 24 hours! A complimentary breakfast was served from 6am to 9am to anyone on the scene.


The excuse for this activity was the presence in the Twin Cities of 50,000+ visitors, including global media, for the Republican National Convention, which opens tomorrow. A press center for spark24 was set up in the IDS Center, three blocks from Peavey Plaza.


Mayer's prolific promotional activities have been chronicled for more than 20 years. I interviewed him on my radio program in the 1980s when he inaugurated the annual Hollywood Academy Awards events in Minneapolis. When the mayor needed help organizing and funding MOSAIC, an annual summer arts festival, he turned to Mayer six years ago. More recently, Mayer founded the annual Ivey Awards to celebrate and honor professional theater in the Twin Cities.


Peavey Plaza has become the outdoor venue of choice for summer performances in downtown Minneapolis. Located on the Nicollet Mall and adjacent to Orchestra Hall, its bubbling fountains and the historic spires of Westminster Presbyterian Church across the street provide an open air, jewel-box setting.

Fringe review: Live Action Set, Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Too many artists or their organizations presume a mantle of uniqueness in asserting that their work boldly goes where none have gone before: pushing boundaries, exploring new worlds, and creating new vocabularies or tomes in whatever discipline they pursue. Would, for the integrity of their p.r., that it was true.


Wisely, the four principals of Live Action Set – Noah Bremer, Megan Odell, Galen Treuer, and Vanessa Voskuil – avoid the overblown claims of such claptrap. They understand that the embodiment of their creativity must be innovative to them and its presentation delivered with accomplished and engaging conviction. They "get" that their collective motivation produces an "intangible creative synergy" distinct from their individual possibilities.


The results of their approach can be seen in Deviants, an engrossing, 70-minute offering in this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. The show is a re-working of material presented at the Red Eye Theater in 2007.


Deviants is a work of intelligence by young adults, for adults of all ages, that easily could have become trite and facile. In a non-linear format, it examines constructions of the acceptable and the deviant, the desired and the repressed. Some of the forbidden fantasies-turned-obsessions, along with their real or imagined imagery, may challenge some viewers.


The genius of Deviants, if you will, may be found in its successful creation of an alternate reality and the ability of a very talented cast to transport an audience to its realms. The ensemble launches the journey using all of the raw, warehouse space of The Soap Factory, including trapdoors and pillars. While the pillars become an integral part of the set and scene, they pose an unacceptable barrier to sightlines.


The members of Live Action Set, with their varied backgrounds in theater and dance, have forged a cohesive, collective character that accents the strengths of each individual. Their future foraging across the artistic landscape will be welcome.


They are worthy successors to the ensemble of artists formerly known as Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis (and, formerly, Paris). The work presented by the Set at the Soap Factory echoes the fascinating, early-1980s productions by Jeune Lune in the Seven Corners neighborhood of Minneapolis. Jeune Lune's founders shared an aesthetic background in their training at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq. Although the founders of the Set do not share a similar set of experiences, their bond is a shared sensibility and a commitment to ensemble-driven outcomes.


Jeune Lune collapsed in financial distress last month, nearly 30 years after its first Minneapolis performance. Interestingly, Robert Rosen, a co-founder of Jeune Lune, served as director and co-creator of Deviants (and, Rosen and Bremer both studied at the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theater in California).


Whatever their longevity together, one can wish the artists of Live Action Set a happy and productive life of continued creativity.


Deviants continues at The Soap Factory, 518 2nd Street SE, Minneapolis. Aug. 5-10 @ 7pm; Aug. 8 & 9 @ 8:30pm; and Aug. 9 @ 5:30pm. Tickets: $12 + one-time purchase of Fringe Festival button for $3.

Nonprofit governance: How unsexy and irrelevant is that?

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The recent announcement that Theatre de la Jeune Lune will shut down permanently prompted many analyses about what went right as well as wrong during the storied lifetime of a mainstay in the Twin Cities' cultural milieu.


One commentary by David Hawley on MinnPost.com ("With Jeune Lune's triumphs over and legacy clear, its wondrous nomads move on," 6/24/08) celebrated both the endings and the beginnings to be found in Jeune Lune's demise. One passage by Hawley caught my eye, and that of several others:

I remember, decades ago, when I was chatting with a Jeune
Lune core member ... who was lamenting about having to deal
with a board of directors in order to gain the benefits of nonprofit status.

"Their job is to get money for us," the performer said. "But they want to
talk to us about what we're doing and all that. It's none of their business
and a terrible waste of time."

Well.


There is no need to pile on and credit this sentiment as a fatal flaw in the organizational culture that led to Jeune Lune's demise. The sentiment is alive, healthy, and expressed regularly by artists in all disciplines.


I have heard this sentiment, and worse, from agents of more than one arts organization during the current calendar year alone. You also may have heard the comments; hopefully, you have not made them yourself.

"No one, least of all a donor, is going to tell me how to run my organization!"


"I founded this organization and I will shut it down before I give up control!"

These statements do not emanate from mature organizations. They almost always are found among small and midsize groups.


I used to think such expressions were born from desperation and the poverty mentality that grips many in the smaller arts world. Now, I see them as ignorant and arrogant. Or just plain stupid. They hurt all of us.


Any artist who wishes to exercise total control with no accountability is free to operate as a sole proprietor or as a for-profit business. However, once one crosses over and assumes the mantle of an incorporated, 501(c)(3), your business becomes the public's business. And the public relies upon your board of directors to look after its interests.


We might whine, curse, and complain if we must. Then we need to grow up and step up to the plate of adult nonprofit governance.


The Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence, created by -- and available for pdf download from -- the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, articulate 10 principles of accountability and 133 management practices that can inform artists, administrators, board members, and wanna-bees.


For sure, as the Principles state, "Board members should be committed to the mission and dedicated to the success of the nonprofit." However, "Nonprofit board members are responsible to make decisions in the interest of the organization and no other party, including themselves."


The Center for Nonprofit Management at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis offers regular classes in all aspects of nonprofit management and governance. One need not be a regularly-enrolled student to attend. I have found several classes helpful over the years.


Yes, there is a lot of nuance about the checks and balances of governing and managing nonprofits; that is grist for future posts.


The basics remain relevant. If we care enough to do our work in the arts, then we should care enough to get it right in practice and in attitude.