OLD MINNESOTA: SONG OF THE NORTH STAR -- Big Top Chautauqua

A Page Series Event
Page Theatre, Saint Mary's University
Winona, MN
dir: Warren Nelson
band director: Don Pavel
vocal director: Ed Willett
cast: Warren Nelson, Don Pavel, Phillip Anich, Cal Aultman, Severin Behnen, Bruce Bowers, Bruce Burnside, Betty Ferris, Jack Gunderson, Sally Kessler, Scott Kuester, Cheryl Leah, Tom Mitchell, Rowan Nelson-Ferris, Ed Willett

A history of Minnesota in song and sketches.

I really enjoyed the music and vocals in this production. Both were quite strong and very good. The history was evidently thoroughly researched, and I certainly learned a thing or two during the performance.

And while I was watching it, I thought to myself, "I'm enjoying this...why?" And really it was only because of the music and vocals. The actual writing of the piece was weak, and the lyrics of the songs seemed strained much of the time.

I give Mr. Nelson credit for doing a fine job and for his persistence in getting this show performed. However, a "fine" job is not the same as a "great" job, and this is the kind of production that will forever be relegated to touring schools in Minnesota (of course the subject matter alone will prevent it from having much of a life). There's certainly nothing wrong with touring schools, but I get the sense that this gentleman is doing his best, which just isn't on par with most professionals.

I am reminded of my college days, where a bunch of us sat on stools on the stage, our scripts and scores in front of us on music stands, and we "performed" an original musical work by a fellow college student. This show had much that same feel (they all sat on stools with their music on stands in front of them), except that all involved are well past their college days.

I'm glad I went, I would consider seeing it again with my older children, I might even buy a CD of the music if one existed, but I can't recommend that you rush out to see it (though if it's in your town and you're looking for a night out, certainly it's worth the time).

MSHSL 2006 State One Act Play Festival

The best plays from each of the eight, class 1-A sections across Minnesota perform this one day.

The schools represented this year were: Maple River, Mapleton; Eveleth-Gilbert; St. Charles; Norwood-Young America; Russell-Tyler-Ruthton; Bagley; Wadena-Deer Creek; St. Paul Academy & Summit School

The plays presented were:
"Oscar" -- Brian Nissen
"Two Rooms" -- Lee Blessing
"Line" -- Israel Horovitz
"The Rough Face Girl" -- Kevin Spencer
"The Lottery" -- Brainerd Duffield
"Masterpiece" -- Nathan Metcalf
"Clown of God" -- Jay W. Patterson
"The Sandbox" -- Edward Albee

Over-all, I was under-whelmed with the days' offerings. Nothing really stood out as being exceptional.

"Oscar" was a well-acted piece, had some nice stage pictures, but I thought that they did not need the expansive set that they had (most of the action took place off the set, in a cramped, down-stage space -- however, the set did include a doorway for some of the downstage action). The material was a little boring for me, and certainly didn't keep me totally interested. I think it was good that they went first, or I might have had a harder time focusing on them.

"Two Rooms" seemed very topical, although, as a the judge later pointed out, was written nearly twenty years ago. Again, I felt the staging was wrong. Though the action took place in two different locations, they used a small square for both locations, having the actors go on or off to indicate 'their' scene. At times both actors were in the space and it was difficult to determine who's space it was. I think they might have done better to have two, independant, adjacent spaces, and then they could have met in the middle when they had 'dream sequences' together. There was lightening and thunder cues throughout much of the show, which I found quite distracting. The acting was fair.

"Line," which I thoroughly enjoyed two weeks ago, was still a strong favorite here, but they had made some changes, and not for the better as far as I'm concerned. They added more violence to their action, more 'rough' language, and for some damned strange reason they lowered the lights and used a spotlight for two occassions, which totally did not work but added to confusion if anything. Performances were still quite strong.

"The Rough Face Girl" was a horrid little piece and makes one wonder what the rest of their competition must have been like. Although the direction was carefully choreographed, the acting weak and the story maybe weaker, the ytried to do some interesting theatrical, dance-like movement. The pacing was very one-note and boring. This was actually rather embarassing.

I found it interesting that "The Lottery" was nowhere properly credited as being based on the Shirley Jackson short story. I liked the visual imagery in this piece -- black, white, and shades of grey only...except for the blood red mark on the piece of paper. The acting was mostly quite good, although when you have such a large cast there is always the danger of a few weaker performers. Not surprisingly, most of the high-schoolers I saw with this just loved the piece, while the adults all thought it was much too dark and depressing. I thought that the "stoning" was well done, though the very ending was wrong -- first, don't have students shouting in a blackout things like "she's still moving!" and speed up the lights back up on the empty stage -- most people thought it was over before the final tableau.

I liked the ideas behind "Masterpiece," but the actual performance lacked energy. I asked my friend Kootch how it compared to the original production done last year and he said that the blocking, sound, etc was nearly identical. I asked because I had gotten that impression. It felt like a copy, rather than a unique work. Some actors quite strong, but some quite weak. Not a consistent piece.

"Clown of God" was a dreadful work. Too many themes trying to come together. I'm not sure what "God" had to do with any of it, or why the clown was in a church. Why the medieval-looking costumes for the fair-goers, WWII bomb images, and Nazi/MIB/Matrix-looking men? The eras didn't match up. The young man who played the clown in the bathtub did a good job, but this piece was a something that many of those around me slept through.

Albee's "The Sandbox" is a classic, and one I've considered doing, but it's never struck me as appropriate. This production didn't do anything to change my mind. The biggest mistake for an absurdist play, is to play it FOR laughs, which is what they did here. The performances were okay, but the direction seemed totally wrong.

It's difficult to choose a favorite for the day. Three plays stand out as being better than the average for the day -- "Oscar," "Line," and "The Lottery". Each had some strong acting with some strange directing choices, but none stood out as being 'the best.'