FLOODAPALOOZA - Rushford Area Society of the Arts

Rushford-Peterson High School

A marathon day of performances in celebration of the good citizen's of Rushford and the flood recovery. A free event, donations accepted ($10,000 raised for flood relief).

Volunteer acts were:

RASA's cast of How To Talk Minnesotan
"Two Rivers" Blue Grass Band
"Winona Hims" Male Chorus
Jackie Bird - Native American Hoop Dancer (photo at right) with Maza Kute - nationally known drummers
"Irish Minstrels" Celtic music
"Trouble Shooter" band
"Take Note" SE Minnesota Show Tune Choir
"Runners-Up" Winona Comedy Improv Theatre
"The Lovers Show" -duo of Rock singers with a twist
"Bluesberries" blues/rock band
John Bernadot, Cody & King music and anecdotes

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As a member of the organization that produced this event, I will admit that I wasn't sure how well this was going to come off. There was very little preparation and lots of questions as to the quality of the acts that volunteered, but I am happy to admit that this was a fantastic show.

The Improv Group didn't work too well, but not necessarily because they weren't good, but because it was the wrong kind of crowd and the auditorium was too large to pick up the subtleties of what they were doing. Beyond that, every group was incredibly good. In fact, some were actually professional performers, which I did not realize.

Of particular note (and it's actually hard to single out a performance, they really were that good) was "The Lovers Show" featuring Jared and Noni. This duo (who apparently met while they were both performing in Stomp) were incredibly professional, great entertainers, and a whole lot of fun. I would pay to see these two perform again.

"Bluesberries" was tremendous. Not just 'blues', but kick-back rock.

The Irish Minstrels were also fantastic. Very good performers and engaged the audience well.

A top notch day of entertainment!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - Prairie Fire Children's Theatre

The Prairie Fire Children's Theatre
presented by Rushford Area Society of the Arts
adapataion: Ben Ratkowski, Deborah Nelson Pick, & Daniel Stock
cast: Rachel Gabel (PFCT actor/director), Jordan McNamer, Leah Leisen, Wesley Trejo, Kallie Carlson, Josh Doerr, Brittany Kuss, Maverick Hanson, Emma Malone, Gabe Mierau, Clara Wieser, Shayna Hanson, Jena Gutnecht, Olivia Hoff, Maria Doerr, Morgan Kingsley, Carissa Bieberdorf, Kila Feller, Blaire Pronschinske, Ashley Brown, Kate MacKenzie, Mariah Olson, Nicole Howe, Brooke Johnson, Kelsey Toomey, Anna Malone, Zoe Feller, Irelynn Pronschinske, Indy Hermanson, Nicole Eidenschink, Autumn Laumb, Megan Brown, Savannah Neitzke, Ben Ratkowski (PFCT actor/director), Jordan Honken, Hannah Kopperud, Ellen Nelson, Emily Rasmussen, Shayna Bellock, Kate Klungtvedt, Abby Wieser, Andrea Larson, Tatyanna Bronk, Savannah Skalet, Abby Eidenschink, Mason McManimon-Myers, Morgan McManimon-Myers, Landon Goree, Sierra McNamer, Nick Hoff, Cadence McManimon-Myers, Samara McManimon-Myers, Elizabeth Wick, Bailey O'Hare, Rebekah Rislov, Joel Trejo, Logan Gappa, Bryce Kingsley.

Shakespeare's classic play, with a few twists.

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I'm not a huge fan of the PFCT performances, mostly because the quality of a show is pretty bad. Not surprising since they tend to have around 60 kids and only five days to rehearse. However, of all the PFCT performances I have seen (and I've seen too many), this is easily one fo the best.

The script managed to be quite faithful to Shakespeare's, and the costume's were gorgeous! The McManimon-Myers girls were tremendous actors, and the humor was well played.

This still had the usual problems of too many kids who can't speak loudly enough, and almost no actual acting, but it moved along and was enjoyed.

My favorite Prairie Fire Children's Theatre production so far.

TALES TOLD 'ROUND THE WORLD -- Winona State University

playwright: Forrest Musselman
director: Vivan Fusillo

A young boy, Jack, chooses to read his story homework on the internet, rather than from a book. A nasty virus keeps shutting him down.

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There was some nice material here, but as with other productions I've seen, directed by my mentor, Vivian Fusillo, this just never reaches the level of intensity that it needs to reach.

There really isn't much to comment on about the script. It seemed pretty simple. The sense of the virus and it's interaction with jack never really materialized. Is this the fault of the playwright, or the director. Hard to say.

The energy was low and dragging and the wonderful set was never fully utilized. What has happened? Where is the wild creativity? The lack of performers may be one issue, but my recollection of 20 years ago (okay, 25 years ago), was that Vivian worked magic with kids who weren't "theatre" students. And people WANTED to be in a Vivian show. That doesn't seem to hold true today.

I hate to admit it, but it is a struggle for me to go to one of these shows now. I do do out of respect, but it takes an effort.

MOMIX remix -- Page Series

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
School of the Arts -- Page Series

artistic director: Moses Pendleton
associate director: Cynthia Quinn
performers: Danielle Arico, Todd Burnsed, Sara Kappraff, Suzanne Lampl, Nicole Loizides, Steven Marshall, Timothy Melady, Brian Simerson
technical director: Jim Berman
stage manager: Rebecca Ball

A collection of performance pieces, mostly dance but unusually so.

"Sonoran: But Not Asleep"
"Tuu"
"Orbit"
"Pole Dance"
"Spawning"
"Gila Dance"
"Zaar"
"Millenium Skiva"
"Dream Catcher"
"The Wind Up"
"Sputnik" ("Fellow Traveler")
"E.C."

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This was a fantastic show.


None of the sketches were too long -- each left you wanting just a little more. Each was incredibly unique and most definitely pushed the boundaries of what we consider dance ("Tuu" amd "Zaar" were the most dance traditional).

It would be difficult for me to pick a favorite. I really enjoyed the energy and masculinity of "Pole Dance" but "Millenium Skiva" was just really fantastic! (The photo above of a dancer on skis is the "Millenium Skiva" dance.) "Gila Dance" was unique, "Tuu" was fantastic, "dream Catcher" was so totally different from anything else, etc etc etc!

I realize that this particular touring company is probably not the "A" squad of Momix, but I never felt that we were seeing second rate performers. Everyone was on their mark.

I highly recommend a visit to see any Momix performance, even if you aren't normally inclined to see a dance concert!

CELEBRATING PEACE & CULTURE SHOW: 100 YEARS OF MARIA MONTESSORI -- University of Houston

The Ibn Sina Foundation Montessori School for Underserved Children
director: Tony Smith

A variety of acts in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Maria Montessori.

Ariel Silks with Dreya Weber
Kuumba House Dance Theatre and School of the Woods African Drummers
Houston World Dance Ensemble
Anjali Center for Performing Arts
Ann Candler Harlan with School of the Woods Singers
Ariel Swing with Dreya Weber
Rebekah Loweke and kit Reid's Jackson Square Band
Cass Academy of Irish Dance
Round Rock Entertainment Brazilian Dance Ensemble
Lee's Golden Dragons

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This extravaganza lacked focus. It was a light show with some variety acts or greatly varying talents. The interludes between acts was interesting with its history of Maria Montessori. What the acts had to do with anything was not at all clear -- except that they all were geared toward a specific culture.

Most of the talent was amateurish -- it had the feel of a showcase. Dreya Weber was good and very interesting as the ariel artist. The dancers which appeared a number of sections were talented and I'd liked to have seen more of them. Outstanding was the Lee's Dragons. Their big number with a dragon (manned by two people) jumping along pylons was absolutely incredible and well worth the admission price by itself.

The Irish dancers were very good and it was a joy to watch them. Sadly, there was one very obvious error made by one dancer, which took away from the overall feel for the group.

I was invited to come to this, and I'm glad I did. However, I would not have paid money for it myself. First, it was definitley aimed at a target audience, which I am not part of. Secondly, I am very critical of this type of performance. I don't want to see amateurs. If it bills itself as amateurs than I have no problem and accept it for what it is. This was billed as high quality entertainment.

The biggest problem here was the lighting. It seemed obvious that the lighting designer was given free reign to do as he pleased and he made it a light show, an industrial. I understand that he probably felt that the talent needed to be backed by something spectacular, but often the lights were distracting and in some cases even prevented us from seeing the talent.