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.'

MSHSL Section 1-A One Act Play Festival

The top two winners from the Sub-Section contests compete for the chance to move to the State festival. Participating schools were: Dover-Eyota; Fillmore Central; Kingsland; Rochester Lourdes; St. Charles; Stewartville; Triton; Zumbrota-Mazeppa.

Plays performed were:

Wiley and the Hairy Man -- Jack Stokes
Under Jeckyll's Hyde -- Tim Kelly
The Cry of Crows -- James Lee Bray
Amber Waves -- James Still
Line -- Israel Horovitz
Viet Rock -- Megan Terry, adapted by the cast and crew
That Was No Lady, That Was a Private Eye -- Dennis Snee
The Ugly Duckling -- A.A. Milne

Wiley and the Hairy Man was an interesting cross between theatre and reader's theatre. It was well done, but the very nature of the piece probably kept it from being outstanding in any way.

Under Jeckyll's Hyde looked like an embarassing romp. Most of the actors couldn't be understood, they seemed to try too hard to be funny, and they seemed to run around without purpose. The lead role did well as Mr. Jeckyll, but was much too stiff as Dr. Hyde.

The Cry of Crows was a powerful piece, well performed. The high school students did a remarkable job with an attempted rape scene, making many of us in the audience feel uncomfortable. The acting was extremely good, and certainly put this in contention for top spot.

Amber Waves was an interesting play about the death of farms in the 1980's. The acting was mostly good, but the writing lent itself to a one-note performance. The set was nice, but over-done. Rear-screen projections kept us occupied during scene changes (of which there were too many).

Israel Horovitz is a recognizable name for decent theatre, and his play Line was certainly one of the better written pieces. It also happened that it was one of the best performed as well -- a nice combination. Only five performers (four of them male!) and smooth direction had this play a crowd favorite. If I have any problem with Horovitz it's that I feel he writes stock characters, all of which were immediately recognizable to me on the stage here.

Viet Rock was an ambitious work, done in a style that I think is tailor made for State, avant garde theatre. I was impressed with the number of men in the show (seven), and their attempt to push themselves to doing something "different." I give them points for their attempt and goal, but at times what they were doing fell flat. Not surprisingly, much of what they were doing was a hit with the students that went to see this with me.

That Was No Lady, That Was a Private Eye was an attempt to combine humor, mystery, and feminism all in one. Unfortunately, nothing hit any strong moments, except for the stage hand who controlled the plant that withered and died on stage.

The Ugly Duckling looked lost on the larger, university stage. The role of the king was still strong, as in last week's performance, but the rest of the cast and staging got lost in the much more open stage.

My guess at the outcome was that it would be a toss-up between Line and The Cry of Crows. Acting and directing was strong in both. I was leaning toward Line because it was a stronger script.

Actual outcome -- a tie for first place, which then went to judges' preference, which meant: 1st place - Line; 2nd place - The Cry of Crows.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM -- Rushford-Peterson high School

playwright: William Shakespeare
director: Daniel Munson

Shakespeare's classic story of crossed lovers and an ass.

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A delightful, abbreviated production by high school students.

MSHSL Sub-Section 1-A One Act Play Festival

Six, one-act plays, produced and performed by area high schools as part of the Minnesota State High School League One Act Play Festival. The schools are: Chosen Valley; Fillmore Central; Houston; Kingsland; Mabel Canton: Rushford-Peterson. The plays are:

The Betrothed -- Jerome McDonough
The Ugly Duckling -- A.A. Milne
Juliet's Ghost -- Kenneth R. Preuss
Under Jeckyll's Hyde -- Tim Kelly
A Midsummer Night's Dream -- William Shakespeare
Time Flies & Lives of the Saints -- David Ives

The Betrothed was a dreadful work. As staged by this school, it was very unclear as to what was happening and who the people were. Poorly paced and an unfocused script this play was clearly the worst of the lot. The director could have done a much better job making the ideas clear and the cast most definitely could have used more rehearsal time.

The Ugly Duckling was well staged, and the cast did an admirable job. I felt that it lacked energy from many in the cast, though I respected the work done by the lead ("King"). The character of "Dulcibella" was well defined and maintained.

Juliet's Ghost was a meandering work that really lacked focus. There seemed to be no direction -- groups of kids gathered in clumps in the center of the stage and would step forward to deliver a line. I normally don't mind having females play male roles (it is often necessary in high school theatre), but why choose a play that requires six men to play boyfriends when you only have one boy in the cast? I would have seriously considered a different show seeing who I had audition.

I did not see Under Jeckyll's Hyde, though I heard it was quite good.

I directed the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, so it is difficult for me to be objective regarding the performance. I did think that my cast rushed through it much too quickly. A total of four minutes off their average time. Some were WAY too fast ("Oberon" and "Puck" in particular), but over-all I thought they did an very good job.

Time Flies & Lives of the Saints was a very interesting production. There actually seemed to be three short plays put together. None of them was really very interesting and relied too much on a one-note joke. The acting was fair and the direction fair. Nothing outstanding and nothing dismal.

Based on what I saw and taking in consideration my own bias, I would have chosen Midsummer for 1st place and Duckling for 2nd. Actual outcome: Jeckyll/Hyde - 1st; Duckling - 2nd.