Watch out Brave New Workshop! Interact Theater's Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here... Again! is a vibrant musical satire, delivering both political and social comedy alongside fun original music. This collaborative production features an ensemble of actors, singers, and dancers (with and without disabilities), showcasing the power of diversity and community. I was impressed with the quality of this professional show: a live band, beautiful large projections, and great lighting and sound. 

As someone impacted by chronic migraines, the show's disability-inclusive choices, including an 80-minute intermission-free show with ASL interpreters and comfortable seating, significantly enhanced the experience. These are just some of the thoughtful considerations that reflect Interact's commitment to creating a more inclusive environment for patrons. The pre-show light and noise warnings demonstrating their awareness of potential triggers and I felt at home in the audience.

Hell is Empty kicks off with the Devil, dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, returning to humanity to wreak havoc, navigating modern challenges from online manipulations to political figures and artificial intelligence. Through sketch comedy and song, Interact's actors provide a thought-provoking and giggle-inducing theatrical performance. Running through November 18th at the Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis, Hell is Empty invites audiences to share in a communal laugh at the absurdities of contemporary life. Director Jeanne Calvit's belief in the inclusivity of art for everyone resonates  powerfully in Hell is Empty and I recommend checking out an Interact performance.

Greeting, outlaw and theater enthusiasts! Step into the world of Old West legends as we sit down with Angela Timberman, a talented local theater artist, who shares her experience playing Zerelda, Jesse James's mother, in the musical production of The Defeat of Jesse James, at the History Theatre from April 29 through May 28, 2023. This production offers a unique fusion of rock 'n roll, country, gospel, and pop music, while exploring the Minnesota connection to the notorious outlaw. In my conversation with Angela, we discuss her role, the importance of addressing controversial characters and issues in theater, and how this blend of musical genres influences her performance.

Join us in uncovering the rich and immersive experience of live theater and the lessons we can learn from deconstructing the stories of notorious figures like Jesse James, whose daring 1876 Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery continues to captivate our imagination. Read on to discover Angela's insights and to get a tantalizing glimpse of this high-energy production.

Artfully,

Tell us about your role in The Defeat of Jesse James at History Theatre!

Angela: I am playing the role of Jesse James's mother, Zerelda. She was one tough cookie.

She respected the white patriarchal construct of her world, but she expected the men in her life to be as tough as she was. Frank and Jesse felt the pressure of her expectations as did her 3 husbands. She was also a staunch supporter of the Confederacy. She resented the South's defeat in the Civil War and the way they suffered in the aftermath. I believe that's where most of her pride and expectations for Frank and Jesse came from. She saw their violent lives as noble and the masculine thing to do in response to the "Northern aggression" and she defended her boys to a fault.  
 
Can you share your thoughts on the importance of addressing problematic characters and controversial issues in theater?

Angela: We're fascinated by stories about people who do extraordinary or infamous things. But we have a problem contextualizing heroes and villains. Humans are rarely one or the other. A person with a noble cause can do terrible things.

Jesse's story is tied to issues that we STILL struggle with in our country today. Race and gun violence are the two big ones. That's why his story is important, because for a long time his story was one of the badass hero. And it's not true. We can learn from deconstructing or retelling these stories. And they spark important conversations.

The show is described as a blend of rock and musical theater. How has this unique fusion influenced your performance?

Angela: I think the style in which we're choosing to tell our story is effective in a kind of paradoxical way. As an actor, I may be performing a character from a different era, but I'm playing her for a modern audience in a modern setting.

It feels satirical and the audience can digest the atrocities in an oddly less emotional way. BUT, at the same time the modern sound and setting can sometimes make us even more connected emotionally. This keeps the audience on their toes. Because one minute you're laughing and the next you're sad. Or comfortable and then uncomfortable. Sure and then unsure.

What do you hope audiences will take away from The Defeat of Jesse James, and how does it contribute to the ongoing conversation about America's history and its diverse experiences?

Angela: Society creates heroes and villains, and we curate their stories into myths according to the sensibilities of the times we live in. People who do extraordinary things wake us up and speak to our own plights as humans. They are braver and bigger than our ordinary selves. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, sometimes in a way we don't understand but the "wow" factor is there regardless. Their lives are a kind of spiritual or moral touchstone. And when we come back to their stories, we not only re-evaluate them we re-evaluate us.

I hope the audience leaves thinking something they didn't think before they saw this play. Maybe it will be something about themselves.

Content warning:
Strong language, haze, fog, gunshot sound effects, and strobes.

"[Angela Timberman] is always dynamite in the roles that she plays, and she's especially so as Jesse's hardened mother. She has a great song called House Full of… (a-holes) that had the audience hooting with laughter."
~Play Off The Page

"Hilarious Angela Timberman as one tough mother..."
~Cherry and Spoon

"The incomparable Angela Timberman..."
~Life In Revue

​5 by JuCoby Johnson, a co-production between Trademark Theater and the Jungle Theater, is a timely and thought-provoking play that explores the complex relationships between friendship, and a community facing gentrification of their neighborhood. I was excited to see this production because of the local talent involved, it's directed by H. Adam Harris and has a great cast. 5 plays at the Jungle Theater in Uptown until April 16, 2023 and has been highly applauded by local reviewers and community members who have seen the show. 

5 takes place at a gas station in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, where best friends Jay and Evan are faced with a tough decision that puts their friendship to the test. When a real estate developer offers to buy their store, the two are faced with a tough decision that puts their friendship to the test. As the pressure to sell mounts...you'll have to see the show because I don't want to give away spoilers. The play's strength lies in its depth and authenticity of the main characters and the nuanced exploration of some weighty themes. 5 is a testament to the importance of supporting new works in American theater, providing playwrights with the opportunity to develop and refine their stories before they are seen by audiences. The result is a play that is both timely and timeless with touches of magical realism sprinkled through all aspects of the show and it gets weird — in a good way, cause that's how I like my theater.

The journey of how 5 got to the stage showcases the importance of supporting new works in American theater, providing playwrights with the opportunity to develop and refine their stories before they are seen by audiences. 5 by JuCoby Johnson began as a commission by Trademark Theater in 2020, as part of their new-works-to-production pipeline. Johnson worked on the play internally before its first workshop in partnership with the Playwrights' Center and Trademark Theater in 2021. The play was then named a finalist for both the 2021 O'Neill NPC and Seven Devils competitions before undergoing a workshop in collaboration with the Jungle Theater in 2022. Currently, 5 is in production for its world premiere at the Jungle Theater in 2023. Trademark Theater, founded in 2017 by Tyler Michaels King, invests in extensive development and workshop processes for each production due to their commitment to telling bold new stories.

The staging and design of 5 are also noteworthy, with the Jungle Theater's intimate space utilized to great effect. The gas station set is very realistic and the use of sound and lighting adds to the increasing sense of unease and foreboding as the play progresses. 

In this Artfully Engaging blog interview, we hear from Samantha Grimes, an award-winning singer-songwriter, who believes in writing impactful, well-written, and genuine music. Samantha shares her experiences of collaborating with other artists and how it has influenced her music. She also talks about her upcoming solo performance and what the audience can expect. Additionally, she discusses her involvement with organizations like the Minnesota Music Coalition and the Midwest Country Music Organization that have impacted her career positively. Furthermore, Samantha shares her love for creating music and the inspiration behind sharing her songs with the world. Finally, she offers some advice to aspiring musicians who are starting out in their careers.

Samantha's passion for music shines through in every performance, and she loves nothing more than sharing her music with people. After reading this interview you can find out more about Samantha and her music on her website at samanthagrimesmusic.com and follow her on Facebook and Instagram at @samanthagrimesmusic. Enjoy this Twin Cities behind-the-scenes interview!

Artfully,

Get free Artfully Engaging email updates  to get ticket deals, artist exclusives, & inspiration.

Your music covers a range of emotions and experiences, from love to loss to hate. How do you approach songwriting to convey these complex feelings? 

Samantha: I suppose I never have considered there to a be an approach to my songwriting. I generally hear something clever or catchy as I am noodling around on guitar or piano, and it elicits an emotion. From that feeling, I know I am on to a great song if it writes itself rather quickly. I have been chastised by some people for being too "wordy" in my songs - but sometimes a story or feeling needs more explanation.

I believe in my heart that the music I create is impactful, well-written, and genuine. I also tend to believe that it is good - which these awards also validate. The impact these awards have on my music honestly boils down to just the desire to create more.

Collaboration is often an important aspect of creativity. Have you collaborated with any other artists in the past, and if so, how did that influence your music?

Samantha: I consider most any music I make with other people to be a collaboration. For instance, Jon Larson who has played bass for me, was instrumental in the writing of "Red String Theory." I started writing that song when I was 11 years old. I had only created the guitar riff, and could never find words that went well with it.  One day, Jon comes around and has the perfect bass line and I wrote the entire song that evening.  After twenty-odd years of toying with it. I also feel the relationship I have with my producer, J. Christopher Vaught, has influenced my music heavily. More often than not, I have the song 99% done. I'll send him my demo that I create at home, and he takes it, listens, advises, sometimes adds or detracts items from the score, and then mixes and masters it. If that isn't a collaboration, I don't know what could possibly define it!

What can audiences expect from your upcoming performance at Arts+ Rec with special guest Allison Dyg? 

Samantha: I'm fortunate to know my audience very well.  People love a good plethora of different musical themes.  People know that I dabble in pop, country, rock, alternative, singer/songwriter, etc.  The beauty of the upcoming show at Arts + Rec Uptown is that I'll be playing all of my music solo.  Audiences will get to hear each song as I wrote them - which is a special experience all its own.  And Allison Dyg - let me tell you.  She has pipes.  She is a fantastic singer, and her original music aligns very well with what I am doing.  She reminds me a little of Tori Amos - and she holds this tremendous soul-monster inside her that can envelop an entire room. 

How has your involvement with organizations like the MN Music Coalition and the Midwest Country Music Organization impacted your career as a musician?

Samantha: I often credit both organizations, and also the International Singer/Songwriters Association, with my growth these past few years. The MN Music Coalition is an organization I joined when I was looking for an entertainment lawyer. Someone recommended them because they network and have affiliations with law firms and could negotiate a discount. Not only was that 100% true, they also have facilitated numerous bookings for me and provided opportunities I can never thank them properly for. I was playing guitar in the heart of the Mall of America thinking HOW COOL IS THIS. The MN Music Coalition did that for me.

I'm relatively new to the Midwest Country Music Organization. I always thought of myself leaning towards the rock/pop side of the genre spectrum. Then I saw Sarah Morris (another singer/songwriter) had a deep connection to them. I have listened to a great number of her songs, and I never thought they were entirely country. I'd say, at the heart, they are singer/songwriter mixed with some Americana, a little country twang here and there. But after seeing her grow her music with that affiliation, I thought well heck - I can be a part of it too then! So I became a member. The people I have met so far through the Midwest CMO have been the salt of the earth - the most wonderful people. I am so excited to attend the Midwest CMO Awards April 22nd down in Iowa. I can't wait to see my music family!

Your website and social media pages feature a lot of original music. What inspires you to keep creating new songs and sharing them with others?

Samantha: I just can't stop I suppose! Music has been with me since I was five years old. I was writing songs about my pet albino rat Skippy and sending them to National Geographic. My set, unless announced otherwise, is 100% original music. I love that I've been able to cultivate this passion of mine into a full-blown side hustle. I can share my own soul-monster with the world and have it received in a positive light. I will continue to create and share music until I can no longer physically do so. 

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are just starting out in their careers?
Samantha: This is tough - because I know so many incredibly gifted musicians that are just getting going that do not do the original music thing. To them, I always say to play with folks that are better than you and keep growing.

However, to the original music singer/songwriters - I have some different advice. Grit your teeth, dig in, and know your demographics. I know, for a fact, that my music would not be well received at a Primus concert. So, I won't reach for a booking that doesn't resonate with my style (like opening for Primus). If your set is 45 minutes of original music, and you do not want to rely on covers (a lot of places won't let you play covers anymore regardless) don't book a four-hour gig. Be smart about who and when you approach people for bookings, and then, put your all into it. Be tenacious. Show every venue that you are as invested as they are in putting on a great show. 

Songwriter Rounds Presented by WFNU: Three songwriters singing and performing original music
Sat, April 8 @ 6:30PM
Yellowbird Coffee Bar
1168 Selby Ave, Saint Paul, MN

St. Croix Valley Riverboat Music Festival: Three full days of music! 
Fri, June 2 - Sun, June 4 Saint Croix Falls, WI

Thanks to Arts + Rec for sponsoring this post! If you have upcoming events to promote, local Twin Cities businesses to advertise, or want to support these conversations please reach out.

Yesterday  I had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Dexieng "Dae" Yang, a Twin Cities theater artist, to discuss her experiences preparing for her performance in the new musical Again, a  world premiere from Mu Theater written by Katie Ka Vang and Melissa Li. We also discuss  her artist journey, some of her favorite moments in the show, and at the end she reveals a big personal announcement! The following is and edited text version of the interview, which you can watch in its entirety on YouTube. Enjoy Dae's thoughtful and inspiring answers and then grab your crew and head out to Mixed Blood to experience this musical and support this piece of amazing collaborative theater.

Kendra: Welcome. My name is Kendra Plant. I am with the Artfully Engaging Blog, which is a blog that talks about creativity and arts events in the Twin Cities. And today I have a very special guest from Mu Theater. Thanks, Dae, for joining. We are going to talk a little bit about the new musical "Again," which is going to be a world premiere. And then just learn a little about the process and get some more information about the show. So Dae, do you want to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you?

Dae: Yes. I'm Dexieng Yang, but I go by "Dae." I use she/her pronouns. A little bit about me. Ooh, that's a hard question, Kendra. Well, I am a actor, teaching artist, emerging playwright. I want to be a playwright here, I'm located in the Twin Cities. I recently just graduated from Augsburg. I guess it's becoming not so recent. I graduated in 2021 with my BFA in theatre with concentrations in directing, dramaturgy, and playwriting, which tends to surprise people because I really have been in the art scene here in the Twin Cities as an actor.

Dae: So a lot of people think I actually got my degree in performance, but I didn't. And then I also got a minor in management and management informational systems because fun fact, I went to college as a business major. I never thought I could pursue theatre at all. Just because I never saw myself on stage, I've always loved theatre though, since I was like in kindergarten. However, I just didn't know how realistic it was for an Asian person to be able to pursue it.

And it wasn't until my sophomore year of college when I met the artistic director of Mu at the time, when I met him, he basically just said that if your Asian family could be so excited for someone who wants to pursue medical school and support them 100%, they haven't even gone to medical school. Why can't they be as excited for you to be an actor? Because it is a very doable career if you have heart and you have passion. And so I was like, yeah, yeah, you're great. Why don't I do it? So I switched my major.

And then I, honestly, it really feels like the stars are aligning because I did a show at Augsburg University where I went. I did a show there where we had an outside director come to our university to direct the show. And through him, I was able to meet other artists in the Twin Cities. And then I got invitations to audition for things. And then I just kept auditioning. And then I started working at 19 in the Twin Cities. And I've been working since somehow. Thank goodness. I feel very blessed to have been able to do that. And working with, I have done quite a few shows with Theater Mu, but I've also worked a lot with Pillsbury House Theatre with their DEI training. They're training, I don't want to say training course, but they have a program called Breaking Ice where they focus on DEI. And so I've gotten to be involved in that a lot too. So yeah, I guess that's a little bit of a longer intro to kind of where I'm at. But that's how I've gotten here. And that's how I'm here now.

Kendra: I love that the community has been so supportive and that artists were, you know, you were connecting and, you know, getting audition information. And that is one of the things that I do love about the Twin Cities is really like how there's like lots of artists, like the Playwright's Center, for example, like brings lots of artists from all over. We have lots of very strong theaters, including Theater Mu, which is the biggest Asian American theater in the Midwest., it's long running and has a reputation for high quality theater.

So I'm glad that you're finding work. And also, congratulations for graduating. And were you going to school during quarantine then?

Dae: I was. Yeah. So, I basically finished my senior year all online, which was quite an experience. Yeah, I was still also working too in the theater world. So you have basically a full day; I was also working at the time. So everything was work from home. And then you did school from home. And then when you did theater at night, you were at home. So it was like 14 plus hours of just at a screen, which looking back, I don't know how my brain was able to do it. Like, I swear, I should have gotten way more migraines than I actually did. But kind of crazy. But yes, I did go to school during that time.

I had a virtual graduation. So a beautiful YouTube live video of my little picture popping up. It was fun. And I did not choose the walk just because there, COVID was still going on. And I live with high-risk people. And so I was like, no, we're not going to do that. So yeah, but it's okay. I personally don't feel bad about it. I was fine.

Kendra: You have the degree: you have the paper and the experience, the connections and everything that brings. And so let's talk about Again. So this musical is playing March 29th through April 16th and we are approaching opening. So I'm curious to know more.

Dae: Well, first of all, I'll let you tell us a little bit about the musical. Yeah. So if we're just going through what the story is, right, a plot of the musical, we basically meet my Mai See, who I will be playing. We meet my Mai See, who is, she -- this isn't a secret, so it's not like, whoa, it's in a synopsis -- but she has cancer.

She has cancer. And she she had written a book about it. And because of her book, she ends up needing a fan of hers Quest, who is this bubbly early 20s character who's just like so ready for life. And Quest also has cancer, but she, but she is, she is taking on the world. Whereas Mai See is still learning to, I guess, take control of her life and figure out herself because she's had cancer for a longer chunk of her life. She's 39. And so she's had cancer for a longer chunk, but she's also been in remission for a while. So she's still trying to figure out how to navigate her life. And so we get to see these two characters, kind of how Quest helps Mai See regenerate her life, really, and find herself again and find footing through cute little, through cute little interviews like this, actually, trying to get to know one another.

But again, giving it a little bit what the heart of again is it's really about courage and being okay to start over and being okay to know that there's never a wrong time to fix and rekindle relationships because this show really revolves on relationships. It doesn't matter how long it's been, if it's important to you, you can go ahead and rekindle them and you should have courage to. Sorry, I feel like I didn't explain that well, but there are so many great themes in this musical, the two of those I highlighted.

Kendra: Yeah, there's a lot of elements, and I believe from what I've been hearing is that friendship is a really important element. And I know Katie Ka Vang, when she was talking about like her inspiration for the show was like, you know, she's a cancer survivor herself, and she wanted to tell a cancer story through Hmong American lens. And so, you know, probably everybody who sees the show and everybody watching this is going to have some sort of experience with cancer in their life with themselves or someone they know. So can you talk a little bit about like how the how it's handled? I mean, there's the potential that that's like what kind of like very obviously it's sad and frustrating and -- what's the name of the musical number when she finds when she finds out she's out of remission?

Dae: "Are you effing kidding me?" Yeah, I don't know if I could swear, but yeah, there is swearing in the show, just so your ears are ready. There's a lot of the f-word drops.

Kendra: So can you talk a little bit about like how the material is handled? Because I know there's also moments of levity, but obviously people who've been touched by cancer know like how like serious of a topic it is.

Dae: Oh yeah, no, definitely. Maybe too personal, but my I have my grandfather just recently passed from cancer. And I feel like the way he went about this musical handled it in a way that I feel like our family handled it. One of the big themes that is running through the musical is taking it one day at a time. And even with that song like every it just reminds me of the moments where the doctors are like, Oh, the treatment is working. It's getting better. And then literally just literally seven days later, a week later. Oh, it's not working. He's he's failing. You know, it's we have to start a different medication right away. And then you have to readjust your schedule. And granted, I I do not do a lot of the caretaking for my grandfather during that time. But to see your family go through that as well and see him go through it and how hard it is on his body.

I resonate a lot with that song. It's very frustrating. It's really hard. It makes you angry. It's like, 'why?' Why? You said it works. Like, what? Why are we? Why are we going through all this? Like us as the family, like emotionally, and then obviously for my grandfather, very physically taxing. So I think Katie handled it in a way where it is realistic. Not that cancer isn't hard, right? It is so it is so hard. And there's a there's a lot of sadness that comes with it. But one thing that my mother had said to me that that I think really helped with that is that life keeps going and not a way to ignore it.  So we just have to keep going. And we have to be grateful for when he went for when he was here. We have to be grateful the days we have with him and not worry about, "Oh, we only have six months left. We only have five months left" and really do take it one day at a time. So I don't know if that answered the question.

But that's that I feel like Katie handled it really, really well. Having the hope in there and even if there's tragedy that does come at the end, which --there's not this musical, but even if there is--to relish in the moments of happiness when you can.

Kendra: That's very well said. Yes. And I guess that's why I'm excited to see the show because it's like music can sometimes explain things the way that words can't. So I'm really excited to see how it unfolds on stage in the friendships.

Kendra: Can you talk a little bit about the collaboration? There's some like amazing artists involved with this, like, like a long-time fan of Katie Ka Vang. What's it it's like working with all these talented folks?

Dae: Oh my God. Okay. When you say talented folks, yes, we have some extremely talented folks in this room. Oh my goodness. The collaboration has been it's been very easy. Katie is a very easy playwright to work with. I'll be like, 'Katie, does this make sense?' Or if you have a question about a certain line or a certain scene or the flow of it, Katie is very receptive to feedback. And she's also so chill. If you guys don't know Katie, she is so chill. Like with the revisions, 'cause obviously this is a new musical. So we have had a multiple revisions during this rehearsal process.

Katie is really quick as well to make revisions and then bring them back to us so that we can read it out loud and give her feedback and be like, 'Okay, this is what's working and what's not working.' Again, she's so open, receptive to it. She's not married to her work, which she is in the way that she's dedicated to it, but she's not married to in a sense that she can't change it.

Also Nana [Dakin], our director -- I really love the approach she has to these characters. It feels very human. She really gives us time to do table work with the new pages that come in or just with the scene or just be like,  'What are your relationships with one another?" and that is very common because you need to know how your arc of the characters are. Obviously, when you do any play, I just really appreciate the way Nana approaches it. She really asks us how we're feeling about it, which sometimes it's hard to, I feel like especially as artists is hard to just have one way to describe what you think. And usually at least for me, it comes out more abstract and feelings. So it's been a very human experience. [...]

Kendra: That's great. It's a safe place and open. That's the goal.

Can you talk about a favorite moment song or a favorite line in the place, something that really sticks with you that you and that just really enjoy in that moment when you're performing?

Dae: Oh my gosh. Okay. I was reading through this question because obviously you're prepared and you give me questions for this. And I was like, I really like a lot of the moments. But the one that I think sticks out to me is that there's this, there's in the middle of the musical, there is a scene where Quest and Mai See are having more heart-to-heart open conversation about..it's just like an organic where, you know, you're talking to someone and the the air kind of changes. And you kind of start saying a little more about your situation or personal life. And that's where Mai See and Quest are. And Mai See  tries to cheer Quest up. And she says this line, Mai See says, "Adults are just children in bigger, older bodies." And the Quest goes, "That's why my dad still has a bunch of hot wheels." And then Mai See is like, "Exactly!" And I just love that moment because there is a lot said in just those few lines that transpired the comfort of being like, "Hey, sometimes adults we mess up. We make mistakes and you're not at fault at all." Because Quest very much she's not a child. You know, she is an adult, but, she's going through some things that make, me, I feel like, you know, we all have maybe a bit of childhood issues that still follow us into adulthood and to have someone who is Hmong, like Mai See who's older, who's in the art field and being able to tell her these things, I feel like it's just a lot more impactful than if they were to come from someone who perhaps doesn't fully understand the scope of where you want to go and where you want to go in your life and what's happening, especially since they both are cancer survivors. So, I really enjoy that moment. It's a beautiful moment for them and their friendship. And a beautiful moment, I think that anyone and everyone can relate to. Yeah, adults are just children in bigger older bodies. And sometimes we all need a little bit of love in, in our own way.

Kendra: That's beautiful. And as you were going through this rehearsal process, I mean, you're still in the midst of it. I don't want to rush you, but has there been any challenges or surprises that have come up that you want to share?

Dae: So I got to see a reading of the musical at Theater Mu's New Eyes festival last year. So I already kind of knew and understood the whole idea of the musical. But I didn't realize how much it would touch me being in the musical because it is about family. It is about relationships, at the heart of it. I never had cancer, though I did have a close family member that did have cancer and I could relate that way.

I didn't, initially go in all this is like, thinking that it would necessarily affect me so much. Maybe that's a naive of me to think that. But it's really the relationships in this musical that has been like, wow, it's, it's a lot sometimes. Cause...when you love so hard, you hurt hard when you care hard. And then when these moments come up and you're like, "I've had that exact conversation with my sister," or  "I've had that exact conversation with my best friend,"  or "I've had this exact conversation."

There's a lot of those moments in this musical for me that I was not anticipating to feel so touched by -- and not that it's, that was challenging, but there were moments I was like, ooh, okay, I gotta separate Dae's life and Mai See's life and really make a separation because it's so easy to relate and then you get caught in the emotions and, and then, uh, and then you can't perform and then then you can't put on a show.

Kendra: Yeah, that's when you know the arts good, right? Like when it's so relatable, and you can just kind of dig into that material and there's like so much source material in your own life and it's like really speaking to you. So thank you for sharing that.

Let's get into some logistics, too. Again is at Mixed Blood Theater, so it's right on the West Bank. Tickets are pay as you are,  so tickets are as low as $10. If you can pay $45 please do so. And then addition, you can donate to Pathways Minneapolis, which provides resources and services for people with life threatening or chronic physical illness, as well as their caregivers. So you can do that as part of your ticket for just on top of your ticket. That's a great partnership and can help some folks out in the community. The show is recommended for ages 16 plus due to language, which we did discuss.

Kendra: Can you do a shout out at the end? Maybe why should folks come see the show and what you're most excited about?

Dae: Yes! Please come see the show because this is the first ever Hmong musical to be produced, at least I know of, for sure, in the Midwest. If you all do not know Minnesota is home to the largest Hmong population here in the U.S. There's a lot of us here. So please come support us and come see us. Even if you're not Hmong, Come see your Hmong brothers and sisters because we are here. Also because this musical is -- I promise you will be able to relate to it. I promise you're going to walk away feeling something in your heart because Katie and Melissa Li, who's the composer have written a absolutely heart-touching, funny, quirky, very cute, relationships  that are real. They're real. They're very genuine.

Also, I thought, okay... let me know you might have announced it now. I am pregnant! So come support me.

Kendra: Congratulations!

Dae: Thank you. I just want to announce that because, because this will be my first time ever do a show pregnant. And so let's see how we do costuming so I don't look pregnant.

Kendra: Well, I sure, I'm sure you have a lot of support in the Twin Cities art scene for
that too. Um, so that is, um, a thing that happens.

Dae: It is a thing. You can perform and be pregnant.

Kendra: I also read that the against three leads are all Hmong (American) women. Yes. And we [were reminded from the Oscars] with Michelle [Yeoh] winning for best actor -- that representation
matters. So that is very cool. And I'm glad to see that on Twin Cities stages.

Dae:
So we too, we are too. We're so excited that it's, it's freaking awesome.

Kendra: All right. So, well, thank you so much for spending some time with me talking about the show
and your artistry. I've really enjoyed chatting and learning more about you and I can't wait to
see you on stage here at Mixed Blood. Thank you!

​I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Leslie Vincent, an incredibly talented jazz singer and performer who is gearing up to celebrate Women's History Month with a special concert series at Arts + Rec in Uptown, Minneapolis. Leslie's upcoming Sunday afternoon concerts will showcase the music of women in three emotional states: "Women in Love," "Women Who Folk," and "Women on the Edge." I was curious to learn more about what inspired Leslie to put together this exciting celebration of women in music, as well as to hear about her own creative process and upcoming projects.

In our interview, Leslie shared her influences, gave us a sneak peek into her upcoming album, and offered some advice for aspiring artists. Keep reading to learn more about Leslie's work and where you can catch her upcoming performances. Enjoy!

Artfully, 

P.S. Stay up to date on Minneapolis creative events, ticket deals, and artist features with Artfully Engaging Emails.

You mentioned you are currently recording your second solo album, can you give us a sneak peek into what we can expect from it?
Leslie: I don’t want to say too much, but it’s jazzy with some musical theatre essences sprinkled in. It’s my love letter to dark times and how we get through them. It’s joy and heartache and everything in between.

How has your music evolved over the years and what changes can listeners expect to hear in your new album?
Leslie: Oh, I’ve grown so much since I released my debut album [in 2020]. I went into this recording process with the goal to arrange each song specifically. The result is cool.

What message do you hope your music conveys to your listeners, and how do you hope it impacts them?
Leslie: Every single time I perform, I do it with the intention of inviting people in. I want them to enjoy themselves, have a laugh, and soak up beautiful music. Life is hard—we deserve time to appreciate any art and music around us whenever we get the chance. That’s what I try to provide with my limited time on Earth. ​

Leslie Vincent & Ted Godbout live music celebrating Women's History Month:

Leslie Vincent and Ted Godbout bring you Sunday afternoons full of women-inspired music from 1pm to 330 pm. 

March 12th - Women in Love: jazz-inspired songs about being in and out of love, featuring songs from the Great American Songbook. 

March 19th - Women Who Folk featuring the warm vibes of Carole King, Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Linda Rondstadt, Patsy Cline.

March 26th - Women on the Edge featuring the songs of Amy Winehouse, Adele, Alanis Morisette, Meredith Brooks, Natalie Imbruglia, and The Indigo Girls. 

Greetings Twin Cities arts community and supporters;

Welcome to 2023. I'm so amazed with all the wonderful in-person arts and community events that we've seen popping up again in our neighborhoods. It has inspired me to venture out into the snow and cold to be a part of the energy that local artists and their offerings provide. I've been busy over the past few years while I've been focusing on growing my technology skill. Exciting news! I recently completed a coding bootcamp and I'm super excited about putting my new nerd skills to work for the power of good.

I've been feeling a pull towards all things creative, since my arts outing have been on the back burner for a while. Resolved to change this, I rang in the new year seeing Smart Mouth Comedy Co. at the Phoenix Theater, my first time back in the space since a car ran through their front door and windows in November (please support them by donating or showing up to upcoming shows). Sharing laughs, music, and physical presence with artists and audience has inspired me to come back to writing about local creative endeavors and local happenings. Our time is valuable and I want to amplify local artists' voices and work with you to build a stronger Twin Cities arts and theater community. So, I'm back to blogging. I'm starting out with this blog: an interview with author and performer Lorna Landvik! Read my previous interview with her from 2017.

If you want more Lorna after the Q&A, please buy her books at your local bookstore and check out her website: LornaLandvik.com.

I am wishing you a year filled with creativity, intention, and local arts.

Artfully,

Start out the new year with comedy, storytelling, improve and antics from Minnesota author and performer Lorna Landvik. You can experience her newest show Pages and Stages which plays Friday and Saturday nights through January 28th at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater in Uptown, Minneapolis.

Pages and Stages combines derring-do improv, set pieces, music and stories/confessionals about her Hollywood days and writing career.

Lorna, I was a big fan of your long-running show Party in the Rec Room! What's the inspiration for the change to your newest show "Pages & Stages?"

Lorna: First of all, thanks for being a fan of PARTY IN THE REC ROOM! I decided to change it up a bit because often people tell me my book talks and events are like shows themselves. I thought I’d incorporate story-telling (tales of my writing, publishing, my time in Hollywood) into the PAGES part.  In the STAGES part, I improvise characters and scenes according to audience suggestion.

As in PARTY IN THE REC ROOM, the show changes every night, which keeps it fun and exciting for me. 

Describe "Pages & Stages" in three words.

Lorna: Laughs!  Entertainment!  Fun!

It's a brand new year and time to think about the year ahead! Personally, I took a few years off from arts blogging but now I'm starting to recover from some very rocky years and I'm coming home to my creative pursuits. Do you have any advice for other writers and creatives who are picking up a new project or coming back to an art form after some time away?

Lorna: I’m a big fan of Steven Pressfield and the lessons/ideas he puts forth in his books, THE WAR OF ART and TURNING PRO (to name just two).  He doesn’t talk about writers’ block, but resistance and how it can stymie all and any efforts — creative/self-improvement, etc. He’s got a great website -- StevenPressfield.com which I strongly recommend. I also like a long, contemplative walk to think about what I’m working on; even if nothing new comes in your head, at least you get some exercise!  

Any last words for Artfully Engaging readers?

Lorna: I so appreciate when people come out to see my shows, just as I appreciate when they choose one of my books to read. I really do believe we're’ all in this together, so my goal in writing and performing is to tell stories and create characters that will touch the reader/audience and make them laugh, ponder/wonder, hope and ultimately be glad they spent some time in these little worlds of mine.

We are processing some painful realities in the wake of the 2016 elections. I'd like to take some time to ask you, my creative community, how are you doing? Are you taking care of your mind and body? Are you being mindful? Are you making time in your calendar for rest?

Before election results even started coming in, I reached out to Chicago theater artist Eileen Tull asking her to write a piece for Artfully Engaging; I suggested self-care as a topic. I saw on social media that with all the creative hats she wears, she was making an effort to prioritize her wellness. And now I am so glad to share her guest blog post with all of you so that you can learn and be inspired by Eileen's journey.

When you are rested and fully present, I expect to see you engaged and creating work that blows our minds. Let's work together to keep ourselves strong so we can continue to ask important questions.

Artfully,

Kendra

By Eileen Tull

I don’t like traveling by plane. I’m so preoccupied with crashing into a twisted pile of metal and fire that it’s hard to have a good time. I can barely focus on anything else in the time between finding my seat and bump-bumping back onto the earth. What I do know, other than that I have no future as an astronaut, is that the oxygen mask metaphor applies to almost everything in life, but especially to self-care and artistic creation. The oxygen mask metaphor is that you are instructed to put on your own oxygen mask in an emergency before you begin assisting other passengers. You have to make sure that your mask is correctly on you and you are providing yourself with life-giving oxygen before you are able to focus on helping anyone else. You have to take steps to ensure that you are at full strength before you start spreading yourself too thin.  

It's time like these I turn to that little Internet sensation called "self-care." As a freelance performing artist with a day job and several teaching artist side-hustles (not to mention a whole host of mental health obstacles under my belt), I utilize self-care an awful lot. If I am not firing on all (or at least most) cylinders, I simply cannot create worthwhile art. People say great suffering begets great art, but I say that a lot of those artists never really had a good time. Like many things related to mental health, I worry that the true idea of self-care is getting lost in the shuffle of Tumblr posts and likes and faves and all that jazz. So here is a playlist of self-care suggestions, avenues, tips, tricks; a place to start.

Please note: I'm in no way medically qualified to talk about anything ever. All I am is a gal with a great sense of humor and lots of mental health issues (addiction, body image and disordered eating, anxiety issues, as well as a partridge in a pear tree).

1) Should You Stay Or Should You Go Now?

Sometimes self-care is about removing yourself from a situation that is unsafe for you. This situation may not be unsafe for others, but because you are a unique snowflake with your own brand of mental health cocktail, it may not be safe for you. That's okay. For example (speaking of cocktails), I perform a lot of shows in bars. As a recovering alcoholic, this can prove to be a challenge, especially as the night continues. The more that people around me drink, the less comfortable I feel. There's an emotional factor at play, but it's also that I become physically ill by the smell of alcohol. My sense memory flares up, recalling too many nights drinking until I made myself sick. This is a great boon to my sobriety, but not so much to my social life. I and those who love me understand this, so if I ever abruptly exit, most people understand that it is not out of rudeness, but emotional necessity. Those who might not understand may think me rude, and you know what? That's okay. I'd rather be rude than relapsed.

On the other hand, sometimes that flight impulse is a passing feeling. I stay more often than I leave, and I'm almost always glad I did. Don't underestimate the power of a few deep breaths, a drink of water, or a breath of fresh air to put your needs in perspective.

2) Here Comes The Sun

Go outside. Yes. It's still there. And we need it. Even when it's cold or it's rainy or it's oppressively hot. We need to feel the outside world. So much of our lives are spent living through screens (she said as she typed away on an iPad), where the reality is getting lost in the virtual more and more. Go outside and let your senses experience the world. It's fall in Chicago, the most engaging time of year. The smells and sights of leaves falling to the ground, the feel of the crisp autumn air: this is the world. Take a five minute walk or even open a window. So often when I feel in the midst of a breakdown, my instinct is to retreat into my apartment and plug my face into my machines. Interacting with the outside world always gives me a different point of view, reminding me that I am not alone on this earth and that I am able to look outside myself to ask for assistance.

3) Help! I Need Someone!

Ask for help. Self-care doesn't have to be solitary. People who love you want to be there for you. This is a hard one, because you have to strike the balance of asking for help, but being able to hold yourself up. I'm still heavily working on this one, because I'm used to being a relatively independent and self-reliant person who doesn’t come off the court unless there’s blood. Recently, I experienced a tragic loss in my family, something very painful and sudden. My addict voice tried to convince me that this grief was too much for other people and to clamp down on my feelings. "Suffer through it, don't burden anyone else." I quickly found that a) this grief was too much to bear alone and that b) I have built a network of people that would not leave me alone, constantly pestering me with love and support. When people want to love you, believe them. And furthermore, be the loving person for someone else in their time of need.

4) These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

No self-care arsenal is complete without the things that you love. As you feel yourself tipping, peeking over that despair cliff, wondering once again if you can fly, bust out the things that bring you joy. Make a playlist of songs (may I recommend lots of Sia], OK Go, this crazy, sorta Christian ska band from my youth called Five Iron Frenzy, the last five minutes of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and listen/dance to them as long as you can. Save the links to those articles that made you feel better and heard and more informed about yourself. Find podcast interviews with your favorite people or YouTube clips of parakeets that make you laugh. I have a folder on my phone titled "Nice Things People Say," full of screenshotted compliments and affirmations. It sounds a little desperate on paper, but I can't tell you how many times I have looked through those images and remembered compliments that my brain tried to block out. So whatever the things are that bring you joy: a TV series, book, video game, song, sport, comic book, etc., give yourself space to enjoy those things.

Of course, the caveat here is to find a balance between enjoying and binging. I love The West Wing, but after seven straight hours of watching a few years ago, I swear that Leo McGarry looked right at me with frustration and said, "get a hold of yourself, Eileen." This may have been a slight hallucination. See #2.

5) Do The Mess Around (Or Don't)

Get your mess in order. Yes, self-care is about treating yourself sweetly in a harsh world. We must be more gentle with our beautiful selves. But. Self-care is also about feeding yourself well. Taking a shower. Finishing a project. Sending an email. Paying a bill. Doing your laundry. Taking out the garbage. When I become so overwhelmed by "life," what I'm really overwhelmed by are my thoughts and feelings, usually relating to my mental health challenges. I allow this overwhelming to atrophy my productivity, and as more and more things pile up, my anxieties grow. The vicious cycle becomes a fun wheel to spin at the county fair; which task will I obsess about but put off completing NEXT??!? When I find myself here, I try to focus on what I am physically able to accomplish. If my to-do list is laundry, save up money, end street harassment, and achieve equality for all humans, maybe I should start with laundry. So yes, watch a cute video of a cat and take a walk, but also take out the recycling, finally. For the busy mind, these tasks are frustrating and cyclical, but tackling them allows me to literally make more space for things that make me well. They are the first to fall by the wayside when stress starts to mount, and they have a cumulative impact on my ability to move forward with anything.

And if needing to be reminded of this makes me bad at "adulting," so be it. Nobody's perfect, and unburdening myself of the notion that I have to be has been one of the best progressions of my life.

Care for yourself. Unplug your devices. Volunteer your time. Tell somebody that they're great. Get eight hours of sleep. Drink water. Go to a museum. Look at pictures of Harrison Ford from the 1980s. Eat green things. Apologize for that thing you feel guilty about. Make something with your hands. Write down that thought you keep having. Tell yourself that you're good, you're great, you're wonderful. Throw away that potato.

Learn more about Eileen, a performer, writer, and theater creator living in Chicago, at ElileenTull.com.
Tweet with her at @Tullie23 and follow her on Facebook.

For Halloween last year a group of my friends and I listened to scary Victorian ghost stories at the James J. Hill House in Saint Paul. This year I'll be in that same historic building, but I'll be surrounded by a small theater audience walking the halls and experiencing an immersive murder mystery theater performance of Bluebeard's Dollhouse, created by Combustible Company.  I encourage Twin Cities audiences to join the Halloween-esque fun and journey through the James J. Hill House to enjoy puppetry, dance, and live music.

A big thanks to Combustible Company for providing me two tickets. While I wouldn't attend a haunted house like the Soap Factor's Haunted Basement, because I'm a big ol' scardey-cat, I am terribly excited to try my hand at this [possibly terrifying] site-themed work. Ticket prices start at just $17 and support the nonprofit event, but space is limited to approximately 35 tickets for each show since the audience moves around the house with the actors, so get your group of friends together and grab your tickets fast.

In the following artist interview with Erik Hoover from the Saint Paul-based Combustible Company, you can trace the development of this collaborative work through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Erik also shares the inspiration for merging components of the two classic literature pieces Bluebeard and A Doll's House. At the end of the interview I have included some social media links so you can engage with the artists before or after you attend the piece.

Once performances begin, you can watch for reviews to start appearing from the other Twin Cities Theater Bloggers.

What arts or organizations in the Twin Cities inspire you?
Erik: Ten Thousand Things always does good work and their mission is important.

How did Combustible Company come about? Can you tell us a little about the organization?
Erik: Kym Longhi [the other co-artistic director of Combustible Company] and I met while we were both members of Kari Margolis' Adaptors Company and I’ve always trusted her insight. Herocycle was our first collaboration and I knew she was the one to help develop the seed of my idea. We both did the freelance thing for a while in between, but we’re both at a point in our careers where we want to collaborate more seriously to produce our own unique work.

Bluebeard's Dollhouse was developed with help from Red Eye Theater's Works in Progress (emerging artists program) in 2014. Can you tell us a little about how the production has morphed since that time?

Can you talk about how the stories of Charles Perrault’s Bluebeard and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House play off each other in your piece and how you decided that you wanted to combine them together?
Erik: Both of them in their own ways are captivity tales and both contain a measure of violence. However, in one story it’s physical and in the other it’s emotional. At the center of each story is a terrible secret that poses a threat to the heroine and changes her forever. Our goal is to contextualize the emotional abuse in A Doll’s House through the lens of the physical abuse in Bluebeard so the audience can better understand the pain constricting gender roles in our society can impose on all of us. In our story, the struggle to escape is universal.

Bluebeard's Dollhouse will be performed at the James J. Hill House. What has been the most challenging part of adapting a theater piece into a site-specific piece?
Erik: So far, I’d have to say it’s been the simple logistics of moving the audience from location to location without compromising the momentum of the performance.

What's next for Combustible after this project?
Erik: We have a few more ideas that are under development. Ideally, I think we’d like to be able to produce work about once per year but it may take us some time to get there. We’ll also be offering Margolis Method classes.

More Ways to Engage:
Follow Combustible Company on Facebook for behind the scenes photos and up-to-date performance info.

You can connect with @jjhillhouse on Facebook and Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS), which maintains the site, is active on many social media sites including Twitter (@mnhs) and Instagram (@minnesotahistoricalsociety.)

Suggested hashtags: #CombustibleCompany #BluebeardsDollhouse #TCtheater

Earlier this year, Joseph Stodola, Artistic Director of New Epic Theater, met with me at a local coffee shop to chat about all things theater. We discussed Shakespeare, Brecht, our recent art projects, and theater criticism. He also updated me about his ambitious staging of two plays this spring at The Lab Theater in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. I had tons of questions, so we've collaborated via email to bring this artist interview to Artfully Engaging readers, giving you Joe's artistic perspective on political theater, working in repertory, the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the importance of challenging theater.

Just like you are sitting at the coffee shop next to us, please join the conversation by commenting below or connecting with us on Twitter (@JosephStodola, @NewEpicTheater, and @ArtfullyKendra) using the hashtags: #NewEpicTheater, #Coriolanus, and #TheNormalHeart. Twin Cities theatergoers can experience Shakespeare's Coriolanus and Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart beginning March 24 and running through April 16, 2016.

I believe all theater is political, and it is our duty as artists to explain and illuminate what's wrong in the world. I like to make bold choices, but I spend a lot of time making sure those choices feel justified, not empty. As an artist, I can only hope they do.

You created a local theater company, New Epic Theater, and started with a remount of One Arm (2015) and then this past fall staged Doubt (2015). What considerations do you have in mind when you decide the shows you will include in your season?
Joseph: It's important to me that a piece of theater speak to a current issue or the current political climate, but I also need to be in love with the piece. Those are basically the two criteria for the work my company does.  

You have two shows coming up this spring at The Lab Theater in Minneapolis. Can you tell us more?
Joseph: These are two plays I have loved deeply for a long time, and it seemed that the more I thought about them the more I found that I loved them for the same reasons. The idea of doing two shows simultaneously with the same cast is not a new one, but it's a lot more common in the UK than it is stateside. I like the concept here because it allows the two works to have a dialogue with one another. 

Why did you pair Shakespeare's Coriolanus with the more modern The Normal Heart?
Joseph: Good question. Often, when two plays are done in this scenario, they have a superficial connecting theme (same playwright; similar scenic/casting requirements). These two plays are less similar in superficial ways, but profoundly similar in their ideas and arguments. Both plays are about the citizen's relationship to their government, and the anger one feels when one's voice isn't being heard. They're both political works almost in the classical Greek tradition and they wear their emotions and ideas on their sleeves. They also both have very imperfect, very human protagonists.

If you could describe this pairing of shows in three words, what would they be?
Joseph: Relevant. Political. Physical.

Would you share who you brought aboard for this project?
Joseph: My associate artists at New Epic Theater are James Kunz (movement), Adam Qualls (actor), and Torsten Johnson (actor). We're thrilled to be joined by Guthrie Theater veterans Michelle O'Neill and Zach Curtis, along with a new friend of ours from New York, Michael Wieser (you'll be seeing a lot of him soon). JuCoby Johnson, Grant Sorenson, and BFA student Antonio Duke round out the cast. I love working with these artists.

What's the benefit of producing shows "in rep," simultaneously in the same space and with the same cast?
Joseph: Well, it's an interesting challenge, but it's been really wonderful in certain ways. We set up some rules to challenge ourselves artistically. For instance, when we want a set piece/major prop, we want to use it in both plays. That has made us decide what's essential to telling each story and what isn't, as well as forced some interesting decisions to be made. For the cast, I have to think it's like exercising different muscle groups on different days. It has made for a dynamic process.

How do you market two shows at once? It seems like a challenge.
Joseph: Tell me if you know, 'cause we have no clue. We've been billing them together, and hoping that audiences read into our materials enough to understand how they are scheduled and when to see either or both works.

In your theater work, where do you go to find inspiration?
Joseph: Locally, I feel like I always learn something when I see a piece by the Moving Company, and formerly Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Their work was responsible for initially expanding my understanding about what theater could be. I also read a lot written by theater artists I respect.

What are your hopes and dreams for the future of the Twin Cities arts community?​
Joseph: I hope this community starts to grow in even more unique and interesting ways. I love the concept of the ArtShare program at The Southern Theater, and I would love to see smaller companies merge and band together to support their common artistic goals rather than feel like they are fighting for the same audience members. I think we're all sort of in it together.

Any parting words you want to leave us with?
Joseph: I want to talk about the importance of challenging theater. I believe too often audiences come to the theater only expecting entertainment or enjoyment. I think those things are valuable, but I don't think they're the only things theater can do. Often, theater that is challenging isn't done because it seems too "risky." I hope audiences will encourage this risk by stepping outside of their own comfort zones for a chance to have an experience that means more.

Artfully Engaging | Artist Interview by Kendra Plant

This Saturday History Theatre opens Watermelon Hill, a play that explores what happens when women are not in control of their reproductive destiny. Specifically, the young women sent to Catholic homes for unwed mothers in the 60s.

This is a story that hits close to home for my family. When I was in second grade my parents and I moved to Minnesota, where my mother's family resides. Mom sat me down late at night and told me that I had a half-sister somewhere. The time was right for her to share her secret so that I would not find out from family gossip. The secrecy and shame I imagine she endured as a girl of 15 haunts me, and perhaps it is why I am such an active advocate for comprehensive sex education and reproductive justice. We've been reunited with my sister and her family for over two decades and now my beautiful family is much larger. Still, I'll be bringing tissues when I experience the show this weekend.

Watermelon Hill It is based on ideas from Shadow Mother: Stories of Adoption and Reunion by Linda Back McKay. Last year I took a writing class at The Loft called "Write Now!" where I first met Linda. She was a talented instructor and generous with her time to help her writing students improve. She agreed to answer some questions for my Artfully Engaging readers. I hope you find her words as touching and insightful as I have.

Personal experience was the initial reason I started this work. In 1966 I had a baby boy and placed him for adoption. I was told it was forever and I would never see him again. When Minnesota adoption laws became a bit more open, we met again and have been close ever since. He's almost 50 years old now. My story is included in the books.

Out of the Shadows includes the original stories, new stories, essays by an adopted mom (Margaret Hasse), an adoptee who was "found" (Kate St. Vincent Vogl) and a more recent birth mom (Ethna McKiernan) and additional content. It also contains updates of several of the stories, documenting how the reunions have developed over the years.

When you finally completed the book what did it feel like?
Linda: It took me five years to write the first book and two years to compile the second. It's difficult work because I write the stories in the first person, which is much more emotional and painful. I find I have to take it a little at a time. But I believe in this work (as you can probably tell) and I'm happy to do it. It's strange to have one's life be an open book, but there you have it.

Do you find writing to be cathartic?
Linda: What's important to me is that Out of the Shadows, like Shadow Mothers, as well as Watermelon Hill (the play) has brought healing and peace to many people, including women who have been damaged by these experiences, their families and friends.

When did you hear that your words had inspired a stage adaptation and a theatrical performance?
Linda: When Shadow Mothers was published, I knew it was my job to bring it into the world. I did everything I could and gave many radio interviews across the country. One of these was on the "Mid-Morning Program" hosted by Kathryn Lanpher. Ron Peluso, Artistic Director of the History Theatre in St. Paul, heard that interview and was moved to contact me. That was the beginning of the first production of Watermelon Hill by playwright Lily Baber Coyle. Ron directed the first production in 2001. Now, 15 years later, it's being brought back, which is very gratifying. I'm hoping many more people will be able to see the production this time. It's absolutely amazing.

How do you promote your artistic work?
Linda: I say yes to every opportunity. I try to stay connected with other writers and the literary community. Like the theater, we all tend to support each other when we can. I've been fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time. As the great Deborah Keenan has been known to say about publishing, "It's a crap shoot."

What else would you like to share?
Linda: Another time I seemed to be in the right place was a couple of years ago when my poem, "Carousel" won the Motionpoems contest, was made into a gorgeous film by Pixel Farms and was projected across the facade of the St. Paul Union Depot. Talk about colossal! I would like to leave people with one of the life lessons I taught my children: You can't win if you don't enter.

Be determined. Be out there. Don't give up. Expect rejection (so you don't get too crunched up) but rejoice at acceptance.

Brianna Vigliotti, a senior at St. Catherine University (St. Kate's), will take the stage this weekend as Cinderella's Stepmother in the musical Into The Woods. In the following artist interview she shares her joy at being part of a large and talented artistic team, her favorite song from Into The Woods, and how she promotes her theater work.

If you could describe Into The Woods in three words, what would they be?
Brianna: Revelatory. Dynamic. Fantastical.

How did you get involved in this musical?
Brianna: Into the Woods is being put on through St. Kate's Department of Music and Theater where I'm a Theater Performance Minor. Into the Woods was a highly anticipated show, drawing talent, inquiries, and excitement from all over the Twin Cities. I myself was ecstatic that Into the Woods was going to be our big spring musical, especially since it is my last year at St. Kate's! It's a marvelous show packed with so much: love, loss, journey, magic, beautiful songs, humor...it really has it all!

What's your favorite song from the show?
Brianna: I'm going with the song "No One is Alone." It's such a beautiful number, piecing together various characters' journeys, discoveries, and tribulations. It evokes so much feeling inside of you when listening to it. Just when I think I'm not going to get teary-eyed listening to it for the 100th time, the waterworks come right back. It's a fabulous song, and the actors do it a great deal of justice. 

What's the rehearsal process been like so far? What has inspired you and challenged you?
Brianna: The rehearsal process for this show has been an exciting one for me. It had been a couple of years since I had last been in a musical, so it has been a blast getting back into it. Our rehearsals have been an incredibly efficient balance of hard work, learning, and fun. I commend our director, Pamyla Stiehl, for her ability to facilitate this balance as a director; she does it with such grace, intention, and professionalism. We are beyond lucky to have the opportunity to work with her and more importantly, learn from her.

Who do you think will appreciate this play? Who is this show for?
Brianna: I honestly believe almost anyone can appreciate this show. People old and young will recognize these fairytale characters many of us grew up with, but will get to know them in a different light. Not to mention the set, lighting, effects, and entire spectacle as a whole is going to be pretty fantastic. We have an incredible crew that have worked really hard to bring this show to life. I think all audience members will enjoy at least some element of the show (but hopefully all of them!)

How do you promote your theater work and reach out to prospective audience members?
Brianna: I think it goes without saying that social media has been quite a blessing in the promotion world! I definitely always use that to my advantage, posting little photo sneak peeks of our rehearsal process, set, and costumes to get people pumped to come see the show. That usually seems to capture people's attention on social media. However, I have found that in getting people out to see shows, it has always been most effective to personally invite people individually. These days, social media users are so constantly inundated with events and information that I think some things fly right past people. So, I use a combination of promotion tactics in addition to what the publicity team for the show already does.

Video by Claire Frederick.

Jenna Papke is an arts administrator and theater artist who  is currently the Executive Director at Arts' Nest in Uptown Minneapolis. Her organization opened their space at 2605 Hennepin Ave in November of 2014 at the the previous home of the Brave New Workshop (before BNW moved to downtown Minneapolis.)  The space has been branded Phoenix Theater (or just Phoenix) and includes a cafe, office space, and rehearsal/classroom spaces. Arts' Nest supports new work and assist emerging artists and also facilitates space rental at Phoenix. As you will read in the following interview with Jenna, the organization has ambitious goals that have already created a a multi-genre community art space.

Kendra: Tell me about yourself and your arts background.

Jenna: I was born in Minneapolis. I attended South High which is where I first got really into theater. I've always been a storyteller. I thought maybe I would go into creative writing but that is not necessarily where my skill set lies. I was 15 and I fell into theater and I never fell back out again.
 
I went to the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. My dual interests have always been administration and directing. There were some amazing teachers and people I took one-on-one classes with, but the directing Master of Fine Arts program had been disbanded a couple of years before I got there.  Instead, I got some experience through the student theater, which might not have been a bad thing. Directing is such a personal thing; there is only a certain amount of it that can be taught. Most of it you just kind of have to figure out through practice.

The best thing that happened to me in college was the internship semester I spent in London with a West End producer and I just learned everything. The six months hands-on in London were worth more than the three other years combined.

After college I spent a couple of years making work on my own, producing and directing, followed by a few years working together with former classmates under the name Six Elements, where we did some great work.

Two weeks after I parted ways with Six Elements I was approached by a guy I knew who legitimately said, "I'm going to buy a theater but I don't want to do the boring business stuff." And that is where I am today. It is really the perfect melding of the artistic and business sides. Plus, I get to do some directing.

The mission of Arts' Nest is to work with emerging artists, giving them access to space, connections, and the information necessary to be successful. The Phoenix Theater, which we call a project of Arts' Nest, is our physical location but Arts' Nest is the legal entity. I knew in order to make this work financially we'd also have to be a rental venue and we couldn't use every week to just do Fledgling Projects. I wanted a clean space that had a neutral identity so that many groups could come in and use the space. There have been many points in my time here in the Twin Cities where I've been to a theater three or four times before realizing, "Oh, there's a company here with the same name. I didn't know that." I wanted to avoid this by having separate names for each, which may confuse some, but I still stick by the fact that it was a good idea.

Phoenix as a space and as a community has come to mean a lot of things even separate from Arts' Nest. The plan down the line is for more of the weeks to be used for our mission-driven projects and fewer of them to be for rentals, but that will come with time; we are still only a year old.

​Kendra: Can you talk about some of the challenges and the things you've learned creating Arts' Nest?

Jenna: I've taken many jobs that would sort of train me for this experience, but sometimes the price of ignorance is very high, like not realizing that I had to deal with unemployment insurance. But even in those first few months it was all about getting the building ready. We got in here and the electrical and the plumbing had to be redone and all on a very tight timeline. Theater people run on deadlines; there is a show with an audience. I’ve discovered that doesn't work in the construction field, where it's just dealing with the sheer difference in work mentality.

It's been completely worth it, however; just having this place. On a night when everything clicks and the audience is happy and the artists are happy, being able to make things happen, and being able to reach out to a young artist and say, "You know what we don't have enough of in this town? A thing that you do." And they can come in and just have a smashing success, or a moderate success. It's just why I wanted to do it in the first place.

​​Kendra: Tell me more about the Fledgling Projects.

Jenna: There are a number of things we do under the Arts' Nest banner, and Fledgling is our production assistance program where most of the energy goes. It's a very simple application process on the Arts' Nest website: just fill out a little bit about yourself, what kind of artist you are, and an idea of a project you want to do. It's not to say you necessarily need to pitch a project; we also love to get applications saying, "I'm a lighting designer who recently came to town and want more opportunities."

We collect applications on a rolling basis and then three times a year the board sits down and reviews them to pick the ones that seem to fit in with our mission; ones we can help make successful.

​​Kendra: Do you feel like at this point you have a built-in audience for the venue that comes from show to show?

The biggest thing we have going for us is 50 feet of window ads on Hennepin Avenue. We put up posters and there are people walking by who stop to look. We also have a quickly growing Facebook page and an email list of 700+ people.

​​Kendra: I want to ask about your philosophy for building and keeping healthy collaborations, since you work with so many people here.

Jenna: One thing that we have been working to push here is bringing together different kinds of art and rethinking what art is. We work to display and sell visual art, so we are kind of becoming a gallery space. We are trying to do it in a thoughtful way, and it has been a learning process for me. Visual arts is something I always enjoyed and something I would consume as a viewer, but it's a different world. Why should these worlds be so distinct? That's why when we made the sign I pushed really hard to just make it Phoenix. I didn't want "Phoenix Theater." I didn't want to close off the possibilities that exist. The goal, down the line, is to have this place open on a more regular basis. So few performing venues have lobbies the way this one does, and to make it a networking space is a goal of mine.

It all comes down to your collaborators. Finding the right ones, knowing how to communicate with them, respecting them and trusting them. It's why the community can get very closed off, because sometimes it's hard to take the risks to find new collaborators.

​​Kendra: How do you get the word out and the community involved? How do people learn about what's coming up next for you?

Jenna: It has been a slow process. I keep saying yes anytime someone wants to talk. The Minnesota Theater Alliance did a profile on us. We have a bunch of memberships now including Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Minnesota Theater Alliance, and Minnesota Playlist. We are trying to become part of the community so that the word spreads in an organic way. We can't afford ads. We've also started right away with our programming even though we weren't necessarily in a firm financial spot to do all these Fledgling programs. I really wanted to get the word out that this is what we do and who we are. A lot of it is spreading from people we have already worked with and who have had positive experiences. We are definitely seeing an uptick in interest.

Tickets:
$20 or Pay-What-You-Can

About the show:
Cynthia Debrett is a brilliant espionage agent, careless with her safety, fiercely devoted to her country, and quite painfully in love with her best friend, Robin Bell. Robin however, is quite taken with the newest agent in Cynthia’s unit and knowing nothing of her unrequited love, begs her help in getting closer. Fighting fascism is easy. Coping with a breaking heart, much more difficult.

Matthew A. Everett is the playwright in residence at Workhouse Theatre Company in Minneapolis. He is a colleague of mine and for a while now I have been bugging him to sit down and talk to me about his upcoming work. He finally gave in and I am pleased to present this interview that covers a lot of ground including: Matthew's playwrighting residency at Workhouse, the use of show hashtags, his educational path to working in the arts,  and info about his new play in development TV Boyfriend.

Enjoy the interview and support Matthew's work by attending an upcoming free play reading at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis. He gave me a sneak peek of the script for TV Boyfriend and I am telling you that you do not want to miss your chance to experience the public reading of his engaging "coming out romance!"

If you could describe TV Boyfriend in three words, what would they be?

Matthew: Well, the subtitle for the play is “a different sort of fairy tale” but if I had to hold it to just three words, they would be: coming out romance.

How did you decide that TV Boyfriend was a play that you were going to
write?
Matthew: I tend not to like plays where people talk about theater.  I also have a bias against plays that have writers - or any artists - as characters.  I feel like it shows a lack of imagination.  Come on, write about real people.  The whole world doesn’t revolve around theater.

TV Boyfriend is a play that has both of those things - a playwright as one of the main characters, and a bunch of people who keep talking about theater.  It’s so meta it makes me nervous.  A writer friend of mine laughed and told me it’s almost like this play had to trick me into writing it.

The trick was initiated by Red Theater in Chicago. They do a writing challenge in the month of November each year. They post a prompt each day, and you can either write to the prompt or not, but you have to write something and post it in their online forum by 7am the next morning.  So you not only write it, but everyone else is also going to be able to read it.  Everyone puts $15 in the pot, and Red Theater takes percentage off the top as a mini-fundraiser. The remainder of the money is split between however many of the writers who sign on make it all the way to the end of the month writing something every single day.  I figured it would be a good way to get me to refocus on my writing and blast past my internal censor.  Plus I might get raw material for a new play or two. There were 57 writers participating this year, 31 of us, made it to the end writing every day. So I got a new play, and a $22.06 payout, out of it. Not bad.

Halfway through the month of November they posted this:

“Writing Challenge – Treat Yourself - Write something that only you understand and that probably only you enjoy. If you're not giggling to yourself or blushing you're doing it wrong. Listen to your Id. Be naughty! Be coded. Be fun. Comment on your work as you do it. Break and forget any and every rule except that writing can be FUN. F-U-N! Crack yourself up. Fall in love with yourself again. Masturbatory writing can unleash some wonderful creative energies. Treat yourself.”

That’s where the first half of the first scene of the play came from, and it’s stayed essentially the same.  Four days later I thought, “I think I know what the scene between the writer and the sister looks like.”  So instead of writing to that day’s prompt, I wrote that scene instead. For the next twelve days, every day I ended up writing a new scene for TV Boyfriend. That got me almost to the end of the month.  And when I looked up, I had almost 130 pages of dialogue. There’s gotta be a play in there somewhere.  So I started putting it in order and giving it some structure. Then I realized I needed some bits between the scenes to allow the actors to change their clothes if nothing else, and also to allow the audience to mentally make the transition from present to past and back again. One of those things was journal entries from the character of Jake. The other was a song written by the character of Ken - who, like me, is learning to play the guitar. So it didn’t need to be a great song, it just needed to be a song. Which I’ll be playing at the reading in the different sections where it appears in the script.

So in a lot of ways, TV Boyfriend decided that I was going to write it, rather than the other way around.

What's your favorite line from the play...right now, of course, since the
play is still being developed?
Matthew: There are so many I really like, that’s a tough one.  Also I’m not sure how much sense any of them make out of context. But if I was forced to choose, it’d probably be: “As far as I’m concerned, you are the prize in this box of Crackerjack.”

Just because it’s almost unbearably sweet in the context of the scene. So it’s the line that always makes me happy.

Who do you think will appreciate this play? Who is this show for?
Matthew: Anyone who appreciates a good love story, but I think anybody gay looking for a positive story dealing with love, relationships and coming out will have a special connection to it. And theater junkies and writers will have a lot they can latch onto as well.

What inspired you to become a Playwright?
Matthew: I’d been writing almost as soon as I could read when I was a kid. I even had a little red, white and blue plastic typewriter (remember typewriters?) as a birthday present at a young age. When I got involved in theater, which was inevitable since my mom was heavily involved in the local community theater, I realized I had a facility for dialogue. Prose was never my strong suit, so playwriting was a perfect fit.

What was your educational path and did it prepare you well for a life in
the arts?
Matthew: I got a fantastic hands-on liberal arts education at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana - a double major of Communications (Radio/TV/Film) and Theater. I was accepted there and at a bigger name school but the difference between the campus tours is what sold me.  At ISU, they took us into TV studio and got our hands on the cameras and the control room. The other school pointed out the building the TV studio was in up the hill as we walked past, essentially saying that if we also went to grad school here, we’d eventually get a chance to play with the toys. While attending ISU I got to do a little bit of everything - acting, writing, directing, design, stage management, shop, and tech crew.  (I started as just a Theater minor but after my first year, I’d spent so much time at the theater that I figured I might as well make the double major official.) I learned what my strengths and weaknesses were, and I also learned to appreciate the role everyone plays in getting a script up on a stage in front of an audience.

My grad school focus at the Yale School of Drama was in stage management, which gave me an even greater appreciation of everyone’s role.  But the writing was always there. My best friends in grad school were the playwrights. I just didn’t trust myself enough as a writer yet. I moved to Minneapolis after grad school and got a job as a stage manager. Finally, I’d spent one too many days in rehearsal saying to myself, “I can write better plays than this.” So I sat myself down and figured, either shut up and do your job, or get out of stage managing, take a desk job and focus all your creative energy on writing. I gave myself five years until I’d start to worry if I’d ever get a play on stage. I got my first production in three years. I like to think my background means I always have an eye on how the story can be told, and what I’m asking the creative and production teams to do - writing for the way actors speak, understanding what set and costume changes require in real time, etc.

What are some upcoming projects that you are excited about?
Matthew: Of the ideas for scripts I’m noodling over at the moment, first in line is a trilogy of short plays following the same set of characters through their 20s, 30s and 40s, using an ensemble where each of those age brackets takes prominence in one story, and serves as the supporting players for the others. The whole thing pivots around an atheist and a minister meeting and falling in love, and having to deal with the notions of how religion, faith and belief factor into their life together. Various manifestations of God make cameo appearances. The overall working title is The God Trilogy. The goal is to design them in such a way that they can be done separately or presented all together, interwoven and reflecting off one another thematically in a fashion similar to the way Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy of films does.

There’s also a riff I’m doing on Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in which all but one of the characters are women, called Autumn Roses.

Also I’m trying to revisit and finalize the script for Love’s Prick my modern day riff on Shakespeare’s As You Like It that I workshopped back in 2007.

I don’t have any other readings or productions in the pipeline at the moment, but I’m pushing to get more of my scripts out there in the world so with luck that will be changing soon.

I was really excited to see that you are using a hashtag for the show!
#TVBoyfriend. Is that something new for Workhouse and what do you see
as the benefit of including that in your show information?
Matthew: Workhouse is trying to figure out the most effective way to generate interest in the different plays that are being presented in The Greenhouse Project monthly play reading series. Hashtagging #GreenhouseProject and #PlayTitle is something we’re playing with, along with trying to pull daily quotes from the play to see if we can pique people’s interest with things that are funny or odd out of context - clues to the play that will only make sense if you come and hear the whole thing.

How did Workhouse Theatre end up doing a reading of your play this February?
Matthew: This wasn’t the plan. Another play and playwright were on the schedule for February, but just a couple of weeks ago the playwright in question contacted us saying he was having health issues and needed to postpone. As we’re still working our way through reading scripts and deciding what to put in our March and April slots on the schedule for The Greenhouse Project, having February suddenly open up as well was a challenge.  “TV Boyfriend” is still very new in its development. It didn’t even exist in October of last year. But I’d banged it into sufficient shape through my writing group and their feedback that I felt comfortable showing it around. Plays in progress is what the reading series is supposed to be for, so to buy us some time to read and decide on other plays for March and April, we decided to put TV Boyfriend on the calendar for February.

We’re really trying to grow the audience for the reading series and help introduce writers and audiences and local artists to each other with The Greenhouse Project. Hearing the words read aloud by actors is invaluable to a playwright. Hearing an audience’s response, both in the moment of the reading and in discussion afterward, is equally invaluable. So the more, the merrier. Come out and support new work and help it grow and get better.