Early Spring Productions

The spring season is already under way in Winona with St. Mary’s University production of A Chorus Line, which runs through Monday. Vivian Fussillo’s take on Moleire’s The Imaginary Invalid plays next week at Winona State University, Thursday through Saturday.

The 17-member kick line rehearses for Saint Mary’s University’s production of A Chorus Line. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News)

Ryan Hawkins, right, and Ali Dilger in WSU’s The Imaginary Invalid. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News)

Karen Dulak, left and Ann Kohner rehearse a scene from the dress rehearsal of The Senator Wore Pantyhose. (Photo by Rory O’Driscoll/Winona Daily News)

From left, Chris Bernard, Emily Whitcomb, Derek Sveen, Abbey Quandahl, Hunter Tibor and Emily Quandahl rehearse "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown."(Photo by Fred Schulze/Winona Daily News)

Next week also has two community theater offerings: The Fountain City Players with The Senator Wore Panythose and Rock Solid Youth Center with You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.

For the second year, spring also means the Commonweal’s annual Ibsen Festival and production of Ibsen. The Festival runs April 17 - 19 with Hedda Gabler opening April 16 for a two month run. Visit the Commonweal for details.

A Chorus Line

Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleban,
Directed by Judy Meyers
St. Mary’s Department of Theater Arts

Mar. 27 - 30
Fri., Sat., Mon. shows at 7:30 pm, Sun. at 3 pm
Page Theatre

See story from Winona Daily News Visit the Page Theatre website for schedule and ticket information.

The Imaginary Invalid

by Moliere, Directed by Vivian Fusillo
Winona State Department of Theatre and Dance
April 2-4, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
WSU Performing Arts Center Mainstage

See story from Winona Daily News.
Visit the Winona State Theater and Dance Department website for schedule and ticket information.

The Senator Wore Panythose

by Billy Van Zandt and jane Milmore, Directed by Juddee Brone

Fountain City River Players
April 1 - 5, 7:30 p.m. (Sunday, 2 p.m.)
Fountain City Auditorium
42 N. Main St., Fountain City, Wisconsin.
608-687-7481

See the story from the Winona Daily News

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

by Clark Gesner, directeed by Sue Degallier
Rock Solid Youth Center
April 2 - 4, 7:30 p.m.
April 5, 4:00 p.m.
75 West 3rd Street, Winona, MN
507 452-2125

See the story from the Winona Daily News

The Long Christmas Ride Home

Sarah St. Laurent, a Saint Mary’s University theatre major, paints the face of Rebecca, a Japanese Bunraku-inspired puppet Monday at SMU’s Page Theatre. The puppets will be used in "The Long Christmas Ride Home, directed by St. Laurent. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) See the Winona Daily News story.

by Paula Vogel; Directed by Sarah St. Laurent
Puppet Design by Preston Lawing, MFA
St. Mary’s University Department of Theatre Arts

St. Mary’s University Department of Theater Arts presents Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home this weekend at Valéncia Arts Center in Winona. American playwright Paula Vogel is best known for her Pulitzer winning play How I Learned to Drive. How I Learned to Drive uses learning to drive as a metaphor for a girl overcoming an incestuous relationship with her uncle. Vogel often deals with controversial and uncomfortable subjects but seems to do it in a way that engages audiences rather than overwhelms them.

In The Long Christmas Ride Home, Vogel includes puppets based on traditional Japanese bunraku puppets. These puppets usually require 2 or three actors to manipulate the puppets. The puppets for the St. Mary’s Production are designed by Preston Lawing of St. Mary’s Art Department.

The Long Christmas Ride Home runs February 26 - March 2
Thur., Fri., Sat., Mon. shows at 7:30 pm, Sun. at 3 pm
Academy Theatre, Valencia Arts Center
1164 W. 10th, Winona.

Visit the Page Theatre web site for schedule and ticket information.

New York Times Image from Disfarmer (Photo: Richard Termine)

Bunraku puppet on Broadway.

View a New York Times review of Dan Hurlin’s play Disfarmer which stars a bunraku puppet playing the role of photographer Mike Disfarmer. Included with the review are several still photos and a 6 minute flash video of the puppet and the puppeteers in action.

View the New York Times Review of Disfarmer

Upcoming Performances: Taxes and Greeks

The Fountain City River Players turn their attention toward tax day while both Winona Universities turn towards the Greek. Vivian Fusillo directs Medea at Winona State in early April while Steven Bouler directs Euripedes’ Iphingenia at Aulis later in the month.

April 2 - 6 Love, Sex, and the I.R.S.: A Comedy in Three Acts

By Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore, Directed by Judee Brone
Fountain City River Players
7:30pm April 2 - 5; 2:00pm April 6
Fountain City Auditorium
42 N. Main St.
Fountain City, Wisconsin
(608) 687-7174.

April 3 - 5 Medea

Directed by Vivian Fusillo
Winona State Department of Theater and Dance
Winona, Minnesota

From WSU Online Calandar:

Medea is a story of betrayal, revenge and murder from Greek mythology.

Medea is a woman who has given up her home and family in Corinth to help Jason and the Argonauts capture the Golden Fleece. Upon their return to Corinth, Medea and Jason wed and have two sons. However, Jason is unable to resist when Creon, the king of Corinth, offers his daughter to Jason if he will divorce and banish Medea, who is suspected of being a barbarian sorceress. Jason agrees in hopes of one-day becoming king. Medea is given one day to leave Corinth, and one day is all she needs to exact her revenge.

Medea is intended for mature audiences.

Visit the Winona State Theater and Dance Department website for schedule and ticket information.

April 18 - 21 Iphigenia at Aulis

By Euripides, Directed by Dr. Steven Bouler
St. Mary's University Department of Theater Arts
Winona, Minnesota

Description from St. Mary's Page Theater website:

The Greek fleet waits in the bay of Aulis in readiness to launch an attack on Troy, but the wind suddenly drops and the ships stand idle. The army blames its leader, Agamemnon, who, in danger of losing his command, is told by the oracle the only solution: sacrifice his teenage daughter, Iphigenia, to the gods, in return for a favorable wind and ultimate victory. As relevant today as it was over 2,000 years ago, this contemporary translation of Euripides’ Iphigenia (set prior to the Iraqi War) explores patriotism, war fever, and how far a leader will go to secure a military victory in the East.

Visit the Page Theatre website for schedule and ticket information.

When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder?

by Mark Medoff
Directed by Dr. Gary Diomandes

Starting off the 2008 Southeast Minnesota theatre calendar, St. Mary’s Department of Theatre Arts presents Mark Medoff's 1973 play When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder? February 28 - March 3 at the Academy Theatre, Valencia Arts Center.

This fast-paced drama by Medoff starts off innocently enough with a group of people going about their daily lives at a small New Mexico diner. The arrival of a too-friendly tourist quickly turns antagonistic, then violent, and the staff and customers suddenly find themselves held hostage by an armed madman. As they fight him and play out his demands, their brittle lives shatter, and no one escapes unscathed.

See St. Mary's Campus Notes for more information.

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 29, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 1, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 2, 2008 - 3 p.m.
Monday, March 3, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.
Academy Theatre, Valencia Arts Center
1164 W. 10th

Visit the Page Theatre website for schedule and ticket information.

Yerma

by Federico Garcia Lorca
Directed by Judy Myers, M.F.A.

St. Mary’s Department of Theatere Arts presents Federico Garcia Lorca's Yerma November 9 - 12 at the St. Mary's Page Theatre.

See St. Mary's Campus Notes for more information.

Friday, Nov. 9, 2007 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007 - 3 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 - 7:30 p.m.

Visit the Page Theatre website for schedule and ticket information.

St. Mary’s Department of Theatere Arts presents: Art

by Yasmina Reza
Directed by Dr. Steven Bouler

Yasimina Reza’s Art premiered in Paris in 1995, London’s West End in 1996, and Broadway in 1998—with each production winning major awards. It’s been translated into more than 25 languages and has become a favorite of actors and audiences around the world for its sometimes whimsical look inside the workings of friendship and inside the minds of three individuals who,for better or worse, think a lot like us.

Three long-time friends must re-evaluate their friendship when one of the men, Serge, purchases a very expensive painting, a white landscape (which may or may not have a hint of colorful or white stripes). While the painting does make an appearance, in Art, art serves as a backdrop for an examination of character and relationship. Each of these men display flaws that are at times, irritating, humorous, and fascinating. But most of all, these exposed flaws find uncomfortably fertile ground among theater goers.

The play is strong and engaging. The action is confined to the interactions between the three characters, with interesting freeze-frame asides that further explore the workings of the human mind. I first saw Reza’s Art in 2001 in a Commonweal production that was spell binding—a result of brilliant acting by the company and a tremendous play. Winona State students presented a strong production of Art a few years later. SMU's production offers a welcome opportunity to see another production of Art in Winona.

St. Mary’s production of Art runs September 28 - October 1.

Visit the Page Theatre website for schedule and ticket information.