'The Bridges of Madison County' at Artistry Theatre

Jennifer Baldwin Peden (Francesca Johnson) and Eric Morris (Robert Kincaid) Photo by Devon Cox

Near the top of Clint Eastwood's resume sits the The Bridges of Madison County. The adapted musical is directed by Benjamin McGovern, running at Artistry Theatre in Bloomington through February 16th.

Sunday Post #amwriting #amjoy

Today's post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves for weekly updates.

2019 Twin Cities Theatre and Actor Awards

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE 5TH ANNUAL TCTB AWARDS!

Nine bloggers voted, and here are the results. For the full list of nominees click here: http://www.twincitiestheaterbloggers.com/…/2019-twin-cities…

favorite comedic performance by an individual
Eric Sharp - Hot Asian Doctor Husband, Theater Mu

favorite dramatic performance by an individual
Dame Jasmine Hughes - Benevolence, Penumbra Theatre Company AND Floyd's, Guthrie Theater

favorite musical performance by an individual
Becca Hart - Ride the Cyclone, The Jungle Theater

favorite comedic performance by an ensemble
Hot Asian Doctor Husband, Theater Mu

favorite dramatic performance by an ensemble
School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, The Jungle Theater

favorite musical performance by an ensemble
Ride the Cyclone, The Jungle Theater

favorite director of a play
Rick Shiomi - Caught, Full Circle Theater Company

favorite director of a musical
Peter Rothstein - All Is Calm AND Candide AND Chicago AND Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Theater Latté Da

favorite music director
Jason Hansen - Hedwig and the Angry Inch AND Little Night Music, Theater Latté Da

favorite choreographer
Jared Grimes - 42nd Street, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

favorite scenic design
Chelsea M Warren - Ride the Cyclone, The Jungle Theater

favorite costume design TIE
Alice Fredrickson - Chicago AND Hedwig And Angry Inch, Theater Latté Da
Jacqueline Addison - School Girls, The Jungle Theater

favorite lighting design
Karin Olson - Brothers Paranormal, Penumbra Theatre Company / Theater Mu AND School Girls, The Jungle Theater

favorite sound design
Scott Edwards - Autonomy, Mixed Blood Theatre Company AND Brothers Paranormal, Penumbra Theatre Company / Theater Mu

favorite play
Roe, Mixed Blood Theatre Company

favorite musical
Ride the Cyclone, The Jungle Theater

favorite new work
Stoopidity, Domino D'Lorion, Ian McCarthy, and Michael McKitt for Minnesota Fringe

favorite theater company
The Jungle Theater

favorite theater venue
Guthrie Theater

Sunday Post @kimbacaffeinate #amwriting #amjoy

Sunday Post @kimbacaffeinate #amreading #amjoy

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKING FORWARD TO FEBRUARY

Crazy week. I got terribly sick last Sunday night with food poisoning. Once that was over, I got back on the saddle and went to a playwright's critique group in Minnetonka. I found this group on mnplaylist.com , in their classified section. I had to drive 40 minutes in the snow to get there, but I love Minnetonka and all the lakes and how remote it is compared to Minneapolis. I also started learning SQL, online, for free!!!! There's about 20 people in the class and it can be found at learnittools.com

Anyone can take the class so tell your friends about it. It last about six weeks and meets only three times a week for a little over an hour. The next batch starts on March 5th. It'll also be covering things like selenium and java and informatica. I've been doing this for a couple weeks now. And boy is it hard! I don't know if any of you guys have ever worked in IT but the bare bones of what I know comes from the creation of this blog which doesn't say a lot about my IT skills, but I'm trying..I know a lot of women in IT and they say that's where the money is. I figure I'll never give up my hobby in writing, but it will be a change from my full time job in Health care.
Last and final note.  Yesterday I went to see an extreme sport called Skijoring at Canterbury park.  Skiers were pulled by horse back riders and let's just say a lot of people fell down. It was hard not to laugh.

Tell me about the work you do in the comments below.

CURRENTLY

Reading: You were always mine by Nicole Bart, Don’t Cry by Mary Gaitskill, The Lemon Table by Julian Barnes, Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, Wise Children by Angela Carter

Listening:The Transcriptionist by Amy Roland

Watching:The Masked Singer and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend(Netflix)

ON THE BLOG

Sunday: The Sunday Post

Up Coming:

Interview with Writer

Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.

'Bloomsday' gives new meaning to Frigid January in Anoka

January may be frigid, but it's perfect weather to see an indoor play at LyricArts in Anoka. Bloomsday by Steven Dietz and directed by Elena Giannetti transports its audience to the Bloomsday Festival which began in 1954, a celebration to honor the life of Irish writer, James Joyce.

Love hangs in the air of 1950's downtown Dublin, Ireland.  Robert (Jeffery Goodson) struggles with regret and missed opportunities as he reflects on his life and his chance encounters with true love, Caithleen (Gillian Constable). Four characters transition back and forth between the present and past with Caithleen (Lolly Foy) and Robert (Brandon Homon) playing the younger characters. They freeze spontaneously so that the older Caithleen and Robert tell us what they were thinking.

Caithleen’s tours though Dublin recreate much of James Joyce’s life, as his work is largely autobiographical.  His characters mirror many of his life experiences from the anniversary of Joyce and Nora’s first date to the inevitable moment of Molly Bloom’s infidelity. Caithleen gives her perspective on what it may have been like for a woman to live during that time. “Yeah-go on-call Molly Bloom some kinda whore-...I don’t know why everyone does that-I don’t know why you can’t kiss a man without going and marrying him first?”

Issues that revolve around Caithleen’s promiscuity mimics that of great Molly Bloom and are a testament to her own decision not to stay with Robbie, showing how history repeats itself.  Steven Dietz’ take away message may be how mindfulness can help one grapple one’s current situation.

Funnier moments happen when the characters poke fun at one another during their reading of Ulysses, a work meant to be read aloud for rhythm and inflection, taking into consideration the Irish dialect. The characters read a few sentences, “Mahr,(more) tell me mahr,” said Robert (Brandon Haron) in an Irish accent, getting a laugh from the audience. Reference is made to the novel's seven hundred and fifty page length (which takes an average of thirty-two hours to read). When Caithleen says Molly Bloom is the hero of the book, Robert responds, “Are you kidding? The hero of Ulysses is the reader! Whoever can make it to the end.” 

Given the large set, one may feel that something extraordinary is going to happen on stage. Upon walking into the theatre, I noticed the twenty-foot scaled building that represents the city of Dublin with finely etched store fronts with names like The Irish Pub or the Sweny.  It reminded me of the Orpheum’s New York set of Rent. It's my belief that the creative team may have overestimated the capacity for the set and the character’s use of it, perhaps a smaller set would have worked fine and created a sense of intimacy.

All in all the cast is great.  Brandon Homon was memorable for his ability to be down to earth. His goofy reactions lit up the stage. It's difficult to comment on the story's narrative without giving away the ending but I'll say that if you've read James Joyce's,Ulysses, you may have the upper hand. I plan to come back to LyricArts, and I may even brush up on Ulysses.  Next month, the theatre will be showing Flora and Ulysses, opening Feb 14-23.


Tickets for 'Bloomsday' through Jan. 26 at http://www.lyricarts.org/tickets