Superman in the Bones: A Tale of Trauma, Crisis, Resolution and Meaning

College is a period of life in which a vast horizon of experience is set before us to explore. From philosophy, psychology, history and the arts to mathematics, physics and cosmology, we're given the opportunity to discover new ways of thinking, new experiences and new paths to explore. In literature, I discovered Herman Hesse and Kurt Vonnegut. In theater I discovered Ionesco's Rhinoceros and a relatively unknown play called Superman in the Bones. The latter especially made an impression on me.

The upheavals in philosophy during the twentieth century produced unanticipated disruptions that influenced all the disciplines. Superman in the Bones is an evocative response to this, exploring resilience, grief, and the lasting impact of historical trauma on individuals and communities. 

For decades I searched for the play so I could read it and understand its impact on me personally. Today, upon finding a summary of the play and its themes, I recognized why it made such an impression on me. The arc of Superman in the Bones follows a journey of reckoning with grief, trauma, and resilience. For me that trauma was the death of a very close friend.

What follows is pulled from a summary of the play and its themes.

The play opens with a vivid sense of history's weight on the characters—personal, familial, or communal. The metaphor of "Superman in the bones" is introduced, symbolizing hidden strength within fragility. An inciting event—a death, discovery, or confrontation—shakes the status quo, compelling the characters to face their pain and search for meaning. 

Through memories, dialogues, or symbolic scenes, the play explores the characters’ inner worlds. The weight of the past impacts the characters' relationships, creating tension between isolation and the need for connection. The characters begin to grapple with the idea of resilience, questioning societal expectations of heroism and whether they can live up to these ideals.

The turning point is a moment of crisis which forces the characters to confront their deepest fears, vulnerabilities, or unresolved losses. The crisis results in an emotional catharsis in which the characters either break under the weight of their grief or begin to transform it. (Is this what Adam Driver is experiencing midway through Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis?)

In the aftermath, the characters begin to integrate their grief and trauma into their lives, finding a sense of balance. The strength implied by the "Superman in the bones" metaphor begins to manifest—not as invulnerability but as a nuanced, hard-won form of resilience.

The play concludes with a sense of hope, not in forgetting the past but in learning to live with its legacy. The story closes with a moment that affirms connection, hope, or the enduring spirit of humanity despite the weight of tragedy. Essentially it is a story about moving from despair to a hard-earned sense of meaning.

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Theater Marquees of New York: A Wordless Wednesday Walk Through the Heart of Manhattan

A walk with a view: the sidewalks of New York 

Manhattan photos courtesy Gary Firstenberg

Related Links
A Few Shots from Gary Firstenberg's Midwest Travels
A Leisurely Visit with Gary Firstenberg Here in Duluth

Gary Firstenberg Gallery Page 

Duluth Guards Against Indecency on the Stage

While doing research for a story about historic Duluth theaters I came across these clippings which I thought you might enjoy. Here's the first:

Here's a little more of the text from this story:

DULUTH GUARDS AGAINST INDECENCY ON THE STAGE

Rather to guard against a situation that may arise as the city grows in population than to meet any actual viciousness in the character of its theaters today, the City of Duluth has passed an ordinance designed to prevent the production of indecent theatrical performances. This legislation is due to the efforts of the Women's council representing all the women's clubs. It is framed after a careful study of the ordinances of fifty-three cities, and aims to retain only those features of each which have been found to be of practical use fulness.

The framers feel that their ordinance is the high-water mark in just and effective control of theaters and public entertainments. It affords the public 'moral protection and at the same time safeguards the theatrical interests. In fact, it is felt by some that its ultimate effect will be materially to increase the revenues of the playhouses and motion-picture theaters, as the local theater manager or owner need no longer be subject to the orders of the promoter, a thousand miles away, but can promptly fall back upon the ordinance, and demand, on the unequivocal ground of self-protection, that objectionable features be cut out.

It requires that no "show, exhibition, circus, moving-picture show, public entertainment, public play, amusement, game, or concert, or any theatrical play or performance" whatever shall be presented except under license. It also provides for license fees except for performances for religious or charitable purposes.

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The second "story" that caught my eye was a 1925 letter to The Herald pleading for a theater in the Lakeside area.

Interesting. That was a year before the first talkies. There was no radio, no television, no cable, no smart phones, no streaming media. How did they manage to survive?

Call for Art and Auditions at the County Seat Theater

Yes, there are a lot of events that have been scuttled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Something that has not been stopped in its tracks is the County Seat Theater in Cloquet, with its ongoing support for the arts. 

This afternoon I received a Call for Art from Kris Nelson, whose advocacy for local artists as well as the theater has been noteworthy and commendable. The 2021 Season for the theater is just around the corner, and in keeping with tradition there will be art shows accompanying the five shows being produced. No, they will not be live (initially). Instead they will be viewed "On Demand" or via Livestreaming. 

To stay current with events at the Encore Performing Arts Center & Gallery, home of the County Seat Theater Company, become a follower here on Facebook.

 

2021 Schedule at a Glance

Auditions: January 3

February 12-14 & 18-21, 2021

Do Not Go Gentle

One-act Drama By Suzan Zeder.

Lillian Boedecker Barron is 84 years old, vibrant, funny, wise, and recently deceased! During her lifetime, Lillian shared a special, long-distance bond with her granddaughter, Kelly, and suffered an estrangement from her son Windsor, a Colonel in the Air Force. After her death, Lillian discovers that she cannot “move on” until the rifts are somehow mended. Windsor and Kelly come from overseas to settle Lillian's affairs and are aghast to discover that the walls of her house have been painted with wild, sometimes humorous, sometimes horrific murals and drawings. As they unravel secrets of the paintings, the two make astonishing discoveries about themselves and a special relationship between Lillian and a neighborhood child. This powerful, poignant play explores the wonder of words and the transformative power of art as it offers humor and hope to anyone who is, or has ever been, a grandparent, parent, or a child.

April 9-11 & 15-18, 2021

Almost Maine

Romantic Comedy By John Cariani

Welcome to Almost, Maine, a place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it almost doesn’t exist. One cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.

May 28-30 & June 3-6, 2021

Finishing School

Comedy By Elaine Liner.

This comedy about life’s second act finds older gents Al and Wizzer meeting on a park bench every morning to read and mock newspaper obits. Their daily rituals—shooting the bull about sports, women loved and lost and the many annoyances of aging—are suddenly shaken up by the appearance of a friendly young woman and her flirty mom. Wizzer pep-talks lonely widower Al to convince him to break out of his self-imposed “quantum of solace” and maybe find love again, while also dealing with his own fear of ending up in the memory care unit at their assisted living facility. Punctuated with true-to-life moments familiar to anyone with an aging parent or spouse, the play takes an upbeat attitude toward life after 60, 70 and beyond.

You can't drink all day if you don't
start at breakfast.

September 24-26 & 30-Oct. 3, 2021

Beer for Breakfast

Comedy By Sean Grennan

A group of middle-aged buddies reunite for a "guys' weekend" in a snowed-in cabin to eat chili, drink beer, and relive the good old days. Despite divorce, unemployment, and a stroke, spirits are high until Jessie, the wife of absent friend Adrian, shows up in his place. An epic battle of wits and stamina ensues: will the men win their right to an all-out guy fest, or will woman be crowned the stronger sex after all?

December 3-5 & 8-12, 2021

A Doublewide, Texas Christmas

Comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope & Jamie Wooten

In this outrageously funny comedy, it’s Christmas-time in the newest—and tiniest—town in Texas. And it’s beginning to look a lot like trouble in Doublewide. Not only are the trailer park residents dealing with the stress of the holiday season, but they’ve just discovered that Doublewide is being double-crossed by the County. With their official incorporation papers in jeopardy, this band of eccentric Texans throw themselves into taking on the “Big Guys.” Determined to bolster their legitimacy, they first set their sights on the County-wide “Battle of The Mangers” competition. 

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County Seat Theater Company

Performing at the Encore! Performing Arts Center & Gallery

2035 Hwy 33 South (on Frontage Rd.), Cloquet, MN 55720

www.countyseattheater.com

218-878-0071

Tom Isbell's Adaptation of Ibsen's Explosive An Enemy of the People Sizzles. Kudos to the UMD Theater Team

"We're getting used to things we have no business getting used to."--Dr. Thomas Stockmann

Timing is often everything, and I must say that I could not have been better prepared to enjoy Saturday evening's UMD Theater presentation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. I watched a film version a year ago, read the play itself afterwards, and saw a Hollywood version of the play this past spring (Steve McQueen's last film.) To say these experiences were stimulating is an understatement. Tom Isbell's updated version remains incisive and captures the story's heart. It's crisp, relevant and a lively adaptation that is fun while remaining exceedingly serious.

Henrik Ibsen was an important, influential playwright of the later19th century. His plays explored major themes that challenged conventions. A Doll's House addressed the role of women. Ghosts addressed incest and venereal disease. An Enemy of the People, completed in 1882, featured a man at odds with his community and the ethical compromises that result in a systemic suppression of the truth. It also underscores one of the fundamental weaknesses of Democracy.

The central character is Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Addison Sim), who with his wife Katherine (Jenessa Iverson) and daughter Petra (Rachel Williams) discover themselves to be at odds with their town for attempting to speak truth to power. The 85-minute play details this in an entertaining series of revelations, confrontations and maneuvers that never drags as it drags the audience into facing hard truths about our own times.

This last--helping us see our contemporary culture through a focused lens--was noted obliquely up front and with explicit directness at the end.

A Word About The Theater
The Marshall Performing Arts Theater has an intimate smaller space that was set up in a Theater in the Round format with two and three rows of seats set against all four walls. A table with four chairs had been set off-center in the open square that served as stage, the chairs parked upside down on the table, legs skyward.

The director used a clever device to set up and dismantle each of the scenes. Lights would be lowered and a rhythmic soundtrack would play as the stagehands and sometimes players marched in a circle, grabbing and placing chairs, relocating the table, removing a prop occasionally. It was an effective device that also foreshadowed the play's very last exclamation point.

The Setting
The original play is located in a Scandinavian town that has become increasingly famous for its healing waters. People come from far and wide to enjoy the beneficial effects of the waters here.

Even without seeing this modernized version of the play I couldn't help but think of the Twin Ports and the natural beauty here, the lakes and rivers that are so loved, especially our Great Lake that seems to nourish souls in a magical way. What  I mean is, I could picture Ibsen's setting being a town like Duluth that benefits from tourism.

As the play opens, Dr. Stockmann, a scientist employed by the spa, is waiting for results from a study he has conducted. He wanted to confirm, via an outside source, a hunch he's had about the waters. As it turns out, the results come and the proof is irrefutable. The waters are toxic.

Dr. Stockmann is sharing this information with the local press because he loves his community and cares about their welfare. "The community has to come first."

Mary Hovstad, the publisher (Leah Walk) and her ace reporter Alan Billing (Jake Nelson) seem eager to help get the word out. It's an important story, and Dr. Stockmann will be a hero.

The good man is not interested in fame, however. He's simply concerned about the health of the people who are using these lead-contaminated and disease-infected waters.

Petra, his daughter, lifts a glass and declares, "A toast to my father. A true friend of the people."

In the next scene, Dr. Stockmann presents the facts to his brother the mayor (Patrick Timmons) and the head of the Small Business Association Robin Aslaksen (Eukariah Tabaka). "I don't believe it," the mayor says.

The timing couldn't be worse as far as the mayor is concerned. The tourist season is just about to ramp up.

The exchanges here become quite comic, because the mayor refuses to read the report. He's already against it, yet firmly states, "I'm not convinced."

"But you didn't read it!" Dr. Stockmann exclaims.

The mayor and Aslaksen, representatives of the business interests and political interests, denounce the report not on the merits of its validity, but because they believe it will "bankrupt the city." Fixing the problem will be expensive. A better solution would be to ignore it for now and let the next generation fix it. (The Founding Fathers took this approach to the problem of slavery, and I suspect you are connecting the dots on our own contemporary crises.)

You can probably guess that the newspaper publisher soon has her arm twisted to get in alignment with the powers that be. If the town goes belly up, she's persuaded, the newspaper will have to fold. The whistleblower, no longer a hero, is now accused of treason.

Many Great Lines
This adaptation of the play might be faster paced than the original Ibsen play. The number of characters has been reduced. There were a number of great monologues by Dr. Stockmann in the original script which did not fit this streamlined re-telling of the story. You can read a few of my favorites in my earlier review of the film and original play Ibsen's An Enemy of the People Questions the Validity of Democracy.

Nevertheless, Tom Isbell's adaptation is both effective and entertaining, with comic lines that carry sharp barbs like this one in response to the equivocating media: "You might want to try growing a spine." And "What's the point of speaking truth to power if no one wants to hear the truth?"

Near the end this line of Dr. Stockmann's stood out: "The strongest person in the world is the one who stands most alone." Though Ibsen gave this to Dr. Stockmann, it echoes similar sentiments that appear throughout Nietzsche's writings.

* * * *

Since Dr. Stockmann is refusing to "cooperate" with the authorities, he not only is told that he's been released from his responsibilities at the spa, but that he is going to lose his pension, too. It's the whistleblower's dilemma. Bite the hand that feeds you and you're soon out on the street.

The consequences of choosing conscience over convenience impacts the whole family. The daughter is kicked out of school. His wife loses her job. But the family stands together. At the very end, the marching circle motif closes out the play, but with the Stockmann family marching in a smaller circle within the circle, in the opposite direction.

The play ends with individual players stepping out to declare facts regarding events from recent history, specifically the water crisis and similar covered up disasters in Flint, Michigan, Newark, NJ and elsewhere, showing how 130 years have passed yet Ibsen remains completely relevant.

If the play turns up in your town, I strongly encourage you to find a way to see it. Tom Isbell, who wrote this adaptation, is a Hollywood veteran who has returned to his home state after a ten-year stint on the West Coast. A Professor of Theater at UMD, Isbell appeared in 30 films, including True Lies, The Abyss and Clear and Present Danger.

Related Links
The original script of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People
Tom Isbell at Imdb.com
Tom Isbell's UMD bio and credits
Something's in the Water by Michael Savage
I'm throwing this in here because it came to mind while I was watching the play and again while writing about it. Mike's first novel dealt with an event that took place in the late 50s and 60s. The U.S. Government and Honeywell Corporation allegedly dumped 1467 barrels of toxic waste into Lake Superior. 

POSTSCRIPT
I came across the following Ibsen quote after writing this review of the play. It was especially amusing in light of the story and several lines. "It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians." Ah, Mr. Ibsen. There are no doubt some who quite agree with you.

Origins of Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour

Original painting by Susan Laing. John Bushey on the Air at KUMD

After Sam Shepard passed last month I was visiting with John Bushey, host of the KUMD's Highway 61 Revisited, when the topic of the Rolling Thunder Revue came up. I had written a blog post tribute about Sam Shepard the day before. John asked if I'd read Shepard's Rolling Thunder Logbook about the tour and I had to confess I was unaware that he'd written such a book. John then mentioned that he had a signed copy of the book at one time, which included signatures of several others who were on the tour and in the book, but he know longer had it because he showed it to Jessica Lange, even she did not know Sam, her husband, had written this book. (Trivia: Both John Bushey and Jessica Lange are originally from Cloquet, 20 minutes south of Duluth.)

This led John to ask if I'd read Larry "Ratso" Sloman's On the Road with Bob Dylan, a.k.a. Rolling with the Thunder. Though I own and have read two dozen other books about or by Dylan, I confessed I had not, and later than night decided to order up a copy. I was reading Sartre's What Is Literature? and Hillbilly Elegy when it arrived, so it took a couple weeks to finally get to it.

Right off the book has captured me. By pages nine and ten we're getting introduced to Scarlet Rivera, whose electrifying violin became one of the mesmerizing elements of the Revue's signature sound. On page ten I read about how Scarlet was walking through Greenwich Village, violin case in hand, and Dylan, in a car, rolls down his window and asks where she's going.

Scarlet, who went on to have a long career of her own, has won the hearts of many here in the Northland for her performances on behalf of the Duluth Armory and water conservation issues. Her violin continues to sizzle and her musical interests continue to evolve. My interview with Scarlet in 2012 has the most accurate account of her first meeting with Bob.

* * * *
THE NEVER ENDING TOUR

I'm not sure if there's really a specific date when the Never Ending Tour (NET) actually began, though Swedish researcher Olof Björner claims that Dylan's October 2007 concert in Dayton was his 2000th show on the NET. That kind of declaration would indicate that the NET's birth was indeed at a specific moment in time. Whether true or no, and as with many Dylan truths it's ambiguous, nearly everyone is in agreement that it was in the late 1980's that a lifestyle of touring had re-commenced.

According to the Wikipedia account of the Tour the name Never Ending Tour was coined by a journalist writing for Q Magazine in December 1989, Adrian Deevoy.

The origin for this travelling gypsy circus, I'd somehow come to believe, was shortly after Dylan's cross-country tour with the Grateful Dead in the summer of 1988. What I'd always speculated, with no visible means of support, was that Dylan took his inspiration from the Deadhead caravan that followed them endlessly, a readymade devoted fan-base.

Where my idea for this theory came from I can't entirely say. It may have been suggested in my readings or it may have come from some of the people who circulate here in the swirl of Duluth Dylan Fest.

Well, I have a new piece of data to add to this concoction. It's on page 19 of Ratso's book that I've this week begun reading. Dylan starts talking about taking this group out on the road. He wanted to tour big time. He cites an Off-Broadway play called The Fantastics that's been running for ten years and it sets his imagination on fire. "And he said," Sloman writes, "that what he really wanted was the kind of tour that would last forever."

The vision he had at the time for the never ending was not one in which he was the center of attention. Rather, it was a band of gypsies made of all stars and when he wanted he could come and go, leaving for family time and returning to re-connect when he got bored. It would be an energy center, power tour. "It was very important to him that everyone know that there was this show going on..."

Everyone thought it was a great idea, so they set out to name it. The show would be self-contained, including sound systems, lights and crew, with the only real need being stages on which to play. "Wherever there was an empty stage we could perform."

This all took place more than a dozen years before that first concert cited by Mr. Björner

Well, so much for all that.

If you have other references for the origin of Dylan's Never Ending Tour, I'd like to here about them.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.

Depression-Era Duluth Delineated In New Dylan-Themed Musical

Did anyone notice how many references to Shakespeare there were when Bob Dylan won his Nobel Prize for Literature? In addition to both being prolific, it wouldn't be a stretch to have a film about Shakespeare end up with the title He's Not There, since some scholars have questioned the Bard's existence. (I'm Not There explores the various aspects of the enigmatic Dylan's life.)

This weekend I learned that 20 songs from the Dylan catalog have been incorporated into a new musical with its setting being Depression-era Duluth, which coincides with the decade leading up to Dylan's real-life birth. The play, titled Girl from the North Country, is fascinating from a variety of angles. Less than ten days ago I wrote about Woody Guthrie's influence on Dylan, especially in regard to the theme of being a voice for the disenfranchised, the down-and-outers fighting for survival in a hard world. When I read the descriptions of characters thrown together for Girl from the North Country, it's a similar cast of characters.

Michael Billington's review of the play last week described the setting as "a run-down guesthouse where everyone is staring into a bleak future." He goes on to outline the characters:  "Nick, the owner, has to deal with crushing debt, a wife with dementia, a layabout son, and he is trying to marry off an adopted, pregnant, black daughter to an elderly shoe salesman. His guests include a ruined family, a fugitive boxer, a blackmailing preacher-cum-Bible salesman and Nick’s lover, who is awaiting a legacy that fails to mature. Yet for all their failures they still manage, gloriously, to sing."

Dylan's songs and music have been incorporated into Hollywood films so frequently that since 2000 there's probably been at least one a month woven into a film there. Just as Shakespeare is inseparable from theater, Dylan seems to have become equally inseparable from the theatrical arts, whether in celluloid or here on the big stage.

It's unlikely that I'll make it to the Old Vic where Girl from the North Country is playing in London, so I will secretly hope that either Hollywood will translate it to film, or the Duluth Playhouse will take a stab at producing this show. Duluth has the talent to pull it off. (They did Hair a couple years ago.)

Read the full account here: Girl from the North Country review -- Dylan's songs are Depression-era dynamite.

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DESCRIPTION/Trailer

The Old Vic is proud to present the World Premiere of Girl From the North Country, an electrifying new work from esteemed playwright Conor McPherson along with classic songs from Bob Dylan.

Duluth, Minnesota in the midst of the Great Depression.

A family adrift, their future on a knife edge. Lost and lonely people drifting through rooms of their guesthouse. But Nick Laine thinks he’s seen a way out…

* * * *
Not all the reviewers rave, but the idea of it is certainly intriguing, especially if you live in Duluth and just happen to be a fan of Dylan's music.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.

Live Radio Soap Opera Sets Sail For Laughter Land

Barbara Reyelts featured prominently in a cast with many familiar faces.

Wednesday evening after hours I slid over to the Belknap Lounge to see and hear the new Superior-based theater company Twin Ports Stage in their inaugural live radio soap opera called "Twin Ports," a comedy-drama designed to entertain. And entertaining it was, even without Garrison Keillor's Fred Newman on sound effects. Here are a few words in retrospect about the experience.

First, it wasn't until I was writing this that I realized that the title of the show is probably a take-off on the David Lynch serial drama Twin Peaks. I guess as a reviewer of the Twin Ports arts scene I've come to take the words Twin Ports as a literalist might, and not pregnant with meaning. Alas, pregancies did figure into the evenings experience, but I'll get to that later.

I was talking with someone after the show who made an interesting comment. They said the Twin Ports arts and theater scene could be compared to Paris in the Twenties. "Not only is a lot happening, but there is such a pool of talent that it’s like a 'talent co-op' here." Twin Ports Stage is but another configuration of a number familiar faces, still having fun and sharing it in new ways.

The basic story (at least in episode one here) was a dramatic presentation of the effects of a major snow storm in a Northland community, with snapshots of people in various situations from bars to a hospital birthing room and everything in between. The thread stitching all the various scenes and stories together was the radio station K-R-A-P (It's KRAP), with Miss Candy Landers (Barbara Reyelts) offering up storm updates held in place by comically rendered radio commercials.

The sound effects throughout were indeed fun as the "storm of the century" continued.  And the radio spots repeatedly brought involuntary laughter from the packed lounge.

One of the scenes took place at a hospital where an anxious doctor (Brian Matuszak) was attempting to deliver an abnormally large baby. After the first head popped out, a second and third followed. To everyone's surprise it was a world first: Siamese triplets. The father cried out, "How can they be Siamese when I'm Swedish?"

Ironically Christa Lawler, on hand to cover the show for the News Tribune, is eight pregnant and looking large. That's one thing radio and newspapers have in common. What you read and what you hear reveals nothing about what is.

Victoria Main and Lori Kempton were the scriptwriters. Main said her mom was in theater when she was eleven and that she's been in plays all her life. 

"Twin Ports" is a project of the John D. Munsell Legacy Fund. John Munsell ran the theater department at UWS for thirty years and was a major inspiration for a whole generation of young people in the theater arts. Main called him "a remarkable teacher and an amazing director."

One of Munsell's complaints, however, was that all too often actors and actresses and all the others involved are essentially unpaid while giving so much to the communities where they perform. The John D. Munsell Legacy Fund is an attempt to rectify this to some extent.

A good sound man is always helpful.

The premiere episode of this serial drama succeeded in its primary aim: to shake off opening night jitters and produce a satisfying slice of entertainment. The lines sparkled and the execution was dead on, peppered with plenty of one-liners like this one: “If it’s not pickled or smoked, it’s not food.”

Over at Nifty's Tailor Shop we heard this exchange: “This cheap vodka improves your looks, too.”

“I don’t know if it’s you or the vodka but I’m warming up nicely.”

The other partner in this project is Wisconsin Public Radio. I'm guessing that if you missed it Wednesday evening it will be re-broadcast sometime soon.

Much more could be said about the cast, which consisted of many familiar faces. But if I mention them all I will leave one out and never live it down.

ON ANOTHER TOPIC, today is Free Friday. N&L Publishing is making available my first eBook novel The Red Scorpion as a free download from Amazon.com. Here's the link.... and tell me what you think by leaving a review. :-)

Have a great weekend. Don't let the rain dampen your spirits, even it it does dampen Grandma's Marathon tomorrow.

Theater Review: Rubber Chicken Theater Presents Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Friday evening I went to see a local production of Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile directer by Greg J. Anderson. The play is hilarious and the production company did an excellent job of conveying the nuanced wit of Steve Martin. When the stars came out at the end, you got it.

The setting for this play is a bar in Paris called the Lapin Agile. For the non-French speakers here, Lapin means rabbit. And "agile" (pronounced ah-jheel) means agile. Or nimble. It's the nimble rabbit, and home-away-from-home for the womanizing young Picasso, as famous for his women as for his work.

People who write for Hollywood or for the theater understand that script writing is about creating great moments and great lines. It's a a mark of Steve Martin's giftedness that he has been able to produce so much rich material over the course of a lifetime. I would compare him to Oscar Wilde on this score. Had Wilde been born in the twentieth century he would no doubt have been at home in Hollywood after getting his start on Saturday Night Live.

Live theater is such a high risk venture. No matter what you're feeling or going through you have to be on. There are no second, third and fourth takes if you don't get it right the first time. The show proceeds, unedited. And in this show the pace is fast, with lots of dialogue for all the main characters. If anyone forgot their lines you couldn't tell. There were no prompters and apparently no need.

Returning to the set, it's simple and comprehensible as a bar. There are a couple small tables, one stage right and the other stage left, and a few bar stools in front of the centrally located bar itself. Behind the bar is a painting of sheep in a pasture, which at various times becomes the focus of conversation. How the various characters respond to the picture is revealing.

The first to arrive are Freddy (Quentin Roth) and Gaston (Nick Elias) who do what bar settings must do. They banter as bartender and bartendee. Next to appear is an odd looking fellow in a suit who says he's here to meet a woman. He takes a seat and begins scribbling notes in a book. The banter goes on until finally he's asked his name. When he says he's Einstein, the bartender gets angry and says that Einstein is supposed to appear fourth in the play and not third. He leads Einstein into the audience, grabs a program from someone's hand and points out the cast "in order of appearance." Einstein leaves, apologizing for his error. Steve Martin's fingerprints are all over the place in this script.

Amanda Sjodahl as the waitress Germaine enters next and this trio of regulars at the Lapin Agile discuss themes that will set up the later arrival of Picasso himself. Einstein (Jonathan Manchester) returns and awaits the lady he is to meet at some other club in the Moulin Rouge. The bar staff are confused, but Einstein notes that "she thinks like me." It is soon learned that the book he is writing is called The Special Theory of Relativity. And indeed she does eventually arrive before it's all over.

Suzanne (Laura Grieme) arrives fifth, another one of Picasso's amore's (victims) smitten by the art world's most beloved narcissist. Her story continues the setup. She has one of his drawings. But when Sagot (Tony Barrett) the art collector arrives and sees it, he notes that it would be worth more if she could get him to sign it and offers to buy it. Barrett played the role well.

The discussion is re-directed to the painting of a pasture with sheep and it gets compared to one of Picasso's drawings. The pasture scene has a simple explanation (except for that of the complex Einstein) whereas the Picasso drawing has "a million, a billion, a trillion opinions, yet the drawing remains the same." Can this be a summing up of the great divide between elitist art and popular art for the masses?

Finally Picasso arrives, the star we've all be waiting for, played wonderfully by Pat Carrol exuding confidence and charm. Except when it comes to Suzanne who is there to worship him, and he can't remember who she is. "You're a womanizing bastard fraud," she exclaims. His retort: "If you're trying to praise me that's a poor choice of words."

Once Picasso's on the set Carrol turns him into a real presence. But so is Einstein. But who could have anticipated these bright lights having to compete with yet two more unexpected characters. The first is Schmendiman, played with hilarious aplomb by Stephen Bock. Picture a cross between Steve Martin and Will Farrell. You laugh just because. Schmendiman is an entrepreneur businessman. When Einstein, Picasso and the entourage are talking about what the twentieth century will be like, Schmendiman chimes in that he knows what the building materials will be like. He's just developed a new product for building walls made from uranium, cat's claws and asbestos.

Well, you get the idea.

Finally there is yet another star, this one from the future. But I'm not going to spoil it for you. He just brings another dimension to an already multi-dimensional story. It's a little like the foam that spills over when you pour too much beer too quickly into a frosted mug. Except in this play they were all relishing the wine.

Some lines that I especially liked in the play included these...
"Ideas are like children. You have to watch them carefully or they might go wrong."
and
"A mirror is like the mind. If you don't use it, it won't reflect."

Kudos to director Greg J. Anderson for assembling this cast, for doing what it takes to bring to life one of Steve Martin's treasures here in the Twin Ports. 

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Red is the Color

In 2010 the color of the year was red. Or rather, the color that created the most buzz was red, as in the multiple-award-winning play that hit Broadway on the life and work of Mark Rothko, titled Red. As it turns out, the two-man Broadway show has been sweeping the theater scene and capturing audiences across the country.

A September NYTimes article, When The Color Is Primary, focuses on the artwork used to promote these various performances. Whether by means of illustrations, paintings or photographs, artists used imagination in as many variations as there are shades of red, from cherry, magenta and rose to auburn, burgundy and rust. The variety is fascinating, and more so if you're familiar with the abstract color fields Rothko poured his soul into.

While looking for this article online I came across a review of the play, which in some ways reminded me of My Dinner With Andre, another two-man play that got strong reviews from critics. I myself enjoyed both the book and film based on that particular play, but your head has to be in the right place. It's an intellectual stroll quite different from Transformers, Reservoir Dogs or Kill Bill.

The 2010 Times review begins like this:

Even before you see his eyes, you’re aware of the force of his gaze. Portraying the artist Mark Rothko, Alfred Molina sits with his back to the audience at the beginning of “Red,” John Logan’s intense and exciting two-character bio-drama, which opened on Thursday night at the Golden Theater. Yet the set of his neck and shoulders makes it clear that he is staring hard and hungrily, locked in visual communion with the object before him.

Ben Brantley's Primary Colors and Abstract Appetites makes for a good intro to John Logan's two-man drama. For even more drama, read the readers' reviews.

On another topic with a red alert, tonight the Red Interactive gallery will again be opened to the public at 1410 Tower Avenue in Superior. On the docket is a multi-gallery event featuring the art environments in downtown Superior, an expression of the Phantom Galleries Superior. There will be a reception, walking tours, music and even a Tango dance lesson. Featured artists include Kathy McTavish, Sheila Packa, Erik Pearson and the Red Interactive collaboration of John Heino and Ed Newman. Doors will be open from 5:00-9:00 p.m.

Come celebrate with us.