Feeling Low: "High," at the Pantages Theatre, makes no apologies in tackling a seriously sobering subject

How do you define a nun?

In High, Kathleen Turner musters all of her considerable spunk into her role as Sister Jamison Connely, a completely un-stereotypical, recovering alcoholic-turned-nun who now works as a counselor at a Catholic youth detoxification center. Connely is one of the center’s best counselors, partially due to her no-bullshit-allowed attitude.

Connely’s supervisor, Father Michael (Timothy Altmeyer) sends an extremely troubled youth (who normally wouldn’t be allowed into the center, except that he happens to be Michael’s nephew) her way and cajoles her into treating him despite her misgivings. Cody (Evan Jonigkeit) proves even tougher to counsel than Connely anticipated, and their relationship is fraught with conflict. Despite their fights, they have an enormous impact on each other and continue to grow individually through their relationship’s term.

As a warning to anyone looking for a relaxing night at the theater: this is not a happy-ending play. This isn’t even a ‘have shining moments to redeem the sadness’ play. There is full frontal male nudity, drug highs and tweakouts, devastating confessionals and a veritable dwarf star’s worth of profanity. High is a balls to the walls depression soup, and it is impossible to find anything pleasant in this show.

But that doesn’t mean High isn’t worth watching or entertaining. Turner’s dry as twice burnt toast delivery lends a vitally necessary dark, droll humor to many of her lines, and the show is nothing if not ironically realistic. These comic moments make the show human and palatable, and the audience must cling to them if they are to leave even slightly unscathed.

It is refreshing, too, to see such an explicit show leave the happy ending impulse behind without a thought. Sometimes, people do bad things and never repent. Sometimes, those bad things are borne of other negative events. Sometimes, addicts don’t want to be cured – and there is nothing that a well-intentioned savior can do about that. High reminds all of us of these things, and does it without even a glance over the shoulder.

Turner is damn fun to watch, and one gets the sense that she rather enjoys leaving her bodacious cinema roles of the past behind her to play such a gutsy, straightforward character. Her delivery is excellent, despite some weaknesses in the writing, and while there are minor ways her performance may have been improved, she is more than worth the ticket price.

Her supporting cast is not as strong, but beats the script’s bloody message home with verve. Altmeyer is thoroughly convincing as a befuddled, misguided priest, and his moments of lucidity are High’s moral foundation. Jonigkeit alters between terrifyingly real episodes of drugged delusions and irritatingly whining conversation. I can’t decide if his delivery is more brilliant or undirected; whatever the case, his nude scene (and subsequent beating from Turner) is one of High’s best delivered moments.

High is in the Twin Cities for only a week, so any souls brave enough to bear the devastation it delivers should quickly snap up tickets. It’s an arduous ride, but for any disillusioned fans of films such as Fight Club or Boys Don’t Cry, it’s worth it.

+ High continues at the Pantages Theatre through Sunday, April 22. Learn more athennepintheatretrust.org.

Taking Flight: Minnesota Opera's "Madame Butterfly" serves as a strong launching pad for new Music Director Michael Christie

Yunah Lee as Cio-Cio-San in the Minnesota Opera production of Madame Butterfly. Image credit: Michal Daniel/Minnesota Opera

New Minnesota Opera Music Director Michael Christie had his pre-debut last weekend at the opening of Madame Butterfly. And while it doesn’t reach the heights of his delicious interpretation of La Traviatta, it is a solid show and a great launching pad for his future as music director.

For those unfamiliar withMadame Butterfly, arguably Puccini’s most famous piece, it is essentially Rogers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Set in 1905, shortly after Japan was ‘opened’ to the West, the story is about a young geisha who is sold as a bride to an American sailor, Lt. B.F. Pinkerton.

The young woman, the Butterfly, pours herself into the marriage, oblivious to the fact that Pinkerton is a scoundrel. Not long after their wedding, Pinkerton travels back to America to find an American wife, leaving Butterfly pregnant and yearning for his return. Pinkerton never tells her of his intentions to marry another woman, saying only that he will return when the cherry trees blossom.

Pinkerton does return a cool three years later – and brings his new wife along for the trip. Having had blind faith in him all along, Pinkerton’s betrayal destroys Butterfly, and she commits suicide as Pinkerton’s new wife takes her son away.

Kelly Kaduce sharply portrays Butterfly, fluttering about the stage and in her vocals. It would have been nice to see a bit more insanity in her Butterfly by the end of the show, but all in all Kaduce gave a solid performance.

Arturo Chacon-Cruz was equally accurate as Lt. Pinkerton, with a solid tenor and naval impishness. Again, it would have been nice to see him stretch a bit more emotional range into his character, but Cruz and Kaduce were a well matched pair.

The show’s vocal standout is surely Levi Hernandez, playing U.S. Consul Sharpless. Hernandez’s lusciously velvety baritone gave an essential richness to many of the arias, and I only wish he had more time on stage.

The Opera’s orchestra was at its best for this show, giving a cohesive, sturdy foundation on which the vocalists could build. The rest of the cast held well with the principals.

Please note that this Butterfly has two sets of principals, and as such this review holds true for only half of the performances in this run. Anyone attending performances on April 19, 20 or 22 will hear different performers.

I heard fellow audience members give the spare, Kabuki influenced set mixed reviews. But I personally found set designer Neil Patel’s adept use of creamy shoji screens, vibrant flower petals and earthy palette lovely and economical. David Woolard’s costuming, mainly featuring garishly bright kimonos, didn’t fare quite as well. Butterfly’s gorgeous winged bridal gown is a notable exception.

Madame Butterfly is a familiar way for the Minnesota Opera end their season. Although not the highlight of the 2011-2012 season, it is a well-produced show and one likely to please Puccini fans. Others can look forward to September, when the new Opera season opens withNabucco.

+ Madame Butterfly continues at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul on April 19, 20 and 22. For more information visit mnopera.org.

A Sinuous Experience: Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White a visual feast built on talented dancers, a Cirque du Soleil-meets-traditional ballet set and stunning costumes by haute couture mastermind Jean Paul Gaultier

Evil Queen Patrizia Telleschi brought a dominatrix stomp to her dances, dragging Snow White by the mouth with her poisoned apple and piercing the rest of the cast with her clawed gloves and stiletto heels. Image credit: JC Carbonne

One of the hardest parts of writing reviews is seeing a show so lovely, and so visual, that there really is no way to verbally convey its excellence to readership, and I apologize for that.Ballet Prejcolaj’s Snow White, on stage last weekend at the Orpheum Theatre, was just such a show. I immediately wanted to see it again after curtain close, and I desperately hope that the troupe returns to Minneapolis very soon.

With the popularity of Black Swan and a recent explosion of ballet-centric documentaries, ballet seems to be reaching a peak of modern interest. Snow White does not disappoint any expectations Black Swan fans may have, with traditional ballet forms seamlessly melded with recognizable modern influences, including hip-hop styles, music videos, South American dances, and more.

Virgine Caussin dazzled as Snow White, with a passionate, flawless performance. The best description I can provide is to say she was more akin to mercury than human, pouring herself across the stage in fluid, silent grace. Even her death scene, when she became the most lifeless live body I’ve ever seen on stage, managed to create an impact without any movement at all.

Caussin was perfectly matched with Sergio Diaz, the matadorial Prince. The pair floated across the stage in a sexually explosive exchange, feeding from one another and marvelously in sync.

Evil Queen Patrizia Telleschi brought a dominatrix stomp to her dances, dragging Snow White by the mouth with her poisoned apple and piercing the rest of the cast with her clawed gloves and stiletto heels. She was ravishingly dark and a ton of fun to watch.

The troupe of henchmen were reminiscent of Christopher Nolan Batmen, fierce in their hooded, winged capes. Similarly malevolent and Nolan-like were the Queen’s henchmen.

The seven dwarves were portrayed as spelunkers, flipping up and down an elaborate cave set on rappel equipment. With squared, “Walk Like an Egyptian” style choreography, they were energetic and emotive, one of Snow White’s most entertaining feats.

It bears noting that almost none of these dancers fit the stereotype of disastrously thin ballerinas. Their curvaceous, sensual bodies enhanced the bareness of the costumes and lent a much more human aspect to Snow White than a troupe of pubescent looking dancers could have.

The set and costumes were equal marvels in this show. Sets, designed by Thierry Leproust, were Cirque du Soleil-meets-traditional ballet. An enormous two-sided mirror that both reflected the Queen’s appearance and showed a pirouetting Snow White on the other side, and a rappelling cave wall that was home to the dwarves, were just two fabulous highlights. Lighting, designed by Patrick Riou, was equally notable (particularly for that mirror effect).

Costumes showed the hand of haute couture mastermind Jean Paul Gaultier, who made them flowy and stunningly visual (two items usually missing from skin-tight tutus), but still allow the dancers maximum movement. They were all also explicitly sexualized, featuring unbuttoned blouses, deep cleavage baring tops, skintight leathers and as much naked flesh as possible.

Snow White was a sinuous experience, with a flawless, fluid execution. Keep your eyes peeled for future appearances from Ballet Prejcolaj – they were wonderful.

+ Ballet Prejcolaj’s performance was presented as part of the 2011-112 Northrop Dance Season, featureing six of the world’s best ballet and modern dance companies. For a complete schedule of Northrop events visit northrop.umn.edu.

Blowing Out the Candles: Jungle Theater's 'Birthday Party' features a knock-your-socks-off second act, but remains a mixed bag

Like the wacky un-birthday songs in Alice and Wonderland, The Birthday Partyturns the traditional notion of birthday festivities darkly upside down.

The show, at the Jungle Theater through May 13, details two days inside of a boarding house, where an unkempt and unmotivated piano player, Stanley, lives with the house’s owners, Petey and Meg. It doesn’t take long before two visitors, Goldberg and McCann, appear to fetch Stanley from the boardinghouse for some sinister purpose.

Clueless and kindhearted, Meg insists Goldberg and McCann stay for Stanley’s faux birthday party that night. That’s where everything goes horribly wrong. We never learn what exactly Stanley did to irk Goldberg, but it is clear that Goldberg and McCann’s presence terrifies Stanley enough to nudge him into insanity, placing all of the party’s guests in danger. As the show ends, Goldberg and McCann take a cleaner, calmer Stanly with them from the boardinghouse, and we are again left with the domestic tableaux of Petey and Meg at home.

The second act of this show, featuring the birthday party itself, is superb. With tightly woven dialogue, pitch-perfect blocking and a harrowing, David Lynch-ian ending, it’s a knock-your-socks-off rollercoaster of terrifying variation.

Unfortunately, the first and third acts never quite reach the same level of excitement. The first act is relatively hum drum, and the third act feels especially lifeless compared to the second act’s electricity. It should be noted, however, that this lag is more attributable to a meandering script than to shoddy execution.

The best performances in Birthday Party can be found in its ‘bit’ roles. Claudia Wilkens is wonderful as bumbling Meg, hitting all of her irritating yet comforting qualities with aplomb. Richard Ooms is similarly tickling as Petey, her staunch, cuckolded husband. As McCann, Martin Ruben exudes a homey mixture of loyal friendship and bar bouncer toughness.

Tony Papenfuss makes an average Goldberg, sinister yet relatively uninspired. Ditto for Stephen Cartmell as Stanley, who reaches a brilliant peak of insanity in the second act but is flat for most of the rest of the show. Katie Guentzel would make a much more convincing Lulu without her saucer-glazed stare.

Director Joel Sass clearly outdoes himself in his double role as set designer. Like Dial M for Murder before it, this set is a beautifully constructed, four-dimensional world, and it makes all the difference in selling the sullen script.

Be prepared for the long haul with this show, and bring some snacks – it stacks in at two intermissions and a run time of over two and a half hours.

Birthday Party is a mixed bag of favors. While it features several excellent Jungle features – wonderful character acting, a deeply layered set – it is not a must-see. Look for future shows for more inspired work.

+ The Birthday Party continues through May 13 at the Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls. For more information visit jungletheater.com.

Opera Man: After a 15-year search, the Minnesota Opera hires 37-year-old Michael Christie as its new music director

Michael Christie is the definition of Wunderkind.

At 37, his biography reads like a who’s-who of the classical music world. From the New York Philharmonic to the Zurich Opera, he has directed some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras.

So the announcement that he would be joining the Minnesota Opera as its first music director since 1996 (the organization has subsisted without one in the meantime) was a welcome one—both for a company whose musical cachet is quickly rising, and for its promising new hire.

“I didn’t expect a company of this stature to be looking at me,” says Christie, whose tenure with the opera will officially begin in the 2012-13 season (though he will be conducting most of the Madame Butterfly performances this month).

“We have been searching for the right person for over a decade,” says Opera Artistic Director Dale Johnson. “We need someone to help bring out our best; [Minnesota Orchestra Music Director] Osmo Vänskä is one of those guys. When Michael stepped in front of the Minnesota Opera’s orchestra last year there was instant rapport and respect. It was at [that] moment I knew he was our guy.”

The Minnesota Opera is a rare opera success story these days, and the addition of Christie is a clear sign of that. Sitting on secure financial and artistic ground, the organization has so far avoided the difficulties of other recession-addled opera companies like Opera Pacific and the Baltimore, Connecticut and Cleveland Operas, all of which shut their doors in the past few years, presumably due to financial troubles. Even in Italy, the country considered the birthplace of the art form, companies rely heavily on government funds and are struggling amidst the current European fiscal crisis. With a solid fan and financial base, excellent pit musicians and the resources not only to perform but to commission new work every year, the Minnesota Opera’s sustainability attracts fans and talent from all over the country.

“A lot of the stars seem to be aligning for [the Minnesota Opera] to become one of the most important operas in the country,” Christie explains. “We view that as part of the mission to help opera become something really important. If I can contribute meaningfully to that, I feel like I will have done a lot of my job.”

Christie’s strengths lie in creating interdisciplinary theater offerings, and his background with other performance arts, such as dance, will add new elements to performances. The Minnesota Opera’s diverse programming and flexibility create the ideal environment for him to build relationships between the Twin Cities artistic community and the opera.

“Over the last 75 years, all different art forms have become quite compartmentalized,” Christie says. “More and more in the last 15 years, they’ve had to come together for a lot of different reasons. It’s essential that we get wrapped up in this wave of collaboration and lead where we can.”

Christie also stresses opera’s accessibility, and hopes to make it less intimidating for novice audiences.

“It’s unique to have a company that operates at this level of creativity and it’s a very special thing that it’s here in our community,” he says. “I hope the creativity of it is something people can get into, and [that they will] not be so worried about whether they know if it’s Mozart or if it’s Puccini.”

Christie’s relative youth, ambition and discipline will presumably help move the Opera forward. Just as important, though, is the experience he brings with him. At 21 years old he worked with the ballet company at the Zurich Opera. He leads an annual music festival in Boulder, Colo., acts as chief conductor for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Australia and has won an International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition prize for outstanding potential.

“There are a lot of things that I need to do for music and performing arts and for audiences, and I feel like I have the energy to do it,” he says. “Once I got past 35 it felt like people started looking at me like, ‘you actually know how this goes,’ even though relatively speaking I’m doing it a decade earlier than most people. You do still have to pay your dues; I just paid them a little bit earlier.”

Aside from the Minnesota Opera’s musical potential, location was a big part of Christie’s interest in his new position. Originally from Buffalo, New York, he is excited about living in Minnesota and will likely be found hunting down the new restaurants and cultural events the Twin Cities has to offer before his boxes are even unpacked.

“Honestly, I love the Cities so much,” he says. “The history of the Twin Cities and underpinning behind education, the arts, just living—being a human being in that society is so amazing and so incredibly dynamic and renewing.”

Christie is remaining in Phoenix for the spring, where he directs the Phoenix Symphony. He will move to Rochester with his wife, Alexis (who will be a fellow of intensive care at the Mayo Clinic), later this year, but is eager to start life in Minnesota.

“I hope people won’t be surprised that I’m going to really dig in and try to contribute meaningfully to cultural life here,” Christie says. “I can only do this once. I want to make sure I’m giving it all I’ve got.”

More information: 

 mnopera.org

Lofty Goals: Former pro athlete Tony Sanneh uses soccer to empower at-risk youth

The principle of karma dictates that good deeds beget more good deeds (we're paraphrasing centuries of philosophy here, but you get the idea). As wallets get thinner and demands on our time multiply, it’s easy to forget that doing good is more than just another thing to put on our to-do lists. It's an investment—with every hour we volunteer, dollar we contribute or compassionate act we commit, the seeds of karma are sown in our community. We dedicated April's issue to the people who are working to plant those seeds, so that you can consider joining them.  

At some point, we’ve all seen a film about a do-gooder sportsman helping inspire a team to greatness (Remember the Titans, anyone?). But how many of us are aware of the real-life Field of Dreams playing out in the Twin Cities at this moment?

The Sanneh Foundation, established in 2003 by St. Paul native and former soccer pro Tony Sanneh, works to unite diverse groups and communities, primarily focusing on youth, through a love of soccer. Forty-year-old Sanneh started the organization as his sports career was winding down; he finished his last season with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2009 following problematic injuries and moved back to St. Paul to concentrate on his non-profit work.  

The Sanneh Foundation takes a unique, “trickle-down” approach to its mission: adults mentor high-schoolers, who will in turn mentor grade-school kids. The non-profit also organizes sports equipment drives that provide the right tools for the game to kids who might not otherwise have access.

“We help [children] to grow and give them a sense of purpose and meaning in life—enabling them to be influential adults,” Sanneh says.
The bulk of the program’s students are aged six to 18 and are congregated from area schools (to which the Foundation reaches out, or that seek its help). A focus is placed on schools with diverse populations and a high number of students who qualify for  free and reduced-price lunches.

Two $1,000 college scholarships are available each year for older students, and scholarships are also available for Sanneh Foundation soccer camps, an experience that allows kids to get extensive training—which their parents otherwise might not be able to afford—in locations like the Virgin Islands. (Free camps are also available every summer in Minneapolis and St. Paul.)

Sanneh says his favorite moment so far with the Foundation came after working with Karen refugee children at Minneapolis’s Farview Park. The Sanneh Foundation provided the kids—whose families had fled the unstable political climate of southern Burma—with soccer equipment for their independent league.

“They won their league and they asked us to come to their trophy presentation,” Sanneh remembers. “They said they wouldn’t be able to play without our support.”

For now, the Sanneh Foundation’s scope is local, but Sanneh has hopes of serving many more schools and children.
 “I would like people to [know] we’re someone they can call when they need help, support or guidance,” says Sanneh, adding that as the scope of the Sanneh Foundation increases, it is likely that its approach to mentoring and sports training will indeed become more common.

“We would like to be a household name within the Twin Cities,” he says.

+Interested in getting involved with the Sanneh Foundation, or want more information about donations, camps and mentoring? Visit thesannehfoundation.org.

A Mixed Menu

Much has been said about the correlation between frank conversations and the presence of food.

The New Century Theater’s current show,Mary a la Carte, is a worthy exemplar of this familiar kitchen table conversation. In a choose-your-own-adventure-story style, it allows visitors to “order” from Mary’s menu of stories about her life. Each food listed on the menu correlates to a meaningful (and often amusing) anecdote from Mary’s past, which is then ‘eaten’ by the audience with mixed response.

The show is both written and performed by Mary Vander Leest, who originated the show several years ago to a sold-out run. Mary is spunky and unashamed to bare any and all details of her personal life to win over her audience, a characteristic absolutely necessary of this kind of performance.

Some of Mary’s dishes are deliciously funny. A particular highlight was a retrospective look at her experience as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune in the 1980’s. A clear strategist, she outlines the ways she prepared for the show, her observations of her competitors, and the outrageous letter choice that costs her the opportunity to proceed to the championship round. As we watch her lose the game in real-time projection, it’s a great reminder that our best plans are often not enough.

Another great tale is an outline of her mother’s maniacal neatness. Ranging from labeling everything (literally everything) in her home to cutting down cereal boxes as the food in them is eaten, it’s both funny and absurd.

Other stories don’t fare quite so well. Descriptions of her family’s trips to Hawaii result only in her mother stressing about travel, which is relatable but ho-hum. Stories about her parent’s college friends performing party tricks with their penises are crass and somewhat amusing in their novelty, but fall flat compared to her other more palatable fare.

The danger with this kind of show lies in the kind of audience attending it. For highly vocal, involved audiences, it’s great. But a crowd of introverts can quickly kill the ambience. Mine was a mixed bag: half were great sports, but the other half spent so much time not listening and/or texting throughout the show that their interactions with Mary were instantly awkward. I’d recommend going with a spirited group of friends for your best experience. And as alcohol is welcome in the theater, plan on having a drink or two to loosen the mood.

Mary a la Carte is also very much a middle-aged humor type of show. Younger audiences may find themselves a little bored or alienated with some of the stories, and their time is likely best spent elsewhere (if for no other reason than to avoid that dreadful texting-in-theater phenomenon).

Mary a la Carte is a well-rounded show, with a generally pleasing script, set and performance. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but if you like relatable content, interactive performances, or are of the boomer generation, it just might be the coffee to your upside down pineapple cake.

+ Mary a la Carte continues through April 15 at the New Century Theatre, 615 Hennepin Ave., Mpls. For tickets and more information visit hennepintheatretrust.org.