"Tales of Hoffman" by Mixed Precipitation at Silverwood Park

I've been sitting outside watching Mixed Precipitation's unique, playful, modern opera / pop music mashups for over ten years now, and it's one of my favorite #TCTheater summer traditions. Their "picnic operetta" transformed into a "pickup truck opera" during the pandemic, a tradition that's still going strong. It appears they've retired the old blue Ford, and are using a red Chevy Colorodo this season, which will take them to 11 counties in Minnesota before their season ends on September 13. They've got plenty of performances in the Twin Cities, as well as several points south, so bring a chair or a blanket, pack a snack, and go enjoy some outdoor public art in a park near you.

There are four things Artistic Director Scotty Reynolds always tells the audience before the show, which is a pretty good summary of the experience:

1. "This is opera, so there will be singing, and some of it will not be in English." But if you're not an experienced opera-goer, that's OK. The story is a modern adaptation in English that's very accessible, in this case setting the 19th Century French opera Tales of Hoffman in the modern era, complete with influencers, cat cafes, AI, and sports competitions. And the parts that are sung in French are roughly translated on the most adorable supertitles.
2. "This is a truck." Not only do they use the truck to help transport the sets, equipment, and people needed to tell this story, but they incorporate it into the story. It becomes a stage, a prop, and a neat display for the supertitle scroll. They don't try to hide the fact that they're doing opera out of a pickup truck, they embrace it, which only makes it more fun.
3. "This is a park." I saw the show at Silverwood Park in St. Anthony, a suburb northeast of Minneapolis. It's a beautiful park with trails and a visitor center, but each location has its own unique qualities, and all of them are outdoors. Seeing a show surrounded by Nature, watching the sunset and the moonrise, hearing birds chirping, sitting amongst the trees, is really one of the best parts of a Minnesota summer.
4. "This is public art." Which means people wander by, kids run around playing, and planes fly overhead. But that's OK, because art should be in public spaces, a part of our public life. Mixed Precipitation's shows are funded by Minnesota state arts grants, as well as audience donations (all tickets are on a sliding scale - give what you can), because "arts jobs are real jobs!" And these artists bring so much joy to everyone who comes in contact with the show.

the cast of Tales of Hoffman (photo courtesy of Mixed Precipitation)

In this telling of the story, our hero, Hoffman (Felix Aguilar Tomlinson), is a famous poet known as PoetMan67, his trusty sidekick, or muse, a cat name Nikki (Joni Griffith). He tells us three stories of love, as the pair travels across the country. From Silicon Valley, where Hoffman woos an AI chatbot (Lizz Windnagel), who becomes destructive when her safeguards are removed; to Nashville, where Hoffman reunites with a singer (Alexis Reed) whose mother / duet partner has just died from singing too hard, so her father forces her into seclusion; and finally to Miami, where Hoffman encounters a seductive gambling hostess (Joni again) at a sporting event, who is only using him. Hoffman faces a foe in each story (all played by Rodolfo Nieto), and while none of them end in a "happy ever after," the story is all the more endearing and relatable because of it. As the supertitle says, "we are great with love, and greater with tears."

In addition to the French songs from the original opera, they've mixed in some pop songs which the website tells me are "1990s grunge and R&B" (I don't know pop music, but I did recognize one of the songs). These are sung in English, and they're well-chosen to fit the story. And because I saw the show the week that Dolly Parton died (RIP), we were also treated to a couple of Dolly songs in the pre and post-show music. The songs are played by a live orchestra of about a half dozen musicians, give or take, as some of the cast members pop in and out of the orchestra seated on the pickup's detached trailer (conducted by Music Director Gary Ruschman). The sound is great, with these fantastic opera singers (including a talented and versatile ensemble in addition to the above named cast) unmiked in the open air, a rare joy these days.

This show must travel light, but that doesn't prevent them from having clever costuming (with a lot of painted denim) and a few choice props and set pieces (costume design by K. Marie Mielke, scenic and lighting design by Lisa V. Kudas). As darkness sets in the lights subtly come on, and they make great use of the natural space, running off into the distance or traipsing through the crowd. And a crowd there was; this is the third year in a row that I've seen Mixed Precipitation at Silverwood Park, and the first time that I had to park in an overflow lot because the closest parking lot was full, even 20 minutes before showtime! They deservedly have a loyal following, so allow a little extra time to get there, park, and enjoy the surroundings before the show.

Enjoy the last few weeks of Minnesota summer with one of its best treats - outdoor music-theater, specifically, Mixed Precipitation's sweet, funny, silly, ever-charming Tales of Hoffman.