"All is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Theater Latte Da's first full production in their 24th season is the annual favorite, All is Calm. I've seen it eight times now, and it never fails to move me, in fact it continually finds new ways to move me. Peter Rothstein created the piece about a dozen years ago, and it has morphed throughout the years, eventually being whittled down to its current concise and practically perfect 65-minute form. The story alone is inspiring - the Christmas Truce of 1914, when soldiers on both sides put down their weapons for a spontaneous truce in the beginnings of WWI. And this piece of music-theater, which combines period songs with historical text from letters, journals, and newspaper articles, is simply the most powerful way to tell the story that I can imagine. It's told with such precision, thoughtfulness, and economy; every word, every gesture, every note rings true and has meaning. All is Calm is truly my favorite #TCTheater holiday* production because it conveys what I believe is the core meaning of this season - peace, stillness, reflection, community, and connection.

"All Is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

I saw the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood yesterday, about how one person's life was changed by meeting Mister Rogers, the legendary children's show host who touched, and continues to touch, so many lives. It reminded me of the good in humanity, and that we all need to, and are perfectly capable of, doing better. What does this have to do with Theater Latte Da's Drama-Desk-Award-winning soon-to-be-PBS-broadcast original holiday piece All is Calm? Like Mister Rogers, this artfully constructed story of the real life WWI Christmas Truce reminds us what can happen when we choose kindness over violence, connection over hate. The soldiers were only able to accomplish this remarkable feat for 24 hours, and then the war continued for several years and millions of deaths. But if a war can cease even for 24 hours, if a man can heal his relationship with his father thanks to one person's kindness and encouragement, what else can we accomplish, individually and collectively, if we choose kindness, connection, and peace? This is the seventh time I've seen All is Calm, my favorite of what the #TCTheater holiday* season has to offer, and it only gets more beautiful, poignant, and necessary every year. We need this message now more than ever.

"All is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Dear #TCTheater friends, I just wanted to share with you a few thoughts about Theater Latte Da's annual holiday* show All is Calm, even though their handful of Minneapolis shows this weekends are sold out, and they're heading to Off-Broadway next week (congrats!). I saw it for the sixth time this week, and I've already written many words about how much I love it (you can read them all here). In just over an hour, this cast of ten men, all beautiful vocalists and actors, tells the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914. Created by Latte Da's Artistic Director Peter Rothstein, the show takes us from the soldier's excitement at going off to war and having adventures, to the realization that war is truly awful, to that one day of peace they found in the trenches, when both sides put down their weapons and celebrated their common humanity.

"All is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Pantages Theatre

If you're looking for 70 minutes of calm, peace, and wonder in this crazy busy season at the end of this crazy busy year, look no further than Theater Latte Da's annual favorite, All is Calm. But look quickly because only a few shows remain this weekend at the Pantages Theatre. This is my fifth time seeing the show, and since I've written about it four times I don't really have any more words left to write. Except that this is a truly beautiful piece of music-theater. Created by Latte Da's Artistic Director Peter Rothstein based on extensive research, with gorgeous musical arrangement of traditional Christmas carols and military songs by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach, All is Calm is a succinct and exquisite look at a moment of peace in the midst of war. An ensemble of a dozen men sing in breath-taking harmony and read (in a delicious smorgasbord of accents) the words of soldiers who experienced the Christmas Truce of 1914. With simple staging and costumes and no applause breaks to interrupt the storytelling, it's 70 minutes of beauty, sadness, and hope.

Read my thoughts on last year's show, which is virtually the same as this year's, here.
Read my thoughts on the previous version of All is Calm featuring Cantus here.

"All Is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Pantages Theatre

This is my fourth time seeing and writing* about Theater Latte Da's annual holiday show All Is Calm, presented with Hennepin Theatre Trust at the Pantages Theatre. This true story about peace in the midst of war is so beautifully told by creator/director Peter Rothstein, using period music and authentic writing from the time, that I could easily see it every year. It is the 11th holiday show I've seen this year** and my favorite because it best represents the true spirit of the season - connection, community, forgiveness, peace. The show underwent a significant change in this, its eighth year. The marvelous vocal ensemble Cantus is no longer in the show. Instead, Peter has cast a dozen talented singer-actors. I wasn't sure how this show would work without Cantus because they were such an integral part of the experience. But I needn't have worried, because if anything, it's even better than it was before. The music (brilliantly arranged by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach) sounds just as gorgeous, and the addition of a cast full of actors, now sharing the stirring words of soldiers amongst all of them rather than just a few, humanizes the stories even more. The result is a piece of music-theater that's just about as perfect as one could be - a story told simply, effectively, and beautifully in a way that perhaps comes close to the beauty of the real experience of the Christmas Truce of 1914.

"All is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Pantages Theatre

If you see one Christmas-themed theatrical event this year, let it be All is Calm. Unlike most Christmas shows, there is not a red and green banner, brightly wrapped present, or figgy pudding in sight. It does not present the usual frenetic cheery energy associated with the holiday. Instead it is quiet and lovely, joyous and melancholy, celebrating a remarkable event when soldiers put down their weapons and shared the spirit of peace across enemy lines for one brief and beautiful moment. Created by Peter Rothstein and presented annually by Theater Latte Da and Hennepin Theatre Trust, All is Calm tells the story of the 1914 Christmas Truce during the first year of WWI, in which soldiers along both sides of the trenches on the Western Front stopped fighting and met in no man's land to exchange photos and stories, bury the dead, play football, and sing carols. This story is told simply on a bare stage with only some wooden platforms and crates as set pieces, with three actors bringing to life the words from actual letters, articles, and other historical documents, illuminated by songs performed by the marvelous nine-man a capella vocal ensemble Cantus. It's a perfect marriage of music and storytelling, not the story of specific people or characters, but rather the story of peace in the midst of war. What better representation of the spirit of the season?

The piece runs a short 75-minutes, a seamless flow from beginning to end. The songs are structured to tell the story of young men enthusiastically heading off to war, experiencing the fear and drudgery that is the reality of war, finding a brief reprieve one snowy Christmas day, and then being reluctantly forced back to reality as the cease-fire ends. Traditional British, French, and German Christmas carols like "Good King Wenceslas," "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella," and "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" (one of my favorites), are combined with war songs both spirited and somber. The songs are perfectly chosen to evoke the feeling at each point in the story, and complement the words spoken by the actors sporting a wide variety of accents (Matt Rein, David Roberts, and Alan Sorenson).

If you've never seen Cantus before, you are in for a treat. They are nine gorgeous voices perfectly blended in multi-layered harmony so beautiful, it's tempting to just close your eyes and let it wash over you (purchase music here, including the soundtrack of All is Calm). But the men of Cantus are not just singers here, they're actors as well as they play the parts of soldiers. Actors and singers are dressed alike in warm black layers, adding hats and gloves as the weary night continues. They fill the space in beautifully staged movement, sometimes standing at attention, sometimes laughing and joking and shaking hands.

All is Calm is one of those shows that induces a trance-like state, aided by the fact that it's constructed with no applause breaks. The cycle of song - applause - song - applause can break the flow of the story, and there's none of that here. Just one long swell of music, words, and emotion. When the show was over, the trance continued as I walked out into the dark night with snow softly falling, the strains of "peace on earth" reverberating in my ears, the lovely and bittersweet feeling of the show remaining with me. This is the third time I've seen the show, and I think I love it more each time I see it. Only four performances remain, two today and two tomorrow. Take a break from the frantic holiday season to soak in the peace and beauty of All is Calm.

"All is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Pantages Theatre

I've seen six Christmas-themed theater productions in the last month and a half, and Theater Latte Da's annual holiday production All is Calm* comes closest to what I think is and should be the spirit of this midwinter holiday season: a celebration of our shared humanity, that transcends any perceived difference of nationality, ethnicity, religion, class, or political belief. All is Calm tells the true story of the WWI Christmas day truce, through songs and soldiers' own words. If these soldiers who were sent to kill each other could put aside their differences, share in each other's joy, and make peace for one day, it gives me hope that a larger peace is possible. This quote that arrived in my inbox today seems most appropriate: "If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).

Now in it's 5th year, All is Calm was created by Latte Da's Artistic Director Peter Rothstein and the nine-man vocal ensemble Cantus. It begins with a few traditional Christmas carols, sung in stunning harmonies. Then the theater part of the piece begins as the actors (Matt Rein, David Roberts, and Alan Sorenson) come onstage and being speaking the words of witnesses to the event, taken from letters, journals, and other historical sources from that day in 1914. Songs and words are seamlessly woven together in one cohesive piece that continues without intermission or interruption throughout the arc of the story. We begin with "The Optimistic Departure," when young men across Europe were excited to go on an adventure they were sure would be over soon. Then comes "The Grim Reality" as the difficulties and death of battle set in. The high point is the quiet celebration of "Christmas" and the blessed "Truce," as the fighting stops and men from both sides enter "no man's land" to share stories and play games. Finally, in "The Return to Battle," the war continues as if the truce never happened, and in fact it was never repeated in such a large scale, as the war continued for another long four years.

the cast of All is Calm with the men of Cantus

All is Calm is a perfect example of what Theater Latte Da does best - weave together music and theater in an interesting and innovate way to tell a story. It's what Peter calls "intelligent musical theater," which is my favorite thing in the world. His creation is beautifully brought to life by this talented combination of actors and musicians. The three actors really embody the different men whose words are spoken, in a variety of accents. The men of Cantus, who have come from all over the country to sing together, not only sound gorgeous, but they're pretty good actors too as they become the soldiers in their joy and grief. This is truly a beautiful, moving, transfixing experience. Because of the seamlessness of the piece there is no room for applause. The audience was holding it in, which is perhaps why there was an almost immediate and deserving standing ovation as soon as the music ceased.

All is Calm is playing now through Saturday at Hennepin Theatre Trust's beautifully restored Pantages Theatre. If you go, be sure to check out the WWI exhibit upstairs, on loan from the Minnesota Military Museum in Little Falls. This is the second time I've seen this show, and it's one that only gets better with repeated viewing. This is my last theater experience of over 100 that I've had this year (look for my 2012 favorites to be posted around New Year's), and I can't think of a better way to end this amazing year of theater.**

soldiers of the London Rifle Brigade pose with
German Saxons of the 104th and 106th regiments on
Christmas day, 1914. Imperial War Museum, London.

*I received two complementary tickets to opening night of All is Calm.
**I can't think of a better way to begin another amazing year of theater than going back to the Pantages to see another Latte Da production, Aida, featuring one of my favorite scores, and what could possibly be the best love triangle in all of musical theater!

"All is Calm" by Theater Latte Da at the Pantages Theatre

All is Calm is the annual Christmas show by Theater Latte Da, my favorite local theater, and, inexplicably, this is the first time I've seen it.  In it's third year, the show was written by Latte Da Artistic Director Peter Rothstein (with musical arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach) about the World War I Christmas Truce of 1914.  Soldiers on both sides (German and Allied troops) spontaneously decided to stop shooting at each other for one day, and walked out into "no man's land" to sing songs, play games, and share photos of loved ones.  All is Calm tells the story of these men through music and their own words.

I'm not sure whether to call this show a concert, a play, or a musical.  It's really a lovely combination of all three.  In a message from Peter Rothstein in the playbill, he says, "I'm interested in creating performance where the content dictates the form" (something I believe I've also heard Stephen Sondheim say).  The show is constructed from quotes from soldiers' letters and journals, as well as articles written about the truce.  Three actors recite these quotes in a colorful variety of British accents.  Interspersed among the quotes are songs by the male vocal ensemble Cantus, who sing traditional Christmas carols and army songs.  Peter was inspired to collaborate with Cantus when he saw one of their concerts and realized that "their work was pushing the boundaries of chamber music in the ways Theater Latte Da was pushing the boundaries of musical theater."  It's a beautiful collaboration; at times it's hard to distinguish the actors from the musicians.  They're all dressed alike in black coats and sweaters.  As the story moves into winter of 1914, they all gather their scarves a little tighter, pull hats and gloves out of their pockets, and button their coats.  The singers act the part of the soldiers leaving their homes and families with excitement, expecting to return soon, only to be caught in a brutal, cold, long war.  The truce is a short break in their weariness, and gives them hope, at least for a moment.

I think this show is less about Christmas or any specific holiday, than it is about the realization that we're more alike than we are different.  The people we are fighting against in any war are really not that different from ourselves.  They want to be home with their families and live a peaceful, happy life, just like we do.  It really is a lovely thought - what if the armies of both sides went on strike, would we find another way to settle our differences?  Idealistic maybe, but something to think about.