"Escape from Alcina's Island" by Mixed Precipitation at Falcon Heights Community Garden

For another installment of summer outdoor theater in Minnesota, we have Mixed Precipitation. Every summer they deliver something they like to call a "picnic operetta," which is just what it sounds like - a little light opera with food. Perhaps the "mixed" in this company's name refers to the mixture of food, music, theater, and the outdoors, perhaps it refers to the mixture of classic operetta with pop music. Either way it's a fun, charming, delightful, and yummy example of the outdoor theater that can be had in Minnesota. And even better - they travel around to area parks and gardens, so you can likely find a performance near you.

Handel's opera Alcina, about a seductive sorceress (Carolyn Cavadini) who lures Ruggiero (Dan Piering) away from his beloved Bradamante (Maggie Lofboom) with the help of her sister Morgana (Lizz Windnagel), has been transformed into a story of truckers on the road (adaptation by Director Scotty Reynolds and Music Director Marya Hart). This allows them to bring in some great old Country-Western road and heartbreak songs like "Six Days on the Road," "Heartaches by the Number," "The Race is On," and the classic George and Tammy duet "We're Gonna Hold On." It's great fun to hear these songs played by the four-piece classical/country orchestra, interspersed with Handel's lovely music sung mostly in Italian (with some surtitles charmingly rolled out by hand on a scroll to the left of the stage).

Morgana's Melon Margarita

There's nothing serious about this show, except that this cast can seriously sing. The show is loose and playful, performed with great enthusiasm by the large ensemble which includes several children and teens. Their Western attire adds to the fun and informality of this operetta. The acoustics aren't always great with the wind and the nearby soccer game, but that's part of the charm and spontaneity of outdoor theater.

Alcina's Antipasti

And then there's the food (created by Nick Schneider and Kimlinh Bui). The five courses are announced by the cast and somehow worked into the plot, usually as Alcina offers her guests hospitality. Each of the courses is a perfect little bite of flavor, all of them vegetarian and some of them vegan (make sure to ask about any dietary needs). Plates are passed among the crowd seated on the ground or in camp chairs as the show continues. So come hungry (but not too hungry, they are small bites).

Mixed Precipitation offers a unique, fun, and summery opportunity to enjoy good food and entertaining music-theater in your neighborhood park. I know it's mid-August, but summer in Minnesota isn't over yet so be sure to get in this last taste of outdoor theater before the snow falls! Performances continue at parks and gardens around the Twin Cities area and beyond - see their website for the full tour schedule.

the charming scene at the Picnic Operetta - the race is on!

"King Arthur: A Picnic Operetta" by Mixed Precipitation at Falcon Heights Community Garden

There's a lot of outdoor theater going on around the Twin Cities, if you know where to look for it. I partook of one such opportunity on what turned out to be a rainy day, so it was moved indoors to a warming house. But the spirit was still there. Mixed Precipitation takes classic operettas, condenses them, puts a modern spin on them, performs them in community gardens around the Twin Cities metro area, and also serves great food. What could be better? This year's selection is Henry Purcell's 1684 English Baroque opera King Arthur, with plenty of modern references and some punk rock music thrown in for good measure. It's a fun and delicious way to experience music-theater in an informal setting.

Condensing a full opera down to under 90 minutes creates a bit of a hard to follow jumbled mess, but from what I gathered, King Arthur of Cameloteapolis is building a new jousting stadium that will host the Super Joust, a costly endeavor that faces opposition from the Saxons, who are concerned about things like corporate personhood and minimum wage. Or something like that. There is fighting, jousting, magic, a wedding or two, and much beautiful music. I didn't care for the rock songs as much as the opera songs, which are so beautifully sung and played by this wonderful cast and small orchestra that it doesn't seem necessary to add modern songs (although I do kind of love the idea of a rock cello).

Grant Schumann, Peter Middlecamp, and Cassandra McNally

This wonderful cast of adults and children appears to be having a great time playing together, which always makes it more fun for the audience. And they look crazy cool in punk hair, make-up, and costumes. Young Grant Schumann leads the wildly energetic band of Saxons; Wric Larson is dark and mysterious with a commanding deep voice as the demon Grimbald; Elizabeth Windnagel is a delightfully airy imp; Jim Ahrens is our beautiful-haired and slightly out of touch King Arthur; magic is created by JP Fitzgibbons' Merlin and Naomi Karstad's Morgan Le Fay; Maggie Lofbloom's jousting champion Guinevere is a heroine to root for; and Peter Middlecamp is charming as her jousting rival/suitor. And the whole casts sounds fantastic; turns out the warming house has surprisingly good acoustics.

The most unique aspect of this experience is the food. Delicious, interesting, creative, fresh, local food is served in perfect little bites throughout the show, very cleverly worked into the plot and introduced by the characters. I think people should serve me food at the theater all the time! I do wish I had been able to experience this in the great outdoors as intended, but it was still great fun, and they somehow made the last minute change of venue work.

King Arthur continues weekends through September 21. Check the schedule for a garden near you, and then go see some fun and creative music-theater while enjoying delicious food.