"Million Dollar Quartet" at Old Log Theatre

Carl Perkins, "the king of rockabilly." Jerry Lee Lewis, "rock and roll's first great wild man." Johnny Cash, "one of the best-selling musicians of all time." Elvis Presley, simply "the king." In 1956, these four men were in their 20s and at the early stages of their influential and prolific careers. They came together for one night at Sun Records in Memphis for a jam session, which was recorded and released as the Million Dollar Quartet. So of course, this story had to be made into a musical. Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux did just that; the musical Million Dollar Quartet opened on Broadway in 2010. It only ran for a year, but found success on tour and regionally, as such crowd-pleasing jukebox musicals do. Despite a fairly thin book, it's a great show, precisely because we all know and love these songs and these singers. Even if we weren't alive in 1956, these four artists and their music are an integral part of our musical heritage. The Old Log Theatre recently opened a long run of the show with a fantastic cast that's definitely worth the drive out to charming lake town of Excelsior in the Western Metro.

"The Velocity of Autumn" at Old Log Theatre

Last spring, I was lucky enough to see Eric Coble's smart, funny, poignant, relevant new play about aging and family, The Velocity of Autumn, during it's short Broadway run. Despite earning Estelle Parsons a Tony nomination, the play didn't last long on Broadway, perhaps because the small, intimate story is better suited to Off Broadway or regional theater than the tourist-bait that Broadway has become. The Old Log Theatre was smart enough to snap up this gem and be the first to bring it to Minnesota to open their 2015-2016 season. The Old Log has really stepped up their game in the last few years, but it's still difficult for me to make the 70-mile round trip from my home in the Northeast suburbs to lovely lakeside Excelsior. But for this play, I was determined to go to my first Old Log opening night. And boy, was my determination rewarded! It was a truly remarkable experience, something I've never seen on stage before, and one that will not soon be forgotten.

The play opens on 79-year-old Alexandra (Melissa Hart), who has barricaded herself in her Brooklyn home, armed with home-made explosives. Her children are trying to remove her from her home and put her in a nursing home, so she’s refusing to let anyone inside. Her long absent youngest son Chris (Paul de Cordova) climbs a tree and into her window in the hopes of talking her down. What follows is an intense and revelatory conversation between these two people, both at a crossroads in their lives and unsure of what’s going to happen next. What Alexandra is really trying to barricade out of her life is age – the loss of herself. Chris is the one of her three children that is most like her, an artist and a free spirit, which is how she raised him. He gives her what she needs – someone to listen to her and acknowledge her fears. Chris has recently experienced a life-changing event of his own, which is why he’s decided to come home, for a chance to “do the right thing.” As they talk about their shared past, and the uncertainty of the future, they come to a bit of an understanding, although nothing is resolved for certain. It’s a clear and precise depiction of one moment in these two people’s lives, lives that existed before this moment and will continue to exist after.*

Paul de Cordova and Melissa Hart (photo credit: Old Log Theatre)

Melissa Hart is veteran Broadway and regional theater actor - she played Sally Bowles during the original run of Cabaret and received a 1970 Tony nomination for the musical Georgy - and lucky for us, she now calls Minnesota home.  I first saw her in a return to Cabaret, this time as Fraulein Schneider in Frank Theater's delectably gritty production on the Showboat four years ago, and have seen her many times since on various stages around town including Illusion and the Guthrie. Melissa as Alexandra and Paul de Cordova as her son Chris are a dream team to bring this talky two-person play to life. This play demands great listening and presence from both actors as each delivers long monologues, along with overlapping dialogue written in the way people actually talk, and Melissa's and Paul's individual and combined performances are one of the best examples of that I've ever seen at the theater.

Alexandra is continually losing parts of herself, as happens with aging, from bodily functions to words. On opening night, Melissa Hart lost her words, and read from a script for the last half of the show. But she never lost the character, and if anything, it made her performance that much more real and poignant. And Paul was right there with her the whole time, listening and responding and helping her through. The character of Alexandra is flustered and struggles for words and memories, yet has moments of crisp clarity about her life and situation. It was indescribably moving to watch Melissa truly live Alexandra's struggles and triumphs for that brief moment in time. It was the truest example of one of the most poignant lines in the play, "there's beauty and art in the coming apart." Melissa took what she was experiencing in the moment and made it serve the character and the play, that's what a pro does. I'm certain that if you go see this play (and you should), you will see a much smoother performance, but no more beautiful than the one I saw.

An important part of this play is the setting - Alexandra's beloved brownstone in Brooklyn, which is beautifully and realistically represented on the Old Log stage. While the leaves outside the Old Log are not yet changing, I attended the show on a perfect fall day and it seemed that the picturesque setting outside the theater had been brought inside. A huge tree with autumn-tinted leaves is seen behind the large window, and is sturdy enough for Chris to climb on. Tree branches and leaves also frame the stage, which contains a cluttered, homey, lived in apartment with furniture stacked against the door and dozens of Molotov cocktails surrounding the perimeter (scenic and lighting design by Erik Paulson).

Having now seen The Velocity of Autumn twice, at different theaters and with different casts, I'm even more convinced what a beautiful and timely play this is. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, we all have Alexandras in our lives, an aging and beloved parent or aunt who seems to be on the verge of not being able to take care of him or herself. It's a difficult thing to navigate and this play provides one example of one family going through it, without providing any simple answers, because there are none. As medical advances allow us to live longer and longer, we all have to deal with our own aging and that of our loved ones, and hopefully we do so with grace, kindness, and acceptance.

The Velocity of Autumn continues through October 24 and it's well worth the drive out to Excelsior to see this smart, funny, poignant, relevant, beautifully written and acted play.


*Once again, I plagiarized myself by copying the description of the play from what I wrote last year.

"Rancho Mirage" at Old Log Theater

Mirage: noun. 1) an optical effect that is sometimes seen at sea, in the desert, or over a hot pavement, that may have the appearance of a pool of water or a mirror in which distant objects are seen inverted, and that is caused by the bending or reflection of rays of light by a layer of heated air of varying density. 2) something illusory and unattainable like a mirage.

The title of the new play Rancho Mirage by Steven Dietz refers to a gated community outside an unnamed city in a desert area. But the mirage in the title also refers to the lives of three couples. All three have a secret, whether it's financial troubles or marital troubles, that is slowly revealed throughout the course of the play, until they and we realize that their lives are not what they seem, but simply a mirage. Currently receiving its regional premiere at the Old Log Theater, which is under new management and quite obviously stepping up their game, Rancho Mirage is a darkly funny look at American life, embodied by a fantastic cast of local favorites (and one former TV star). It seems that there are now two theaters in the Southwest suburbs worth the drive from my home on the opposite side of town.

The entire play takes place at a dinner party (although no actual dinner is consumed) at the seemingly beautiful and perfect home of Diane (Stacia Rice, now acting opposite her second desperate househusband) and Nick (James Denton). Their guests are Louise (Ann Michels) and Trevor (David Mann), also residents of Rancho Mirage, and Pam (Mo Perry) and Charlie (Joshua James Campbell). The pleasant and friendly conversation among this group of friends soon gets real as it's revealed that Diane and Nick are about to lose their home, Louise and Trevor are separated, and Pam and Charlie are struggling with the decision about whether or not to have children (and in fact vacillate so much between the desire to enjoy their lives without children and a sense of obligation to follow their friends into the expected role of parents, that I had a hard time figuring out who these characters really were). Secrets, mishaps, stories, and arguments all unfold as these six people are forced to face the mirage of their lives. Diane poignantly sums it up when she says, "I used to think that our life was this beautiful thing that hasn't happened yet. But there is no other thing, our life is this." The good news is that now that they see through the mirage, they can work to make their lives more real. (Another way to say this is "no day but today.") 

Joshua James Campbell, Mo Perry, James Denton,
Stacia Rice, Ann Michels, and David Mann

I know and love all of these actors (although I'm more familiar with David as a director than an actor), so I'd drive across town to see this cast in anything. Stacia just shines in everything she does (including her role in the locally filmed web series Theater People), and brings depth to the conflicted Diane. Ann is very funny as this over-the-top character, constantly waving her arms and unintentionally insulting her friends. Mo is a master of the look (keep an eye on her as her character patiently waits to be poured a glass of wine). James has grown beyond his TV role into a legitimate member of the Twin Cities theater community (if only the audience would let him, they erupted in laughter so long when he uttered the word "housewives" that it threatened to derail the story, despite the cast's best efforts to keep it on track). Josh is charming as ever as the relatively naive Charlie, and David exhibits dry wit as everyman Trevor (who just happens to have taken up sewing). The cast works and plays well together in this ensemble piece, as directed by Artistic Director R. Kent Knutson.

Rancho Mirage continues through December 7. If you live in the Southwest suburbs, there's no reason not to check out the new Old Log Theater. I found it worth the drive to the charming lake town of Excelsior to see this fantastic cast in this very funny play. Old Log's season continues with A Year with Frog and Toad; Almost, Maine; and Steel Magnolias. I will definitely be keeping my eye on them.