The Grand Marais Playhouse will open the Grand Marais Summer Theater Festival on July 19 with the production of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (Female Version). The cast includes Kerri Bilben, Yvonne Block, Julie Fredlund, Jane Gellner, Gerry Grant, Erin Larsen, Jack Nickolay and Jason Winters. The Odd Couple (Female Version) by Neil Simon runs July 19, 21, 25, 27, Aug. 2, 4, 8 and 10. Thursday – Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
This hilarious comedy is by one of America’s funniest playwrights. Samuel French publishers offers this description: Unger and Madison are at it again! Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in Neil Simon’s hilarious contemporary comic classic: the female version of The Odd Couple. Instead of the poker party that begins the original version, Ms. Madison has invited the girls over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit. The Pidgeon sisters have been replaced by the two Constanzuela brothers. But the hilarity remains the same.
Above: The Odd Couple (female version) debuts July 19. The cast in this hilarious production is (L-R, seated) Gerry Grant, Yvonne Block, Kerri Bilben, Erin Larsen, Jane Gellner and Julie Fredlund. (Standing in back) Jack Nickolay and Jason Winters. Left: Storytellers Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux and Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff will be offering a storytelling workshop as part of the Playhouse Summer Theater Festival.
On Saturday July 20, Skyblue Quartet with Orange Girl returns to the Arrowhead Center for the Arts stage as a fundraiser for the Playhouse. The evening will include a silent auction in the lobby beginning at 6 p.m. followed by A Century of Jazz in the ACA at 7 p.m. Everyone who attended had a great time last year and with new music for the show, an amazing auction with items such as Guthrie, Minnesota Opera, and Children’s Theater tickets, as well as fabulous items from many local businesses and of course, dancing, this year will be even better! The Grand Marais Playhouse needs your support. We hope you come to enjoy the entertainment, bid on some wonderful items and support your community theater!
The Grand Marais Summer Theater Festival will also include workshops. The first will be on Friday, July 19 from 1 – 4 p.m. at the ACA. Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff, a professional Jewish storyteller, poet, educator and coach based in Baltimore, Md., will hold a workshop on storytelling for educators, counselors and clergy. Participants will learn how storytelling can break down walls that keep people from learning from one another.
Rudick Zunikoff’s story, Rina and The Exodus, was featured in the anthology Mitzvah Stories, a finalist for the 2012 National Jewish Award. Her CD The Growing Season contains original stories based on traditional tales, and is available on iTunes and Amazon.com.
Rudick Zunikoff is brought to town by Rose Ar rowsmith- DeCou x , a local storyteller. Arrowsmith DeCoux is an animated and interactive storyteller with roots in theater (and a love of mime). She has performed around the U.S., and in India and Sweden. Arrowsmith DeCoux’s stories are often Scandinavian. She is also an actor, writer, creative coach and stilt-walker. Arrowsmith DeCoux lives in Grand Marais where she leads workshops and retreats for artists.
Arrowsmith DeCoux and Zunikoff met over 10 years ago at a National Storytelling Conference. They have been Tuesday night “story buddies” ever since, practicing stories over the phone.
The two will present an evening of story telling: Tricksters and Trolls, Emperors and Elves, Fairies and Fools… You never know who you’ll meet when two friends get together to tell their favorite stories.
Kids and adults are invited to an evening of high-spirited stories from around the world. Performance is at 7 p.m. and tickets are $10 adults and $5 students 18 and under.
The Grand Marais Summer Theater Festival continues with Church Basement Ladies opening on July 26 and performing in repertory with The Odd Couple on weekends through August 11.The Church Basement Ladies cast includes Mark Abrahamson, Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux, Yvonne Mills, Diane Stoddard and Linda Waterhouse.
Church Basement Ladies, by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke with music and lyrics by Drew Jansen, is a musical comedy inspired by the books of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, authors of the best-seller Growing Up Lutheran.
Performances are July 26, 28, Aug. 1, 3, 9 and 11
As described on the play’s website, Church Basement Ladies is a celebration of the church basement kitchen and the women who work there. Church Basement Ladies is a new musical comedy featuring four distinct characters and their relationships as they organize the food and solve the problems of a rural Minnesota church about to undergo changes in 1965.
From the elderly matriarch of the kitchen to the young bride-to-be learning the proper order of things, we see them handle a record-breaking Christmas dinner, the funeral of a dear friend, a Hawaiian Easter fundraiser, and, of course, a steaming hot July wedding. They stave off potential disasters, share and debate recipes, instruct the young, and keep the pastor on due course while thoroughly enjoying (and tolerating) each other as the true “steel magnolias” of the church. Funny and down-to-earth, audiences will recognize these ladies as they witness the church year unfold from below the house of God.
Tickets for summer festival productions are $20 adults, $10 students (18 and under). Save $5 when you buy a ticket to both shows! Available in advance at www.tix.com or at the door one hour before the performance.
More theater workshops for all ages will be held in August. More information will come in the next Buzz!
Grand Marais Playhouse Artistic Director Sue Hennessy provides this behind-the-scenes look at Grand Marais Playhouse activities.
Leave a Reply