The Troutbirders got to indulge their love of theater last week. An invitation from friends Frank and Vicky brought us to the St. Mane in Lanesboro, Minnesota for Ken Ludwig’s hilarious comedy "Moon Over Buffalo." It was a lot of fun. What a stitch! The play was a great combination of farce and a little slapstick.
Mr. Ludwig lays out the loony premise of the story from the start, hoping the utter comic insanity of it all will somehow make sense. At times it felt as if the cast was always on the run, scurrying frantically about with great pizzazz.. And it works.
I not sure where my love of live productions began. Perhaps the demise of television into its present sad state contributed . Most of it though probably harks back to my mother taking me as a young child to the St. Paul Public Libraries Children’s Room, where on Saturday mornings, I got to see puppet shows and skits. Later, as a teenager I was able to continue this interest, as on our senior class trip to New York, I opted for a play, with a friend, instead of following most of my classmates to Coney Islands amusement park. At the Broadhurst Theater, the very young and future Captain Kirk (William Shatner) of Star Trek fame was starring in The World of Suzie Wong.
Another highlight came, when escorting a group of my high school students on a tour of England, we were able to see The Royal Shakespearean Company at the Barbicon Theater in London. The play was As You Like It. 
Today, we don’t have to travel far away or visit world famous venues to enjoy theater. Rural, small town, southeastern Minnesota has numerous vibrant community theaters. Lanesboro, for example has two. The Jon Hassler theater in Plainview is an exceptional one. Yes, theater is alive and well in Bluff Country
5 comments:
ops there is no Following thing in your blog :(.
That's really cool that you have "live" productions to see. We have the Ft. Peck Theater we can go to if we choose. We usually don't make the drive. We're not into night driving much anymore.
How fun! I'm so glad you had a chance to take in this play. I love going to live theater.
What fun! If you like Shakespeare and subscribe to Netflix, try Julie Taymor's The Tempest, with Helen Mirren as ProsperA (!), and use the subtitles (there for the hard-of-hearing and those with ears not so used to hard-core British Shakespearean English!) It's full of creativity and I found the delivery of the lines to be truly outstanding! Nothing quite like good theater.
Gorgeous theatre. While I love the old classic ones, some newer ones are better designed for good viewing and superb acoustics. Like you, the feeling of live theatre can (for me) even transcend a little bad writing or uneven acting--and when it all comes together, wow.
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