Nationally known playwright Lee Blessing workshops new play "Courting Harry" in first public reading with U of M Students

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/11/12) -Nationally known playwright Lee Blessing's new play Courting Harry will be given its first public reading on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Rarig Center's Kilburn Arena Theatre, 330 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis, on the U of M's West Bank.

Blessing, a Minneapolis native, has been on campus since Wednesday, Oct. 10 working with playwriting students and rehearsing with student performers in the U of M's Theatre Arts and Dance Department.

"We are thrilled to have a playwright of Lee Blessing's stature interacting and challenging our students," said Carl Flink, chair of the Theatre Arts and Dance Department. "We are so excited to join in this Reimagining Community Partnership with alumus Ron Peluso, of St. Paul's History Theatre, who will direct and produce Courting Harry in the spring as part of their season."

Blessing's residency will culminate in a workshop reading of Courting Harry which explores the lifelong friendship Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justice Harry Blackmun, both natives of St. Paul. The friendship was put to the test in one of the most contentious cases of all time: Roe v Wade.

The reading is free and open to the public, however, seating is limited and reservations are required. Please email Jenna at frank585@umn.edu.

This reading is performed by theatre students under the guidance of Dominic Taylor, U of M Professor of Playwriting and the direction of History Theater Artistic Director Ron Peluso.

Carl Flink & Black Label Movement on TPT's MN Original, Sunday, Sept.30

This Sunday, September 30, Twin Cities Public Television's MN Original will feature Carl Flink, Theatre Arts and Dance, Chair and his Black Label Movement (BLM) in an exploration of "The Moving Cell Project." The program airs at 6:00pm on TPT's Channel 2 and the Life Channel at 10:00pm.

This new episode focuses on the scientific and artistic exchange between BLM, artistic director Carl Flink and his longtime collaborator biomedical engineer David Odde as they examine the latest findings on the turbulent interior of the cell resulting in a potential scientific modeling tool called "body storming" and the creation of Flink's ballistic quartet HIT.

The BLM story and the full episode will also be posted on TPT's companion website www.mnoriginal.org
Visitors to the site will find additional content, web exclusive videos and links to MN Original artists.

The Ivey Awards honor "Spring Awakening" for Artistic Excellence

Minneapolis -This week the 2012 Ivey Award for artistic excellence was presented to Theater Latte Da for its production of Spring Awakening, staged by artistic director Peter Rothstein, with musical direction by Denise Prosek and choreography by Carl Flink, chair of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota. The Ivey Awards at The Historic State Theater, downtown Minneapolis, featured a live performance of Spring Awakening's musical number, "The Bitch of Living " by cast members David Darrow, Tyler Michaels, Grant Sorenson, Jack Tillman, Ross Orenstein, Derek Prestly, James Kennedy, Charles Robison, James Person and Elander Rosser.

"I want to congratulate Peter Rothstein and his entire Theater Latte Da company," commented Carl Flink. "It was a joy to work with him and his creative team as the choreographer for this project. In my capacity as department chair, I am also deeply grateful to Peter for his clear artistic vision, and for reaching out to our Theatre Arts and Dance Department to join him in this extraordinary opportunity to partner with our faculty, student performers, designers, stage managers, and technicians. It is difficult to imagine a more perfect partnership that exemplifies the power of dynamic public engagement between the university and community partner. Thank you for joining us in making this possible."

Latte Da's unique production of Spring Awakening, Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's dynamic rock musical hit celebrating the rebellious imperatives of youth, was produced in a partnership with the U of M's Theatre Arts and Dance department and combined the talents of theatre professionals and student performers to comprise the ensemble of twenty. Drawing enthusiastic crowds over its six week run April 12- May 6 to the U of M's Rarig Center, Spring Awakening earned rave reviews and critical acclaim from the Twin Cities press.

The Ivey Awards are based on evaluations performed by more than 150 volunteers who watched more than 1,000 performances in the past year. The eighth annual Ivey Awards presentation occurred September 24, 2012.

U of M's Dance Director Ananya Chatterjea honored: MPR's first Arts Hero

Ananya Chatterjea is the founder and artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre; her dance company uses its performances to raise awareness around issues such as environmental racism, violence against women, and the ravages of unrestrained capitalism. She is also Director of Dance at the University of Minnesota's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.

Minnesota Public Radio has recognized her as the first in a new series called "Arts Heroes" identifying her as "one of Minnesota's finest artists who is also an exceptional community leader." In launching this series, the MPR news explained the selection criterion."These are not just artists who do a charitable project on the side, but have made it their passion and life's work. Their art actively seeks to address social ills, transform their communities and the world."

Earlier this month Chatterjea's Ananya Dance Theatre performed Moreechika: Season of Mirage, which deals with impact of oil drilling, both on communities and on the environment. "One of the dances in Moreechika is inspired by the explosions of gas pipelines in Nigeria, another by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its effect on wildlife. A third dance examines how the pursuit of beauty leads women around the world to contaminate their bodies with toxins found in cosmetics made with petroleum products. The Bhopal disaster is referenced in the work, along with the familiar human costs and crime associated with the new oil boom in the Dakotas," reports news anchor Marianne Combs.
Read and hear MPR's "Arts Heroes" news feature here.

Emmy Nomination for Mn Orignal featuring Carl Flink's "Duet for a Wreck"

Twin Cities Public Television's MN Original Episode #315 featuring Theatre Arts and Dance Chairman Carl Flink and Emilie Plauche Flink performing Carl's A Duet for Wreck at The Soap Factory in downtown Minneapolis has been nominated for a regional Emmy Award. The final results will be announced on Saturday, September 29. Watch the video at:
http://www.mnoriginal.org/episode/319-caitlin-karolczak-vocalessence-chris-faust-heiruspecs/a-duet-for-wreck/

"Wreck" premiered at Southern Theater in Minneapolis in 2008. Dance Magazine said of it: "The powerful dancers, risk-takers all, deliver the combination of buoyant athleticism and feral intensity that is the hallmark of Flink's style." A reviewer for the Star Tribune wrote: "Embedded in this dark mass of embodied need are gorgeously rendered portraits of memory or longing, which surface like air bubbles from the dark emotional depths of 'Wreck.' "

Alum Nick Harazin named a HOT new face in Chicago Theatre

The Chicago Tribune (July 19, 2012) names Nick Harazin one of the top ten " hot new faces on the Chicago Theatre Scene" and praises him for his acting chops in the city's tough and highly competitive field. Critic Chris Jones singles out ten actors who have been burning up Chicago stages in the previous 12 months. " You may well not yet know their faces. We think you should. And in many cases, we think you will soon." Harazin, an Apple Valley, MN native, gave a "richly empathetic performance [ in Andrew Hinderaker's new play I'm Going to Change the World] that made you only want more of the actor behind it."

While on the Twin Cities campus, this U of M Theatre Arts and Dance grad played many roles including the lead in Macbeth and the role of John Harker in 2003's much celebrated Showboat production of Dracula under the direction of the late Charles Nolte.

BA Actor Training Program's Luverne Seifert takes Cherry Orchard Project across Minnesota

HEADLINE:
Luverne Seifert, who leads the U of M's Bachelor of Arts Actor Training program, and his wife Darcey Engen, who heads Augsburg' theatre program are featured in a cover story about a unique site -specific production of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" in the Star Tribune( 7/21/12). Writer Graydon Royce reports that the century old drama finds fresh meaning and receptive audiences in the farmland of southern Minnesota. Using historic homes in five Minnesota towns, and recruiting local actors along the way, this rolling tour is underwritten by Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
"More than 100 years ago, Chekhov wrote 'The Cherry Orchard' about Russian aristocrats who lose their country estate while examining how land becomes part of family identity," states the reporter. That same issue now faces Minnesota farm families as they must decide what to do with the land they grew up on. Rent? Sell? Move there and work the farm? Seifert's The Cherry Orchard Project "brings to farm communities a classic play that resonates with the modern-day reality of land being bid up because of high commodity prices and aggressive agribusinesses."
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