In this edition of Word of Mouth - Mainstreet Radio’s Tom Roberston profiles the writers of the Northwoods, including novelist Will Weaver; writer Kevin McColley; poet Susan Carol Hauser; and non-fiction writer Kent Nerburn / MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles Nathan Keeper’s “Fully Commited” comedy / St. Paul poet Paul Dickson reads a poem on highschool / Arts-round-up
Transcript:
(00:00:04) This is word-of-mouth a radio guide to the Arts, Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Chris Roberts. There's a significant community of writers living amidst the lakes and Pines of northern Minnesota poets novelists nature and nonfiction writers are attracted to the serenity of the northern landscape as Main Street radios. Tom Robertson reports many Northwoods Riders sustain their creativity by the natural beauty that surrounds them. Novelist, will Weaver just moved into his new home. It's on the Mississippi River North of Bemidji the view from his dock is breathtaking. They'll look at the Eagle going by here mature bald eagle flying down the river there Weaver grew up in northern Minnesota his literary works from his debut novel red Earth white Earth to his series of books for young adults reflect the Wide Open Spaces of the northern prairies and the forests of the North Woods Weaver says his Writing is affected by the landscape of the region. He says the beauty can sometimes be distracting nature can be seductive. There's so many things to see if you keep your eyes open from the smallest hatches of insects to the Eagles that just flew over our heads here truly. If you sit on a dock on the Upper Mississippi somewhere every five minutes something interesting will happen Weaver says American literature has become less to do with the outdoors. More urban, he says it's less likely an urban based writer will include descriptions of things like whether birds or animals. It's the northern Minnesota writers who are really plugged into nature and place and and you're seeing that come through beautifully in their work. I think the writers here often put more of a focus on nature and the cycles of nature in their writing. There's a stereotype that Northwoods writers are hunkered down in cabins deep in the woods. It's a romantic notion of bordering on isolation. It's not true for most but fiction writer Kevin McCulley might come close Macaulay lives in the woods 22 miles north west of Bemidji. He lives in a 100 year old farmhouse. He says is haunted by a fiddle playing ghost. He has a neighbor named Olie. The colony is into sled dogs. Hi guys.
(00:02:35) Hey girls.
(00:02:40) These dogs here. Have a lot of value to because their mother was my first lead dog. She taught me how to run box and she saved my life twice. I went through the ice. I'll call his harshly adventurous lifestyle has found its way into his writing. He just finished a novel about a man who moves to Northern Minnesota and raises sled dogs. McCauley's work includes six novels. Most notably praying to a laughing God and His Civil War novel The Other Side. He's originally from Southern Minnesota. Holly says he tried living Urban lifestyle, but he says that environment suffocated his writing despite his rural surroundings McCauley says, he feels less isolated in the Northwoods than anywhere else. He's lived. He's nurtured by the sounds of nature. I hear went through the trees now here the songbirds And like last night, I hear the Wolves singing in my dog singing in response to him and those sounds have been here long before they ever people here. And those are the sounds that we rose out of and those other our rhythm of who we are, you know, look Holly says the tones of nature affect the way he writes good writing to me in writing like Faulkner like Cormac McCarthy or like Tony Morris and reflects those rhythms and Those rhythms arise out of the sound that are all around. It's in a why would I want to cut myself off from that? You know, so that's why I came up here. That's why I stay here. This is my inspiration. At Bemidji State University recently people gathered for a Northwoods writers conference. There's a strong supportive community of writers in northern Minnesota. There are at least four active writers groups just in the Bemidji region poet and author Susan Hauser helped with the conference together. She says there is a literary richness in northern Minnesota, but there's nothing magical about the North Woods.
(00:04:40) I think the mistake comes when people who think that art is created. In the external setting, you know that I'm and people frequently say to me. Oh, you know, you you live out in the country. You must go sit out under a tree in right? You know, I know writing does not take place in the landscape. You see outside your eyes. It takes place in the landscape inside your
(00:05:06) head Hauser says like many Northwoods Riders nature feeds her creativity and her soul. That's why she chooses to live here. But Hauser says her poetry and prose would be the same. If she lived in a city, she says art is created out of times of great happiness or great tragedy. It captures a moment for us and gives us some Breathing
(00:05:25) Room. Does that happen more in the North Woods? I doubt it, but I personally think nature is the best metaphor for us as human beings because even when we have learned to live separated from nature as we seem to be in cities, we really can't because we are ourselves nature.
(00:05:45) Author Kent nerburn rights mostly nonfiction. He sits in a pontoon bobbing near the shore of Lake Mobile near Bemidji Nur Burns work often focuses on the spiritual nature of people and places. He says there's a strong emotional presence in the northern Minnesota Landscape. It's a land that flows from Pines to Prairies. It's dotted with Lakes. It's bisected by the north-south Continental Divide nerburn says it's an active place. You called it the verb of An experience there's a constant feeling of motion and intentionality and possibility within the land here. And also you have big forces the big forces of the weather. I feel the Canadian prairies. I'm constantly aware of the forces of The Dakotas. I can feel a little pull of the north woods. These are Big. These are big tambor's big forces big emotions. Old balances that move in and out here nerburn says Northern Minnesota has wind water and Wildlife are a sensory Feast for the word Smith. I think that the is here great nourishment for the writer because they're your imagination is projected long distances. It isn't stopped by walls. It isn't stopped by issues of the domestic. It isn't stopped by sounds that are closer to us and bouncing off in urban environment. There are large. Echoes out there and I think that's good space in which in which a writer can
(00:07:19) work.
(00:07:52) That story was from Main Street. Radios Tom Robertson in Bemidji and Says Word of Mouth. We have all had days like Sam the main character in The Comedy fully committed Sam as a struggling actor who works as a reservationist at a trendy Manhattan Restaurant. His manager. Bob has unexpectedly taken the day off leaving Sam alone in a room with a phone in front of him as the calls begin pouring in
(00:08:34) good morning reservations. Could you hold please she'll or good morning reservations. Could you hold please? Good morning reservations. Could you hold please? Sure. Good morning reservations. Could you hold please? Well, I don't have a choice now do I
(00:08:51) as the play unfolds Sam is hit with Calamity after Calamity. The amazing thing about fully committed is it's a one-man show mainly about one man who has to spend an entire day on the phone before it's through though. We've heard from forty characters including Sam and they're all played by 23 year old acting Phenom Nathan Keepers. You could spend several minutes reciting the list of Directors Keepers embodies there's mrs. Winslow the wife of a southern executive who frequents the restaurant the socialite Carol Ann Rosenstein Fishburne. Sam's acting buddy, Jerry Miller Bryce Naomi Campbell's personal assistant and Tim's a god of restaurant guide Fame to name a few.
(00:09:36) Good morning reservations. Could you hold please? It's the chef there. No, he's not. Could you hold please? He's John Claude there. No, he's not. Could you hold please is Bob there? No, he's not. Could you hold on just one second? Yes
(00:09:49) fully committed was staged at the 130c Jungle Theater last fall and sold out its run critics lavished it with praise because of the significant audience it found it set to begin a 10-day stand at the much larger Pantages Theater in Downtown Minneapolis later this month both Keepers and director Casey Stengel say, there's nothing heavy duty about fully committed. It's a theatrical romp through Upper. And lower New York Society, but they also think it's a play that's not easy for the audience to immediately
(00:10:22) grasped. They have to get used to the world that it is that this guy is doing all these voices he is doing all these voices is he crazy is he alone is he's wise he's doing all these voices and what we're trying to do is make it that he's not doing all these voices. I mean, these are different characters calling in and that you want the audience to be like, wow, I can't believe he did that. But also, oh that's a pretty nice story and and I felt like there was more than one person on stage. Ultimately. It's the story itself that entertains people and that's where the biggest laughs come from is stuff that happens in the plot and in the story as opposed to just the Antics that the actor is doing. I'm calling to confirm my reservation for Saturday night. And your name, please see bag Seb a g and how many people three and at what times six is six thirty? I don't know. No Maria now, I'll be right there. This
(00:11:17) Keepers performance. So impressed Fred Crone he decided to bring it to the 1,000 seat Pantages Theater 700 seats when you take away all but the front of the balcony Crone is president of the historic theater Group which owns and operates the Pantages the state and the Orpheum theaters in Downtown Minneapolis. He's seen fully committed before including two Productions in New York. I've probably seen six or seven different versions of it and I thought this This one was at least on par with the ones I've seen. So it was a pretty amazing production Chrome believes. The Pantages is well suited for a one-man show. He says it may be much larger than the jungle but it's low stage as close enough to the audience to maintain intimacy. He's also dedicated to Bringing successful local Productions to its stage when we first advocated to preserve and restore the Pantages Theater Our Hope was that that a major part of our mix of Would be local Productions that have found an audience that were homegrown Productions that could benefit from a wider audience exposure. And so I'm always looking for that kind of production for the Pantages You Can Count st. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic patola as one of many bowled over by what he calls Nathan Keepers turn on a dime tour de force performance in fully committed you come out of the show at once admiring what the guy did did and breathless that he could manage to do it all without having a subdural hematoma, but Pappa Tola isn't as bullish about the decision to bring the production to Pantages. I applaud the impulse I question whether or not the Pantages is the right venue because it's a small show. It's one character show and the Pantages is a smaller house, but it's still a thousand some seats. It's still it's still a pretty big house for something like that for his part Fred Crone admits. There's risk involved but he says his organization is in the business. Of taking risks director Casey Stengel isn't concerned about the size of the house or even the sluggish economy. She says the main barrier the production phases is minnesotans summer habits
(00:13:30) people going up to their cabins instead of going into the theater. And and with any time you do a remount, you're always dealing with expectations, you know, it's like, oh it was so good last time and so that's always a little bit of a pressure is to make it be you know, as good as it was, but I'm actually We not worried about it. I think it's going to do great
(00:13:48) fully committed starring Nathan Keepers opens at the historic Pantages Theater, July 24th and runs through August 3rd.
(00:13:58) She gets hungry
(00:14:01) for dinner ready. Adores the theater and doesn't come late.
(00:14:11) She won't
(00:14:11) bother with someone she'd hate. That's why the lady is a
(00:14:19) tramp doesn't like crap games.
(00:14:26) Paul Dickinson is our Word of Mouth poet this month. Here's Paul's Ode to our educational system all hail public high school all hail public high school our eminent domain are Swan Song Our engines revving our days, messy and endless before us are luxuries becoming our rights every year. We become meaningless the parents become a big repetition the girls turn beautiful and the boys us turn ugly. We learned that It's Donald prefers things in groups of three three cheers for our side three bottles of beer in the trunk three phone numbers written on a hand three reasons to skip class three fights a week three dreams and night through records one can't live without three heartbreaks waiting around the corner three days until summer all hail public high school st. Paul poet Paul Dickinson reading this poem all hail Public High School. cool You're listening to word-of-mouth, and there's just enough time in the show for
(00:15:55) the word of mouth Arts Roundup. I'm Marianne Combs, and I'm Chris Roberts. At age 25 Orson Welles experienced unqualified artistic success. He shook the nation with his radio adaptation of War of the Worlds. Then he made his film Citizen Kane still consistently cited as one of the greatest of all time.
(00:16:17) There was something about Orson that we as Americans wanted to see get its comeuppance. He was too good to
(00:16:23) Young Minneapolis. Playwright Kent Stevens says America reveled in Wells inability to duplicate that initial
(00:16:29) Triumph. So to a certain extent we as a society help create Orson Welles. I think we as a culture. It's like we needed to bring him down. We needed to see him fail
(00:16:39) Stevens new work Orson Welles rehearses Moby-Dick recounts how in 1955 the Visionary director brought the Melville classic to life on stage without water or a whale and finally reached that artistic Pinnacle again. Gary geeking plays the Hefty icon.
(00:16:57) You take cheesy Rose and cheesier films yet. Narrate, my numbing documentaries. You sell wine shoes perfume all the time reminding yourself. These are just experiences to keep the dream
(00:17:08) alive. Orson Welles rehearses, Moby. Dick makes its debut at the jungle theater this week and runs through August 24th. Don't sweat the Technic.
(00:17:23) Tonight at intermedia arts and Minneapolis up-and-coming African-American choreographers and dancers will present an evening of performances celebrating the black experience black choreographers evening was organized by Kenna Kamara Cottman of Minneapolis. She wanted to provide a vehicle for work. She believes has become marginalized in the Twin Cities
(00:17:46) dancing. It's either seen as like this primitive form of dance like watch the For kids do their African dance or it's like the street Urban like yeah. Yo yo, yo, you know and so it's marginalized because it's kind of it seems extreme everybody who's in the evening is a practitioner of black dance and to me a black dance is a form of dance that somehow speaks to the black experience it either is describing it or interpreting it or it rises out of Black Culture. ER
(00:18:23) why choreographers evening includes traditional West African dance afro modern Alvin. Ailey asked jazz dance and an experimental hip-hop piece choreographed by Cottman.
(00:18:35) We're exploring the relationship between the dancer and the music like as an African dance the dancer and the drummer are totally intertwined like the drummer tries to match the dancers movements and vice versa. So we're replacing the drummer with a DJ and we're bringing it up to the 2000s. And we're just about to rip it. So
(00:18:55) tonight's black choreographers evening features two performances at seven and nine Topman hopes. It will become an annual Affair and the premier black dance event in the Twin Cities.
(00:19:18) No one's duking it out at the Walker Art Center, but pugilism is the theme of the new exhibit the squared Circle boxing in Contemporary Art. This sound is pounding out of a speaker embedded in a pair of boxing gloves. It's a piece called punch by st. Paul artist Susan kosmowski curator, Olo kamiel ASA me says boxing is part performance art part psych job part brutality. It's an incredibly complex sports. And because I'm looking at it very much as a staging area. Issues of race issues of gender issues ethnicity and civilization the discussions that are happening in this exhibition extend far beyond the ring into the general Arena violence is actually in us or part of us in a part of our secret desires by living vicariously through the fighters. We get to participate with Act without actually having to get bloody. In conjunction with the exhibit you can grab some lighter sparring fair at this Summer's music and movies in Loring Park among other films. They'll be showing Rocky and the main event which for those of you who don't remember Stars Barbra Streisand as a perfume executive turned boxing manager.
(00:21:02) For the last three decades Park Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis has been holding a musical Revival. And it's blacktopped backyard. So Liberation 30 which begins tonight is a three-day Gospel Extravaganza. It features a claimed gospel choirs from around the country and around the Twin Cities Park Avenue is a church of reconciliation its goal is to bring together the diverse communities of its South Minneapolis neighborhood to worship as one Park Avenue music director, Keith McCutchen says Soul Liberation has always had a ministerial Mission it About reaching out to the community sharing the love. It's about being outside doing something for people that may not feel comfortable coming inside the church. So Liberation 30 will include performances by Ricky Dillard and the new generation. Wire from Chicago the Twin Cities based Excelsior choir which were listening to now and Park Avenue Zone Soul lib choir, the festival will take place either in the church parking lot or its Sanctuary depending on the weather. That is Word of Mouth. Our producer is Marianne Combs. Our editor is euan Kerr we have assistance from Kathy Cristobal muchas gracias to sell money host Stephanie Curtis for all her contributions. Thanks to our webmaster Sara Lee are the word of mouth webpage shines. Brightly at Minnesota Public Radio dot-org. I'm Chris Robertson. I thank you for listening.