UMBRELLA COLLECTIVE

Things That Scare Us

10/30/2019

If you know me, you know that I’m scared of pretty much everything. I can’t watch horror movies. I’m afraid of the dark. Spiders are an absolute no. Raccoons have weird hands that give me spine tingles. It took me about 25 years to be able to walk across bridges without having a near meltdown. I have a sometimes debilitating fear of letting others down. Heights are obviously out of the question, and I can’t even look at taxidermy because I’m 100% positive it’s going to come to life and get me. (That one’s ridiculous, I know.)

Almost 9 years ago, I did a really scary (to me) thing: I sent an email to a group of wild, collaborative artists I didn’t know to ask if I could play. I was fresh out of college, jobless, living in my parents’ basement, and really just not sure what was going to happen next. (I’m a huge planning nerd with mountains of anxiety, so you can imagine this was a pretty scary place to be in.)

They said yes, and I thought, “oh, crap, now I have to actually do this scary thing.” Do you ever do that — a really scary thing that just leads to more scary things?

I was so nervous at the first rehearsal. They were all so smart, wildly talented, and seemingly fearless; it was intimidating.

However, it didn’t take long before I learned that they were also fiercely kind and compassionate. I’m honestly not sure if that made them more or less intimidating, but it did make me realize that I had found something I was looking for: a place to put my fears and my failures; to mess up and make mistakes. It was a place I could be loved and supported for my weird, creative, messy, vulnerable self. A home.

So, as I listened to Leslie, Peter, Annie, Anna, Amanda, Keith, Kalen, Gracie, and Kelly open up their hearts and their creative processes on Monday night at The Yellow Wallpaper & Other Things That Scare Us, I was transported back to that feeling of saying yes to a really scary thing that leads to even more scary things.

And, in a literal home filled with food and friends, we had the opportunity to live in the earliest drafts, the roughest ideas, and all the soft scary parts together.

That’s what’s so meaningful to me about being part of Umbrella Collective. It’s a place where we tell each other it’s okay to be scared and it’s okay to not have all the answers. We can sit together in the scary parts and ask questions. Audiences and artists can create collaborative worlds together through breath, time, music, and story.

All of this magic is possible because of our incredible community of artists and audiences. In case you haven’t heard, this month we launched the Umbrella Circle — our brand new any-amount monthly donors club.

We're so thrilled to welcome 36 new work lovers under our umbrella and into the Umbrella Circle.

Each of these awesome folks has committed to supporting the ongoing work of building new plays through compassionate collaboration, highlighting queer and womxn stories and storytellers, supporting artists through increasing pay towards $15 per hour, and inspiring conversation and connection in our community.

It’s sometimes a scary thing to ask for help, but we have been absolutely blown away by the support we’ve received during this campaign. This consistent support makes a huge impact on our ability to experiment, play, and plan with intention… so we can do even bigger, scarier things!

We’re wrapping up our official campaign, but there’s no wrong time to join the Circle. The work continues, and we want to do it better, bolder, and together with you. If you want to be part of this magical place where we say yes to scary things, head over to UmbrellaCo.org/UmbrellaCircle

From under the umbrella and the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

- Hannah

What does a Collective Mean?

10/22/2019

Umbrella Collective works hard. In the midst organizing house concerts, fundraising, and planning exciting things for the future, three of our longest standing Collective Members stopped to answer the question,

'What does being in a collective mean to you?'

Here are their replies:

Megan Clark

There is always someone there to reassure you that your ideas are worthy of exploration. There is always someone there.

Being in a collective means there is always someone there to hear me. There is always someone there who has the missing piece to an idea you're working on. There is always someone there to reassure you that your ideas are worthy of exploration. There is always someone there. Community is very important to me, and being part of a collective is being part of a community. Sharing ideas, skills, and creativity is central to that. Umbrella Collective is a place of generosity in this way. We are generous of ourselves, our time, and our creativity.

Kathryn Fumie

Umbrella Collective is investing. Our kind of theatre requires time, preparation, and investment. I want to continue to present stories that matter, to me and us and everyone.

Lean in to what you love.

Umbrella Collective loves theatre. Devised, group-created, original theatre. We're endeavoring to lean in, to really commit ourselves, and to maintain a creative space. Our collective is investing in our future, our artistry, and our opportunities.

The changing of seasons is deeply entwined with food. The harvest is in, and a wealth of fresh produce is available for all. In the fall, I prepare and preserve food. I invest in my future - future Kathryn, whom in Winter will open a jar of homemade tomato sauce, preserved at the height of summer deliciousness. I will eat fermented kimchi made of just-picked ingredients from the farmers market. I will share homemade salsa at a gathering of friends. I spend a lot of time in this investment: buying, chopping, cooking, jarring, processing. And I know if I didn’t make the effort, I would be quite disappointed in my pantry. And I know if I lean in and commit, it will pay off.

Umbrella Collective is investing. Sweat equity, time, planning, grants, fundraising. Workshops, script development, unique venues, community gatherings. Our kind of theatre requires time, preparation, and investment. I want to continue to present stories that matter, to me and us and everyone. We believe it’s worth it, and we hope you do too. If we lean in, it’ll pay off.

Alana Horton

One thing I love (and sometimes hate) about theater is that it literally cannot happen alone. It's not a solo practice. You need other people, a community, a company, to bring an idea from gestation to a fully fledged play. You need to get in a room together and hash it out, over many rehearsals, spending weeks or months or years together making the work. It's messy, and frustrating, and sometimes the best feeling in the world. Collaboration is the essential special glue that makes it possible - without it, this art form doesn't exist.

I get to experience the other wild ways that other folks and artists create and see the world. Together, we are able to make work I could never dream of alone

Yet so often, we stick to old, time-worn methods of how to collaborate in theater. There are rigid edges, and strictly defined roles that separate playwrights, actors, directors, technicians, and crew. You're asked to choose a path, and stick with it.

As someone who calls herself a director, performer, actor, musician, and visual artist, I've always felt strange about that strict way of creating art. It just didn't make SENSE to me. I longed for a space where I could play in more expansive ways.

Being part of Umbrella Collective means that I can use all my multifaceted skills and thoughts and ideas. They're welcomed in the room. Better yet, I get to experience the other wild ways that other folks and artists create and see the world. Together, we are able to make work I could never dream of alone. Together, we shape new kinds of compassionate collaboration processes. And the end result is meaningful, embodied, collaborative works of theater, that is the result of the voices of EVERYONE in the room.

There are plenty of theater companies out there. I'm lucky to live in a place and community where theater and art are embraced and supported. But for me, being part of this collective has let me find a space where I can be fully myself, with all my rough edges and contradictions laid bare. And that's everything.

What does Umbrella Collective mean to you? Do you support collaborative, compassionate, risk-taking endeavors?

Now is the time to take the step and get under the umbrella. Consider becoming a member of the Umbrella Circle, our brand new monthly donors club! Click the button below for more information.

< < < Join the Umbrella Circle! > > >

A Brief History of Evelyn Nesbit

4/10/2019

There’s a lot to say about Evelyn Nesbit.
We know. We did a lot of research for VELVET SWING.
Here’s an extremely brief summary of her life to get you up to speed before the show.

At the tail end of the Victorian Era, the most beautiful baby in three counties was born on Christmas day. Her name was Florence Evelyn Nesbit. We'd tell you what year it was, but she lied about her age so often that no one can be sure if it was 1884 or 1885.

Florence was known professionally as Evelyn Nesbit and was an artists’ model, chorus girl and actress. She “set the standard for ideal feminine attractiveness” (eek) according to Charles Dana Gibson, a popular artist at the time who used her face for his famous print “Woman: The Eternal Question.” She was, many say, the prototype for the modern supermodel.

Evelyn (L) and "Woman: The Eternal Question" (R)

Perhaps the main reason you may have heard of Evelyn over a century later is that she received international attention when her husband, Harry Thaw murdered New York architect and socialite Stanford White on June 25, 1906 leading to what was later called the “Trial of the Century."

Five years before the murder, when she was a stage performer at the age of 15 or 16, Evelyn was groomed by Stanford, then aged 47. He first gained her and her mother's trust, sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious, and then had a subsequent romantic and sexual relationship with her that continued for some period of time. When she became older, and Stanford was less interested in her, she was sent to a boarding school. It has been speculated that she went to have and recover from an abortion, though acute appendicitis was what went on the official record.

Stanford White

Evelyn's Mother, Mrs. Nesbit

Harry Thaw, who had also pursued Evelyn as a chorus girl, turned up at her boarding school offering to take her to Europe for the sake of her health. (Yes, this was an actual thing in Victorian times.) While in Europe, an already contentious mother-daughter dynamic was escalated by the efforts of Harry to get between them. He sent Mrs. Nesbit home early. With her mother out of the way, Harry locked Evelyn in a wing of a castle and tortured her for two weeks until she revealed every detail of her history with Stanford White, who Harry had been obsessed with for years.

Harry K. Thaw

Mrs. Thaw, Harry's Mother

During his murder trial, Harry’s lawyers argued that Evelyn’s stories about Stanford had driven Harry temporarily insane, and that the shooting was a single aberrant act. He was not, in fact, guilty of murder - he had only been defending his wife’s innocent womanhood! The Thaw family promised Evelyn money in exchange for telling the court about her relationship with Stanford, which she did, to overwhelming media attention. The press latched onto scandalous details in Evelyn’s testimony like the fact that Stanford would have her swing naked on a red velvet swing in his apartment, or that Stanford had paid to have Evelyn’s front tooth fixed (which Harry later paid to have un-fixed. At a 1900's dentist. Ow).

Winifred Bonfils, one of the trial's "Sob Sisters".

The press, including "The Sob Sisters," a group of female reporters, took up the cause of swaying popular opinion in favor of Harry. It worked: after two trials spanning several years, Harry was declared to have been insane at the time of the murder, avoided the electric chair, and spent most of the rest of his life in and out of asylums.

Evelyn was pregnant with her son, Russell, at the end of the trial. The Thaws denied that the baby was Harry's, but Evelyn maintained throughout her life that Russell was Harry's son. The Thaws gave Evelyn $25,000 after the trial was over, but to spite Mrs. Thaw, Evelyn donated it to the political anarchist Emma Goldman.

Evelyn and her son, Russell

To support herself and her baby, Evelyn worked the Vaudeville circuits and performed in silent films. She had become so famous that she couldn’t go in public without being mobbed and for some time she had to hire body-doubles in order to be able to travel.

In 1915 Evelyn finally divorced Harry and one year later married dancer Jack Clifford, but their marriage was tainted by Evelyn’s notoriety. Jack became known as “Mr. Eveyn Nesbit” and left her in 1918.

In the 1920s Evelyn became the proprietor of a tearoom in the West 50s in Manhattan. During this period she struggled with alcoholism, morphine addiction and attempted suicide. After this attempt, Harry, who had been keeping her under surveillance by private detectives, reached out. The press speculated that they would reunite, but this wasn’t to be. When Harry died, he left Evelyn $10,000 as a “token of pleasant memories of the past when we were happy.”

Evelyn in her teahouse, 1922

Evelyn published two memoirs, The Story Of My Life (1914) and Prodigal Days (1934).

During World War II, Evelyn lived in Los Angeles, CA teaching ceramics and sculpting at the Grant Beach School of Arts and Crafts. She was a technical advisor for the movie The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing starring Joan Collins in 1955 for which she was paid $10,000.

She died in a nursing home in Santa Monica, CA on January 17, 1967 and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA. In 1981 she appeared again as a character in the film Ragtime based on E.L. Doctorow’s eponymous novel.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Check out OUR EVELYN NESBIT “READING” LIST...

Recommended:
My Favorite Murder Episode 136 (Podcast)
Criminal Episode 91 (Podcast)
Tragic Beauty: The Lost 1914 Memoirs of Evelyn Nesbit (1914)

Recommended with Reservations:
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of
the ‘It’ Girl, and the Crime of the Century by Paula Uruburu (2008)
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955 movie)

...Or better yet, COME JOIN US AT VELVET SWING!

Tickets are sliding scale $5 - $20 in advance and at the door. Get advance tickets here

April 5 - 27, 2019
at Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater
810 W Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55408

See you under the umbrella!

Conversations at VELVET SWING!

3/28/2019

The cast and crew of Velvet Swing are getting ready to head into tech weekend! We're so excited to share this work and these conversations with you very soon.

Please join us at the following events during our run! Full menu and drinks available for purchase from Bryant-Lake Bowl during these pre-show and post-show conversations.

Pre-Show: Dinner with the Directors
with Core Collective Members Megan Clark & Alana Horton
6 PM on Saturdays: April 6, 13, 20, 27

Join Directors Megan Clark and Alana Horton for a casual conversation about the show's themes, creation process, and our inspiration: Evelyn Nesbit.

Pre-Show: Cocktails & Conversation
with Producing Artistic Director Hannah K. Holman
6 PM on Thursdays: April 18, 25

Join Producing Artistic Director Hannah K. Holman for casual conversation about the messy, weird, and wonderful process of collaborative new performance making.

Post-Show Panel: All About Evelyn
with Dramaturg Jo Holcomb
Immediately following the performance: April 25

Join Velvet Swing Creators Megan Clark and Alana Horton in conversation with Dramaturg Jo Holcomb to learn even more about the fascinating life and times of our leading lady. This panel conversation will last about 30 minutes.

About Jo Holcomb:
TEN THOUSAND THINGS: Into the Woods; MINNESOTA JEWISH THEATRE: Shul; GUTHRIE THEATER: More than 75 productions from 1996 until 2019, including Watch on the Rhine, Native Gardens, Refugia, The Bluest Eye, Trouble in Mind, Juno and the Paycock, The Crucible, A Christmas Carol, My Fair Lady, Crimes of the Heart, Freud’s Last Session, Uncle Vanya, Other Desert Cities, Tales from Hollywood, The Burial at Thebes, God of Carnage, M. Butterfly, Faith Healer, The Intelligent Homosexual…, Caroline, or Change, Shadowlands, The Glass Menagerie and Six Degrees of Separation. TEACHING University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program. EDUCATION M.S., University of Kentucky, Arts and Humanities Research; M.A., Theology.

Closing Night Toast!
Immediately following the closing performance: April 27
Let's make a special closing night toast to our incredible audiences and artists for Velvet Swing!

COME JOIN US AT VELVET SWING

Tickets are sliding scale $5 - $20 in advance and at the door. Get advance tickets here

April 5 - 27, 2019
at Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater
810 W Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55408

See you under the umbrella!

Meet the team behind VELVET SWING

3/10/2019

Umbrella Collective's final show in their twelfth season, VELVET SWING, tells the true story of Evelyn Nesbit, the original 19th Century supermodel and leading lady of the "Crime of The Century!" Imagine: your favorite true crime podcast meets a wild vaudevillian circus with a pinch of postmodern narratives. Expect daring feats of self discovery, compelling choices in complex circumstances, delightful musical accompaniment, multiple narratives, and one very large snake named Baby.

We're so thrilled to have a stellar cast of actors and creators working on VELVET SWING. Meet the team, and hear their thoughts on what's exciting them about the show!

Cast:

Antonia Perez (Performer)
I’m excited about the ladies in this show. They all come to rehearsal full of ideas and ready to play. It made bonding and being five parts of one woman easy. We also make each other laugh so much. I hope it translates to the audience!

Mickaylee Shaughnessy (Performer)
This show is basically an all-you-can-eat buffet - we get to do a little bit of everything, so on that level, it’s just a lot of fun. But it is also a really profound examination of the way women were (and are) treated.

Meredith Kind (Performer)
I love telling historical stories. Things that really happened. And how much better to tell the real story for Evelyn. Working with women & telling this woman’s story is what it’s all about.

Natavia Lewis (Performer)
For me, the most exciting thing about this show is what each performer brings to their characters. It’s fun to see multiple people play one person, while simultaneously portraying different parts of who she was. I also love that we don’t rush over the hard parts of her story. They are just as important as the rest, no matter how difficult they are to hear.

Jessie Scarborough-Ghent (Performer)
I’m excited for this show because I get to be funny!!

Michelle Hernick (Performer & Musician)
This production encapsulates what many women have felt: attempting to break out of roles society has created for us. Are we Madonna? Are we Whore? Why do we have to choose? Framing these questions under a guise of a vaudeville show allows us to present these ideas in a palpable context, where we can use humor as a vehicle to explore the molds women are forced into and how it can affect their lives.

Megan Clark (Story Designer)
I am excited for people to see these amazing, brilliant and talented actresses tell an important and serious story in a really funny and charming way. My favorite part of working on this play was how much we could laugh during rehearsals and also honor the serious content.

Alana Horton (Story Designer)
I’m so excited to see this story come to life! VELVET SWING is something that I’ve been dreaming up since 2014 since I first heard the story of Evelyn Nesbit. It’s remarkable, sad, and frustrating to me that a 115 year old story still has such resonance in our current moment.

VELVET SWING's creative team also features the talents of:
Stage Manager . . . Jenny Moeller
Costume & Props Designer . . . Josie Everett
Dramaturgy Support . . . Jo Holcomb
Producing Artistic Director . . . Hannah K. Holman

Come join us at VELVET SWING

Tickets are sliding scale $5 - $20 in advance and at the door. Get advance tickets here

April 5 - 27, 2019
at Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater
810 W Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55408

A Special Valentine's Note

2/14/2019

Photo: Allison Witham as "B" and Kathryn Fumie as "Lil" in June (2016), credit Dan Norman.

Dear New Work Lover,

Thank you for bringing your brave heart and your bold ideas to every Umbrella Collective experience. Whether you've joined us as an audience member, collaborator, donor, friend, or all of the above, you play an integral role in the creation of new plays. We love that you are under the umbrella with us.

"I love Umbrella Collective because it's just that: it's a collection of ideas, personalities, backgrounds, and artistic voices. Somehow we meld them all together and make beautiful, moving work that puts a smile on your face and sparks real conversations."
- Collective Member Antonia Perez

For over a decade, Umbrella Collective has been making ambitious theater on a shoestring budget. Now, it's time to grow, and we need your support. This Valentine's Day, show your love by making a contribution to our New Work Fund!

SHOW YOUR LOVE

Over the next few years, we'll be working toward increasing artist pay, exploring new and exciting ways to collaborate with our artists and audiences, investing in organizational sustainability and strategic planning, and continuing to create the stunning and engaging new works of theater that you love. We want to do the work better, bolder, and together with you.

How YOU can co-create new plays with us:

$10/mo. or $120 — one week of rehearsal venue rental
Sharing space and time is essential to the collaborative process!

$45/mo. or $540 — costume and props for a production
Costumes and props give place, time, and context for the stunning and thought-provoking stories you see on stage.

$100/mo. or $1,200 — top-notch talent on stage
We want your experience to be unforgettable, and that means attracting and supporting incredible artists.

To truly sustain the work of Umbrella Collective, select the "donate monthly" option after designating any amount of your choice.

SUSTAIN NEW WORK

See you under the umbrella!

Swimming into "A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS"

1/8/2019

Climate change. Childbirth. Helplessness. Hope. It's all in the water in A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS, Umbrella Collective's latest workshop, taking place January 28th and 29th.

A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS follows Quinn, a soon-to-be-parent who is forced to examine the environmental consequences of bringing a child into the world. The piece merges music and fluid physicality to create a story that lingers somewhere between fairy tale and hard reality.

We're so thrilled to have a stellar cast of actors and creators working on SQUID:

CAST:

siQuinn . . . Gracie Anderson 
Gracie is a performer based in the Twin Cities. A graduate of Perpich Center for Arts Education and holder of a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Gracie has worked at Old Log Theater, Yellow Tree Theater, Artistry, 7th House Theater, Renegade Theater Company, and many more. In 2016, Gracie was named Best Emerging Actress in Minneapolis City Pages.

Ramona . . . Alexandra Nedved
Alexandra is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota BA Performance Creation program. She also holds a double major in Global Studies with concentrations in South America and Environmental Sustainability along with a Gender Studies minor. Alexandra has a love of experimental art/theatre that blends language and movement to tell visceral stories. Theatrical creation has become a vehicle for personal as well as community-engaged transformation for her. In using theatre as a tool to explore complex social topics she hopes to create work that questions normalized institutions, invites discussion, and deepens our understanding of the interconnectedness of our world(s).

Squid . . . Cameron Reeves
Cameron Reeves is back again creating work with Umbrella Collective! Cameron comes from McHenry, Illinois and received his BFA in musical theatre from Drake University where he performed in several productions. He has had the pleasure of working other companies such as The Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis Musical Theatre, Sidekick Theatre, Frank Theatre, Playhouse on the Square, Nebraska Shakespeare, Heritage Theatre Festival, The Repertory Theatre of Iowa and Stagewest Theatre Co. He would like to thank his friends and family for their constant love, support and advice.

Miles . . . Courtney Stirn
Courtney Stirn is a jack-of-all-arts living in the Twin Cities, and is thrilled to be collaborating with old and new friends on this musical journey. Recent credits include As You Like It with 21/40 Productions, FRIGID with Umbrella Collective’s Night of New Works, TART with The BAND Group, The Ravagers and Ex-Gays with Umbrella Collective, Much Ado About Nothing with Desperate for Approval, and The Smitty Complex with 20% Theater Company’s Q-Stage. When not in a designated performance space, Courtney makes one by inventing silly voices with friends, noodling on musical instruments, and writing good words for the future.

Dana . . . Amber Davis
Amber has been working with Umbrella Collective in various capacities since 2010. They have a BA in Theater from Augsburg College, and studied at the School of International Training in Bali with emphasis in Balinese dance and puppetry. Amber is a person in their thirties. They like beer and roller skating.

CREATIVE:

Project Leader / Composer . . . Mark Sweeney
Mark Sweeney is a performer and writer based in the Twin Cities. He's performed at Actors Theatre of Minnesota, Artistry, Troupe America and HUGE Theater among many other local stages. As a producer, he co-created Perpetual Motion Theater Company and Catalog Models, both having sellout runs in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. He is a Nautilus Music-Theatre Composer/Librettist Studio participant and a proud company member of Umbrella Collective. Mark holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Millikin University in Decatur, IL.

Director . . . Eli Purdom 
This is Eli’s fourth time working with Umbrella Collective, third time as a company member, first time directing! He is very excited to be working in this new capacity, and is thrilled to be continuing the work of Squid in this new iteration.

Music Director . . . Keith Hovis 
Keith Hovis is a playwright and composer based in the Twin Cities. His work has been produced by Freshwater Theatre, Market Garden Theatre, Revisionary Theatre Collective, the University of Minnesota, Six Elements Theater, Box Wine Theater, Luther College in Iowa, and the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Keith's one-act musical, Mrs. Housel: A Suicide Suite was featured at the 2014 Ivey Awards, and his first full-length musical, Pioneer Suite, premiered with Freshwater Theatre in October 2015. His hit 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival musical, Jefferson Township Sparkling Junior Talent Pageant, is currently in development with Park Square Theater, and a full-length version will premiere in June 2019. As a composer, his work has been commissioned by Theater Mu, Mixed Blood Theater, and Fortune's Fool Theater. Education: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Nautilus Music-Theater Composer-Librettist Studio.

Dramaturg . . . Laura Leffler 
Laura is the Emeritus Artistic Director of Umbrella Collective. She led the company from 2007-2018 and dramaturged, performed, directed, wrote, and produced over 29 projects in that time. Additional theatrical adventures include assistant directing THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA McBRIDE (Guthrie), REFUGIA (Guthrie/The Moving Company), COME HELL AND HIGH WATER (The Moving Company), FISHTANK (Theatre de la Jeune Lune), BY THE BOG OF CATS... (Frank Theatre at the Guthrie), and more. She was named "Best Director" in 2018 by City Pages. She is the Associate Artistic Director at Park Square Theatre and will be performing in ANTIGONE there in February, and directing JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP SPARKLING JUNIOR TALENT PAGEANT there this summer.

& YOu!

We need YOUR help to bring A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS to life!

Umbrella Collective believes the audience is a vital part of the creation process. Come experience a fresh new play-in-progress, and lend your voice to the play-making process! Umbrella Collective brings the rough drafts, big ideas, and burning questions to the audience par-baked to give YOU a chance to help shape the future of the work. Come join us at...

A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS Workshop

Tickets are sliding scale $5 - $20 in advance and at the door. Get advance tickets here

January 28 & 29, 2019 at 7:30pm (Doors open at 7pm)
at SpringBOX, 262 University Ave W, Saint Paul, MN 55103

Please join Umbrella Collective as we celebrate our outgoing Artistic Director Laura Leffler at a special post-workshop reception on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019 from 9:00 - 10:00 PM.

A Letter from Laura

12/31/2018

I suppose I’m going to make a bit of a speech.

Laura in LEAVES in 2013. Photo: Carl Atiya Swanson

It’s a big thing, so I have been trying to find a way to organize my thoughts. I considered making a list. Then I remembered a notion I heard recently at a theatre convening - time is a colonial construct - and so then I figured that list making is probably a colonial construct, too.

So I turned to an old friend, that big queerdo from 19th century America, Walt Whitman. I turned to him, as I often do in times of questioning and times of worry, and I re-read “Song of Myself” in Leaves of Grass. And near the end of the very long poem in stanza 51, was the sentence that caught me. Diminutive in its parenthesis, but grand in its message: “(I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

And that seemed a fitting framework to think about the large news I have to tell. The long and the short is, I am stepping down as the Artistic Director and leader of Umbrella Collective.

This is not a decision I make lightly. I founded Umbrella Collective (formerly known as Savage Umbrella) over eleven years ago. That’s one of the longest amounts of time that I’ve ever done anything. In 2007 I toured internationally with our very first show. It was immediately after the first version of THE RAVAGERS closed in 2011 that I got pregnant. I was pregnant when I directed CARE ENOUGH. I was nursing when I served the hosted appetizers during intermissions of EMMA WOODHOUSE IS NOT A BITCH. I was in the writing process for JUNE when my heart cracked open, and my queerness that had been knocking quietly at the door of my consciousness finally got loud enough to hear. This collective, this company, these people, have been the people and the comings and goings of my adult life. My heart! My life! My loves

Laura and Paul Rutledge in LEAVES, 2013. Photo: Carl Atiya Swanson

And now we are here in this moment, perched on the precipice between 2018 and 2019 and more than eleven years after that first wild tour. I find my time pressed and my energy wan. I’m in need of a recharge. There have been shifts in my personal life that have added responsibilities and subtracted even more energy and time. There are new professional opportunities in front of me, that I am compelled to explore. I am large. I contain multitudes. I don’t know what the future will bring, but I have to make room to see.

“I and this mystery, here we stand.”

On January 29th, 2019 I’ll be stepping down from the Core Collective and move to Emeritus Artistic Director, in an advisory capacity. Hannah Holman will become Umbrella Collective's Producing Artistic Director. Core Collective Members Alana Horton and Megan Clark will take on more responsibility. The beating heart of the collective thumps on.

“Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.”

Like an irritating emeritus professor who still hangs around campus too much, I intend very much to keep "office hours", as it were, with Umbrella. I am not leaving. I’m not moving. I have stories I still want to help tell with Umbrella Collective--WOLF SONG, and TWO RUM PARTIES, and A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS, and all these other new beautiful, nascent ideas continue to live and breathe and move forward. I’ll be around. Just differently than before.

Laura and Hannah Holman in THESE ARE THE MEN, 2015

I’ll let Whit help me close:

“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

See ya real soon.

<3
Laura Leffler

Please join Umbrella Collective as we celebrate Laura at a special post-show reception after A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS Workshop on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019 at SpringBOX. The workshop performance will take place from 7:30 - 8:30 PM, and the reception will take place from 9:00 - 10:00 PM.

Looking back, Moving Forward By Hannah

11/10/2018

Hey, 2018. You've been a lot.

I know it’s not quite the end of the year, but I always feel reflective around Give to the Max Day. (I suppose any annual event tends to offer a benchmark in that way.) As I think back on the past 365-ish days of art-making, I’m feeling a mix of celebration, amazement, some exhaustion, and immense gratitude. It feels good to think back on the moments of joy and discovery in rehearsal rooms and audience conversations. To be honest, it feels necessary and healing

THE RAVAGERS (Photo by Anna Schultz)

Looking Back
We started 2018 with the beautiful monster of a show that is THE RAVAGERS — with a cast of 20 in a haunting and crumbling basement. Then, we dug into the mythology of the WOLF SONG workshop presentation with open hearts and unending questions. During the summer, we created space for Beth Ann, Ricardo, Suzanne, Jex, Sabrina, and Steven to challenge, learn, and play through our Night of New Works incubation program. We also had a big, ol’ party because we turned 10+1 years old! Oh, and we changed our name!

WOLF SONG Workshop Presentation (Photo by Hannah K. Holman)

Moving Forward
It seems apt to end this big year with a party — more specifically the workshop presentation of TWO RUM PARTIES OF SIGNIFICANCE, our take on swashbuckling, mermaids, and reckless romance in the Golden Age of Piracy. In January 2019, the workshop presentation of A SQUID HAS THREE HEARTS will enchant and challenge us as we explore what it means to be a parent in current environmental climate. (You may remember the beginnings of this project from Night of New Works 2017!) And finally, we’ll invite Evelyn Nesbit back to the stage for the full production of VELVET SWING in April 2019.

As we look forward, we’re also looking inward. Over the past decade+, we’ve made a lot of plays (over 20!), had a lot of conversations, and worked with so, so many incredible collaborators. Now, it’s time to dig back in and get our hands dirty with beginnings. We’ve got plans to strengthen our collaborative muscles, start simmering some fresh projects, and invite even more makers under the umbrella. Stay tuned to find out what's in store, and how you can get involved!

It is such an honor to continue growing, learning, and making with you, dear Minnesota artists and audience members. I know Give to the Max Day is sometimes overwhelming (so many emails!) — but it really is an important day for ambitious, small-budget organizations like Umbrella Collective. We believe that art, collaboration, and conversation build the bridges for understanding and compassion that are so essential to our communities.

Your support on Give to the Max Day helps us continue to create bold and vibrant new works that spark vital conversations. Together is better, and we’re better together with you.

Head over to https://www.givemn.org/story/umbrellacollective to make it possible.

Autumn Under the Umbrella

9/24/2018

Summer took its final bow and autumn has made its blustering chilly entrance. And with the new season comes a harvest of new theatre, and workshops, to attend. So, put on that extra layer, get your favorite spiced (or non-spiced) beverage, and go catch the collective making their thing. Here's a list of where you can see members of Umbrella Collective this fall:

Once
at Theatre Latte Da

On the streets of Dublin, an Irish songwriter and a Czech immigrant are drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story, propelled by emotionally charged music. Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Once is an artistic triumph about the power of music to connect us all.

Antonia Perez quadruple threats her way through the show; singing, dancing, acting and playing instruments. Foster Johns coached dialects for this well received regional premiere.

September 12th - October 21st, 2018
The Ritz Theater, Minneapolis
$34-51 | Tickets

Dial M for Murder
at Gremlin Theatre

Gremlin Theatre is proud to present one of the most famous thrillers of all time, staged in the up-close and intimate style of our new thrust theatre. Dial M for Murder is indeed a psychological game of cat and mouse; and of life and death.

Emily Dussault is 'characteristically superb' (Jay Gabler, City Pages) in this classic thriller.

September 7th - 30th, 2018
Gremlin Theater, St. Paul
$25-28 | Tickets
Anyone under 30: pay half your age

The Visit
at Frank Theatre

THE VISIT, by Swiss playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt, is the most well-known play by one of the most important playwrights since the Second World War. Set in a small town that is in a deep economic depression, the townspeople await the visit of Claire Zachanassian, who was driven out of town as a young girl years ago because she was pregnant. Now the wealthiest person in the world who has just married her 8th husband, she returns to a town that desperately hopes her millions will save them. She, however, has a different agenda, returning with the mission to buy justice: she will offer the town her fortune in exchange for the life of the man who not only spurned her but rigged the public trial against her.

Allison Witham joins the cast which also features a handful of friends of the Collective

September 28th - October 21st, 2018
Minnesota Transportation Museum, St. Paul
$22-25 | Tickets

2018 Twin Cities horror Festival

The Twin Cities Horror Festival returns for its seventh season of horror based-theatricals.
This year Leslie Vincent joins friend of the Collective Keith Hovis in creating a new song cycle about serial killers entitled A Morbid History of Sons and Daughters.

While Nissa Nordland goes behind the scenes to stage manage Dangerous Productions' Home.

We've produced at the horror festival in the past and it is always equal parts entertaining and chilling--perfect for late October.

October 25th - November 4th, 2018
The Southern Theater, Minneapolis
$15 per show | All Access Pass on sale now

See you under the umbrella!

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