Twenty-Two Reasons

The cast of Ex-Gays
Photo Credit: Staciaann Photography

This week’s post is by the fabulous Event and Donations Coordinator, Shira Levenson.

Twenty-Two reasons to attend SU’s Season Fundraiser Happy Hour this Thursday, Aug. 25th!1.       Live performances by Jeremy Messersmith and Chastity Brown!!

2.       Dogwood Coffee Company coffee drinks

3.       Support local, independent, socially-relevant, engaging, new and unique works of theater…by eating Pizza Luce and drinking home-brewed beer!

4.       Cookies! Cake! Pie!

5.       Take the opportunity to give feedback and suggestions on topics and issues you’d love to see presented and explored through live theater in the Twin Cities. We love feedback and suggestions!

6.       Engage in dialogue with Savage Umbrella company members about our recent production Ex-Gays, and continue the conversation…

7.       Chips and guac. to cap off a long day at work

8.       Prizes! Bid on awesome prizes at our silent auction, and by getting super-cool things at a discount price you help enable a local theater company that takes risks, values your feedback and constantly strives to collaborate with the community continue to create focused, character-driven, original new work!

9.       You saw Savage Umbrella’s 2010 production of The Awakening and still aren’t sure what happened to Edna at the end, and want to discuss…

10.   You were at a Ravagers workshop this past winter and are curious to hear how the project has progressed, and want more details on the full production happening this November!

11.   You can sip wine with a Savage Umbrella company member while discussing his or her new piece currently in development for our 2012 Night of New Works festival.
…He or she might be pouring wine or coffee for someone else meanwhile, but nevertheless, will be happy to chat :-)

12.   You’ve had “The Announcement Song” stuck in your head ever since you saw Ex-Gays and need an outlet to sing it…in the presence of others, who, out of habit, will probably sing along…

13.   Meet and mingle with other artists, theater-supporters and fun people in the community who also enjoy supporting new works of theater, or are perhaps interested in collaborating with Savage Umbrella on a future production!

14.   Get your picture taken with a Savage Umbrella Company member! And if your picture ends up on our Facebook page, we won’t tag you unless you want us to :)

15.   Maybe you have something burning and twisting in your mind about art or theater or performance venues and are interested in being a guest blogger? Talk to us! We’re always looking for ways to collaborate and share ideas.

16.    Chocolate. (Yes, we’ll have some there…)

17.    You’ve been dying to learn some of those dance moves featured in the “Turn It Around” song from our recent production of Ex-Gays…and just need to have some time with a company member to practice….

18.   It’s Thursday! Kick-off the upcoming weekend by eating and drinking yummy things and supporting live performance!!

19.   You’ve been wondering why those people call themselves “Savage Umbrella”, and what to know what exactly that means…

20.   Just starting to date someone and looking for the perfect way to impress him or her??? Show him or her you support the arts! And just think…after a fun happy hour event with live music, cool people, and great food and drink, your date has the perfect opportunity to bid on something at the silent auction and surprise you with tickets to something for your NEXT date!!

21.   You were out of town for the one-weekend-only performances of Leaves last fall and want to hear about an upcoming chance to see it!

22.   You have a question that’s been bothering you to know the answer to, and it didn’t get picked out of the box during question corner, so you want details about the Duluth run of Ex-Gays over Labor Day Weekend so you can take a road trip and have a second chance to have your question answered!!!

If all of this isn’t enough reason to come have some fun and support Savage Umbrella’s upcoming season of raw, edgy, socially-relevant, collaboratively-created new works of theater, here are some of the things local critics and past audience members have had to say about our shows…just so you know the type of theatre your dollars are helping to fund:

"Ex-Gays is a well-constructed, adroitly paced evening of theater...it's a conversation—in both comedy and drama—that we'll all be better off continuing to have. Highly recommended." -Matthew Everett, Twin Cities Daily Planet
"Scathingly perceptive...a bright young cast." -John Townsend, Lavender

“The Awakening is an amazing show: it had me on the edge of my seat, and on multiple occasions wanting to jump out of it with cheers….every once in a while you get to see a show like The Awakening, and you see just how rewarding theater can be.”
- Jay Gabler, Twin Cities Daily Planet
"The show was wonderful. Hilarious, campy, silly, full of improv and scripted moments, but also packed a punch...It's a solid, well-produced and executed piece of sociopolitical art. I absolutely recommend it." -Adam Whisner, MinnesotaPlaylist

"The movement is a farce perpetrating a tragedy, of course, and so that's what they have written...beneath the superficial nudge nudge wink wink of the play's skit format, there is the real heartbreak." -Max Sparber, MinnPost

Review of Leaves: "It's a poetic, musical valentine to love, and the country of my birth... It's the kind of show I wish was running for more than just one weekend, because it comes very highly recommended." - Matthew Everett, TCDaily Planet 9/10/10

“This production was a labor of love that was many months in the making, and the (metaphorical) perspiration and (actual) inspiration paid off in every scene of this long, wonderfully absorbing show.” TC Daily Planet Arts Editor, Jay Gabler, in his “Top 10 Shows of 2010 list” (The Awakening)

“Love Me Or Die! is the kind of company-created work that gives company-created work a good name.” –Matthew Everett, fringe reviewer for mnartists.org


Audience Feedback:

“Thank you for creating scenes surrounding issues that matter and are identifiable. Also, thank you for playing a lesbian couple with dignity and human love!” – Leaves audience member

Ex-Gays audience members were given a survey after the show, and one of the questions was to describe the show in one word….

Here is some of the feedback we received:

Enlightening, GREAT, Fabulous!, GREAAAT!!, super-fun, realistic, great job, Brilliant, smart, WONDERFUL!, ENTERTAINING!, satisfied, Awesome, BRILLIANT!!!,  funny, outstanding, Contemporary.

WE’LL SEE YOU THERE.

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