Mu Performing Arts and the Southern Theater present
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Theater Mu Infused Classic
Title: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
What: A Theater Mu Infused Classic
When: May 13 - 28, 2006
Where: The Southern Theater (1420 Washington Ave. S, Minneapolis)
Tickets: $20 (Thursdays – Sundays); Pay-what-you-can (Mondays); discounts available for students, seniors & groups of 10 or more
Box office: 612-340-1725
Website: www.muperformingarts.org
Email: info@muperformingarts.org
(Minneapolis 3⁄4 April 14, 2006) Mu Performing Arts presents a Mu-style version of Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream running May 13 - 28, 2006 at The Southern Theater in Minneapolis. The Western classic will be infused with eastern art forms and directed by Rick Shiomi, assistant directed by Martha Johnson and choreographed by Sandy Agustin.
William Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy graces Mu’s stage this spring with its confused lovers, thespian mechanicals, and fantastic fairies. Infuse this Western classic with Japanese taiko drumming, Korean mask dance, and Kabuki sword fighting and you have a Mu-style Midsummer the Bard could never have imagined.
The play replaces Filipino Hearts to close out the 2005-2006 season. "We truly felt we needed an extra six months of development for our new musical Filipino Hearts to make sure it's all we want it to be,” explains Artistic Director Rick Shiomi. “With an open slot this May, we realized we had a golden and unexpected opportunity to do something out of the ordinary — a Mu-style production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream! I have wanted Mu to do this play since I first helped with a student production at Augsburg College in the 1990's,” explains Artistic Director Rick Shiomi. “Early on at Mu, we were still developing our acting pool, but now I feel we have reached a critical mass of actors capable of creating a uniquely Asian American production. More and more, our actors are expressing their desire to play major roles in Western classics, because too often they are not considered seriously for these roles at other theaters. I am looking forward to bringing Korean mask dance and Japanese taiko, Asian costuming and kabuki sword fighting into a phantasmagorical Asian American vision of the play.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs Mondays, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm from May 13 - 28, 2006 at The Southern Theater (1420 Washington Avenue, S in Minneapolis). Tickets are $20 for Thursday – Sunday performances. Monday performances are pay-what-you-can. There will be a $2 discount available for students and seniors, children under 12 are half-off and a $4 discount for groups of 10 or more. The preview performance is open to the public on Friday, May 12 at 8pm for $10. The AD/ASL performance will be held on Sat., May 20th at 8pm. AD/ASL patrons receive a discount of $7 per ticket. Reservations for all dates are available by calling The Southern Theater box office at 612-340-1725.
