There's No Pandemic Show Like Our Pandemic Show…Show!

Portland Civic Players 
Friday, April 23: 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 24: 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 25: 2:30 pm matinee 
 
This is a little “out of area” for Lansing, but not really any further than Grand Ledge, just a little north… and here’s some LIVE Theatre! This was sent to me by the talented Kelly Sandula Gruner - and I hope that means she is IN this “spring variety show.” 


Kelly says, "I’ve been having a lot of fun with this group – they are small but mighty.  Some really great voices in this show, and they’ve also done a fantastic job jumping through all the safety ‘hoops’ to get a small, live show off the ground.”


Here’s the scoop:

Our little community theater has been dark for a long time and we are SO excited to be back! Join us for a fun evening of LIVE performance as we present Broadway favorites and other fantastic songs.  #wewillcomebackhome

Here's some information to know:
1) Tickets are $10 and can only be purchased/reserved by calling 517-647-4041 (just leave a message) or stopping by the box office (231 Maple St, Portland). Box office hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00–8:00p.
2) In order to adhere to social distancing, tickets are NOT available online for this show.


3) You may come as a walk-in the night of show, but theatre is restricted with seating capacity so it is better to call and reserve your spot(s), just in case.


4) Masks are required. Both the audience and the performers wear masks; seating is distanced between parties.


5) Show run time is approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes. There is no intermission.


6) Ticket holders will be given specific times to be seated and ushered in to maintain distancing.


7) Our friends at Clique Vocals (Facebook @CliqueVocals) are providing pre-show entertainment while the audience is being seated. You get two shows for one!

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1374936472865252/
http://www.portlandcivicplayers.com
517-647-4041
Theatre address: 231 Maple Street, Portland, MI 48875

PEPPERMINT CREEK THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF VIRTUAL PRODUCTION 
“Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the Camps”
PCTC releases virtual musical event in honor of Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month

Lansing, MI – Peppermint Creek Theatre Company is proud to announce the third event in their 2020 -21 season, the release of the virtual musical, Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the Camps, in honor of Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.

Based on research of original music sung by incarcerated inmates in Holocaust concentration camps and written by Donald McCollough, this 40-minute cantata is an emotional, musical journey through one of the bleakest episodes in human history. Working from translations of original Polish materials found in the archives of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and starting with just a single line of melody, McCullough has fashioned a haunting choral tribute to the 6 million Jews who were systematically persecuted and murdered as well as to the millions of other individuals the Nazi Party classified as “undesirables,” including Poles, Romanian gypsies, homosexuals, transsexuals, political opponents, religious dissidents, the mentally ill and the physically disabled. What emerges from the insanity of one of history’s worst examples of man’s inhumanity to man is a sense of music’s life-affirming powers.

“Peppermint Creek’s 2020-21 season not only challenges our audiences to engage in both timely and historical topics, but it also challenges US as a theatre company as we explore new and radical ways to connect with audiences during a time when gathering together in a theatre building as we typical do isn’t permitted,” said Chad Swan-Badgero, Artistic Director of PCTC. “And yet, this couldn’t be a more important time for us to be producing theatre that stays true to our mission. Holocaust Cantata, in the intimate and immediate ways it gives voice to those who lived through the atrocities of concentration camps, asks us to examine and explore how far we’ve come from those methods of segregation and hate, but also to find similarities in our humanity and ways we find joy in life.”

"Holocaust Contata: Songs from the Camps" features musicians from across the entire United States, and guest appearances from Kristy Allen, David Bendena, Amy Handelman, Diego Love-Ramirez, Kammal Reffigee, Zach Riley, and Alex Zikakis.  

Director Matt Eldred had this to say about why this piece felt especially important for today’s audiences, “There was an article in USA today late last year that noted a large percentage/majority of millennials, teenagers and young adults had little to no knowledge of the Holocaust and that 6 million Jews died during this time, and also that 10% of those surveyed had no problem or specifically endorsed Nazi/neo-Nazi beliefs. This lack of knowledge as well as the aggressive spread of some of these neo-Nazi thoughts that we thought were dead or only in the past brought the show back to my mind in a really pressing way. I feel like anything we can do to connect people back to and educate them about this thing that happened to people in our history was really important.” 

"Holocaust Contata: Songs from the Camps" will be available for free viewing on Peppermint Creek Theatre's YouTube channel beginning April 23, 2021 at 8 a.m.. PCTC is also making the piece available for schools and community groups who are interested in using the piece as an educational tool. If you're interested in using the piece within your organization, please email us at mailto:[email protected]. 
Find a 10-minute interview with Director Matt Eldred on Peppermint Creek’s Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Q6zXYwXsE

Our community is full of all kinds of creative talent and Riverwalk Theatre wants to help show it off. So they're launching a virtual talent show in monthly installments.Thanks to Laura Croff not only for her comedy talent but for being the producer/mastermind of this whole Facebook virtual talent series! 

Last month's Virtual Comedy Showcase (review below) is still available for viewing. (Go to Riverwalk’s Facebook page; pull down the “more” menu to get “videos”; or sometimes that menu’s on the side…Anyway, I trust you can find “videos” on the Facebook page; if you’re not on Facebook, sorry. That’s the only place to view these monthly mini-shows.)

For the upcoming challenges, Riverwalk’s Facebook page will post how you can participate in the theme on the 1st, and then they'll compile submissions into one video show for airing on the 4th Thursday. The goal is to make this for all ages, so they reserve the right to omit content that is not family-friendly. 

April's event is dance themed, with participants choosing a video from either (or both) Amanda Tollstam or Karyn Perry to recreate. Amanda has used the choreography from The Greatest Showman, it's trending on TikTok as a dance challenge; while Karyn has sent an original dance combo. 

Those videos are posted in the comments on the instructions post. These short videos with RWT tagged will be compiled into an ensemble video for airing on the fourth Thursday of the month.You pick your favorite (or both!) to learn, then record yourself and share your video with mailto:[email protected] by April 16th so we can include your video in our virtual dance party. Have fun with it, and get moving!

Virtual Comedy Showcase offers variety

Various familiar and unfamiliar faces are featured in this hour-long, fun mash-up from droll, animated standup by Dan Currie to bawdy Shakespeare moves by Charles Hoogstraten to vintage comedy written by Stan Gill, to Lemony Poppy's dancing drawings to “One Moment in Time” where Laura Croff luxuriates in her fantasy of kids helping out… and more. (Best to use your largest-screen viewing situation to be able to read Laura’s kids’ funny signs.) 

An entertaining but confusing aspect of this Virtual Comedy Showcase is the amiable hosting by Mark Boyd, interviewing oblivious “star”, Jim Hoffmaster. (You may remember Jim as Fagin in Riverwalk’s Oliver! 20 years ago.) Jim is a good friend and he told us that this “interview" was all pretty spontaneous/ad lib and the “concept” of him being a diva who does not really even remember Riverwalk is, of course, a joke, which he hopes no one will take seriously — however, much of the other interview info is actually true. He DOES have a small, recurring role in Showtime’s Shameless, which is ending after 11 years. Jane Rosemont HAS made a documentary on his life that will soon be offered to film festivals (with a special showing in Lansing, we hope!). For those who want to know more about our dear, departed (not dead; just in L.A.) Jim Hoffmaster, check out the links below.

Documentary reel https://www.actinglikenothingiswrong.com
Shameless reel https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=113342775492030
Non Shameless https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=256943679199412
Cameo Recordings for birthday, etc. recorded messages https://www.cameo.com/shamelesskermit?qid=undefined
Diaryland https://jim515.diaryland.com