August 22
* As with Black Lives Matter (don’t get me started!), this doesn’t mean that other things shouldn’t be saved as well! Please, save the whales, save public schools, save food stamps, save Ferris Bueller, but for purposes of this blog post it’s save Theatre L’Homme Dieu . . .
This is Paulina Sirota. This was at Camp Brosius in 2013. I had never seen this before. I liked it. Now it’s a common meme, of course. And this is why this post . . .
The Event
Join us ~ along with special guests
KEVIN KLING, DAN CHOUINARD, & JACK REULER as we celebrate 60 years of Theatre L’Homme Dieu
When: Thursday, August 20, 2020
Where: Theatre L’Homme Dieu ~ on our Field of Dreams!
Time: 7 pm – 9:15 pm
Attire: Resort-Elegant
Tickets: $100 per person ~ Includes a personalized bar, dessert, and entertainment
Activities: Entertainment and fundraising efforts including a live auction and an exciting fund a mission event where we’ll raise our paddles in support of Theatre L’Homme Dieu ~ Minnesota’s Summer Theatre!
Comfort + Safety + VIP Treatment! We’ve designed the Summer Soirée with comfort and safety in mind, and, as always – VIP treatment! Keep scrolling to learn more about what to expect.
We’ve designed the Summer Soirée with comfort and safety in mind, and, as always – VIP treatment!
The Summer Soiree will be an outdoor event with a limited number of tickets available.
Rather than one large tent, guests will be escorted to your special space – your Home
Base on the lawn of our Field of Dreams!
Guests will arrive to live music and we encourage a listening room setting until we’re
ready to start the program.
Guests will receive an email prior to the event to customize your personal, pre-set, Home Base Bar.
We honor you and your time and we are notorious for keeping a tight timeline. You will be kept busy during the duration of the event; there won’t be time for mingling! But just in case we respectfully request- for the safety, security, and in the spirit of courtesy for our friends and neighbors – please do not encroach on others’ personal spaces and seating areas.
We will have a live auction and fund a mission, however, no payment will be collected
that evening; guests will be invoiced the week following.
Masks are required until you are seated, and required anytime you are not in your Home Base.
Restrooms will be available.
Our commitment to you: You and your safety is our #1 concern.
[We arrive. Because of COVID protocols, the number of guests was limited to 60, each couple with individual tables (made on-site during the week by Jorge) and umbrellas (purchased for the event, cheaper than renting) . . . ]
[Another beautiful evening in Vacationland USA . . . ]
[Three of the fundraising stars, Glen Fladeboe, Phil Eidsvold, and Janet Baker . . . ]
[Prepping the stage (no novocaine required) . . . ]
[Performers Kevin Kling and Dan Chouinard, center cut . . . ]
[The smiling faces of Jan and Jim . . . ]
I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being. ~ Oscar Wilde (and Jan & Jim)
[Six familiar faces, hopefully not from USPS wanted posters . . . ]
I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture. ~ Laurence Olivier
[Mr. Chouinard warms up his nimble fingers . . . ]
It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap! ~ Wicked (For a leap of faith, see also: The Cape ~ Guy Clark)
[Judy and John . . . ]
[We believe they were purposefully seated behind us to keep us out of trouble . . . ]
[The right (or west) wing of the audience . . . ]
Actors are all about entrances, but writers are all about exits. ~ Vincent H. O’Neil
[Those in the middle . . . ]
[And those on the left (east) . . . ]
[And the anticipation builds . . . ]
[A perusing stroll of the audience unearthed Marianne and Tim . . . ]
[I hadn’t seen them since the days of our joint enrollment in Senior College, so we had a lot of catching up to do . . . ]
[As the program then began, my perusing stroll days were over . . . ]
[Emeritus theater president Fred Bursch took the stage with TLHD executive director, Nicole Mulder, to welcome all with a brief history of TLHD and the soiree . . . ]
[I crashed the stage for photos from their vantage . . . ]
[And this is what they saw . . . ]
The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it’s so accidental. It’s so much like life. ~ Arthur Miller
As a panorama . . .
[Self-ushered back to my seat, Nicole began as the event host . . . ]
[We lost our entire season to COVID, though Nicole was magically able to bring in two single night performances that we all enjoyed seated in or in front of our cars . . . ]
[Among the important news relayed: Because of past successful fundraising soirees, we have been able to begin necessary “adjustments” to the campus with such as new gutters on the theater building, and land recontouring and tiling to drain water away from the building . . . ]
[Nicole noted that the recent 7″ rainfall, which in the past would created a swimming pool between rows 1 – 4 in the theater, did not breach the building!]
[Nicole always tells me I take too many pictures of her . . . ]
[So, of course, I continue to do so . . . ]
And now, ladies and gentleman, Kevin Kling and Dan Chouinard . . .
Minnesota’s storyteller . . .
[He noted that this was first time since March that he and Dan had appeared before a live audience (I heard that!) . . . ]
Of course, we laughed and laughed!
[The VIP treatment . . . ]
Take it away, Dan!
[And he featured mostly music from the Greatest Generation . . . ]
[Which was perfectly lovely for the evening . . . ]
[And then Jack Reuler took to the stage . . . ]
[Jack is the artistic director of Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. He has been with Mixed Blood since the very beginning. He founded the theatre at the age of 22, continuing work that began as a summer social-justice project, and has been the Artistic Director ever since. As artistic director, Jack works to realize Mixed Blood’s mission by providing vision, building financial stability, and ensuring quality programming (mixedblood.com).]
[He has also been involved with TLHD for over 40 years, in various capacities . . . ]
[So he regaled us with tales from those over 40 years . . . ]
[Which was great, as I was unaware of most of the history. Thank you, Jack . . . ]
[Our table was lucky number 13 . . . ]
The theater is a great equalizer: it is the only place where the poor can look down on the rich. ~ Will Rogers
[Time to raise some money!! Phil stepped up to introduce . . . ]
[Glen as the evening’s auctioneer . . . ]
[We raised almost $140,000 . . . ]
[And you gotta follow Phil for his expressions . . . ]
[He loves doing this for TLHD . . . ]
[Oh, he broke some toes mountain climbing in Bhutan . . . ]
[Or he slipped on a dock – it was one of those two . . . ]
[Preparing to bring the first item up for auction . . . ]
[Can you guess?]
[Yessssss . . . ]
[A tub of sterile wipes . . . ]
[I believe it went for over $1,000 . . . ]
[And we were off and running . . . ]
[The excitement was palpable . . . ]
Bring it on! ~ The Super
[Here are your menu options . . . ]
[The Super’s bid card . . . ]
[As darkness falls, the wrap up . . . ]
Drama – what literature does at night. ~ George Jean Nathan
[A really fun evening, with accomplishments . . . ]
Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand. ~ Chinese Proverb
[A mellow sing along to the setting sun . . . ]
Heavenly shades of night are falling, it’s twilight time –
Out of the mist your voice is calling, it’s twilight time ~ The Platters
Exit, pursued by a bear. ~ William Shakespeare
Then everyone leaves, and you are left, each night, to your own devices with a crowd of interesting people – most of whom you don’t know – sitting in the dark. ~ Anna Deavere Smith
[Many thanks to the performers, the setter-uppers, the cleaner- uppers, the participants, and the donors. See you again next year!]
All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. ~ Seán O’Casey
Up Next: Well, I think the 1st football game was s’posed to have been last night?
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