Our opening weekend at the Eat Street Community was a huge success!  We had capacity crowds for both performances (and great weather!)

a friendly crowd at the Eat Street Community Garden

We rode the coast tails of the 5th annual Parade of Community Gardens.  Staff memeber Harleigh Gabrielson, Emily Anderson and I visited many garden on Saturday morning, sampled a variety of heirloom tomatoes and visited with community gardeners from around the metro.  Thank to GARDENING MATTERS for putting on such a great event.

Walter Gies commands the action with passion, thanks to Joe Sullivan for the photos!

Thanks to the TC DAILY PLANET and Sheila Regan for the amazing review!  Only 5 weekends left to get in on this incredible experience.

Saturday we will be at the BIRCHWOOD COMMUNITY GARDEN in St Louis Park and Sunday Hoffmann’s story unfolds at the JD RIVERS CHILDRENS’ GARDEN in Theodore Worth Park.  Both performance are at 4:00pm.

Come for the delicious romance and wonderment! Meredith Cain-Nielson Guilietta and John Zeiler as Hoffmann the poet

The BIRCHWOOD COMMUNITY GARDEN is immediatly behind the St. Louis Park Lutheran Church of the Reformation (near Highway 100 and 394).  Our performance will begin at the West side of the garden, near 27th ad Vernon Avenue.

Nick Schneider inspired creations compliment the action of the opera.

For directions to Theodore Wirth Park and the JD Rivers Childrens’ Gardn, check out this WEB-SITE.  Click where it says MAP LOCATION.

Stephen Houtz as Coppelius and John Zeiler as Hoffmann

Thanks to Romi Slowiak and EAST SIDE PRIDE for the their enthusiasm!  We’re very excited to bring Tales of Hoffmann: A Picnic Operetta to audiences on the East Side of St. Paul.  Romi Slowiak sat for an interview about this opera and our special symposium, Quick Quips of Hoffmann at the Weequah Canue Club.
On September 1st we’ll sit for songs and snacks while we discuss Offenbach’s work with opera singer and anthropoligist Professor William Beeman.  We hope you can join us.

Call to RSVP and receive direction to the Weequah.

Click here to read the article in EAST SIDE PRIDE.

Click here to read more about Professor William Beeman, Chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota.  Professor Beeman has specialized in variety of disciplines, including linguistics, Central Asian Studies and Performance Studies.

Join us for a great view and beautiful music!

Greeting Mixed Precipitation Friends!

We are gearing up for our opening in a couple weeks… and we’re excited to invite all of you to a special preview performance on FRIDAY August 21st at 6:00pm with SIP n SAMPLE.

SIP n SAMPLE is a network of foodies and dedicated restaurant goers who love trying new culinary adventures.  It will be a treat to introduce them to our garden / dinning / opera excursion, especially at the EAT STREET COMMUNITY GARDEN.

You can reserve a spot on-line through their site.

Here’s a video with SIP n SAMPLE founder Delany Collins speaking about our project.

SIP n SAMPLE

Erik Pearson leads singers from TALES of HOFFMANN through a program of music at the Mill City Farmer's Market

Wow!  Look our fabulous screen printed posters are being completed!

Angela Sprunger created these limited edition prints.  Look for them in a garden (or breakroom) near you!

Thanks to the Mill City Farmer’s Market for hosting a group of our singers for a preview interlude on Saturday July 24th.  We had a lot of fun presenting our music among the hustle and bustle of market activity.

Meredith Cain-Nielsen and Eric Pearson call in the gondola's at the Mill City Farmer's Market

The members cast of the picnic operetta will be singing short preview selections at a gallery opening on FRIDAY July 16th 7:00 — 10:30 at Chakra Khan Massage and Asian Body Work!  Please join us.  Proceeds will support the 2010 Picnic Operetta!

Located in the Ivey Building

in the Seward Neighborhood

2637 27th Avenue South #216b

Minneapolis, MN 55406

(612) 247-8789

Click HERE for more information about CSA Love and HERE for more information about Chakra Khan.

Also we are pleased to announce our 2010 tour dates!  Please see below for more information about our garden sites.  Maps will be coming soon!

Mixed Precipitation presents

TALES of HOFFMANN: A Picnic Operetta

August 21^st – September 26^th

Voluntary Donations Appreciated $10 – $20

Performance Calendar

August 21 – Eat Street Community Garden, 2416 1^st Avenue South, Minneapolis

August 22  — Eat Street Community Garden, 2416 1^st Avenue South, Minneapolis

August 28 – Birchwood Community Garden, Vernon Avenue South and West 26^th Street, St. Louis Park

August 29 – JD Rivers’ Children’s Garden, Glenwood Avenue and Washburn Ave. North, Theodore Wirth Park

***ASL SERVICES PROVIDED at the JD Rivers’ Children’s Garden

September 4 – Soo Line Community Garden, Garfield Avenue and the Greenway, Minneapolis

September 5  -   Midway Greenspirit Community Garden, Taylor and Hamline Avenue, St. Paul

September 11 – Urban Farming Community Garden, 12^th and Morgan Ave North, Minneapolis

September 12 – Gateway Trail Community Garden, 300 Arlington Avenue at Mississippi Street, St. Paul

September 18  — Swede Hollow Park, East Beaumont Street and Payne Avenue, St. Paul

September 19 –   Bronx Park Community Garden, 2500 Georgia Avenue and Cedar Lake Trail, St. Louis Park

***AUDIO DESCRIPTION PROVIDED at the Bronx Park Garden

September 25 – Augsburg Community Garden, 20^th Avenue South and S. 6^th Street, Minneapolis

September 26 –  Corner Copia Student Organic Farm, Cleveland and Larpenteur Avenue, Falcon Heights

Tickets:  612.619.2112

Donation appreciated, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Meredith Cain-Nielsen as the crafty courtesan Guiliette, Carmelita Guse as the afflicted Antonia, Lauren Drasler as the austere automaton Olympia. Photo Credit-Ty Sassaman

Hello friends and supporters of the Picnic Operetta and Mixed Precipitation!

Thanks to all who attended A Midsummer Swig.

The Company thanks the crowd with song!

Thank for your support of our summer project. We had an excellent time!  It was fun to share the tastes and flavors of summer on a beautiful evening. We’re so thankful to have your support as we continue our work–presenting opera and celebrating urban agriculture.

Nick Schneider prepares an impressive spread with produce and provisions donated from Gardens of Eagan, Linden Hills Co-op, Seward Co-op, Local D'Lish and Rustica Bread--as well as his own garden creations.

Our name, Mixed Precipitation, comes from my personal experience as a year round biker.  I found that whenever I heard the words ‘mixed precipitation’ in the forecast it meant the worst biking weather imaginable—slush, rain, sleet, snow and ice–precipitation that exists between solid, liquid and gaseous forms.    My aversion turned to affection as I began thinking of how I was consistently drawn to performance work that exists between multiple forms of expression.  With the involvement of our team of collaborators, we have made a tradition presenting theatrical work that encourages multiple forms of human interaction (singing, dancing, dining and celebrating the urban landscape!)

And it is your support that makes this possible!

In the future you can expect work of a similar nature.  Recently proposed projects have included Wagner’s The Ring Cycle presented in melodramatic installments for Vikings tailgaters and William Schumann’s A Mighty Casey (an oratorio based on Casey at the Bat) presented outside Target Field.

We’d love to hear your ideas!

Don, Ted and Birk poured seasonal cocktails with passion and expertise! Thanks to the Bradstreet Crafthouse!

We are just a week away from announcing our summer schedule.

We’ll be kicking off our season with the premiere of Tales of Hoffmann: A Picnic Operetta at the Eat Street Community Garden on August 21st at 4:00.

In the meantime, please support those who donated to our solstice benefit: Bradstreet Crafthouse, Local D’Lish,Linden Hills Co-op, Seward Co-op and Codespace!

Also, on July 27th, our chef, Nick Schneider is serving his signature TAVOLA FRESCA, a monthly garden dinner experience.  I think you’d all enjoy this lovely evening.  See his web-site for information about how to RSVP.

http://www.latavolafresca.com/

Nick Schneider is ready to take on his next culinary challenge, but maybe he'll enjoy a beverage first!

Enjoy this lovely mix of rain, sun and humidity!

Shelia Regan and Jeanne Calvit enjoyed Nick's Chicken and Duck Liver Pate!

The crowd enjoys summer music outside Codespace.

Ethan Brinkmann / The Beat Heist spun the awesome tunes!

The music flowed after sundown thanks to Brother Jeremiah.

A MIDSUMMER SWIG:

a Benefit Supporting the 2010 Picnic Operetta

Monday June 21st
7:00 to 10:30

Codespace
2913 Harriet Avenue
Minneapolis

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2913+Harriet+Ave+S,+Minneapolis,+MN+55408&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.764224,70.400391&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=2913+Harriet+Ave+S,+Minneapolis,+Hennepin,+Minnesota+55408&t=h&z=14&ll=44.949707,-93.2855&output=embed&w=425&h=350]

Near the Greenway and the Soo Line Community Garden

Join us for a summer solstice celebration and benefit toasting the summer season with music, food and drink!  Musical interludes, guided tours of the Soo Line Community Garden, appetizers prepared by Chef Nick Schneider, and a HOST BAR selection of seasonal cocktails prepared by Birk Grudem of Bradstreet Crafthouse.

Music will be provided by members of our own fabulous company and the Ukulele Ladies!

Your sliding scale donation of $10 t0 $25 is tax deductible and supports our summer production and education programs.

Thanks for helping us celebrate music, community and urban agriculture.

RSVPs appreciated 612.619.2112
mixedprecipitation@gmail.com

We’d like to celebrate our successes with you while we raise additional funds to insure the growth of this company (and pay our artists and support staff)!

Roland Hawkins II attacks the work of Offenbach with great passion, musicians Garret Ferderber, Janet Skidmore and Walter Gies support with beautiful sound.

Your support and encouragement for our work has been invaluable in our first year.  And we have great news!

To support our summer production, we received an Art Access Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

In August and September 2010 we’ll again present the “picnic operetta”, our hybrid opera dinning experience designed for performance in community garden spaces.  We’re proud to continue our tradition of offering a spirited theatrical experience celebrating urban agriculture and music.

This summer we reach unique audiences in neighborhoods across the Minneapolis, St. Paul and St. Louis Park and offering free performance, fresh food and education programming to students in metro area districts.

You are receiving this e-mail because you have expressed interest in the work of Mixed Precipitation—the folks who brought you Tonya and Nancy: The Opera, Mpls Pinter Studies, Mpls Autotelic and Orpheus and Eurydice: A Picnic Operetta.  We’re glad to have you a part of our network and we’ll continue to share unique theatrical events with an eye for community engagement.

Erik Pearson returns as music director!

As the weather warms, we’ve set our sites on the summer.  We’re anxious to bring back the picnic operetta, this year with TALL TALES of HOFFMANN, our vision of Jacques Offenbachs 1851 masterpiece of impossible love, sinister villains and the poet’s search for inspiration.

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve received the St. Louis Park Arts and Culture Grant, our first grant of 2010.  With this money will be able to host weekday school performances in September!  And we’re holding auditions this weekend!

And I wrote an article about site specific performance for Minnesota Playlist.  READ IT HERE.

Camilla Hempleman in Carlos Among the Candles

After our successful opening weekend, we’ll wrap up the run of this promenade evening.

Three more performances remain.

Decay, delusions and self-stimulation… 5 creators explore the symbolist movement, the decadent movement and the inner directed impulse.

Erik Pearson performs a decadent song cycle

Join us!

Thursday March 11th at 7:30

Friday March 12th at 7:30

Saturday March 13th at 7:30

Theresa Madaus performs Jennifer Arave's Expect the Unexpected

Our final performance will be capped off with a party, featuring jazz with Maria Benson and DJ Tell It To My Heart!

Beer and wine and desserts provided.  Donations appreciated!

PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Scotty Reynolds 612.619.2112

mixedprecipitation@gmail.com

WHAT: Mpls Autotelic: An Evening of Symbolism and Decadence

WHO: Mixed Precipitation and Nightpath Theatre presents the work of directors Terry Hempleman, Maggie Scanlan, performance artists Jennifer Arave, choreographer April Sellers and singer Erik Pearson, currated by Scotty Reynolds

WHEN: Thursday through Saturday March 4, 5 and 6 and March 11, 12 and 13 at 7:30.

WHERE: Interact Center / Colonial Warehouse Building, 212 3^rd Avenue North.  Please enter through the Inside Out Gallery on North 2^nd Street; the performance will unfold throughout the building from there.  Promenade style will require audience movement through various configurations in the Colonial Warehouse.

TICKETS and INFORMATION: Please call 612.619.2112 for reservations.  The building is 100% accessible. Seating is very limited, please call ahead for reservations. Visit www.mixedprecipitation.wordpress.com for additional information.

(Minneapolis, MN) Five creators join forces to bring you a traveling evening of live performance!  In this evening of drama, dance, music and short form performance we examine the symbolist arts and the decadent movement–literary movements driven by the artists desire to explore the self, the conscious world and darkness beneath our reality.  Autotelic (au·to·te·lic) is an adjective used to describe the “inner-directed” and “self motivated” process of creation.

Our line-up includes Sage Award winning Choreographer April Sellers and many fresh names in the world of performance.

Director Maggie Scanlan takes on Madame Rachilde’s The Crystal Spider and Paul Margriette’s Pierrot: Assasin of His Wife.  Actor Terry Hempleman returns to the directors chair with Wallace Steven’s Carlos Among the Candles and Jennifer Arave creates an original solo titled Expect the Unexpected: A Study in Entropy and April Sellers creates a duet with dancer Kay Krischt, titled Acceptable Doses.  Eric Pearson will perform a cycle of songs by Claude Debussey and Francis Poulenc.

Jennifer Arave's Expect the Unexpected: A Study in Entropy

Kay Kirscht and April Sellers in Reasonable Doses

Mixed Precipitation is new performance group committed to exploring text, space and dramatic form.  The company was founded in 2009 by Scotty Reynolds with an eye to create events of distinctive social interaction with a commitment to building relationships among independent artists and communities.   Previous projects have included MPLS Pinter Studies and Orpheus and Eurydice: A Picnic Operetta. Maggie Scanlan’s Nightpath Theatre has presented work for the European cannon, including The Balcony by Jean Genet and The Devils by John Whiting.  Her 2008 production of How I Learned to Drive was named in Lavender Magazine’s top 10 of 2008.

MPLS PINTER STUDIES

Performance Calendar

Presented at the Interact Center / Colonial Warehouse Building

Thursday, March  4^th 7:30

Friday, March 5^th 7:30

Saturday, March 6^th 7:30

Thursday March 11^th 7:30

Friday March 12^th 7:30

Saturday March 13^th 7:30

Tickets:  612.619.2112

$10–$20 Suggested Donation