2004/11/25 - St. Paul Pioneer-Press: Metro People Heidi Medlicott
2004/11/19 - Workday Minnesota: Review: You'll enjoy 'Working' -- and then some
2004/11/11 - St. Paul Union Advocate: Working on "Working"
2004/07/28 - Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder: Black actresses challenged by mostly White plays
2003/04/08 - St. Paul Pioneer-Press: Community theater actors earn honors

Return to Lex-Ham Community Theater home page

Last updated: 11/19/2004

2004/11/25 - St. Paul Pioneer-Press: Metro People Heidi Medlicott

Heidi Medlicott is a 15-year-old sophomore at Park High School in Cottage Grove who splits her time as stage manager for the Lex-Ham community theater company's production of "Working," a musical based on the book of the same name by Studs Turkle.

What she does: As stage manager, Medlicott runs the lighting cues, handles props and manages sets for the musical production "Working," which runs the next two weekends in the Weyerhaeuser Auditorium at the Landmark Center.

What she wants to do: "I want to be an actress and I want to write screenplays," she said. Medlicott said she now is working on a few screenplays, but hasn't finished them and hasn't even thought about college.

Why she loves Tim Burton movies: "I always thought I was weird growing up," she said. "I started watching his movies, and it made me feel like I wasn't alone. The whole reason I got into this is because I look up to him so much."

Why she does community theater: "I don't want to partake in school (theater) stuff," she said. "(Student actors) are so full of themselves. They take the fun out of theater."

Play she likes: "Phantom of the Opera." "My parents had this tape of the songs off of it, and I fell in love with them. Then when I was 8, I went to see it and just loved it."

What she thinks of "Working": "For people my age, it shows that work is not going to be all happy joy. It's going to be hard work, and you can't slack off. And I think adults will identify with it."

What others say: Producer Urban Landreman said, "She really has so much energy and drive. That youthful energy has been a real plus," he said. "I hope she stays with (Lex-Ham)."

What she says: "Thanks to my family for their support and my best friend Emily (Knapp, 15) for always being there when I needed her."

Family: Mother Patty, father Jerry,brothers Paul, 22, and Adam 19.

"Working" runs for nine performances Nov. 12-27 at the Weyerhaeuser Auditorium in the Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
— Derek J. Olson

Return to top

2004/11/19 - WorkdayMinnesota: Review: You'll enjoy 'Working' -- and then some

by Michael Kuchta

ST. PAUL — Some do it because they have no choice. Others do it because it’s exactly what they want to do.

Those two extremes, and everything in between, is what "Working" is all about. The musical adaptation of Studs Terkel’s legendary book is surprisingly and subtlety effective in telling the stories of people telling, in their own words, what they do for a living and why they do it.

In theory, the Lex-Ham Community Theater’s staging of "Working"– running through Nov. 28 at the Landmark Center downtown – is an amateur production.

The seven actors all are volunteers, but you wouldn’t know it from the results.

Almost without exception, they display genuine respect for the real people they portray. It pays off in their performances, as they throw themselves into their characters both physically and emotionally.

"Working" is being performed at the Weyerhaeuser Auditorium, Landmark Center, 75 W. 5th St., Saint Paul, on Nov. 19, 20 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 21 and 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $11 for children, students and seniors age 65 or older; $14 for others. Group discounts are available. For information, call 651-644-3366.

The actors take on multiple roles with few glitches. Becky Lowe as "just a housewife" and Erin McCawley-Richeson as "just a waitress" are among highlights, but each cast member has at least one stellar performance – Brian Farrey as a firefighter, Ann Griffith as a teacher, Nathan Metcalf as a parking valet, Roseanne Tripi as a cleaning woman, Paul Whittemore as a tradesman who follows his father’s footsteps, but hopes his son doesn’t follow his.

The staging is simple and effective – a few multipurpose wooden crates and symbolic props. Plain navy slacks and blue mechanic shirts are essentially it for costumes (with the added touch of the actor’s name in an oval patch over the left pocket). Then there’s the clock – always there, surrounding everything.

Accents, choreography and choral singing are not always up to Guthrie standards, but the ensemble is consistently solid and entertaining.

Director Suzanna Winter seamlessly adds references to technological, workplace and political "developments" that couldn’t have existed in Terkel’s 30-year-old book – email, work cubicles, "paper or plastic" at the grocery store. But most of the stories are timeless, and it’s refreshing – in an era when the stock market is portrayed as our future and our salvation – that normal, everyday work is celebrated in this way.

The stage version of "Working" doesn’t offer the breadth of Terkel’s collection of oral histories (and, frankly, what could?). It also refuses to act as a grand working-class manifesto. But it does bring out at least a few of Terkel’s underlying themes, even if there is no plot to follow.

The lyricists, led by Broadway veteran Stephen Schwartz, are amazingly successful in transforming real stories into an evening of comedy, amusement and emotion. The characters and the songs capture the regrets, the joys, the compromises, the sacrifices, the monotony and the creativity that we all deal with one way or another on our jobs – to say nothing of the rules we break, the legacy we hope we leave, the dreams we never quite forget.

The musical shines a light on our basic yearning to be recognized and respected for the contributions we do make, no matter how small or monumental. It erases the gap between the artificial status accorded some jobs and the scorn saddled upon others. It demonstrates that any job well done can be an art in itself, even if the people doing it are essentially invisible, even when you come face to face with them.

The simple truths, the tiny secrets, the harsh realities – they all seep through in songs that will have you slightly nodding your head as you recognize, yeah, that’s the way it really is.

Return to top

2004/11/11 - St. Paul Union Advocate: "Working on Working"

by Michael Kuchta

"Working," a musical adaptation of the ground-breaking book by Studs Terkel, will run Nov. 12-27 at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. St. Paul's Lex-Ham Community Theater is staging the production, built around the powerful, sometimes funny buy always honest stories of workers telling, in their own words, what they do and how they feel about doing it.	.
	.	"Working" was a best-selling book when it was published 30 years ago by Terkel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and journalist known for his innovative aproach to oral history. The musical's 26 roles are filled by seven Twin Cities actors: Brian Farrey, Ann Griffith, Becky Lowe, Erin McCawley-Richeson, nathan Metcalf, Ro Tripi, and Paul Whittemore. Suzanna Winter directs the Lex-Ham Community Theater production. Composer Stephen Schwartz created the stage adaptation, which includes original music by him, James Taylor and others. Schwartz' credits include the Broadway shows, "Godspell" and "Pippin," and musical scores for the Disney movie "Pochahantas."

Photos courtesy of the Saint Paul Union Advocate, Michael Kuchta, photographer

Return to top

2004/07/28 - Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder: Black actresses challenged by mostly White plays

by Nneka Onyilofor

The first production of the Lex-Ham Community Theater took place in 1996 and was initiated by the Lexington-Hamline Community Council (LHCC). The goal of the Lex-Ham Theater is to produce local theatrical productions that display lesser-known works by noted playwrights. Some of these works include Soul Gone Home by Langston Hughes and The Vegetable by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The company strives to create quality theatrical experiences for the residents of the Lexington-Hamline and surrounding neighborhoods in St. Paul.

Although most of the Lex-Ham productions do not have many actors and actress (sic) of color, the production that took place recently, The Solid Gold Cadillac, featured two talented African American actresses. The play was about the power that corporate stockholders have in American (sic). However, by the end of the show, one woman was able to conquer this corporate power.

The production ran for eight days with about 30 people attending on an average night. However, the audience was predominately White and so was the cast.

Karla Nweje, who played Amelia Shotgraven, is an experienced dancer from New York. This is not her first Lex-Ham production. She also was one of the few African Americans to play in James and the Giant Peach as the narrator last November. She is an instructor and literary artist who will be releasing a collection of poems next month titled The Whispers of a Timeless Groove. Her book will be offered through her company called IZORA Innovations, Inc.

Although Karla is a dancer and has worked with many choreographers, acting is her passion as well. Being a part of The Solid Gold Cadillac production allowed her the opportunity to reunite with this passion. As a result, she has recently moved to Minnesota to focus more on her acting career.

Christiana Clark, who played Kate Gillie, has had acting training in Hollywood at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She has played Ruth Younger in A Raisin In The Sun and Mother Superior in Agnes of God. She is currently a full-time actress and is involved with CLIMB Theatre in Minnesota, where she tours as an actress/educator. Recently, she has been acting with The Mystery Café. Soon, Christiana can been (sic) seen in Women! Live On Stage at Theatre Unbound's Fringe Festival production.

When asked how staring (sic) in a predominantly White versus Black production differed, both actresses had similar opinions. "Every role is going to have a huge element of yourself, but with this production and others which require more Americanized or traditional roles, you have to take away a big part of you," said Clark.

Similarly, Nweje believes that the difference lies in the way one is able to express their emotions. "When you do African American plays, you're not encouraged to hold back or restrain yourself," said Nweje.

She added that when you do predominantly White plays, you have to be conscious that everyone doesn't express their emotions in the same way. "There are certain expressions that you wouldn't see, certain hand gestures, and certain dialects that you might want to use, that wouldn't use. So those are the things that you have to be conscious of, because they are so much a part of your everyday living and it wouldn't necessarily feed the character properly. So that, for me, is the challenge, but I like it because if you just do what you're comfortable with, you don't grow", said Nweje.

Nweje and Clark both enjoyed being a part of The Solid Gold Cadillac, and in my opinion did an excellent job in this production. Although they both had their fears and concerns about being in a mostly White production, there were no barriers preventing them from growing their acting careers.

Clark said that the Lex-Ham Community Theater has a willingness to work with a more integrated cast. Often, when she calls various productions to inquire about auditions, she makes a point to mention that she is an African American actress and asks if she will be wasting her time by showing up. She said that she has received both positive and negative responses to this question. "The Twin Cities area and the acting community is slowly becoming more integrated...but of course there is still a lot of room to grow," said Clark.

For more information about Karla, go to www.izora.netfirms.com; she can be reached at izorainnovations@hotmail.com. Christiana can be reached at cclark70@sprintpcs.com.

For more information on Lex-Ham Community Theater, visit www.LexHamArts.org/theater, or call 651-644-3366.

Nneka Onyilofor wlecoms reader responses to poetree2100@yahoo.com.

Return to top

2003/04/08 - St. Paul Pioneer-Press: Community theater actors earn honors

Six performers were honored for outstanding achievement in acting this month at the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres' 2003 Play Fest in Crookston, Minn. The honorees were Shad Cooper, "The Trojan Women," Lex-Ham Community Theater; Joanne Voves, "The American Dream," Corcoran Park Players, Minneapolis; Phyllis Morgan, "Rose," Hole in the Day Players, Little Falls; Ellie Martin, "Dearly Departed," Duluth Playhouse; Jason Page, "Dearly Departed," Duluth Playhouse; and Dennis Whipple, "Hedwig and the Angry Itch," Great River Educational Arts Theatre, St. Cloud

Return to top