John and Abigail, my critically-acclaimed Fringe show, is returning for a limited engagement as a South High Theater Alumni Event from October 23rd to October 26th. For this encore performance, Sarah Martin is reprising her role as Abigail Adams and I’ll once again star as John Adams. Proceeds from the event will contribute to the South High Theater program.
South High School in Minneapolis, MN has a really amazing theater program run by a woman by the name of Louise Bormann. She believes that students learn best when they are (a) allowed to do something meaningful and (b) asked to do something challenging. When it comes to theater, that means putting on difficult plays and allowing students to take part in every part of the production: Acting, directing, lighting, sound design, set building, costuming — if there’s a job you can do in theater, you can do it as a student at South High.
There have been years when South High Theater put on more than eight shows in a single year. This year, they’re only doing six: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, the musical Cabaret, August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, an undetermined project directed by a senior in the spring, and the 17th Annual Student Written and Directed One Acts.
The result of Louise’s dedication and belief in the capabilities of her students have been routinely excellent high school productions of challenging theatrical pieces: Not just shows which are “good for high school students”, but shows which are just flat-out worth watching.
The success of the program can be seen not only in the hundreds of students it benefits every year, but also in the success stories it has produced: Not only have local theatrical stars like Emily Gunyou Halaas and Nathan Keepers (Theater de la Jeune Leune) emerged from the program, but also Hollywood stars like Josh Hartnett (30 Days of Night) and Rachel Leigh Cook (Nancy Drew).
I attended South High School as part of the class of 1998. My first role in theater was Demetrius in the 1994 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Later that year the first play I ever wrote — a modern adaptation of Faust — was produced as part of the Student Written and Directed One Acts. The next year I was honored to star as Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac and was the assistant director for West Side Story. These were seminal experiences which changed the direction of my life and continue to shape my life on a day-to-day basis. They genuinely made me a better person and more talented artist.
So I’m really excited and truly honored to have the opportunity to put on this encore performance of John and Abigail and give a little something back from the theater program which has given me so much.
October 23rd thru 26th – 7:00 pm
South High’s Skybox Theater
3131 19th Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN
Reservations: 612-719-1994
