Some of my fellow bloggers were there for All About Jane: The Eras of Austin back in December. Quite a few of the Twin City Theatre Bloggers were there for 16 Bar Bingo. I will write about that in a minute but first the show I saw last night. Presented by Buzz Music Theatre, the show was entitled Mood Swings and is part of a bigger series at Hive named Conceptual Beginnings. Created and performed by Eric Morris, Mood Swings is an exploration of two Frank Sinatra albums. Both albums are thought to be concept albums, possibly the first concepts albums released and they are "In The Wee Small Hours" and " Songs for Swingin' Lovers." I walked in with some expectations but nothing I wasn't willing to give up.
The stage was fairly bare except for a piano and a couch. On the side was a table, lamp, chair....and suit coats hanging around. The program has the songs listed on the back, and in doing my research for this I found that they are laid out in the program in order of when they are sung (clearly) but also in a way that you can know what album they are from. Fantastic design choice. Flipping between both albums, Eric Morris, accompanied on piano by Luke Aaron Davidson (who also sings) navigates the audience through his exploration. I was thinking there would be a narrative through-line, but Davidson starts the evening by stating that the audience is allowed to record "tonight's session"...which along with the couch made me feel like I was about to watch a therapy session via music. That wasn't quite it either.
The whole evening was a physical and emotional exploration of the songs. Morris uses his full range to express the song, the lyrics, his connection to the music, or the musics connection to him in that moment. It was fascinating and amazing and wonderful. He uses a variety of props, mainly suit coats, along with intricate lighting design (by Tracy V. Joe) to get us to various spaces emotionally. Directed by Joey Miller, it is an enlightening work that is about an hour long. I was reminded in John Kelly and the work he does in exploring songs as well as Taylor Mac. I was moved, fascinated, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. One aspect I found truly interesting was the choice of suit coats. While clothing is not gendered, it can lead one to think a certain way. So in the larger context of an evening of songs about relationships, and moving, hugging, and playing with suit coats - it opens the songs to not be specifically gendered as songs about men/women, but about any relationship. It plays this weekend (including Monday night) so go get your tickets now!
While you are on The Hive website, check out their calendar for 16 Bar Bingo. It is the last Monday of every month (perfectly complementing Musical Mondays at Lush which is the first), and it is a Bingo game. Now I had never played Bingo before...not as an adult. A group of the Twin Cities Theatre Bloggers went to the first Bingo night and we all had a blast! We were presented with our single Bingo card that had names of musicals on it. Each game a performer would get up and sing 16 bars of a song from a musical. To win you had to know what musical that song was from, and hope that it was on your card. The first round was won (with a bit of help from myself and Julie from MN Theatre Love) by Jill from Cherry and Spoon. The second round was double bingo, and the final round was cover the card. There were free snacks, and wine, and the mood in the room was amazing. It was one of the most enjoyable nights I have had playing games - and it included some sing-alongs as well so...what isn't to love? I hope to be back at the next Bingo game, and hopefully you will be there as well. Support this wonderful space that is doing fun, musical, thought provoking, and interesting work.
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