"Trick Boxing" at Park Square Theatre

Husband and wife dancing duo Brian Sostek and Megan McClellan, aka Sossy Mechanics, has been touring their original dance/theater piece Trick Boxing for over ten years, performing it hundreds of times around the world. The years of experience have turned it into something flawlessly polished, but have not worn off the fresh and innovative feeling when viewing it, whether for the first, second (in my case, I saw it at the Guthrie a few years ago), or, one assumes, hundredth time. The original story centers on a boxing manager and the men he trains. Brian and Megan use every tool in their theater, dance, and storytelling toolboxes to tell this story in a delightfully charming way.

The storyteller guiding us through this little tale (set in the 1930s or 40s) is a gambler and boxing manager named Buck. He discovers a young immigrant who's fast on his feet and decides to turn him into a boxer and use him in a scheme. While training for his first match, Dancing Danny David wanders into a dancehall and meets Bella, whose brother Rocky was previously trained/used by Buck. She decides to help Danny get out from under Buck's thumb.

Megan McClellan dodges a punch from Brian Sostek
(photo by V. Paul Virtusio)

The two actor/dancers play about a dozen different characters in the story, with nothing more than a change of voice, accent, and body stance to distinguish them. Megan primarily plays the dancehall dancer with a heart of gold and Jersey accent. Brian plays Buck, Danny, Rocky, a scary evil gambler, the bookie, and several other people, each one a specific and distinct character. He often is on stage alone, having conversations with himself, the movement and words of one character flowing seamlessly into the other. It’s amazing to watch him switch back and forth between two characters, you can almost see the two sides simultaneously (like Stephen Colbert’s "Formidable Opponent," but without the benefit of a split screen). Scenes include a boxing training video, a radio spot, and the most graceful game of hopscotch I've ever seen (new for this incarnation of the show). In perhaps the most amusing scenes of the play, the boxing matches are represented by dolls in a tiny ring, with Brian voicing and moving the dolls as well as doing the play-by-play. But above all, there's the dancing. Whether it's Bella training her brother, or a demonstration of boxing moves, or Danny and Bella at the dancehall, it's truly a delight to see - fast and graceful and light and just gorgeous.

On certain nights, the show is followed by “Special Features” like you might find on a DVD, only live and interactive. Brian and Megan share deleted scenes, bloopers, history of the show, and adventures on the road as prompted by the audience. It sheds greater insight into the development of the show and the lives of this charming couple.

I love the art of dance, but I don't get the chance to see it very often due to my busy theater schedule. So I'm thrilled whenever dance makes its way into my theater world. It's a joyous experience to watch these two so effortlessly dance light-footed and light-hearted across the stage with each other, while telling this amusing and entertaining story. Trick Boxing continues at Park Square's Andy Boss stage through February 8.

Park Square Theatre's Season 2014-2015 Announcement

I had a great St. Paul theater day this past Sunday. In between seeing two powerful plays at the History Theatre (The Things They Carried and Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq), I stopped in at Park Square Theatre for their new season announcement. They have an exciting and ambitious new season planned, which includes opening a second stage, named for one of the theater's biggest supporters, Andy Boss, who passed away last week.

Park Square will put on 19 productions on the two stages, a crazy number of shows for one theater in one season. This new space in St. Paul is coming at a great time, since we recently lost the Ordway's McKnight Theatre on the other side of Rice Park. The new stage will house both Park Square productions and productions by other theater companies. In particular, Park Square has a three-year partnership with three nomadic theater companies - Theatre Pro Rata, Sandbox Theatre, and Girl Friday Productions.

After mingling in the lobby (or in my case, local theater celebrity spotting) with free drinks and food, the crowd moved into the theater where Artistic Director Richard Cook and Managing Director Michael-jon Pease led an informal discussion of the upcoming season, allowing the audience (mostly made up of artists and season subscribers) to ask questions. But first - a performance from the truly innovative and delightful Trick Boxing by Sossy Mechanics, a show so good I cannot wait to see it again on the Boss stage early next year.

A few other shows I'm looking forward to next season:

• The Color Purple: I saw the Broadway touring production several years ago and wept like I never have before or since at the theater. Alice Walker's story is so moving in book and movie format, and adding music just pushes the emotions over the top. I cannot wait to see it with an all-local cast, and if I were in charge of casting, I'd choose Brittany Bradford as Celie and Austene Van as Shug Avery.
• Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders: The brilliant and hilarious playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is adapting this novel by Larry Millett which re-imagines Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota. I'm not sure what this means for the whole is Benedict Cumberbatch coming to Minnesota controversy, but it's sure to be good fun.
• Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol: A returning favorite in which one actor plays all of the roles in A Christmas Carol. I can only hope that the one actor is again Jim Lichtsheidl, master of transformation.

Most of the other shows I'm not familiar with, but I look forward to discovering. Finally, the discussion ended with another excerpt from an upcoming show, the very funny, silly, and poignant 2 Sugars, Room for Cream. In this new scene, writer/performers Carolyn Pool and Shanan Custer worked out a custody arrangement for the Ivey they won last year. This is a show I will gladly go see a third time.

And that's it. Some good stuff is happening in St. Paul. You can see the full list of shows on their website, where you will also find info about the various season ticket packages. I wish them much success with this new venture. See you in St. Paul!

"Trick Boxing" by Sossy Mechanics at the Guthrie

The last production I saw at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio was a dance piece about swimming. And now - a dance piece about boxing*. Both shows feature the grace and dance-like movements found in sport. But Trick Boxing, by husband and wife duo Brian Sostek and Megan McClellan, aka Sossy Mechanics, is about more than just boxing. It's a delightful love story told through theater, dance, and puppets.

The storyteller guiding us through this little tale (set in the 1930s or 40s) is a gambler and boxing manager named Buck. He discovers a young immigrant who's fast on his feet and decides to turn him into a boxer and use him in a scheme. While training for his first match, Dancing Danny David wanders into a dancehall and meets Bella, the sister of a boxer previously used by Buck. She decides to help Danny get out from under Buck's thumb.

The two actor/dancers play about a dozen different characters in the story, with nothing more than a change of accent and body stance to distinguish them. Brian plays Buck, Danny, Bella's brother, a scary evil gambler, the bookie, and several other characters. He often is on stage alone, having conversations with himself, the movement and words of one character flowing seamlessly into the other. In perhaps the most amusing scenes of the play, the boxing matches are represented by puppets in a tiny ring, with Brian doing the play-by-play. And then there's the dancing. Whether it's Bella training her brother, or a demonstration of boxing moves, or Danny and Bella at the dancehall, it's truly a delight to see.

I've seen Brian and Megan dance once before, and I've seen Brian in several things as an actor, but I've never before witnessed the full extent of their talent. It's a true pleasure watching artists tell stories using their own unique gifts, and I love the Guthrie for supporting artists and helping them do what they do, while making it easily accessible to theater-goes. You should take advantage of that while you can and go see the show, playing now through September 2. While Swimming with My Mother made me want to go swimming, Trick Boxing makes me want to take swing dance lessons!


*I received one complementary ticket to Trick Boxing as part of the Guthrie's "Blogger Night."