Have a Great Summer!

The school year is coming to a close! The shops are packing it up, and everyone's doing their last minute cleaning before we head off to our summer vacation destinations. Thank you again for an incredible 2017-2018 Theatre Season! We appreciate everyone's support and we can't wait for another

great season starting this fall. 

Sadly, I will not be returning this fall as I will be graduating, but I know Teddy Carlson Webster will be a fantastic blogger for you all!

Have a great summer everyone!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

"Journey's End" Comes to a Close...

Thank you to everyone who attended "Journey's End". The play was a huge success and we always appreciate the community's support. 

Looking forward to next year, we are excited to announce two of the plays we will be performing... Here's a sneak peek!

Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? The Musical

Coming November 2018

Directed by Merry Renn Vaughan & Sharon Obst

Plot: This musical centers on a boy's frustrated romance with an overweight girl as they survive Catholic school in 1950s Chicago.

The Fan

Coming February 2019

Directed by Tammy Ostrander

We can't wait for another fantastic theatrre season!

As always, it has been a pleasure blogging for you.

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

Journey's End

Set in 1917, Journey's End tells of a group of British officers stationed in the trenches in World War I. Suspecting a German offensive is imminent, the officers are ordered to capture a German prisoner to acquire intelligence about the attack. The reconnaissance mission leads to some successes but also has disastrous consequences. Journey's End depicts the claustrophobia of the trenches, the unrelenting anxiety the men experience, and the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll the war exacts from them. This production commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

2nd Lt. Hibbert, Lance Corporal Broughton, Capt. Hardy, Colonel, Pvt. Mason, German Soldier, 2nd Lt. Raleigh, Lt. Osborne, Capt. Stanhope, 2nd Lt. Trotter, Sgt. Major

2nd Lt. Trotter, Pvt. Mason, Capt. Stanhope, and 2nd Lt. Hibbert

Capt. Stanhope & 2nd Lt. Raleigh

Capt. Stanhope & Lt. Osborne

Check Out Our Review in the Duluth News Tribune!

Theater Review: St. Scholastica presents powerful WWI drama 'Journey's End'

By Sheryl Jensen, for the News Tribune April 14, 2018

World War I brought new ways for men to maim and kill each other even more effectively with deadly flamethrowers, portable machine guns and mustard gas.

Robert Cedric Sherriff was a British officer who fought in WWI and survived. His experiences led him to write the play "Journey's End," first performed in 1928, starring 21-year-old Laurence Olivier in the leading role.

The College of St. Scholastica's production presents a realistic look at one of the underground "dugouts" that housed WWI officers. Unlike the mud trenches that the other soldiers had, with little protection from the elements, the dugouts had a wooden structure with a few creature comforts, including beds and tables.

Kevin Seime's set is really one of the stars of the show. Built and furnished to give a feeling of the claustrophobia of living in such small quarters, every detail is period appropriate. Costumer Sasha Howell rented WWI-style British officer uniforms from England, giving the show even more of an authentic vibe.

The play is set over four days leading up to a massive German attack and effectively shows the odd mix of the men's unbelievable tension and seemingly endless boredom. The personalities and interaction of a group of officers, under the leadership of Captain Stanhope (Rob Larson), make up the story.

Larson is indeed an actor's case study, with all the nuance, power and charisma needed to play the role of a leader utterly tormented by what he has seen and endured at the front, and who looks for escape in a whiskey bottle.

Another of the acting standouts is Theodore Carlson Webster as Raleigh, a young officer new to the unit who had been friends with Stanhope back home, and who had held the older Stanhope up as a role model and hero.

The inexperienced Raleigh is told he will be leading a group of men into battle shortly after his arrival. Webster plays the fresh-faced youth with a mix of enthusiasm and terror and is a sharp contrast to the war-weary Stanhope.

Comic relief comes from Conor J. Reindl, as the ever-confused and eager-to-please cook, and Adam M. Anderson as Trotter, the perpetually hungry officer who uses food as his relief mechanism.

Director Kelly K. Mullan effectively helps her actors to show character development in particularly the first half of the show, as we watch how each comes to terms with the effect of imminent combat and the near certainty of their deaths.

Authentic period music is played pre-show and at intermission. One of the songs that was played became a WWI anti-war anthem for mothers waiting back home. It includes the lyric:

"I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier

I brought him up to be my pride and joy.

Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder,

To shoot some other mother's darling boy?"

The play gives one pause to think about all those mothers whose sons and daughters still go off to war, some of whom will meet their ultimate journey's end.

"Journey's End" Starts This Week!

After months of preparation, the CSS Theatre is excited to present its final performance of the 2017-2018 school year.

The costumes are in (all the way from the UK!), the set is built, and the actors are ready to put on an

amazing performance! You do not want to miss this fantastic show. It is a great way to remember World War One, which happened 100 years ago this year.

Show dates and times are as follows:

April 13, 14, 19, 20, & 21 @ 7:30pm 

and

April 15 & 22 @ 2pm.

As always, it is a pleasure to blog for you. :)

Adrianna Bail 

CSS House Manager 

Two Weeks Til Opening!!!

We are so stoked for this last show of the 2017-2018 season.

Our cast has been hard at work for over a month now, and we are almost ready to show you all the product of their hard work!

You DEFINITELY don’t want to miss this show, so be sure to get your tickets early.

To obtain your tickets, please call 218-723-7000 or visit spotlight.css.edu. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

Tickets are:

$15 for Adult General Admission

$5 for CSS Students

FREE for CSS Faculty, Staff, and Sisters

$10 for Seniors and Students.

Performance Dates & Times are as Follows:

April 13, 14, 19, 20, & 21 @ 7:30pm

and

April 15 & 22 @ 2pm.

Hope to see you there!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

Happy Easter from the CSS Theatre!

On behalf of all of us here at the CSS Theatre, we wish you a fun and safe Easter break.

When we return, we'll be two weeks from opening! We hope you're all getting excited!

Happy Easter!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

New Poster For "Journey's End"!

Do you enjoy cool looking posters? If you do, you'll definitely like the new "Journey's End" poster! Keep your eyes peeled for the posters as they start popping up around campus and the Duluth area. 

We are less than 4 weeks away from opening! We cannot wait to show you all this fantastic production we've been working on. Mark your calendars!

Performances for "Journey's End" are as follows:

April 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, & 21 @ 7:30pm 

and

April 15 & 22 @ 2pm.

Hope everyone had a wonderful spring break!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

Spring Break is Around the Corner...

The cast and crew for Journey's End have been hard at work preparing for this show. The set is already being built, the acting is already incredible, and you'll probably start seeing posters popping up around campus in the next week or two...

With that being said, all of us here at the CSS Theatre are excited for a nice Spring Break and we hope you all are too! We plan to recharge our creative batteries and come back ready to perform a kick-butt performance in less than three weeks from when we return! Mark your calendars!

As always, it is a pleasure to blog for you.

Have a wonderful spring break!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

For Those Who May Have Missed It...

Didn't get a chance to see "Eleemosynary"? Well now you can get a glimpse of what the performances looked like. Our wonderful photographer took a bunch of photos before one of the

performances, and I thought I'd share some of my favorites on here for y'all to see. It truly was a fantastic show.

Don't miss out on the next show! Performances for "Journey's End" will be:

April 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21 @ 7:30pm 

April 15 and 22 @ 2pm.

Don't miss the last show of the 2017-2018 Theatre Season!

Have a great week everyone!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager 

Meet the Cast of Our Next Show - "Journey's End"!

After a great week of auditions, we now have a cast for our upcoming production of “Journey’s End”!

Lieutenant Osborne…………………….Chad Graden

Captain Stanhope……………………….Rob Larson

Private Mason…………………………..Conor Reindl

2nd Lieutenant Raleigh………………....Ted Webster

2nd Lieutenant Hibbert………………….Tyler Russell

2nd Lieutenant Trotter…………………..Adam Anderson

Captain Hardy…………………………..Charley Hagen

Sgt. Major……………………………….Tim Kutz

Colonel………………………………….Nick Aspin

Lance Corporal Boughton……………….Mitchell Gertken

German Soldier………………………….Dawson Ness

We can’t wait for this fantastic production!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

As “Eleemosynary” Comes to a Close, the Theatre Preps for Its Next Show…

A sincere thank you to everyone that came to see “Eleemosynary”. The play was a great success, and we appreciate the audience support immensely.

Looking forward to our next show, we have “Journey’s End”, directed by Kelly Mullan. “Journey’s End” will be performing mid-April.

Here’s a brief teaser of what the show will be about:

Set in 1917, Journey's End tells of a group of British officers stationed in the trenches in World War 1. Suspecting a German offensive is imminent, the officers are ordered to capture a German prisoner to acquire intelligence about the attack. The reconnaissance mission leads to some successes but also has disastrous consequences. Journey's End depicts the claustrophobia of the trenches, the unrelenting anxiety the men experience, and the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll the war exacts from them. This production commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

We can't wait to get started on this fantastic show!

Thank you everyone!

Adrianna Bail
CSS House Manager

Check Out The Review for "Eleemosynary" In The Duluth News Tribune!

Theater review: CSS stages cycle of mothers, daughters in 'Eleemosynary'

By Lawrance Bernabo, for the News Tribune February 3, 2018 at 4:11 p.m.

Echo Westbook is a National Spelling Bee champion. "Eleemosynary" is her favorite word and the title of the play that opened Friday night at the College of St. Scholastica Theater. Echo will define the word, and by the play's end, we will understand its significance for the story of three generations of exceptional Westbook women.

Echo was raised by her grandmother, Dorothea, rather than her mother, Artie. A mother abandoning her infant daughter to be raised by her grandmother? I will not be the only one to look at this setup and think of a "Gilmore Girls" where Lorelai gave Rory to Emily to raise, and shudder at the very idea.

This is not a linear narrative. The geometry in Lee Blessing's one-act play is that of circles. What Artie tells her daughter is an echo of what Dorothea said in the past.

At different times, for different reasons, Dorothea and Artie ran away. How can we expect Echo, the only daughter of an only daughter, not to do otherwise in time?

Circles become an eternal cycle.

The ages of the actresses do not correspond to the three different generations, but the characters are each unstuck in time, so essence trumps appearance.

Echo is not an adolescent automaton but a kid who truly loves words, and an endearing Shayna Schafter makes it easy to be on her side from the second she first speaks, her face lit up as she spells her favorite word.

Sarah Jane Hale's eyes sparkle with divine madness as Dorothea, who uses her manufactured eccentricity to spout epigrams as if they were holy writ. Hale's best moment comes when her daughter's success opens a crack and hints she is as jealous as she is surprised.

Abbilyn Primus as Artie has to play a character who pales in comparison to her wacky mother and brilliant daughter, but it is not the case that being exceptional has skipped a generation in the Westbook women. Artie is weary and wary, but Primus shades her words with equal parts resignation and resolve.

Time and time again, director Merry Renn Vaughn emphasizes how the Westbook women are talking to each other but not communicating. It seemed rare to find moments when two women actually looked at each other at the same time.

The stairs leading up to the theater's second floor are lined with the vocabulary words Echo spells throughout the show whose spelling, pronunciation, and meanings are a trifecta well beyond our abilities.

Kevin Seime's set design offers a massive open bookcase edifice, featuring some of Leonard da Vinci's sketches of women, Greek and Latin alphabets, and a pair of life-size wings. The floor of the raised stage platform depicts a phrenological map, one of Da Vinci's wings for his flying machine, and, appropriately given the play's agenda, a "Vitruvian Woman."

Ultimately, the circles defining these women makes me think of Dante rather than da Vinci, and how the final circle at the bottom of the Westbook women's personal inferno, is that of regret.

Performances for “Eleemosynary” Are This Week!!!

After months of preparation, the CSS Theatre is happy to debut its next performance: “Eleemosynary”. The show is unique in that it only has three actors in the entire show. It is a sweet story, and you DEFINITELY don’t want to miss it.

BONUS!

On February 8th, none other than Lee Blessing, the playwright behind this show will be attending the performance! Stick around for a Q&A after the show!

Performances are:

Feb. 2, 3, 8, 9 & 10 @ 7:30pm

Feb 4 & 11 @ 2pm.

Tickets can be purchased either online at spotlight@css.edu or by calling 218-723-7000. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

Tickets are $5 for CSS Students, $10 for Seniors/Students, $15 for Adults, and free for CSS faculty and Sisters.

Hope to see you all there!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

Do YOU Like Buttons???

For every show, the Box Office creates fun buttons. “Eleemosynary” is no exception. We’ve got 7 amazing designs and one of these lovely buttons can be yours with the price of admission to the show. Come see the show and take one of these fun buttons home with you as a souvenir!

As always, it is a pleasure blogging for you.

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager

We’re Back!

After about a month of relaxing, the CSS Theatre is back in full swing! The theatre is bustling in preparation for our next exciting show: “Eleemosynary”.  With less than a month til opening, we’ve kicked into high gear to be ready in time.

We here at the CSS Theatre hope you had an amazing winter break!

Welcome back everyone!

Adrianna Bail

CSS House Manager