Finding its place among the pageantry
By Graydon Royce

Nov. 24, 2006 (McClatchy-Tribune Business News delivered by Newstex) -- As the grand Christmas productions are rolled into place for their fortnight of lavish pageantry, Illusion Theater offers a spare holiday sampler -- a favorite cheese ball, a sweet mince pie and a bag of mixed nuts. Rolled together, it doesn't approach the feasts being prepared at larger theaters, but Michael Robins, co-producing director at Illusion, hopes the three-show program appeals to those searching for lighter fare.

"It's an alternative to the spectacle," said Robins. Conveniently, it also provides a venue for artists who develop their work with Illusion to get up and perform. . . .

. . . Dickens unplugged

The second piece of Illusion's holiday strategy grew out of Robins' fascination with storyteller Charlie Bethel. Several years ago, Bethel did a one-man show based on "Beowulf." He followed with something equally as stout: "Gilgamesh." Robins saw Bethel perform and asked if he'd thought of doing a one-man "Christmas Carol." Bethel's friend Phil Kilbourne has that franchise, so that was off-limits. But Kilbourne gave Bethel a book of Dickens' Christmas stories and "The Seven Poor Travellers" stood out. He will perform it Dec. 14-17.

This is a story within a story. Six strangers arrive at a boardinghouse at Christmastime and share a meal. Afterward, one of the travelers tells a shaggy dog story about his soldierly adventures in the war. Bethel did the piece last year, giving it marvelous warmth with his vocal dexterity and adept stagecraft. It is a charming, intimate evening of theater.

"This story had a hankering to be spoken," Bethel said. As compelling as the soldier's tale is, the recitation of preparing the great holiday feast is equally fun. "That's one of the appeals of 'Iron Chef,' " said Bethel. "Everyone loves to make a meal and when you make a meal, you make a story of yourself. There's something very primal and communal about the meal."

A year after his debut, Bethel still has most of the story in his head as he gets ready for performance. "I walk around outside and recite it in my head," he said. "There are only two places where I have to stop for coffee and figure it out."

Illusion's trio of holiday shows merry, merry and quite contrary
BY DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA, Theater Critic, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Instead of a single bonbon for the holiday season, Illusion Theater is offering something that looks more like the whole candy box. For those who like their holiday offerings on the snarky side, the downtown Minneapolis theater hosts Russ King — better known as Miss Richfield 1981 — for his eighth annual holiday drag show.

If you like your Christmas a little more contemplative, Charlie Bethel is bringing his lovely and quiet one-man meditation of the season back for a second Christmastime. And Illusion executive producing director Michael Robins is conjuring "Festival of Lights" just in time for the first night of Hanukkah.

Here's a quick look . . . . at The Seven Poor Travellers

Who it's for: In Bethel's words: "It's for people who have been to 'Christmas Carol' for the 64th time and are looking for something that — at least — they don't know all the lines to."

When Michael Robins asked Charlie Bethel if he wanted to create a one-man "Christmas Carol," Bethel's response was an emphatic "No!" Instead, he took a lesser-known Charles Dickens tale about a man who provides a holiday feast and a story of war, friendship and memory and wove it into a gentle, affecting hour of storytelling that first played Illusion last winter. Bethel plays all of the half-dozen major roles, as well as a fistful of supporting characters.

"It's obviously not the same kind of Christmas fare that Miss Richfield is," said Bethel. "It's a little meatier, slightly more serious fare. But the good news is that it's Dickens, so you know it's going to be well-written. And he was gaga in love with Christmas."

Bethel concedes that, on the face of it, "The Seven Poor Travellers" has a sniffy, English-major air about it. But he maintains the show can — and should — have a broader appeal. It's an antidote, he said, to the mania the holiday season can bring and a meditation on the true meaning of the season.

"It's not a hysterical romp through Christmasland, and it's not three lesson-bearing ghosts. There's nothing wrong with those things, but this has a little more finesse to it."