Welcome to the Mews! We are learning how to showcase the consistent star of our theatre – the MEWS itself! Not particular news if you have been here before. If not, after one of these magnificent Mamet pieces, you will know what I mean this is below 14th Street in New York, off-off broadway without the travel AND a 30 foot bar! Our worst seat is better than the best you will find elsewhere in this town. In play selection and execution I have been helped immeasurably by Tom Milligan (appeared here in "True West," "Get Real," "Someone Who’ll Watch over Me," "Jesse James' Mom") and Richard Maynard ("Jesse James' Mom," and director of "American Buffalo"). The three of us are committed to doing this great space justice. We are joined by Patrick Gouran (Teach in "American Buffalo") and Ann Wilkinson (directing "Oleanna") as they are available. Look at the back of the program for a taste of what is to come. Some of the plays will qualify as “In Yer Face” – theatre that forces you to think, sometimes about subjects that you would not normally address, even though they are part of the world we live in, some more conventional. In either case when the “curtain” falls (of course it won’t), you will continue to think of the subject matter as well as marvel at the wondrous ability of these playwrights. Watch both the Mews Web site and my own for good stuff on the way. Sign up for emails. Thanks for coming to the star of my show, the Vaudeville Mews!
As a criminal defense lawyer, my theatre used to be the court room. No longer. I never thought I would encounter a pursuit I love more than the law I still practice. Never is a very long time… (a Mamet ellipse)
We opened the Vaudeville Mews , 212 4th Street, downtown Des Moines in December, 2002. Originally I was just happy to be a patron and enjoy the wonderful variety of music, theatre, and video the seven of us planned when we saw the great old 1885 building sharing walls with Java Joe’s. As time passed, always a lover of theatre, but spending most of my time in Civic Center size venues watching the classic long-runs that stop in Des Moines, I became more involved in play selection. My first attempt to produce was itself an accident, somewhat alcohol induced at the Mews 30 foot bar, "Santaland Diaries" in December 2003. What a way to start, thanks to John Robinson and John Bush.
I am a slow learner at times, but I have finally realized that the Mews is not only a brilliant and dynamic music space, it is a unique theatre environment unmatched between Des Moines and New York below 14th street, except for a few neighborhood theatres in Chicago (and not many of those). Seating is intimate to say the least, and the 18 foot tin ceiling ensures that you can hear a pin drop on stage no matter where you are seated. The nineteenth century building is perfect for the raw, elemental theatre we prefer, great playwrights, great directors, great actors. For a baseball fan, Cardinals small ball at its best.
These conclusions have come with the initial guidance of James Serpento, one of my original partners (directing and starring in "Reindeer Monologues" and Shanley’s "Four Dogs and a Bone," the very first plays on our stage). Just in the past few months I have been helped immeasurably in play selection and execution by Tom Milligan ("True West," "Get Real," "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me," "Jesse James' Mom") and Richard Maynard ("Jesse James' Mom," and director of "American Buffalo"). The three of us are committed to doing the Mews great space justice. We are joined by Patrick Gouran (Teach in "American Buffalo") and Ann Wilkinson (directing "Oleanna") as they are available. Michael Sokoloff, from the Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, with his brilliant and original taste for the theatre that fits the Mews (has been called “In Yer Face” by some), has been and will continue to be an inspiration to me and a source of marvelous suggestions for use of our space without cluttering a multi-purpose venue with sets that the material does not demand.
Following are pages celebrating plays we have done, plays coming in the next six months, and in the hopper for the future. I will be supplementing a photo page of the great talent we have had on stage and off. Another page will show programs and poster art for prior productions. A links page will send you to other theatre sources here and in surrounding locations, Omaha, Iowa City, Minneapolis, Chicago. I just finished helping with the production of a wonderful play in Omaha at the Milennium Theatre, Alan Ball’s "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress." As available, such material will be added.
Theatre is my church. You no doubt have another one, but come see mine. When it works, you leave thinking about what you have seen (not flipping a channel for another piece of mindless network or cable refuse), and in some cases, forced to confront subjects you don’t want to think about, but ones you ignore at your risk because they are part of your world.
Please come.