RitzDolls » Myron’s Corner

myron — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:57:48 +0000

A new season begins bringing new challenges and new ideas waiting to come to life. I love the Fall and it always reminds me of the anxious feelings I would get going back to school. Those same feelings are still with me even though I am certainly not in school anymore but the smells, and the slight chill in the air immediately take me back. I get that same anxious feeling going back in the studio to start a new show in the Fall and this year we have hit the dance floor running! We have been working on “Whatever happened to Swan Lake” and when I say that we have been enjoying ourselves, that’s an understatement. This show is so much fun. FULL of dancing, hysterical acting, gorgeous music and wonderful performances by The Dolls. You really should not miss Stephanie Fellner as the black swan/Jane and Stephanie Karr-Smith as he white swan/Blanche. I promise you will laugh until you cry. Classic roles and classic performers.

This Friday and Saturday we are doing a tribute performance for our dear commrade Jeff Bartlett who had a terrible accident while working on a Genie lift hanging stage lights. PLEASE come see 8@8. It will showcase some beautiful dancing by 8 companies from the Twin Cities. Check this website for all the information about the show and Jeff.

It’s still not too late to get season tickets for The Dolls! It’s an amazing deal and a smart way to make sure you see every show this season. Hope to see you in the lobby after each one of them….XO, Myron

Nowlikephotographs Music Event

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:22:40 +0000

September 24, 2010
8:00 pm

Nowlikephotographs Radio presents Lights Out Asia, The Autumn Project, and Nomia

Nowlikephotographs presents an evening of the Midwest’s finest post-rock, featuring Milwaukee’s Lights Out Asia, Des Moines’ The Autumn Project, and Minneapolis’ own Nomia.

For more information about nowlikephotographs, visit their website here.

General admission, $12.50.

Doors at 7:30, show at 8:00. Tickets available at the door, by phone, or online. Click here to purchase tickets online>>

Thank you for a wonderful season

myron — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:38:50 +0000

Happy summer! I hope everyone keeps checking the website for all the great stuff happening this summer at The Ritz. This past season was a ball and thank you to everyone who continues to support The Ritz/Ballet of the Dolls. We have a fantastic new season planned, bringing to life on stage stories from the familiar to the not so well known. Have a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing everyone in the Fall.

XO, Myron

The Flamingos are almost here.

myron — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:29:57 +0000

2 weeks and counting. This is going to be a show that makes you laugh, cry and ponder the question “what has the world come to?”

I guarantee that when you are at a gathering this summer, the topic of Ballet of the Dolls “Dance of the Pink Flamingos” is going to come up and you are going to want to be able to say “I saw that. I couldn’t believe I didn’t get up and leave the theatre but I felt glued to my seat in wonder. Like a car crash that you know you shouldn’t be watching. Please don’t judge me when I say that I loved it.”

Human nature at it’s most perverted, danced out live on stage. A strange kind of freak show that challenges your senses (good senses).

Sexual behavior, blasphemy, violence, and of course beautiful costumes and dancing! Hope to see you here. XO, Myron

Dance of the Pink Flamingos CAUTION!!!!! XXX

myron — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:43:16 +0000

Hello all,

Johnson and Rydberg was an amazing adventure. Beautiful music and graceful, high-spirited, inspired dancing by the gorgeous Dolls. Now, it’s Springtime and all hell is about to break loose. First, Fashion Ball 2010, an evening of fashion and dance. Grant Whittaker is producing along with myself two amazing evenings (you know Grant as the “fortune teller” ,among other parts, in the last production. As in everything he does…he gets noticed! In a box, barely moving and everyone took note of the performance). Details on our website! Following that extravaganza will be “Dance of the Pink Flamingos”……hang on to your tutu!

I have been a pretty good boy over the past few years. The shows have not always been ”family friendly,” but damn close if you ask me. I think the last time I actually scared anybody was probably “77-the ballet” which was about two gay vampires who seduced women back to their castle where they would suck their blood and then have passionate relations with each other. That show did in fact make some people angry, some people sick, and some people just never came back again. Actually, to be truthful, it really was deadly, with no sense of humor. Pink Flamingos, on the other hand, will be XXX-rated but full of good times and laughter for those of you who find seedy, bad taste choreography funny. I know I do. I am looking forward to creating dances for “the lady in the play pen who is waiting for her love, the egg man, to come to her” and “the lady in the butcher shop who carries her purchases in a place where the sun don’t shine” and many, many more wonderfully naughty characters representing the seedier side of life all to a GREAT soundtrack from the 60s and 70s. Songs that I guarantee you have never heard before. Sound fun? It will be. Don’t be scared…it is all in good fun and of course, danced beautifully by those lovely Dolls who have a way of being naughty and yet so nice! I hope you join us……………….more to come later, stay tuned.
xo,
Myron

Johnson and Rydberg

myron — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:52 +0000

This “blog” thing is amazing. You realize how fast time flies. I thought I just wrote one and I realize it’s been forever and we are half way through working on a new show. This one is so wonderful to work on for so many reasons. Steven Rydberg (composer) and I worked for so many years together at the Children’s Theatre Co. back in the 70s and 80s. We both left there and went our separate ways…..now, we are working together again after more than 25 years. This project is making me happy and challenged. Original music played live on stage! Awesome! For those of you who read this I will tell you a secret…..I am taking each piece of music and listening to it on my headphones, one time through and then going into the studio and choreographing each piece with a time limit….2 hours per piece. Spontaneous! I have no idea what will happen before I go into the studio and I just see what will happen. Risky and an adventure. Great to know that after all these years, the dancers and myself are willing to take that leap of faith. I noticed early on that I was developing a theory; throw it all out there and then start to take some of it away until it was a simple version of the original. It feels like a painter throwing paint on a canvas and then wiping it away. I love being spontaneous…..you realize how much your mood and spirit changes from day to day and in this case, from hour to hour. The audience won’t know any of this information. I am excited to see what it all turns out to be in the end. Please join us. I think it is going to be very different from what we have done in the past. That’s good news I think. After 25 years, to be still exploring and taking risks…..what more could I ask for. Thank you to all of you who support The Dolls….it’s an honor.
XO,
Myron

Moving on!

myron — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:59:41 +0000

The holidays take a strange toll on a performer. We had so much fun during Nutcracker this year. GREAT audiences, energizing music, beautiful weather, no injuries and not one performer came so late that we had to hold the show. (it’s happened a lot; over-slept, forgot we had a show, dog ate my costume, and didn’t feel like it, are among some of my favorite reasons.) Even with all this, it still takes a toll. Lots of shows, high-energy dancing, holiday parties, etc. So…January just kind of goes by with all of us trying to get going on the next project. Now, it’s almost the end of January and we have been good dancers; taking class, cleaning the studio, re-arranging furniture. All the things you needed to get to in November but December came instead. We start rehearsals in 10 days for the next show and it’s amazing how we naturally start getting excited and before you know it dancers are saying, “When do we start? I can’t wait.” So…here we go; “Johnson and Rydberg-Our Way”. Original live music ! What better way to spend January thrtough March but dancing to live piano? Hope you come to see it…..I’ll keep you “POSTed” XO

Happy New Year

myron — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:26:58 +0000

Thank you everyone who has been so supportive of The Dolls over the past year. It has been an exciting and full year filled with what will certainly be wonderful memories for seasons to come. Peace and joy in the New Year! XO, Myron

10 days till Christmas

myron — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:00:37 +0000

The show is open. It was a very crazy tech-week. Everything managed to come together beautifully however, thanks to all the people who helped make the show happen. From the costumes, the lights, the new set painting, the wigs, the music and of course the performers pulled out all the stops and are continuing to do so. After having done so many different versions of this show it’s hard not to compare one version to another (especially when I can hardly remember anything from year to year) but from what I have heard from audience members…this is everyone’s favorite version so far. That makes me happy. I love being in the wings and hearing the audience laugh….on Saturday night they added 10 minutes to the show length just from laughter and applause. REALLY cool. If you are thinking about coming to the show, hurry and get your seats because they are going REALLY fast. That also makes me happy because if no one came…none of the hard work would matter. Please stay after the show and say hello to us in the lobby if you do come. We love to meet and hear what your thoughts are. Happy Holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving

myron — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:24:21 +0000

Day off today, but can’t stop thinking about the show! So much to do yet and so little time. I think I am going to change where intermission comes this year……I wonder why I never thought of this before? Oh well….time to baste the turkey. I really do think this year that The Nutcracker may be the best one yet, I hope you all come to see us.
XO, Myron