Go to http://www.studio5.dance to procure your tickets to the funniest year-end party of this malevolent, maddening year. We’ll be having great fun for 5 nights in Evanston — and we hope you’ll join us! The cast is Covid-free, socially-distanced — and ready to entertain as if they wanted to erase all the bulls*it of the past 20-something months! (And they certainly do!)
See you all at Studio5. It’s going to be an event to remember.
Filed under Art, Beauty, Comedy, Improvisation, Music, Politics, rock & roll, Truth
It’s time again for classic improvisational sketch comedy! Time to get out of the house and gather in a comfortable cabaret with fellow human beings for a memorable evening of laughter, music, and adult beverages.
The Practical Theatre returns to the Chicago area with the latest in a series of hit holiday shows, Vic & Paul & Dana’s Post-Pandemic Revue, starring writer-actors Victoria Zielinski, Dana Olsen, and PTC co-founder, Paul Barrosse.
Great, groovy music is provided by PTC musical director and Studio5 impresario Steve Rashid and his Studio5 All-Stars: Rockin’ Ronny Crawford on drums, Jim Cox on bass, and Don Stiernberg on every stringed instrument known to man.
Vic & Paul & Dana’s Post-Pandemic Revue is a smart comedy cocktail, mixing sex, music, variety and vaudeville — while stirring in everything from marriage to quarantine to cancel culture, conspiracy, climate change, Olympian gods, William Shakespeare, Rod McKuen, Looney Tunes — and the fragility of major appliances. It’s an intoxicating comic combination!
There’s no better place to enjoy a comedy revue with your favorite friends than Evanston’s own Studio5, which has a cash bar, comfortable, socially distanced seating, state of the art sound and lights, and acres of free parking.
PROOF OF VACCINE REQUIRED: All Studio5 attendees will be required to show an ID and proof of a COVID vaccine. Photos of CDC cards are acceptable provided they are legible. Studio5 will be following local masking guidance at the time of performances. Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Please be certain you can and are willing to comply with our policies prior to making your purchase.
Seating is intentionally limited to accommodate social distancing.
LOCATION
Studio5 Performing Arts Center, 60202
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/studio5performingartscenter
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music, Truth
Opening night is just 32 days away. Tickets on sale now!
Those wacky veteran vaudevillians, Morty & Mitzi, will be joining their fellow performers from 1927 for the next three Fridays, 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, before our online interactive virtual playground “Into the Mist” takes a pause.
That doesn’t mean the end of “Into the Mist”. After this pause, our brilliant, inventive friends at Studio5 in Evanston, Illinois will work out a new chapter of this bold new entertainment vehicle. After all, the show has garnered a lot of great press and audiences have responded. Check out this article that just came out on the home page of Downbeat Magazine — the premiere national jazz magazine since 1934!
So, you’ve got three last chances to see what the buzz has been all about. Tickets for all three shows are now available on the intothemist.net site.
Group sales incentives are now available, so if you or someone you know is part of a group of any kind (families, friends, coworkers) they'll get a 20% discount if they purchase 10 or more tickets. Anyone interested in a group ticket purchase of 10 or more should email Lauren at info@intothemist.net.
Get yourself “Into the Mist”. Morty & Mitzi will be waiting for you!
Filed under Art, Beauty, Comedy, History, Improvisation
If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet for The Practical Theatre Company’s Big Holiday Bag O’ Fun at Studio5 in Evanston, Illinois — now’s the time!
Tickets are going fast — so don’t delay.
It’s going to be the best party of the year. After an arduous political and social slog like we’ve all experienced in the past 12 months — we can all use a big, blow-out party with great music, free-spirited laughs, and a great big, bag o’ fun!
Get your tickets now at: http://www.studio5dance/calendar
Filed under Art, Comedy, History, Improvisation, Music, Politics, Truth, Uncategorized
The Practical Theatre is coming back to Chicago’s North Shore with a classic radio show featuring grown-up comedy and great live music! Plus adult beverages! Join the fun as the PTC records two shows at Studio5 Performing Arts Center in Evanston for later broadcast on Chicago’s premier jazz station WDCB 90.9 FM.
Following their smash holiday engagements the past two years at Studio5, writer-performers Victoria Zielinski, Paul Barrosse and Dana Olsen return with Practical Radio Theatre on the Air, featuring music by Steve Rashid and his Studio5 All-Stars, with special appearances by Giggle Break’s Daniel Rashid and recording artist Eva B. Ross.
Eva B. Ross
Practical Radio Theatre on the Air is a classic radio show format filled with high spirits, satire and song.Join the live audience and be an integral part of the show, sipping a smart cocktail in the comfort of the North Shore’s most intimate performance venue. Studio5 Performing Arts Center, located at Dempster and Dodge in Evanston, features comfy seating, great sight lines, state of the art sound and lights — and acres of free parking!
Daniel Rashid
It’s another holiday happening to remember!
There are just 2 shows: Friday December 28 and Saturday the 29th. Tickets are on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.
There will be a cash bar for both shows. Doors open for cocktails at 7:30. Showtime is 8:00.
Each night’s performance begins with an opening set of songs by Eva B. Ross before the radio show gets underway — but the fun begins as soon as you get there!
Your hosts at Studio5: Impresarios Bea & Steve Rashid
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music, Uncategorized
My intrepid and indomitable wife Victoria and I traveled to Yellowstone National Park in August of 2017 (just before the total eclipse) and hit the many wonderful trails with gusto.
We enjoyed our walks through the various geyser basins – making sure to get up at the crack of dawn and arrive at each of these phenomenal landscapes early in the morning.
In the lonely morning quiet, we could appreciate the eerie, awesome geothermal sights and sounds — before the inevitable onslaught of loud, excited tourists.
We also loved our hikes in the fabulous areas beyond the amazing geyser basins – especially the day we hiked the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.
We expected to experience one particular hike – but fate intervened – and we had to embark upon another. But we were, delightfully, not disappointed.
Here’s our account of the hike we were able to take that day…
Filed under Adventure, Beauty, History, Uncategorized
For two frigid but otherwise fun and fulfilling weeks on Chicago’s North Shore, the cast and crew of “Mr. Olsen’s Champagne Celebration” staged a series of shows that rang in the New Year with satire, song and classic comic shtick. The three packed performances proved once again that The Practical Theatre Company and its motto “Art is Good” are alive and well in the Windy City.
The Practical Theatre is like “Brigadoon” these days: a magical, fleeting moment of entertainment that vanishes as suddenly as it appears. For those of you who were not able to be among the receptive crowds that gathered at Studio5 in Evanston to witness this rare theatrical event – please enjoy the following photos, taken by former Chicago Tribune photographer Chuck Osgood at final dress rehearsal.
The Opening Number: “It’s been a year to remember — to forget!”
“Ed & Ellen & Ned” — Ed (Paul Barrosse) & Ellen (Victoria Zielinski) and Ned (Dana Olsen) share a moment in an airport bar with a young man (Daniel Rashid) who digs older women.
Eva B Ross sings “Thou Swell” backed by Steve Rashid (keys) & The Studio5 All Stars: Rockin’ Ronny Crawford (drums), Joe Policastro (bass), Don Stille (accordion) and Don Stiernberg (guitar)
“Limbo” — A bickering couple (Vic & Dana) find themselves in a state of suspended afterlife.
“Parents” — Dana and Shelly Goldstein play parents with a lot of good (and not so good) advice for their high school graduate, bound for Northwestern University.
“Please Come to Starbucks” — Paul is a forlorn, lovesick guy from Cleveland who lost his girl (Vic) to the Southern California dream. He seeks her out in a mournful musical complaint.
“Stop Talking About Him” — A young couple (Daniel Rashid & Emilia Barrosse) struggle with the nagging, negative, inescapable influence of Donald Trump on their relationship.
“Cut In Line” — This is the moment that an unlucky guy (Paul) discovers that the guy to whom he just gave his place in line (Dana) is the 1,000,000th customer and winner of a million dollars!
The Mr. Olsen’ Dancers perform “We’re In The Money”
Dana & Eva perform a multi-lingual duet of “Let it Snow” — just before it goes way off the rails.
With sexual harassment dominating the news, the dancers make a statement.
Don Stille burns up his accordion solo in “The Possible Side Effects Polka”
The Mr. Olsen Dancers step lively in “The Possible Side Effects Polka”
Emilia Barrosse opens the second act with an original stand-up comedy set.
“Ed & Elena” — Ed (Paul) is about to get a big surprise from buxom blonde Elena (Vic).
Steve Rashid performs a nostalgic musical tribute to George W. Bush — with beautiful, inspirational music by Steve and indescribable words by Dubya himself.
The Mr. Olsen Dancers kick up a wild western rumpus.
“Whisky Tasting” — Miss Vicky’s hootch has finally gotten the best of Paul’s boozing cowpoke.
Groovy Shelly sings “The Middle Aging of The Age of Aquarius”
“Meet the Robot” — Guess who’s coming to dinner? Your daughter’s synthetic human boyfriend, that’s who.
A proper 19th Century minuet gets a bit topsy-turvy.
Roland Masterton (Paul) and Elizabeth Cuddleton (Vic) share a long, long, long developing romance a’la Jane Austen — through correspondence, shipwreck, and a mortal duel .
Donald J. Trump meets “Hamilton” in a rap production number. “How does a bastard, orange, TV show host with a toupe’, dropped in the middle of a polarized time in our America — with hands so freaking teeny — rise up to be the Mango Mussolini?”
“What’s you name, man?” “Inmate number 45!”
The Closing: “Resist! Resist! — and keep your sanity. Do your best, it’s a test — of our humanity.”
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music, Politics, Uncategorized
There are only two more opportunities to enjoy the funniest and most fun New Year’s party on Chicago’s North Shore: tonight and New Year’s Eve.
(All photos in this post were taken by Chuck Osgood at the final dress rehearsal)
You still have a chance to reserve your seats for Mr. Olsen’s Champagne Celebration at Studio5 in Evanston.
The Practical Theatre returns with another entertaining comedy and music revue featuring veteran improvisational comedy writer-performers Victoria Zielinski, Paul Barrosse and Dana Olsen. It’s a fun-filled party in the style of The Lawrence Welk Show, filled with laughter, satire and song.
Joining the cast are the PTC’s musical director, Steve Rashid, songbird Eva B. Ross, standup comic Emilia Barrosse, Giggle Break’s own Daniel Rashid, cabaret chanteuse Shelly Goldstein — and the Studio5 All-Star Band, including Rockin’ Ronny Crawford on drums, Don Stille on accordion, bassist Joe Policastro and Don Stiernberg on guitar. Plus percussionist Robert Rashid.
And — The Mr. Olsen Dancers are back – and better than ever!
The show on New Year’s Eve will be followed by live music and a fabulous dance party — as we invite you all to swing into the New Year! (And enjoy tasty food, too!)
Studio5 is Evanston’s hippest, most intimate performing arts venue, with comfortable seats, great sight lines, state of the art sound and lights, and acres of free parking. Tickets are on sale here!
There will be a cash bar for both shows. Doors open for cocktails at 7:30.
Don’t miss your last chance to join the biggest party of the year! 
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music, Uncategorized
Click CD photo for music & info!
Paul's Voyage of Discovery & Etc. 