PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ! A Re-Opening Celebration
Nov 13 -15, 2021
CLOSED NOV 15
Ritz Theater
Directed by Peter Rothstein and Kelli Foster Warder
Music Direction by Denise Prosek
Featuring: Erin Capello, Bradley Greenwald, Jennifer Grimm, Jason Hansen, Anna Hashizume, John Jamison, Rodolfo Nieto, Britta Ollmann, Jay Owen Eisenberg, T Mychael Rambo, and Matt Riehle
We kick-off our 24th season off with a celebratory re-opening concert, PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ. Raise a glass and celebrate our return to live performances at the Ritz Theater! An evening filled with show-stopping numbers from an extraordinary group of actors, singers and musicians.
Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 7:30PM
Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 2:00PM
Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 7:00PM
Monday, November 15, 2021 at 7:00PM
COVID-19 Safety & Protocols
To ensure the safety of our patrons, Theater Latté Da and the Ritz Theater will require all individuals who attend a performance to provide proof of a full course of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test result within the previous 72 hours at the time of their entry to the theater.
REHEARSAL PHOTOS
Photos by Chris Cartwright
MUSICAL SELECTIONS
Act I
”Puttin’ on the Ritz”
Performed by: Jennifer Grimm
Music and Lyrics by: Irving Berlin
”Cabaret/Wilkommen” from CABARET
Performed by: full cast
Music by: John Kander
Lyrics by: Fred Ebb
Arranged by: Denise Prosek
An excerpt from Things That Go Bump in the Night
by Terrence McNally
Read by Peter Rothstein
“17 Broadway Hits in 3-and-a-half Minutes” (Band Feature)
Performed by: Denise Prosek and the East 13th Avenue Band
Arranged by: Denise Prosek
“Ring of Keys” from FUN HOME
Performed by: Jay Owen Eisenberg
Music by: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics by: Lisa Kron
“Stay” from AMELIE
Performed by: Anna Hashizume
Music by: Daniel Messé
Lyrics by: Daniel Messé & Nathan Tysen
“Strength, Courage and Wisdom”
Performed by: T. Mychael Rambo
Back up vocals: Erin Capello & Rodolfo Nieto
Lyrics and Music by: India.Arie
Arranged by: T. Mychael Rambo
“Falling Slowly” from ONCE
Performed by: Matt Riehle & Britta Ollmann
Lyrics and Music by: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
“Minneapolis and St. Paul”
Performed by: Jennifer Grimm
Lyrics and Music by: Jennifer Grimm
“You’ll be Back” from HAMILTON
Performed by: Bradley Greenwald
Lyrics and Music by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
“If You Could Read My Mind”
Performed by: Rodolfo Nieto
Lyrics and Music by: Gordon Lightfoot
“It’s Too Late”
Performed by: Erin Capello
Music by: Carole King
Lyrics by: Toni Stern
“Defying Gravity” from WICKED
Performed by: T. Mychael Rambo
Music by: Stephen Schwartz
Arranged by: Roberta Carlson
Act II
“Thunder Road”
Performed by: Matt Riehle
Music and Lyrics by: Bruce Springsteen
“Home / Over the Rainbow” from THE WIZ and THE WIZARD OF OZ
Performed by: John Jamison
Home music and lyrics by: Charlie Smalls
Home orchestration by: Harold Wheeler
Over the Rainbow composed by: Harold Arlen
”Walking After Midnight”
Performed by: Jennifer Grimm
Music and Lyrics by: Alan block and Donn Hecht
“Mister Cellophane” from CHICAGO
Performed by: Jay Owen Eisenberg
Music by: John Kander
Lyrics by: Fred Ebb
“Quando Me’n Vo’” from LA BOHEME
Performed by: Anna Hashizume
Composed by: Giacomo Puccini
Lyrics by: Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa
“C.” from C.
Performed by: Bradley Greenwald
Music by: Robert Elhai
Lyrics by: Bradley Greenwald
“Impossible Dream” from MAN OF LA MANCHA
Performed by: Bradley Greenwald and Rodolfo Nieto
Composed by: Mitch Leigh
Arranged by: Bradley Greenwald, Rodolfo Nieto, Denise Prosek
“I’m Still Standing”
Performed by: Jennifer Grimm, Jay Owen Eisenberg, Matt Riehle
Back up vocals: Bradley Greenwald, Britta Ollmann, Anna Hashizume
Written by: Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Arranged by: Denise Prosek
“Secret of Happiness” from DADDY LONG LEGS
Performed by: Britta Ollmann
Music and Lyrics by: Paul Gordon
“She Used to be Mine” from WAITRESS
Performed by: Erin Capello
Lyrics and Music by: Sara Bareilles
“Make Them Hear You” from RAGTIME
Performed by: T. Mychael Rambo & John Jamison
Music by: Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by: Lynn Ahren
Arranged by: John Jamison, T. Mychael Rambo, Denise Prosek
“Bring Me to Light” from VIOLET
Performed by: Full Cast
Music by: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics by: Brian Crawley
Arranged by: Denise Prosek
CAST
CREATIVE
Directors: Peter Rothstein & Kelli Foster Warder
Musical Director: Denise Prosek
Lighting Designer & Light Board Operator: Grant Merges
Stage Manager: Shelby Reddig
Audio Engineer: Nicholas Tranby
Dramaturg: Elissa Adams
THE BAND
Joe Cruz*, Guitar/Banjo/Mandolin
Steve Grisdale*, Drums/Guitar
Jason Hansen*, Keys/Piano/Accordion/Persussion
Greg Hippen*, Bass
Denise Prosek*, Piano
* Member of Twin Cities Musicians Union, American Federation of Musicians
+ BIOGRAPHIES
Erin Capello THEATER LATTÉ DA: Evita, Light In The Piazza, Steerage Song, NEXT, The End of September, Prosody. THEATER: History Theater: The Christmas Schooner, A Servants Christmas; Stages Theater: Jack and Rochelle; The Minnesota Opera: Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man; Chanhassen Dinner Theater: Swing!; Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company: The Sorcerer; Cardinal Theatricals: Rocky Horror Show Live. TRAINING: The Lundstrum Center, Normandale College Theater Program, Minnesota Opera Apprenticeship Program.
Jay Owen Eisenberg THEATER LATTÉ DA: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Ghostlight Series: Re-Cast. THEATER: The Moving Company: Liberty Falls 2020; Penumbra Theatre: The White Card; Jungle Theater: Small Mouth Sounds; Mixed Blood Theater: Hir, Charm; Pillsbury House + Theatre: ≈ (Almost Equal To), Naked Stages; Open Eye Figure Theatre: Constance in the Darkness, BIG OLD ROCK; Workhaus Collective: Feast of Wolves; Red Eye Theater: Private Party. OFF-BROADWAY: The Public Theater: The Record; New York Theatre Workshop: The Boy From the Circus; Soho Rep: Take Me Back; Atlantic Theater Company: Books Cook!. FILM/TV: Amazon: Creative Control; ABC: Manhattan Love Story; Showtime: Happyish. AWARDS: Minnesota State Arts Board 2017 Artist Initiative Grant. TRAINING: B.F.A., New York University Tisch School of the Arts (Experimental Theater Wing).
Bradley Greenwald THEATER LATTÉ DA: La Bohéme, A Little Night Music, Steerage Song, Oliver!, C. (also book and lyrics), NEXT Festival. THEATER: Open Eye Figure Theater: The Longest Night, Dear Lenny: Bernstein's Life in Songs & Letters; Jungle Theater: I Am My Own Wife, The Mystery of Irma Vep; Ten Thousand Things Theater: My Fair Lady, As You Like It; Children's Theater Company: A Year With Frog & Toad, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins; Park Square: The Pirates of Penzance; Artistry: A New Brain, Follies; Frank Theatre: The Threepenny Opera, Cabaret; James Sewell Ballet: Nutcracker (not so) Suite. AWARDS: Minnesota State Arts Board Music Fellowship, McKnight Fellowship for Theater Artists, Ivey Award (I Am My Own Wife). ALSO: libretto adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, opera by Libby Larsen.
Jennifer Grimm THEATER LATTÉ DA: Lost In Boston, A Christmas Carole Petersen, Steerage Song, Custom Cabarets. THEATER: Park Square Theater: Words By; Artistry: Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Actors Theater of Minnesota: Fairy Tales; Northcoast Repertory Theatre: Words By, Girl Singers of the Hit Parade, Girl Singers of the Hit Parade Christmas. MUSIC/VOICE: NBC, USA, Showtime, TLC, Hulu Original, CW, Fusion, DC Universe, Netflix, WB. More info at jennifergrimm.com
Jason Hansen THEATER LATTÉ DA: NEXT: Bernarda Alba, A Child’s Christmas In Wales, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Little Night Music, Once, Assassins, C., Into The Woods, Our Town, Aida. THEATER: Children’s Theater Company: Cinderella, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss’s The Sneeches; Mixed Blood Theater: Passing Strange, Next To Normal, Avenue Q; Guthrie Theater: Guys and Dolls, Othello; History Theater: Sweet Land; Theater Mu: Twelfth Night, A Little Night Music; Chanhassen Dinner Theaters: Newsies; Ten Thousand Things: Romeo & Juliet; Arkansas Repertory Theater: The Gift Of The Magi; Northern Sky Theater, Illusion Theater, Artistry, TigerLion Arts, Open Eye Figure Theater, Jungle Theater, the MN Fringe Festival, the Hennepin Theater Trust; Alive & Kickin’ (Associate Director/Music Director); AWARDS: 2018 MN Theater Award (Latté Da’s Assassins).
Anna Hashizume THEATER LATTÉ DA: Debut. THEATER: Artistry: Mary Poppins; Open Eye Theatre: LOG JAM! A Paul Bunyan Musical Spectacular; Theatre Elision: Of Art and Artists; Lyric Arts: Sense and Sensibility; Collective Unconscious Performance: Into the Darkness. OPERA: Fargo-Moorhead Opera: Don Giovanni, Speed Dating Tonight!; Lyric Opera of the North: Rigoletto; An Opera Theater: The Sky Where You Are, In The Midst of Things; Mixed Precipitation: The Clemency of Tito’s Tennis Club, Dr. Falstaff and the Working Wives of Lake County, Philemon and Baucis: Planet in Peril; Minnesota Opera: La Traviata, Thaïs. 2017 Schubert Club Competition Winner. TRAINING: M.M., University of Minnesota; B.S.O.F, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. www.annahashizume.com @annahashizume
John Jamison THEATER LATTÉ DA: Ghostlight Series, Five Points, Next Festival 2018. THEATER: Children's Theatre Company: The Wiz, Diary Of a Wimpy Kid, Snowy Day, Wizard of Oz, 2015-2016 Performing Apprentice; Penumbra: Girl Shakes Loose; Artistry: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Guthrie: A Midsummer Night's Dream; Christmas Carol.
Rodolfo Nieto THEATER LATTÉ DA: Candide, A Little Night Music, Assassins, Man of La Mancha, All Is Calm (2017 National Tour, 2018 Off-Broadway, 2019 Ritz). THEATER: Mixed Precipitation: The Pickup Truck Opera: Volume 1, The Odyssey; Park Square Theatre: Riddle Puzzle Plot; Really Spicy Opera: Émilie; Artistry: A New Brain History Theater: Dirty Business. During the self-isolation of 2020 Rodolfo began writing and performing his own music, producing pieces such as "The Minnesota Beer Song"; and "Un Despertar / An Awakening", a bilingual concert of Spanish and English songs recorded at The Ritz theater. You can find out more about his work at www.rodolfo-nieto.com.
Britta Ollmann THEATER LATTÉ DA: Music to Our Eyes: Designers Sing Out, Bernarda Alba, Chicago, A Little Night Music, Once, Ragtime, Into the Woods, Violet, Steerage Song. THEATER: Guthrie: Sunday in the Park with George; Asolo Repertory Theatre: Ragtime; Ordway: Mamma Mia; The Old Globe: A Catered Affair; Chanhassen Dinner Theatre: Sister Act, Grease; freeFall Theatre: Daddy Long Legs, Red Velvet. BROADWAY: A Catered Affair; TRAINING: B.F.A., New York University/Tisch School of the Arts. Britta also serves as the Spotlight Education School Manager with Hennepin Theatre Trust.
T. Mychael Rambo THEATER LATTÉ DA: Aida, 5 Points. THEATER: Guthrie Theater: Caroline or Change, Sunday in the Park With George, To Kill A Mockingbird, Crowns; Penumbra Theater: Gem of the Ocean, Piano Lesson, Spunk, Black Nativity; Illusion Theatre: Always & Forever, Present; Park Square Theatre: Color Purple, Words By, Soul of Gershwin, Side Show; Ordway Center for the Arts: 42nd Street, Joseph; Ten Thousand Things: Thunder Knocking at the Door, Man of La Mancha; Mixed Blood Theater: Birth of the Boom, Dr. King’s Dream; Carnegie Hall: Dvorak’s Discovery. REGIONAL/NATIONAL TOUR: Dream Girls; European Tour: Porgy and Bess. TV/FILM: Crossing the Bridge, The Cure, The Wooly Boys, Grumpy Old Men, Mighty Ducks, Justice; HBO Mini-Series: Laurel Avenue, Equinox. HONORS/AWARDS: Regional Emmy Award, McKnight Artist Fellowship, Sally Ordway Irvine Award, Minnesota Black Music Award, University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service; Singing of the National Anthem for President Obama and President Carter. OTHER: Two CD releases: “Simply” – a collection of jazz standards, “The Gift” – original selections and holiday classics.
Matt Riehle THEATER LATTÉ DA: Twelve Angry Men (upcoming), Once, Five Points, Assassins, Man of La Mancha, C. THEATER: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres: Jesus Christ Superstar; History Theater: Sweet Land: The Musical; Yellow Tree Theater: Flowers for the Room; 7th House Theater: Hair, Jonah and the Whale; Torch Theater: Dangerous Liaisons; Producing House: Power Balladz, Mudshark. MUSIC: Band: Jonny James and the Hall of Fames.