Talk about putting a show together at warp speed.
In July, composer and arranger Roberta Carlson and director Michael Robins met to discuss an idea that both had arrived at independently -- some kind of show relating to topics surfacing throughout Minnesota as it faces a statewide vote on the marriage amendment.
This weekend, Illusion Theater is premiering "Love and Marriage," a multimedia musical revue that arose from their collaboration.
"It was really a race to the finish," said Carlson, a longtime theater arranger, composer and accompanist. "We had to do this within a narrow window to maximize its shelf life -- not that love and marriage are ever going to go out of style."
The show features eight singer-actors, including veterans Dennis Spears and Randy Schmeling, midcareer performing artists Reid Harmsen and Melissa Hart and relative newcomers Cat Brindisi and Adara Bryan. They deliver two dozen songs from the likes of Bruno Mars ("Marry You"), Stephen Sondheim ("Loving You") and Cyndi Lauper ("Time After Time").
The music is interspersed with excerpts of videotaped interviews with gay, lesbian and straight couples such as Ivey Awards producer Scott Mayer and his partner, John Zeches; Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman and husband Ben Horn; and actor Bradley Greenwald and stage manager John Novak.
Music and interviews work together to build the architecture of the revue, said Robins of a show that includes songs by the Beach Boys, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Jason Mraz.
"Certain sections of the show deal with various arcs of relationships, like how did you meet, who popped the question, when did you have your first kiss," said Carlson. "These are stories about people, and their reflections on how they have come where they are."
