Tuesday, October 02, 2007

A Night Out With Kevin Kling

Megan and I just got back from the Fitzgerald theatre where we saw Kevin Kling preform some of his works from his new and first book, "The Dog Says How." Both Megan and I have intersected with Kevin a few times, first at a wonderful performance three years ago this Christmas at St. Olaf. Megan and I got rush tickets for a show because we thought we just should because it was free! We ended up sitting 4 rows back and in the middle - directly in front of Kevin Kling. The show was amazing, I think it is the best bit of theatre I ever saw at St. Olaf. He took you up so you were laughing until you were crying, and then moments later crash you down so you were crying for real. Or for joy - it was amazing.

The second connection is his partner, Mary Ludington. At the State Fair juried art show, I saw this print of a horse from down the room and I loved it. Best piece in the show. I took this photo of it assuming that I would never see it again, but then for Christmas I got completely surprised when it showed up under the tree thanks to Megan and lots of helpers :)

Well it turns out that they are partners and live together with their dogs! So at the event tonight we bought not only Kevin's book (as pictured above) but also Mary's book "The Nature of Dogs." We got Kevin to sign his book, but we will have to wait for Mary's.

So anyway, thats the background to the show tonight - and the show was great! Kevin is a natural story teller who moves you around in time and space in ways that connect seemingly random events into a clear picture that is much bigger than any one story. We both thought that it was a little more geared towards the humorous side of his work compared to what we saw at St. Olaf, but that's fine. Some of the stories we had heard before and a few were new but like any good story teller, it is great to hear them re-told in a new light. Its like I said, each time he brings in new details from some other part of his life that makes each old story new again.

The night was highlighted with preformances by The Brass Messengers - a rocking horn band with a kind of Romanian/Gypsy/Brass sound. I liked them a lot!

1 comment:

kfinkler said...

Hi Winnie, don't you just wish that us dogs could have gone to the Fitz too?! Wasn't it a great show! 'I ain't gonna give you a dollar for a corn muffin that's half dough!' Anydog, stay tuned to The Nature of Dogs web site for book signings -- some of us St Paulers have heard that there's an event planned for November at Garrison's bookstore - Common Goods down towards cathedral hill. and don't you love the book! especially the corgi pages!!

paws, Kassi
(and her people)