By Don Eitel, Managing Director Mu Performing Arts

Mu’s recent production of Little Shop of Horrors really reflected both our trending to very successful artistic works, and our way of delving deeper and more profoundly into seemingly lighter fare.  With our focus on the Asian American community of artists, doing an all Asian American cast production gave new opportunities for our artists to demonstrate their talent in roles they wouldn’t normally be considered for. But beyond that, our take on the way Sara Ochs played Audrey tapped into a deeper and more sympathetic portrayal of the character that made audience members more aware of the issues of abuse faced by her.  It was rewarding to get audience feedback thanking Mu for not treating the abuse of her character as simply a source of humor.

And in his yearning to succeed, Randy Reyes gave new life to Seymour. One funder who saw the show said Randy had replaced Rick Moranis in her vision of Seymour. And in yet another move, our director Jennifer Weir cast the plant with a female actor, Sheena Janson, who gave the plant a new and powerful energy.  The show received rave reviews and many standing ovations, with Graydon Royce of the Star Tribune stating this time might one day be looked upon as the “golden era” of Mu.  We currently have such a great resource pool of actors, directors, playwrights and designers that we are riding our own great wave and look forward to more excitement.

Next up for Mu is our taiko concert at the McKnight Theater of the Ordway Center for Performing Arts.  Like our work in theater, this taiko concert is taking a big step up in performing at the Ordway.  It’s an opportunity to demonstrate our development of Mu Daiko as a significant taiko group in North America.  And our guest artists for the second weekend will be led by Kaoru Watanabe, who has performed in Japan and is a leading taiko artist in North America.

So Mu is entering our 20th anniversary year with high hopes and lots of excitement thanks to the support of funders like the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, corporations like General Mills and Travelers and government agencies like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Minnesota State Arts Board, plus all of our donors and audiences.