Posts Tagged St. Paul

Artist Spotlight: CJ Pitts, Musician

As someone who works at Park Square in various capacities, one of the best things about the job is who I get to work with. That includes the plethora of theatre artisans onstage and off, of course, but it also includes the day-to-day staff of the front of house.

Whether it’s in the ticket office, behind the bar, or tearing your ticket as you head in, we dutiful workers are not just faces in the crowd. Many of us are artists ourselves who practice our own passions when not sharing our time with Park Square.

One such artist you might meet is CJ Pitts, a singer and songwriter from Bear, Delaware who decided to make music in the Twin Cities after coming to Saint Paul five years ago. It was only in college, though, when he was first drawn to music as a way of life. Prior to that, Pitts dreamed of being a professional athlete, running track at the Olympics. Those goals may have shifted, but the drive and desire to succeed are certainly common to both and Pitts is determined to rise to the occasion.

At 24,  he’s just getting warmed up, writing songs for himself and others, including the three bands he’s currently a vocalist for. Playing a myriad of sounds and styles, Pitts puts it best by saying:

DSC_1180“My original music is a combo of pop, R&B, hip-hop, and electric sounds. I enjoy all of these styles and I incorporate them into my own art. When I’m not performing my originals, I’m singing anything from funk, jazz, pop, etc.”

If you want to see or hear CJ Pitts outside of the ticket office, check out his music here (“Shark” is probably my favorite!). Also, be on the look out for his recently released, Lost Identity, and the accompanying gigs in support of it.

Whatever we do, the front of house team at Park Square is made up of individuals with talents we’d love to share. So next time you’re milling about in the lobby, go ahead and strike up a conversation with one of us. You’re not only going to be surprised but also intrigued by what we have to say and what we (also) do.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mann!

Richard Mann at Nina Simone

One of the many great moments of Nina Simone: Four Women has to be the appearance of Richard Mann and his family when they came to celebrate his 102 birthday! If you missed this special night you can read about man, the myth, the legend here.

 

Mann, What a Life

This month will mark not only the opening of Park Square’s much anticipated, Nina Simone: Four Women, but also the looooong anticipated birthday celebration of Richard Mann, a 102 year old St. Paul resident. What do the two have in common, you ask? Maybe more than you think. We’ll get to that soon but first we’ll just start by saying that Park Square is honored to be having Mr. Mann and his family attend Nina on March 12th to celebrate his big 1-0-2.

Born in St. Paul in 1914, Mr. Mann has lived his entire life in either St. Paul or Minneapolis, with his family moving back and forth between the two cities throughout his adolescence. He was only 11 when his father died. He went to work, instilling in himself a strong sense of self-determination and activity. In the late 1940s he went into the nightclub business, opening the Treasure Inn in Roseville that became a popular spot for the black community and college students. Prince Rogers, father of… well, Prince, was one famous artist to play there. Needing to support a family of his own, however, led him to change course and in 1953, he started working at the Post Office where he stayed for 30 years.

Mr. Mann’s greatest contribution to the Twin Cities, though, would have to be his community activism. He was a Boy Scout as a kid and then grew up to be president of the Sterling Club, a charitable organization that works with other groups to provide beneficial activities and programs to the African American community. To honor his 90th birthday, the Richard Morris Mann scholarship was established to benefit graduating African American high school seniors attending college.

Even after all that, Mr. Mann continues to make a name for himself and proving his vitality by becoming a recent internet hit when a video of him shoveling a neighbor’s sidewalk went viral this winter. Bound and determined to live an active lifestyle, he continues to shovel walks and loves playing golf.  Surely this must be a “key” to living such a long life. Although, I would add that having such a large family helps. When the Mann family sees Nina on the 12th, there will be no less than 16 representatives in the seats! That’s like, a whole section of the Boss Stage house! So if you can’t get a ticket you know who to thank.
Nah, I’m sure you’ll be fine, and what a performance to see if you really want one of those “special times in the theatre.” Not only will you be basking in the inspiration of Nina Simone’s music but you can look over at Richard Mann, sure to be tapping his foot and smiling, and soak up his own unbridled inspiration.

Also, go ahead and watch him shovel snow. It’s the best.

 

 

General Observations from the PST Generals!

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to volunteer at Park Square for the General Auditions. Remember, I said I’d see you there?

Well, I don’t know you. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t see you! In fact, were you to introduce yourself to me now I would probably go, “Oh! It’s you! You were so nice and punctual!”

In fact, I would probably say a lot of things and to make it easier to read, I will list them in handy dandy bullet points. Therefore, allow me to ruminate on all the things that I happened to notice in my weekend at Park Square.

  • Brush up your Shakespeare! Maybe there was something in the air, or perhaps some specific auditioning, but 99.9% of the monologues I saw this weekend were from the Bard. Which is totally awesome! As an actor myself, I relished the chance to see five different Claudio’s and a handful of Ferdinand’s. Just as every actor is a unique individual, so then do they bring their own uniqueness the the same familiar words.
  • Every one who auditioned was so polite! After the weekend we got plenty of emails from the talent commending the volunteers, but truly, the credit goes to you fellow performers for making the job easy.
  • The people watching the auditions were so polite as well! And definitely patient. My favorite assignment was sitting in the room as the timer and getting to watch the directors as much as the actors. No matter if the computers were slow or the performer a little less than prepared – everyone was gracious and willing to wait.
  • There was no better time to go to the bathroom or scamper off down a hallway than the minutes before it’s your turn to audition. Without fail, I was always hunting down a stray actor.
  • Going back to my intro, I commented once that getting to see my friends audition was like a “greatest hits” of the Twin Cities theatre. Of course when you’re in a show with someone you often only get to know that one side – so how delightful it is to watch them do some Shakespeare or something off the wall.

So there ya have it! After reading all that how could you not be jazzed to attend yourself? You’ve got a whole year after all, so dust off some of your favorite pieces and mark you calendars!

 

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