Theatre Review: Excellent cast, crew present charming whirlwind of events in "Rose and the Rime"

By Joe Kirkish, Michigan Tech faculty emeritus
Posted Feb. 11, 2014 on Tech Today
Reprinted with permission

Rose (in red) is lifted into the air for her journey to find the rime witch who has cursed her town with perpetual winter -- in Michigan Tech's production of Rose and the Rime. It will be performed a second weekend at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13, 14, 15. (Photos courtesy Patricia Helsel, director and Michigan Tech associate professor, Visual and Performing Arts)

The other night I saw a production in Michigan Tech's McArdle Theatre. It's called Rose and the Rime, a charming mix of fairy tale, music, Cirque du Soleil, Noh Play and critters of every sort. It is set within an eye-popping, ever-changing setting of yards of voluminous material on which moving abstract projections appear and disappear to suggest a variety of places -- all of them around a Michigan town that's been cursed with perpetual winter by a hideous rime witch. It's up to Rose, a sweet young girl in red, to find the witch, take battle (high in the air) and return the town to its previous four seasons.

With Patricia Helsel conceiving, supervising, and directing a large cast and exceptional tech crew, a simple fairy tale has been turned into a whirling, fast-paced event that grabs you from the opening scene. There, mysterious creatures in blue-grey tights slither in and out of the huge ice-bound arena center stage, and the play moves to Rose's journey, battle with the witch, a falling in love, and, finally, a return to a normal spring back in Rose's home town. It's a whirlwind of events so excitingly and charmingly accomplished by an excellent cast that you are left stunned and very pleasantly entertained with the magic of it all.

Rose confronts the rime witch, who is dramatically suspended in the air.

Everyone from children to adults will truly enjoy this perfectly created dramatic spectacle. It will be presented again at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-15. For tickets and more information, call Ticketing Operations, 487-2073.*

*Editor's Note: Click here to read more about the play and the special backstage tour for children on Saturday.

Tech Theatre Company to present modern fairy tale with dance, music Feb. 6-8, Feb. 13-15

HOUGHTON -- The Tech Theatre Company presents Rose and the Rime, a spectacular modern fairy tale of courage and hope in the face of adversity and fear. The fable features Rose, a very special girl who embarks on an adventure to save her town, Radio Falls, Michigan, from perpetual winter. The play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 6, 7, 8 and Feb. 13, 14, 15 in the McArdle Theatre, in the Walker Center for Arts and Humanities at Michigan Technological University.

The play includes dance, and original music composed by students. For younger audiences (5 and under) the Saturday performances include a backstage tour with the cast and crew to help children become more comfortable with potentially scary content.

According to Director Patricial Helsel, "Welcome to the world of Rose. Her town has fallen under a spell cast by the Rime Witch leaving its residents in perpetual winter. With the actors and production crew, the directing and design staffs have collaborated in bringing to life Rose’s adventure to save her town. The production includes a corps of 'sprites' who facilitate the transformation of locations and moods. 

"Tech’s production incorporates aerial silk dance as a binding element allowing the set to come to life. Rose’s world is further formed and transformed by original music and sound effects that take the audience on a journey across glacial cliffs, into mysterious ice caves, and into the belly of the Rime Witch. The mood moves from silly yet mysterious, to edge-of-your-seat frightening, to victorious glory and painful sorrow, and back again to light-heartedness. Some scenes may be scary for young children. Tech Theatre is offering pre-show tours before the Saturday performances, at 6:30 p.m., in an attempt to prepare and acclimate youngsters by experiencing the environment through 'touch,' 'see,' and 'listen.' Families with tickets for the Saturday performances should meet in the lobby of the McArdle Theatre, Walker 2nd floor."

General admission is $13, youth tickets (17 and under) are $8, and Michigan Tech student tickets are free with the experience Tech fee.

The play is presented by the Michigan Tech Department of Visual and Performing Arts.  To purchase tickets, call (906) 487-2073, go online at rozsa.mtu.edu, or visit Ticketing Operations at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex (SDC), 600 MacInnes Drive, in Houghton. SDC box office hours are 8 a.m. - 9 p.m., Monday-Friday; 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday; and 12 noon - 8 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets will also be available at the McArdle Theatre box office, located on the second floor of the Walker Center for Arts and Humanities, two hours prior to the show.