At the Iveys. . .

In case you haven't heard, the Ivey awards went off at the State Theatre last night. (The Sage awards are at the Walker this Wednesday.) We've posted Ivey winners in a previous news post. You can also check out the articles at the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune for some general overviews of the evening. Kudos to Tad Simon on the Minneapolis-St. Paul magazine website for getting the list of winners up less than an hour after the ceremony ended. (And if you haven't been reading his blog in general, maybe you should.) We (meaning MinnesotaPlaylist) also thought we’d slink around and give those of you who couldn’t make it to the party an inside view of the Twin Cities’ primary theatrical schmoozefest. I was mostly reminded of a banquet that I went to ten years ago at which my mother was receiving some kind of honor. I honestly can’t remember what it was that she was awarded, but I know that it was special, and I know it made her happy, and I also remember that my girlfriend and I - starving young artists that we were at the time - had to scour our closet for something appropriate to wear to the event. Watching the Iveys I felt as though I were back at that banquet: a little proud, a little embarrassed for no reason that I can explain, occasionally bored, but generally appreciative that the night was nice and people were together. I honestly don’t know what to add. But I'll try. . . At the VIP party, I lurked: leaning into tables, trying to eavesdrop, and failing. When I ran into Jungle Theatre Associate Artistic Director Joel Sass and Mu Performing Arts Artistic Director Rick Shiomi I tried to get them to explain how I could recognize the rich people at the party. Who were the VIPs exactly? To the eternal frustration of their respective development departments, they had no idea who the rich people were either. In fact, when actors get all dressed up nice, they look pretty rich themselves. Or maybe it was the dim lighting and expensive martinis. Ten minutes later, I hovered outside the State Theater where a gaggle of high school kids screamed and shouted for everyone who was brave enough to enter the building across the wide blood red carpet under the marquee. It is truly amazing how much noise four excited high school girls can make, and how willing they are to do it. I stood outside the theater from 6:30 to 7:30, but only saw a small percentage of the theater artists I know were in the building because, even at a freakin’ awards show for dramatic people to celebrate themselves, Minnesota theater people are afraid of attention. More than a few actors I know snuck up to me at the curb and asked me if I knew how they could enter the building without walking by the 10 paparazzi the Ivey awards had hired to help the theater community be seen. Such ironic modesty, these Minnesota actors. Mostly, as I stood there, I looked at what people were wearing, and I’d tell you what I noticed about what people were wearing, but I’d just embarrass myself. Next year, I promise, MinnesotaPlaylist is going to hire a fashion reporter to cover the Ivey awards. Inside, there was some hugging, and singing - o, and awards and stuff. Generally, it looked and felt almost exactly like the Emmys or the Oscars (except without Neil Patrick Harris or Jack Nicholson) from the awkward teleprompter reading of canned jokes to the slippery music that the producers used to move honorees off the stage quickly. This morning, I already can't really remember what the honorees won their awards for. I'll probably forget quickly who precisely won this year, but, regardless, sometimes, you just need to go to that banquet with your family and be happy about it.