About
From September 18 – 28, Pillsbury House Theatre is ecstatic to return to live in-person theatre once again with Aleshea Harris’ What to Send Up When It Goes Down. This is the directorial debut of PHT’s new Artistic Producer, Signe V. Harriday and is a remount of our previous production, which was presented July 2 – 18, 2021.
Part ritual and part theatrical experience, What to Send Up When It Goes Down is a fiercely innovative play that sets out to disrupt the pervasiveness of anti-blackness and rejoice in the resilience of Black People throughout history. Using monologues, scenes, songs and discussion the play offers space for examination, reflection and ultimately a cathartic cleansing of harm caused by anti-blackness that permeates us all.
From left to right, top to bottom: JuCoby Johnson, Derrick Mosley, Alexis Camille, and Mikell Sapp. Photo Credit: David Schnack of Pagoda Pictures.
This play was created for a Black audience but all are welcome. The intention of the play is to create a space for as many Black-identifying audience members as possible.
DETAILS:
What to Send Up When It Goes Down
by Aleshea Harris
Directed by Signe V. Harriday
Starring Aimee K. Bryant*, Alexis Camille, Ryan Colbert*, JuCoby Johnson*, Rajané Katurah*, Darrick Mosley*, Mikell Sapp*, and Darius Dotch*.
Faye Price | Producer
Noël Raymond | Producer
Elizabeth MacNally* | Production Manager
Lyndsey R. Harter* | Stage Manager
Seitu Jones | Set Designer
Queen Drea | Composer/DJ
Peter Morrow | Sound Designer
Maje Adams | Sound Engineer
Abbee Warmboe | Props Designer
Kathy Kohl | Costume Designer
Kenji Shoemaker | Assistant Stage Manager
Sterling Miller | Covid Safety Officer
Levi Houkom | Rigger
Amber Brown | Wardrobe
Katie Deutsch | House Technician
Gaea Dill-D’Ascoli | Set Builder
Jordan Hamilton | Scenic Painter
* denotes a member of the Actors’ Equity Association.
SHOWTIMES include SEPTEMBER 18 & 25 at 10:30AM, SEPTEMBER 19, 21, & 26 – 28 at 5:30PM, and SEPTEMBER 20 at 5:00PM. September 26th’s performance will include ASL Interpretation.
Pick-your-price tickets are on sale now. Performances take place outdoors in the PHT parking lot at 3519 Chicago Ave. Audiences are highly encouraged to bring their own seating. Each show will be capped at 50 people. FACIAL MASKS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND. Box office will stop taking calls half an hour before show opening due to space limitations.
What to Send Up When It Goes Down is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
BUY TICKETSProgram
WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN
by Aleshea Harris
https://concordtheatricals.
New York City Premiere by The Movement Theatre Company.
Cast (Listed Alphabetically)

Photo by Tom Wallace
AIMEE K. BRYANT* (COMPANY)
Aimee K. Bryant has built a lengthy resume performing on stages throughout the Twin Cities since she graduated from Howard University. Most recently, she appeared in Dining With the Ancestors at the Guthrie, Riddle Puzzle Plot with Park Square, and Promise of America with MN Jewish Theatre. In addition to being an actor, Aimee is a teaching artist, songwriter, and vocalist. Her debut CD, Becoming, is now available online. Aimee was named City Pages 2015 Actress of the Year, and was a McKnight Theatre Artist Fellow for 2015-2016.
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Photo by Dena Denny
ALEXIS CAMILLE (COMPANY)
Alexis Camille is an actor, storyteller, and educator living in Minneapolis, MN. They began studying theater and improv in Oakland, CA after serving in the U.S. Marines. They work with HUGE Improv Theater, The Theater of Public Policy, and internationally known Blackout Improv, and are thrilled to be part of the Pillsbury House Theatre community. Alexis made their film debut in the award winning short “Bathroom Break,” which premiered at the Montreal Feminist Film Festival in 2020. Alexis Camille especially appreciates contributing to endeavors that create a culture of self-expression, inclusivity, open dialogue, laughter, and healing via the arts.
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Photo by Brandon Dahlquist
RYAN COLBERT* (COMPANY)
Ryan Colbert is born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. Cedar-Riverside and Southside. REPRESENT. After graduating from the University of MN/Guthrie BFA Acting program, he has worked with various theaters around Twin-Cities. His first production with Pillsbury House + Theater was a new work by Tracy Scott Wilson (Prep). Other theaters include: Mixed Blood theater (Charm, Colossal), The Guthrie theater (Choir Boy, Frankenstein – Playing With Fire, As You Like It, Born Yesterday, A Christmas Carol), Ten Thousand Things (Sins of Sor Juana), Park Square Theater (Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet, The Color Purple, Calendar Girls, Agatha Christie’s Rule of Thumb), Children’s Theater Company (The Lorax, The Sneetches, The Abominables), and more.
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Photo by Ben Saefke
JUCOBY JOHNSON* (COMPANY)
JuCoby Johnson is truly honored to be making his Pillsbury House Theatre debut. He has been seen onstage at The Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Jungle Theater, Theater Latté Da, Theater Mu, Ten Thousand Things Theatre Company, and many more. His plays include How It’s Gon Be (Underdog Theater, 2019), …but you could’ve held my hand (Developed at the 2020 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference), 5 (2021 O’Neill NPC Finalist, Seven Devils Finalist), I’ll Be Seeing You Again (Jungle Serial Audio Series, 2021) and Revelations (Playing On Air, 2021). He is a 2021-2022 McKnight Fellow in Playwriting.
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Photo by Ben Saefke
RAJANÉ KATURAH* (COMPANY)
Rajané Katurah is delighted to be making her Pillsbury House debut! Select theatre credits include Cinderella with Children’s Theatre Company, Smokey Joe’s Cafe with Ordway Center of Performing Arts, Thunder Knockin’ At the Door with Ten Thousand Things and Marie & Rosetta with Park Square Theatre. She earned a B.A in Theatre from Spelman College and has also trained at The British American Drama Academy. Thank you to AEA for guiding us back home!
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Photo by Rob Demery
DARRICK MOSLEY* (COMPANY)
Darrick Mosley is delighted to be making his debut at Pillsbury House Theatre. His credits include A Raisin in the Sun with Park Square Theatre, Highwaymen with History Theatre, Choir Boy with The Guthrie Theater, and The Ballad of Emmett Till with Penumbra Theatre. Darrick is a native of Mansfield, Louisiana. He received his BA in Speech & Theatre from Grambling State University.
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Photo by Sarah Morreim
MIKELL SAPP* (COMPANY)
Mikell Sapp is delighted to be returning to Pillsbury House Theatre. Some of his credits include Broke-ology with Pillsbury House Theatre, The Ballad of Emmett Till with Penumbra Theatre, The Agitators with Park Square Theatre and The Snowy Day with Children’s Theatre Company. He is a proud graduate of Alabama State University and a native of Phenix City, AL.
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DARIUS DOTCH* (COMPANY)
Actor and Hip Hop artist Darius Dotch is excited to make a return to Pillsbury House! He most recently performed for Pillsbury in the Ivey Award winning show Marcus or the Secret of Sweet which played at Guthrie Theater. Other career highlights include Raisin in the Sun at Park Square Theatre, Skelton Crew at Yellow Tree Theatre, Bars and Measures at Jungle Theatre and Pipeline at Penumbra Theatre. Dotch’s next performance will be at History Theatre in which he’ll star in the brand new play Not in Our Neighborhood by Eric Wood and Tom Fabel.
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Artistic & Production Staff

Photo by R. J. Eldridge
ALESHEA HARRIS (PLAYWRIGHT)
Aleshea Harris’s play Is God Is (directed by Taibi Magar at Soho Rep) won the 2016 Relentless Award, an OBIE Award for playwriting in 2017, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award in 2019 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
What to Send Up When It Goes Down (directed by Whitney White, produced by The Movement Theatre Company), a play-pageant-ritual response to anti-blackness, had its critically-acclaimed NYC premiere in 2018, was featured in the April 2019 issue of American Theatre Magazine and received a rare special commendation from the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Harris was awarded a Windham-Campbell Literary Prize and the Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Award in 2020 and the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in 2021. She has performed her own work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Orlando Fringe Festival, REDCAT, as part of La Fête du Livre at La Comèdie de Saint-Étienne and at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Harris is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has enjoyed residencies at Hedgebrook and Djerassi.
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SIGNE V. HARRIDAY (DIRECTOR)
Signe V. Harriday is a director, multidisciplinary artist, and performer. She is co-founder of MaMa mOsAiC and an Associate Company Member of Pillsbury House Theatre. She earned her MFA in Acting at the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.
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QUEEN DREA (COMPOSER, DJ)
Queen Drea has created work about depression in the Black community, the loss of Black men’s lives in America, and an Afro-Futurist operetta “From Black Wombs” about two sisters who have lost their parents in the revolutionary war against white supremacy. She has been commissioned to compose soundscapes for Ananya Dance Theatre and Black Label Movement, sound design for Penumbra Theatre’s production of “For Colored Girls”, as well as Pillsbury House Theater’s “Great Divide” 3 and 4. Queen Drea is a 2019 ASHE Lab Fellow with Penumbra Theater, a 2020 Naked Stages Fellow with Pillsbury House Theater, and 2021 Jerome Fellow Finalist. https://www.queendrea.com
“I have been investigating some thoughts on Black Love and how it is strong enough to withstand being denied. Acknowledging that the way we came to this country and the way our families were separated in the name of capitalism is the reason why we are separated now. Acknowledging the pain of this reality. Acknowledging the beauty of this reality. Acknowledging Black Love in its many forms and expressing this love through my art.” –Queen Drea
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Photo by Ryan Volna
LYNDSEY R. HARTER* (STAGE MANAGER)
Lyndsey R. Harter (she/her) is grateful to be joining this brilliant ensemble for her first production with Pillsbury House Theatre. Pandemic credits include Dining with the Ancestors at Guthrie Theater and Today Is My Birthday with Theater Mu. She also served as the Production Stage Manager for two of Theater Mu’s virtual new play festivals, TwentyPho Hour Playfest and New Eyes Festival 2021: (Un)Scene. In the Before Times, she also collaborated with Minnesota Opera, Theater Latté Da, New Dawn Theatre, Playwrights’ Center, History Theatre, Park Square Theatre, and Great River Shakespeare Festival. Lyndsey is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and serves on Equity’s Twin Cities Liaison Committee and National Stage Managers Committee, in addition to her work with the Minnesota Theater Accountability Coalition.
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Miesha Williams
STERLING MILLER (COVID SAFETY OFFICER)
Sterling is very grateful to be making his debut at Pillsbury House Theatre as the CSO for the company. He is a recent graduate of Dillard University and believes wholeheartedly in black liberation for ALL black folks.
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SEITU JONES (SET DESIGNER)
Seitu is a St. Paul visual artist. Working on his own or in collaboration with other artists or communities, Seitu Jones has created over 30 large-scale public artworks. As a scenic designer, he has created sets for Penumbra Theater (where he is a company member), Minneapolis Children’s Theater, the Guthrie Theater, the Illusion Theater, Ananya Dance Theater, Pangea World Theater, and Park Square Theater.
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PETER MORROW (SOUND DESIGNER)
Peter moved to the Twin Cities from Dublin, Ireland in August 2012. He is a composer, sound & video designer and is technical director for New Native Theatre. He has worked with companies, theatres and artists including Exposed Brick, Pilsbury House, Stages Theatre, Daleko Arts, Red Eye Theatre, Tru Ruts, Yellow Tree, Interact, Mixed Blood, zAmya, Pangea World Theatre, Macalaster College, Augsburg University, Threads Dance Company, Hiponymous, Ifrah Mansour, Akiko Ostlund, Artistry, Theatre Latte Da, Park Square and The Guthrie. He performs with the band Bella Yaga and as a solo artist. In Dublin he worked primarily with the award winning company Brokentalkers, devising new works as composer and sound designer. Peter has a Masters in Music and Media Technology from Trinity College Dublin.
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Photo by Matthew Jurek
ABBEE WARMBOE (PROP DESIGN)
Abbee Warmboe is making her Pillsbury House Theatre debut. Recent work includes Handprints with Ten Thousand Things Theater and Freestyle Films, Today Is My Birthday with Theater Mu, La Boheme, Bernarda Alba, Chicago with Theater Latte Da, The White Card, Pipeline, benevolence with Penumbra Theater, Dixie Swim Club, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with Old Log Theater. She also frequently collaborates with Mixed Blood Theatre, History Theater, Ordway Center, Interact Center, University of MN among others. Abbee is a 2020-2021 McKnight Theater Artist Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center.
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Photo by Brett Dorian
KATHY KOHL (COSTUME DESIGN)
Kathy Kohl worked with Pillsbury House years ago on Splash Hatch on the E Going Down, and has helped to realize young peoples’ amazing costume visions in the Chicago Avenue Project. Last shows before the pandemic shutdown were Frank Theatre’s The Convert, Walking Shadow Theatre’s The Ugly One, Penumbra’s (unproduced) How Black Mothers Say I Love You. This year she provided costumes for Open Eye Figure Theatre’s current production, Log Jam! Kathy has an MFA from the University of Minnesota and has worked as a freelance costumer in the Twin Cities for over three decades.
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JORDAN HAMILTON (SCENIC PAINTER)
Jordan M. Hamilton (b.1989) is multi-disciplinary visual artist. His work explores embodiment of spirit & expression of cosmic & elemental energy through semi-abstract narratives. Immersed in the arts from a young age, Graffiti art propelled Jordan into an artistic practice in 2003, followed by branching into mural making & studio arts, exploring painting, sculpture, collage, installation, digital arts, puppetry, performance, adornment & mixed media. Since 2005, Jordan has contributed to & led dozens of community murals & public arts. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, streets & stages throughout the Twin Cities. Jordan’s work is deeply woven with community, informed through ancestry & influenced by spirit, with an affinity for the abstract. Infinite aspects.
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KENJI SHOEMAKER (ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER)
Kenji is a local Stage Manager and Prop Designer and is delighted to be working his first show with Pillsbury House Theatre! “Recent” (pre-pandemic) credits include Peerless with Theater Mu, Aubergine with Park Square Theatre, The Convert with Frank Theater, and 20+ production with Stages Theatre Company, where he previously worked as a Production Associate.
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FAYE M. PRICE (PRODUCER)
NOEL RAYMOND (PRODUCER)
ELIZABETH R. MACNALLY* (PRODUCTION MANAGER)
KENJI SHOEMAKER (ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER)
MAJE ADAMS (SOUND ENGINEER)
KATIE DEUTSCH (HOUSE TECHNICIAN)
LEVI HOUKOM (RIGGER)
AMBER BROWN (WARDROBE)
Show Branding Photography by David Schnack of Pagoda Pictures. Press Photography by Tomas Leal of LealStudios. Videography by Adriana Foreman of YANIMADEIT Productions.
Contributors
Funding from state and federal government agencies, local and national foundations and donations from individual donors fuel Pillsbury House Theatre’s work. Contributions support not only our Mainstage and Naked Stages seasons, but also the Chicago Avenue Project and our community engagement programs.
Thank you to all donors for your generosity. If you have made a donation in the last year and do not find your name listed below, we apologize for the omission and ask that you let us know by contacting Elise Gumm at 612-787-3622 or eliseg@pillsburyhousetheatre.org.
Sponsors and Grantors
Aroha Philanthropies
Bush Foundation
David & Leni Moore Family Foundation
Jerome Foundation
McKnight Foundation
Minnesota State Arts Board
National Endowment for the Arts
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Rosemary & David Good Family Foundation
Ruth Easton Fund of the Edelstein Family Foundation
Shubert Foundation
Target
Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota
Doris Duke Foundation
Premier Donors
Theodore F. Cornwell
Russell Cowles
Fran Davis
Nickie Dillon
Maureen and Art Dollase
Linda Donaldson
Lucas Erickson Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation
Diane Faissler
Lynn Glesne
James & Jean Hartman
Susan Haugh & Jane
Ramseyer Miller
B. Hlavac
Dennis & Karen Fenster
First Universalist Church of Minneapolis
Green Light Productions
James & Jean Hartman
Miriam & Erwin Kelen
Jodi Kellogg
Laurel Lapore
Janet & Bill MacNally
Marianne E. Merriman
Carol Milligan
Sarah & Jeff Milligan Toffler
Eric Mueller & Burt Coffin
Jean Raymond
Lewis & Connie Remele
Michael Root
Norah Shapiro & Andrew Harrison
Laura & Kurt Taken-Holtze
Francis & Frank Wilkinson
Annual Fund Donors
Lindsay & Darlynn Benjamin
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Farrand Anderson
Jeanne Andre
Alan & Carol Arthur
Caroline Bassett
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John Becker
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Jean Raymond
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Michael Root
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Ann Sargent
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Box Office Donors
Mary Aalgaard
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Sunday Alabi
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Lynnette Black
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Persigehl Cheryl
George Clabon
Michael Condon
Howard Cutts
Jane Dickerson
Faith Dietz
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Marie Easley
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Mary Evans
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David Fettig
Gerald Foley
Carolyn Folke
Robert Frame
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Lesley Guyton
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Janelle Hill
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George Hoagland
Carolyn Holbrook
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Joel & Katharine Horowitz
Debra Ingram
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Kiara Jackson
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Beverly James
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Project 2019 Donors
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Lily Thiboutot
Pramila Vasudevan
Carla Waldemar
Beth Milligan Memorial Fund Donors
In memory of Beth Milligan, a longtime friend of Pillsbury House Theatre, the Beth Milligan Memorial Fund focuses on fostering the creation and development of new plays.
Elizabeth H. Athorn
Patricia & Bill Bancroft
Thomas & Sandra Boecker
Annette & Charlie Castle
Charles & Julie Edelen
Columbus Investment Advisory
Community Foundation of Shelby County on behalf of Carol Milligan
Marit & Ruben DiRado
Allen Driskill & Edie Milligan
Arthur Ellison
Robert Fantauzzo
William & Colleen Faulkner
Joanie Fischbach & Jon Everett
Cathy & Nat Fuller
Michelle & George Geissbuhler
Neill Merck & Sue Gibson
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Sushmita Hodges
Anne Holzinger
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Paula & David Keil
Rebecca Knittle
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Gregory Lais & Patti Thurber
Linda & Randy Madson
Carol Milligan
John & Linda Milligan
Julie Milligan
Marilyn Milligan
Thomas & Martha Milligan
Sarah & Jeff Milligan-Toffler
Aunalee & Ross Moore
Mary Ellen Murphy
Northern Ohio Cut Stone
Jeffrey & Katie Nyberg
Ohio Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Association
Douglas & Kristine Poland
Jean Raymond
Noel Raymond & Amy Finch
Sam & Linda Robinson
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Ann Ruff & John Coope
Catharine Ruther & David Vanney
Kate & Scott Schaefers
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Kaia & Rik Svien
Carol & Gary Thompson
Thomas & Polly Watkins
Jerry & Janice Weigandt
James Wellman
Marnie Wells & Ralph Bovard
Lisa Yost
Fletcher & Kathryn Zimpher
Amy Zorn
Pillsbury House Theatre is supported in part by:
Aroha Philanthropies
Art Works
Bush Foundation, Creative Community Cohort 2
Doris Duke Foundation
Ruth Easton Fund of the Edelstein Family Foundation
Rosemary and David Good Family Foundation
Jerome Foundation
Marbrook Foundation
The McKnight Foundation
Minnesota State Arts Board
National Endowment for the Arts
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
Target
Theatre Communications Group
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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. | ![]() |
The Ruth Easton Fund
Actress Ruth Easton (née Edelstein) was born in North Branch, Minnesota and graduated from North Branch High School. She attended the University of Minnesota for one year and the following year attended Macalester College before finishing her collegiate career at Cumnock School in Los Angeles. She went on to New York where she studied acting with Oliver Morosco. Mr. Morosco opened a stock theater company in upstate New York where Ms. Easton starred in several plays. After performing with other stock theater companies she returned to New York City where she appeared in five Broadway plays over a period of seven years. They included Exceedingly Small, Privilege Car, Town Bay, Buckaroo, and Charlie Chan. Exceedingly Small was directed by Ethel Barrymore and Easton played opposite Eric Dressler. New York critics praised her performance as “thoroughly touching” and “highly spirited and excellent.” She starred in radio dramas on the Rudy Vallee Hour and the Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour opposite such actors as Walter Huston, Judith Anderson and Lionel Barrymore. She also appeared with Clark Gable, Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson during the course of her career.
Ms. Easton’s legacy, her commitment to theater and the development of new works continues through the charitable gifts distributed through the Ruth Easton Fund of the Edelstein Family Foundation.