Harald (Steve Scheide) dances with Ingrid (Adrienne Grieco) in Prairie Heart, which opens at E.B. Foote Winery Friday, Jan. 16th.

Ingrid (Adrienne Grieco) and Anders (Eric Hartley) dance in Prairie Heart.

Prairie Heart Director Alan Wilkie.

BTB Advertiser “Prairie Heart,” an original musical comedy by area Playwright TM Sell, opens Friday night, Jan. 16th at Burien’s E.B. Foote Winery, with doors opening at 6:30pm and the show starting at 7pm.

Tickets are just $20 per person and include wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, and the play.

The winery will be chilly so dress warmly and casually.

Tickets are available at E.B. Foote Winery and at Corky Cellars, located at 22511 Marine View Drive, Des Moines; phone: 206-824-9462. Visit the winery or call for tickets, 206-242-3852 or check out breederstheater.com.

Tickets can also be ordered online at E.B. Foote’s “Current Releases” page here, and Sherrill will call you to confirm a date and other details (credit cards accepted with a $5 fee per ticket OR your credit card can guarantee the tickets, and you can pay at the door with cash or check.)

Love blooms unexpectedly in “Prairie Heart,” written by local Playwright T.M. Sell. The plot revolves around Scandinavian pioneers in North Dakota in the 1890s.

“That’s about the time my great-grandparents homesteaded there,” says Sell.  “The story is based on the kinds of stories their descendants used to talk about when I was a kid.  But I think it’s an immigrant experience that a lot of people will be able to relate to.”

The show is directed by Alan Wilkie with music by Nancy Warren, choreography by Teresa Widner and costumes by Melissa Sell.

The cast features:

• Adrienne Grieco
• Luke Amundson
• Eric Hartley
• Melissa Grinley
• J Howard Boyd
• Steve Scheide
• Melissa Malloy

Show dates are:

• Friday, Jan. 16
• Saturday, Jan. 17
• Sunday, Jan. 18
• Wednesday, Jan. 21
• Friday, Jan. 23
• Saturday, Jan. 24
• Sunday, Jan. 25
• Wednesday, Jan. 28
• Thursday, Jan. 29
• Friday, Jan. 30
• Saturday, Jan. 31
• Sunday, Feb. 1st

On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday performances, doors open at 6:30pm, and the show starts at 7pm.

Sunday shows start at 2pm and the doors open at 1:30pm.

The annual “Escape from Super Bowl Sunday” show is Sunday, Feb. 1 and starts at 1pm.

Proceeds from the Jan. 29 show go to benefit the Highline College Foundation.

Each performance includes tasting of E.B. Foote’s award winning wines and hors d’oeurves, still for only $20.

Tickets are $20 per person and include wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, and the play. The winery will be chilly so dress warmly and casually.  Tickets are available at E.B. Foote Winery and at Corky Cellars, located at 22511 Marine View Drive, Des Moines; phone: 206-824-9462. Visit the winery or call for tickets, 206-242-3852 or check out breederstheater.com.

Tickets can also be ordered online at E.B. Foote’s “Current Releases” page here, and Sherrill will call you to confirm a date and other details (credit cards accepted with a $5 fee per ticket OR your credit card can guarantee the tickets, and you can pay at the door with cash or check.)

For more information, contact T.M. Sell at breederstheater@aol.com.

And now, a quick Q & A with T.M. Sell:

Q: What is “Prairie Heart” about?
A: “Prairie Heart” is about Scandinavian immigrant farmers in North Dakota in the 1890s.  From what I’ve heard and read, life was a bit of challenge then, so it’s about what people went through when they got there.  It’s also about the difficulty of romantic life.

Q: How is this different or similar to your previous work?
A: It’s similar in that there’s romance; it’s different in that there’s no mutant aliens, no talking animals, no gods descending from heaven; just fairly normal folks trying to get through life.  But I hope it’s still funny.

Q: Why 1890s in North Dakota?
A: That’s where my great-grandparents homesteaded, near Minot.  We visited there this summer, and it was very interesting.   So parts of the story is based on their stories.

Q: Are there any parallels to modern-day life in the general Burien area?
A: At some level all of our ancestors were immigrants who went through some struggles to get there.  And at some level, most of us have struggled with romance and relationships and trying to figure how to say the right thing to the right person, while hoping that he or she doesn’t laugh in your face.

Q: Tell us about your cast.
A: Luke Amundson plays Ole, a bachelor farmer; he played Tom Monroe in Crazy/Naked last year.  Adrienne Grieco plays Ingrid, a young woman who ends up alone and basically penniless in his town.  Eric Hartley and Melissa Grinley play a more settled, successful farm couple; Steve Scheide plays another young man who is interested in Ingrid; J Howard Boyd plays a narrator who helps explain the story as it unfolds.   It’s a very strong cast and I feel very lucky to get work with them all once again.

Q: I understand you’re doing a benefit show – details please?
A: Jan. 29 is our annual fundraiser for an arts scholarship that we created at Highline College.  We’ve been able to help a dozen students with tuition assistance in the eight years we’ve been doing the scholarship.

Q: Let’s talk about the important stuff now – the wine – what’s on tap for this production? And do the cast members get to imbibe during the show?
A: Sherrill will be tasting six wines, featuring her reds, of course.  I can’t speak for how medicated the cast might be for a show, but they do tend to take their work very seriously.

Q: As 2009 begins, do you have any predictions for Readers of the B-Town Blog?
A: More crazy weather; more timely local news; perhaps more awareness that we really do live in a very nice part of town.

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