Brent Alles puts on production of “Danny Trooper and the Hall of Valhalla”
03 May 2011 | Grand Rapids Allied Health Staffing, Our People
What do you get when you combine students ages 7 to 18, dedicated community members and characters such as Wrex the Wunderdog and Princess Starlight?
Cast members of "Danny Trooper and the Hall of Valhalla" pose for a photo.
If you’re Brent Alles, you get a brand-new production: “Danny Trooper and the Hall of Valhalla.” Brent, a client representative for CompHealth allied health staffing in Grand Rapids, wrote and directed the play, which is being performed May 5-7 at the Lowell Peforming Arts Center in Lowell, Mich.
“This play is actually a sequel to my play ‘Danny Trooper in the Land of ModMyth,’ which was produced two years ago locally here in West Michigan,” Brent explains. “That play examined the idea of ‘modern mythology:’ that is, what ‘mythological’ figures are created by children (and some adults) by what they view on television and film, read in books, etc. In the original play, Danny found a passage into another world where all of the heroic and villainous characters from television, film and literature from the last 100 years reside.”
The Danny Trooper sequel continues the original story, with Danny’s father keeping his promise to take him to Asgard to meet the Norse gods on his thirteenth birthday.
Brent says that this production shows Danny getting older, aging from 11 to 13, and helps kids to understand the adjustments that happen in their relationships with their friends and family and their expectations in society, too.
“I was obsessed with mythology as a child, and I’m still pretty much obsessed with mythology, science fiction and fantasy to this day,” Brent shares. “So ‘Valhalla’ is still about that obsession, I suppose, but it also looks at growing up and what changes to you as that happens.”
While he spends a year writing, revising and rewriting every play he produces, Brent also invests time into auditions, which last two days, and rehearsals over six to seven weeks. He mentions balance as one of the difficulties that come with putting on a production.
“With community theater and working with kids, your challenges, of course, are dealing with all of the other things that kids and adults do besides community theater,” Brent says. “Obviously, we all still have to show up to school or our jobs.”
Despite the long hours required when putting these productions together, Brent finds the process rewarding in many ways.
“It’s always great to see my stories brought to life by actors, but the things I enjoy the most about doing theater for youth are getting kids involved in theater, which I think benefits them in a multitude of ways, [including] presentation skills, self-esteem and self-confidence, and getting kids to come watch theater and hopefully want to see additional shows,” Brent says.
Alles in Wonderland A collection of sediments at the delta of my stream of consciousness.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Spring Break 2011 - SoCal - Days 1-2
As always, I'll probably be horrible about remembering to do this, but here we go.
As we were a bit Florida'd out after last year, we decided this year we would visit southern California. I had been there a couple of times before; Camille had never been there in her life.
Saturday was our flight out and surprisingly no problems. Got into Minneapolis and had an hour delay, but all things considered these days with airline travel, it could have been worse. Then into LAX, which wasn't quite as nightmarish as I remember it from previous visits.
We went to get the rental car and as usual, they gave us something relatively inappropriate for two people - in this case a souped-up black Dodge Charger. Believe me, though, we're having fun driving it.
The weather was unbelievable... 75 and sunny when we arrived. Coming from 32 and snowy in Grand Rapids (and 21 and cold in Minneapolis), Camille and I almost felt like bawling.
Our euphoria was soon muted, however, as California traffic was as bad as I remembered it, even on a Saturday afternoon. We slowly drove into Norco (where we are staying with my aunt and uncle) and settled down for the night.
Sunday it was off to church, where my uncle used to be a minister but due to some tectonic shifts is now just a member. (Long story, but aren't they all.) Shifting back to a non-Catholic way of worship is always interesting after being a confirmed Catholic for 7+ years, but we handled it well. Camille even tolerated the contemporary music.
At the luncheon after church, an incredibly nice lady Hazel and her husband Jesus (hay-zeus) informed us of all the things we could do in southern California during the week. I believe she named close to 100 before taking a moment to gulp down some air. With our heads swimming, we decided to head for Temecula for the afternoon.
We arrived in Temecula and shuffled around Old Town, which has a rustic charm to it. Many shops, many bars, and apparently quite biker friendly, as they were swarming around the place.
I needed a pair of sunglasses (always remember to forget something when packing, doncha know), so we stopped at a shop and Camille picked out a pair that she liked for me to wear. Lest you think I'm totally hen-pecked, this is actually necessary as I have (a) no fashion sense and (b) some gender confusion, apparently, as I have picked out sunglasses in the past that I thought were manly but turned out to be designed for women.
Anyway, the sunglasses Camille liked for me were jet black and had a pair of wings through an "X" with it. She thought it was cool. Apparently it had some biker connotation, though, as I was greeted in a friendly manner the rest of the day by various bikers. Thank goodness none of them asked me to go through an initiation.
We also stopped at a jerky store where I purchased a "sampler" pack of exotic meats, including alligator and ostrich. The alligator, of course, tasted like chicken, although the jerky producer sort of cheated by including beef with the overall package. Still, I'm looking forward to the kangaroo/beef stick I have waiting for me later in the week.
Many wineries inhabit the Temecula area, but as they had a massive festival going on, we decided not to be part of the throng and save the wineries for another day. Back to Norco for some rest and relaxation.
Today it's off to San Diego for the zoo, Gaslamp Quarter, and other assorted fun sites. Back later to update you Rabbit Holers on how that all went.
As we were a bit Florida'd out after last year, we decided this year we would visit southern California. I had been there a couple of times before; Camille had never been there in her life.
Saturday was our flight out and surprisingly no problems. Got into Minneapolis and had an hour delay, but all things considered these days with airline travel, it could have been worse. Then into LAX, which wasn't quite as nightmarish as I remember it from previous visits.
We went to get the rental car and as usual, they gave us something relatively inappropriate for two people - in this case a souped-up black Dodge Charger. Believe me, though, we're having fun driving it.
The weather was unbelievable... 75 and sunny when we arrived. Coming from 32 and snowy in Grand Rapids (and 21 and cold in Minneapolis), Camille and I almost felt like bawling.
Our euphoria was soon muted, however, as California traffic was as bad as I remembered it, even on a Saturday afternoon. We slowly drove into Norco (where we are staying with my aunt and uncle) and settled down for the night.
Sunday it was off to church, where my uncle used to be a minister but due to some tectonic shifts is now just a member. (Long story, but aren't they all.) Shifting back to a non-Catholic way of worship is always interesting after being a confirmed Catholic for 7+ years, but we handled it well. Camille even tolerated the contemporary music.
At the luncheon after church, an incredibly nice lady Hazel and her husband Jesus (hay-zeus) informed us of all the things we could do in southern California during the week. I believe she named close to 100 before taking a moment to gulp down some air. With our heads swimming, we decided to head for Temecula for the afternoon.
We arrived in Temecula and shuffled around Old Town, which has a rustic charm to it. Many shops, many bars, and apparently quite biker friendly, as they were swarming around the place.
I needed a pair of sunglasses (always remember to forget something when packing, doncha know), so we stopped at a shop and Camille picked out a pair that she liked for me to wear. Lest you think I'm totally hen-pecked, this is actually necessary as I have (a) no fashion sense and (b) some gender confusion, apparently, as I have picked out sunglasses in the past that I thought were manly but turned out to be designed for women.
Anyway, the sunglasses Camille liked for me were jet black and had a pair of wings through an "X" with it. She thought it was cool. Apparently it had some biker connotation, though, as I was greeted in a friendly manner the rest of the day by various bikers. Thank goodness none of them asked me to go through an initiation.
We also stopped at a jerky store where I purchased a "sampler" pack of exotic meats, including alligator and ostrich. The alligator, of course, tasted like chicken, although the jerky producer sort of cheated by including beef with the overall package. Still, I'm looking forward to the kangaroo/beef stick I have waiting for me later in the week.
Many wineries inhabit the Temecula area, but as they had a massive festival going on, we decided not to be part of the throng and save the wineries for another day. Back to Norco for some rest and relaxation.
Today it's off to San Diego for the zoo, Gaslamp Quarter, and other assorted fun sites. Back later to update you Rabbit Holers on how that all went.
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