Secret Social at Cleveland Public Theatre now through Dec. 23; graphic by Sean Higgins

The 12 and 12 believe that the Grimms’ tragic 12 Dancing Princesses wasn’t just a fairytale and work to reunite the princesses and their suitors. Oh yeah, and they throw really great parties.

Earlier this week, Scott and I attended one
of their initiation ceremonies.

But don’t worry, I can share a bit of the secret rites that transpired.  Because the 12 and 12 isn’t a real secret society, but the heart of Cleveland Public Theatre’s latest undertaking – the highly immersive world-premiere
The Secret Social.

Playing now through December 23, The Secret Social is the latest brainchild from Cleveland Public Theatre and the award-winning Conni’s Avant Garde ensemble.

If you’re familiar with Cleveland Public Theatre’s work, you may have seen their previous collaboration with Conni’s during the last couple of holidays: Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant.

This wild night of theatre and food went on to recently win Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Performance Art Production at the New York Innovative Theatre Awards (you can read my review of Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant here).

And while Conni’s featured the New York theatre company’s long-running ensemble, The Secret Social is a fresh celebration of devised theatre that is equal parts CPT and Conni’s.

Over the matter of only a few months, an ensemble of artists from Cleveland Public Theatre and Conni’s worked together to create this new story and develop their characters.

The end result is a very memorable evening of theatre where the audience is just as much a part of the adventure as the actors.

As soon as we picked up our tickets from the box office, Scott and I were introduced to the soft-spoken, friendly Etude (played by Lauren Joy Fraley) and entered into The Secret Social‘s slightly off-kilter reality.

Connie Hall (the saucy Cady and Conni’s Avant Garde producing director) and Lauren Joy Fraley (Etude); photo credit Steve Wagner

In addition to introducing us to the world of the 12 and 12, Etude’s tour took us into parts of CPT’s campus I’ve never seen before – backstage stairs and hallways.

And as our tour came to a close, the curtains opened onto the 12 and 12’s social hall  (the James Levin Theatre).

There we joined the rest of the night’s audience, picked out our secret identies (mine was Isadora Jar; Scott, Jack Frost), and took a seat at one of the cabaret tables.

It’s a very special meeting of the 12 and 12 you’re there to witness – the initiation of Boris, a young gardener (Val Kozlenko) who must go through a series of 3 trials and sacrifice his heart’s desire, the sacrifice each member makes to try and break the 12 princesses’ curse.

Throughout we were treated to a dance lesson, serenades, vegetable bowling and other games as the story unfolded.

Meanwhile we enjoyed a cash bar and a light supper of paesano bread; rich, creamy farmers’ cheese; kielbasa, and a bowl of borscht (Eastern European beet stew). Afterwards, we wore our shoes down dancing just like the princesses.

Part of The Secret Social’s ensemble (from bottom left: Connie Hall, Lauren Joy Fraley, Dionne D. Atchison, Val Kozlenko and Tony Cintrony; photo credit Steve Wagner)

Congratulations to The Secret Social‘s ensemble for weaving an enchantment of their own.

Under the direction of Cynthia Croot, the ensemble’s Conni Hall, Jeffrey Fracé, Dionne Atchison, Tony Citrony, Jordan Davis, Lauren Fraley, Val Kozlenko and Amy Schwabauer each in their own way made it easy to slip into their world and want to be a part of it.

My advice? Let them. Put aside your assumptions when you open the theatre’s doors and play.

Individual tickets for The Secret Social are only $45 and include the light supper.

They’re also offering special packages for groups of 8 and 16 (purchase 8 tickets and get 2 bottles of wine; groups of 16 receive a 10% group discount along with 4 bottles of wine).

The Secret Social is at the Cleveland Public Theatre now through December 23. Performances are Wednesday through Monday in the James Levin Theatre. The cash bar opens at 6:30 with the show starting promptly at 7 (no late seating).

Tickets can be purchased online, by calling (216) 631-2727 extension 501, or in person at CPT’s box office (the group discount for 16 tickets is only available by calling the box office).

Get your tickets soon, though, because last weekend sold out fast.

Disclosure: I was invited to see The Secret Social in exchange for blogging about my experience. As always, my opinions and the choice of events I share are my own.

Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant may be a delicious mix of fine dining and theatrical insanity; however, as Conni's rule no. 7 instructs it is not dinner theatre. (photo from cptonline.org)

My friends know me well — or they at least read my blog — because they surprised me with an early Christmas present this past Saturday: 2 tickets to Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant at Cleveland Public Theatre. Regardless of whether they took a hint from ‘All I Want for Cleve-mas,’ they stumped me and found a show that wasn’t on my radar yet.

What is Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant?  Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. I very briefly looked at Cleveland Public Theatre‘s site before I went, but all I knew was that it was going to be experimental theatre at its most ridiculous and I’d get a meal.  Beyond that, I planned on being surprised. 

As soon as we walked into the Cleveland Public Theatre, the fun began with us selecting a holiday persona from a tray of nametags. I chose to undertake the mantle of Ms. Mannheim Steamroller, while Scott – who loves a good pun – went with Mince ∏. The doors had opened a half hour before the show to allow guests to mingle in the lobby’s bar and sample a delicious roasted chestnuts and mushroom tartine appetizer. Hunter, one of the members of the ensemble, was our barkeep for the night, slinging beers and wine from behind the bar and sharing his opinions on the world.  Miss Goodi Two Shoes was also flitting about the pre-show party welcoming guests as would be expected of the gracious ballerina. A few moments before 7, we were greeted by a parade of all of our evening’s hosts, who laid out the rules for the night:

1. Inside the Restaurant you are not a customer, but an invited guest of Miss Conni Convergence.
2. There is absolutely no ordering, but you can ask for seconds.
3. Referring to the performers as “waiters” is insulting, don’t do it.
4. Everything in the world of the Restaurant is a set piece, backdrop, or prop.
5. Share.
6. What happens in the Restaurant stays in the Restaurant.
7. And most importantly, this is not dinner theatre.

We walked into the Gordon Square Theatre where tables had been set up throughout, along with a kitchen and stage decked with the sign from Conni’s Restaurant. Although it’s nothing like your traditional dinner theatre, Conni’s Avant Garde has been hailed as a unique theatrical-culinary event mixing the ingredients of fine food, wine, and ensemble theatre that results in a loving send-up of avant-garde pomposity.

The plot of the show is fairly loose with the performers wandering throughout and a lot of improv mixed in:  It’s the holidays at Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant, which isn’t a place but instead a troupe of avantgardists inspired by the legendary Miss Conni Convergence, a revolutionary teacher of the culinary performance arts. Miss Goodi Two Shoes, who aspires to be Clara in this year’s Nutcracker, is suddenly pregnant. And Mrs. Robinson, a washed-up, seemingly overconfident rocker who likes to switch pants with his dinner guests, has received what he thinks is an invitation to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, in Miss Conni’s absence, General Manager Sue James tries to keep Goodi, Mrs. Robinson and the rest of the wild crew in line with limited success.

Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant answers the question “What would happen if a group of experimental theatre artists took over a roadside restaurant?” (photo from cptonline.org)

In addition to the crazy cabaret, improv comedy, nudity, death and violence, guests are treated to a five-course home-cooked meal and bottles of wine.  Using local ingredients (most of which came from West Side Market’s The Basketeria), the performers originate, cook and serve the meal.  Every course is prepared and served via a musical number (Goodi’s mysterious impregnation during the soup course was very entertaining). Because of this, the food becomes part of the source material for the evening’s performance.

Besides being thoroughly entertaining, the meal was delicious. In addition to the roasted chestnuts and mushroom tartine, we were treated to a curried butternut squash soup; herbed apple and fennel salad; maple-glazed ham with cranberry compote, brown-buttered radishes and sage-roasted sweet potatoes; and drunken chocolate bundt cake.  My favorite dishes were the soup and the radishes that accompanied the ham. I’m a sucker for butternut squash but the extra kick from the curry elevated this soup and the freshly baked bread they served was an excellent complement.  Also, prior to Conni’s, my radish experience had been limited to raw in a salad, so the tender radishes surprised me — I need to have them more often.

After seeing Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant, I was curious about the backstory behind the concept and did some browsing through their website. While in residence for a production of As You Like It in coastal Maine, a group of actors fantasized about moving into an abandoned area diner called “Conni’s Restaurant.” With this, a running joke of “What would happen if a group of experimental theatre artists took over a roadside restaurant?” was born. For the last few years they’ve been finetuning and expanding the concept in New York – being awarded a grant in 2009 to build a theatre company on the model of a food business. Although the majority of Conni’s performers hail from NY, the Cleveland production ‘Feast of Miracles‘ also featured local talent including four actresses who played the Nurses and Chef Chef Bon Bon who oversaw the meal and provided the delicious bread and Bundt Cake via her Gordon Square Bonbon Bake Shop.

This was the first time I had a seen a production at Cleveland Public Theatre, though I knew about them as one of three organizations at the heart of the Gordon Square Arts District revitalization.  Known for producing adventurous and experimental theatre, CPT was the perfect place to hold the Midwest premiere of Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant. CPT’s emphasis on supporting new artists and non-mainstream works is what Conni’s is about — both in the content of the performance as well as the origination of the concept. 

Sadly, Conni’s closed its sold-out Cleveland run on Sunday so that they could return to New York to continue serving their delicious mix of insanity and fine food.  However, Clevelanders don’t need to fear for a lack of challenging, new theatre since CPT’s 2010-2011 season picks back up with the Big [BOX] ’11 Series on January 14. With 10 more pieces on this year’s schedule, CPT will be busy until June when they end the season with their original production Cut to Pieces, a solo show that blends live video feed, film, and animation. 

Cleveland Public Theatre / Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant 411:

Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant

• Feast of Miracles at CPT
• What to Expect at Conni’s
• The Avantgardists
• Who is Miss Conni Convergence?
• Miss Conni’s on Facebook
• @MissConni

Cleveland Public Theatre

• 2010-2011 Season Calendar
• Box Office Information
• Maps and Direction
• History of CPT
• Cleveland Public Theatre on Facebook
• @CPTgordonsquare