Take a quirky road trip in “The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild”
Published: October 12, 2009
and Times of Tulsa Lovechild."
The MSU School of Film and Photography and the new Actors Theatre of Montana stages the western premiere of the road trip comedy “The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild." The award-winning play, written and directed by Greg Owens, debuts at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 9-24 at MSU's Black Box Theater (corner of 11th and Grant streets on the MSU campus).
“The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild,” which the Los Angeles Times called “hugely cheerful and energetic,” follows the adventures of the eponymous Tulsa Lovechild as she journeys cross-country in a rental car to dump her hippie mother’s ashes in the parking lot of the motel where Tulsa was born.
Before the trip is over, Tulsa crosses paths with an eccentric cast of characters that includes a former child TV star, a lovesick farmer in a combine, a kidnapped beauty queen, conjoined circus performers and a Russian emigrant in a cowboy shirt.
Described by the Chicago Sun-Times as “a post-Jack Kerouac look at the forces that can go bump in the night in this country,” the offbeat romantic comedy is full of random weirdness and surprising beauty, just like life.
The play was named the Best Off-Loop Play of 2001 by the Chicago Tribune, and an excerpt appeared in the Best Men’s Stage Monologues of 2005, an anthology from Smith and Kraus. Due to strong language, this play is recommended for mature audiences only.
Playwright Owens, who lives in Bozeman, directs an all-star local cast that includes Joel and Kathy Jahnke, Cara Wilder, Dee Dee Van Zyl, Will and Susan Dickerson, Colter Langan, Tim Williams, Kathleen Hoberecht, Katrina Vollbracht, Kari Doll, Brian Kasser, and Dan Erickson. The production will also feature set and lighting design by Tom Watson, costumes by Faye Christensen, and original music composed by MSU student Rob Eastman.
Actors Theatre of Montana is a professional theatre company, based in Bozeman and newly-formed by Lila Michael, Dee Dee Van Zyl and Cara Wilder.
Tickets are $12-$14; to charge by phone, call 406-994-3904.
