As Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights celebrates 10 years in operation, it is offering alternating Art on Tap theatre and music series on select nights, with “post-show talkback” and time for socializing and beer and wine following a performance.
Jeromy Darling, the actor who portrays Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati in the theatre’s performance of “Frassati,” is the Art on Tap host.
Jeromy Darling
“We couldn’t have a better host in him,” said Jeremy Stanbary, who, with his wife, Sarah, cofounded Open Window Theatre and recently discussed the theater with “Practicing Catholic” radio show Patrick Conley for a program airing at 9 p.m. Oct. 1. “His years and years of music ministry, this incredible library of original music that he has created over the years. Also, with that redemptive vision, redemptive mission and yet, music, art that engages the culture.”
Stanbary said he wants to make Open Window Theatre, in its new location, with its spacious lobby, a great place for people to gather. “We want to make it a place of community and a place of fellowship, especially for Christians, for Catholics in the Twin Cities.”
And Stanbary wants to engage people of all ages and generations. “We have this multi-generational approach to our art, a multi-generational vision in the arts. This is a great way to try to reach out to and engage the young adult community, especially. But all adults.”
Jeremy Stanbary
Stanbary said a wide variety of ages has participated in Art on Tap, particularly the music series. “This year, we’re offering an Art on Tap music series as well as theatre series,” he said. “Once a month, we alternate between music series and theatre series.”
The music series is a concert hosted by Darling, he said, featuring a new artist each time — a Catholic or Christian artist from the Twin Cities. “People get to learn about a new artist, experience new music and hear incredibly inspiring stories. Jeremy does a great job. It’s different every time.”
Stanbary said Darling leads a casual interview with other artists. “It’s a casual, fun environment where you hear inspiring stories. You get to take in redemptive music and it’s a place for fellowship.”
The next Art on Tap, a theatre series, takes place Oct. 7 during the run of “Frassati,” with a post-show question and answer session with the cast, Stanbary said.
Frassati, born in Turin, Italy, died at age 24. Darling described the powerful scene of thousands of people in the streets of Turin for Frassati’s funeral — when his family and friends only now know of the work he’d done quietly in the slums — “loving those at the bottom, loving the hurting, the broken,” Darling said. “He just had an incredible, deep love for these people, to be with these people, to love and nurture these people and care for (them) in a way that’s really unmatched in our day and age.
“We feel his prayers and his intercession for us right now,” Darling said.
To learn more about Art on Tap and Open Window performances, visit OpenWindowTheatre.org.
To hear the full interview with Darling and Stanbary, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It also airs at 1 p.m. Oct. 2 and 2 p.m. Oct. 3 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Catherine Huss, who describes the modest, high quality swimwear she designs for the company she founded, and Steve Grass and Bri St. Amour, who preview the upcoming Archdiocesan Youth Day.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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