Did you know that the first female presidential candidate was a former fake psychic who bedded Cornelius Vanderbilt? How about that Dr. Bronner (the verbose natural soap king) began his career in an insane asylum? Did you ever meet the Root Beer Lady, a wilderness woman who served rootbeer to tourists from her cabin in the Boundary Waters? Featuring biographical songs penned by nationally-acclaimed songwriter Elisa Korenne, the Tenth Muse explores the question: "How fringe can a person get?"
Korenne is a songwriter's songwriter and a crowd-pleasing performer who specializes in songs about oddballs. With her acoustic guitar, hand-drum, or using only her mesmerizing voice, Korenne sings stories about people too fascinating for the history books. The Tenth Muse is Korenne's theatrical story and song concert about some of the most unlikely subjects she's encountered. On the trail of the ordinarily unsung, Korenne also tells her own story: how she found her way from an elite education to an unlikely musical path and then from New York City to rural west central Minnesota.
Korenne and her parade of real life members of the American fringe--including a lightbulb-eating sideshow performer, a suicidal madam, a cheerleading nun, and a Russian immigrant with Munchausen's syndrome--will help you get the most fringe out of the fringe festival. Get more fringe. Join the musical romp through fringe folk history with award-winning singer-songwriter Elisa Korenne.
Korenne has begun to gain national attention as a performing and recording artist. Singer & Musician Magazine lauded Korenne's debut CD Favorite as a Top 50 independent release of 2005 along with Aimee Mann's The Forgotten Arm and Tracy Grammar's Flower of Avalon saying "Favorite belongs on anyone's must-play list. Korenne has also been called "one of the best we've ever heard" by online independent music retailer CD Baby.
Korenne's intelligent and graceful songwriting is not limited by genre and spans pop, rock, jazz, contemporary folk, country and even Celtic and vaudeville stylings. Indie-music.com describes Korenne as "a great trapeze artist, floating effortlessly through a multitude of genres, her superb voice catching her each time with equal ease. She seduces you by creating a mood, setting a table of unnamable delights, her opulent voice drawing you in before you realize you're even hungry."
Recognizing Korenne's unique talent for illustrating history in song, the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission commissioned Korenne to create "Minnesota's Ordinarily Unsung Concert" (MOUC) a song and story show celebrating Minnesota's 150th anniversary. Korenne has performed MOUC across the state, at the Minnesota State Fair, and continues to perform the show at museums, schools, libraries and other venues.
Debuting at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, The Tenth Muse is the newest piece in the Ordinarily Unsung project, Korenne's collection of songs and stories about people on the fringes of history who made great contributions to the social fabric of their communities.
Listen to excerpts of songs
Andy the Lightbulb Eater
Butte - The Elinore Knott Song
Root Beer Lady - The Dorothy Moulter Song (full song)
Hold On - The Dr. Bronner Song
For more information on how to book Korenne or purchase her CD's, please contact info (at) elisakorenne.com.
The cast
Elisa Korenne
Role: Performer
"Elisa's rich voice is amazingly addictive." - Pulse Weekly
Along with her rich voice, smoldering live performances, and elegant songcraft, Elisa Korenne brings a rare authenticity to her music. After cutting her teeth in the high-caliber New York City music scene, the preeminent independent music retailer CD Baby hailed Elisa as "one of the best we've ever heard" and Singer & Musician magazine said she "belongs on anyone's must-play list." Over the last two years, Elisa has been gaining national recognition as a songwriter and composer. The Jerome Foundation, the Ucross Foundation, the Hedgebrook Foundation, and the Robert M. MacNamara Foundation selected Elisa as a recipient of four prestigious artistic fellowships based on the quality of her music. As a performer, Elisa has been a headliner at regional, national, and international festivals. In 2005, the Nevers-a-Vif music festival in France chose Elisa to open the line-up of international artists. She has earned songwriting awards from the Plowshares Songwriting Contest, Sisters Folk Festival, Great American Song Contest, Song of the Year, Song Prize, and the Philadelphia Songwriters' Project. Elisa's live performances match her songwriting talent; her arresting presence combined with humor, playful insouciance, and her often-remarked upon husky vocals lend her the rare ability of consummate performers to keep listeners riveted.
Elisa's performing experience spans pop-rock and funk-rock bands, an Israeli blues band, a cappella singing groups, theater, and, most recently, the pop-rock-folk troubadour tradition. After receiving her BA in History from Yale University, Elisa took a break from performing music while she earned a master's degree in international development from the London School of Economics, co-founded the international technology nonprofit Geekcorps, and created an innovative policy consulting firm. Reconnecting with her first love--music--Elisa has dedicated herself to writing, recording, and performing and has created a sound featuring vocal intensity and captivating songwriting. Elisa's music can now be heard on her debut album, Favorite, which was selected as one of the Top 50 Indie Releases of 2005 by Singer & Musician magazine. In addition to touring and songwriting, Elisa continues to work on her Ordinarily Unsung project, a collection of songs about members of the fringe in American history.
Maggie Cino
Role: Director/Developer
Maggie Cino is a director and story coach for the MothSHOP Outreach Program. Her one woman play, Ascending Bodily, is published by the New York Theater Experience. She has created and performed material for numerous productions, including Angry Little People (FringeNYC) No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Show That Made Vaudeville Famous (Theater For the New City, NYC) Moliere's Monster (Ohio Theater, NYC) Tramp!: A Clown Show (Nationwide Tour) and Geek on Smack (Fringe NYC) Selected acting credits include Faith, Hope and Charity (The Public Theater, NYC) The Dorothy Building (Here Arts Center, NYC) Antarctica (San Francisco Fringe Festival/FringeNYC) and Word to No One (Camden People's Theater, London). This summer she will appear in the world premier of Trav SD's new musical about the Manson family, Willy Nilly.She is a graduate of the Dell Arte International School of Physical Theater, the voiceover for sex ed videos, and has been called by critics "a force of nature." Also a member of the play development collective of the Present Company, she isworking on a full length drama aboutestranged siblings, the New Jersey shore, the effects of the financial crisis, and the Russian mob.
Annie Katsura Rollins
Role: Technical Director
Annie Katsura Rollins is a current MFA student in theatre design at the University of Minnesota. Recent credits include scenic design for Black Label Movement's Field Songs at the Southern Theatre, Bright Room Called Day/U of M, scenic/costume design for The Woyzeck Project/U of M, director/creator for Shadows/Xperimental Theatre, director/creator for After Sunset Shadow/Minneapolis Parks Summer 2009, director for New York Mills Puppet Pageant Summer 2009. Here's to finding your inner Muse ~ Thanks Elisa!
Elisa Korenne
The Tenth Muse
Thu., Jul. 30 @ 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 1 @ 2:30 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 3 @ 8:30 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 7 @ 8:30 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9 @ 4:00 p.m.
Venue U of M Rarig Center Arena
For ages 12+
Created by Elisa Korenne
Web site www.elisakorenne.com
genres Solo, Musical theater
subjects Historical
features Audience participation, Multimedia, World premiere, Original script/choreography, Original music, First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer
Overall rating
User reviews
story songs
by Karen Cooper Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
She has a lovely voice and a simple clean guitar style. Her stories were fairly entertaining but the whole magilla didn't hold together. A good show, but not a great one.
Adorable
by Brian Kitzerow Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
This is why we come to the Fringe - artists like Elisa. I always enjoy it when one person can conceive of an idea, nutures it, develops it, creates it, and works to make it her artistic expression. How can anyone find fault with that?
This is a charming piece of song and story-telling. Not everyone can express their lifes journey in this manner, and to do so this well is why we give artists like her a chance. Maybe it's not for everyone, but if you're truly interested in solo artists giving their all, this is one show you'll enjoy.
Highly recommended.
Maybe just buy one of her cds...
by Sarah Holmberg Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
I think Elisa's approach to songwriting is pretty interesting. Folk music has such a wonderful way of collecting stories and setting them to song. But the songs themselves seemed too much like stories, and not enough like...songs, I guess. She wasn't transforming them into anything new. Maybe it's the structure of the show, where she tells us the story and then sings us the song. Maybe if I heard the songs on their own I'd hear it as music and lyrics, not a retelling of the story I just heard.
She does have a wonderful voice, and some of the songs in particular have some nifty things going on, but I just can't recommend seeing this show. Especially after the videotaping. That was rather off putting.
Do check her music out, though, if you're into storytelling and folk music.
I was captivated
by Brian Alexander Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
While everyone is knocking themselves out trying to get into the shows that cater to the Minnesota comfort zone, they are missing out on some true treasures. Here, in the 10th Muse, is what the Fringe is about - An artist that has spent years creating an artisitic expression and is now putting it out there for judgement. Explore this piece like you would a fine painting. Look to understand the journey that has taken place. Enjoy the wit and the music. I really, really liked this.
Baffling and Boring
by Justin Alexander Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
I was baffled and bored by a show which structured itself like this:
(1) Korenne tells you about an interesting historical person who did X, Y, and Z.
(2) Then Korenne sings a song which largely consists of saying, "There was an interesting person who did X, Y, and Z."
The repetition and forced sing-alongs do nothing to help the pedestrian and rather mediocre folk songs.
I was similarly bored and baffled by the entire narrative arc of the "Tenth Muse" -- a tale which starts nowhere, goes nowhere, and tells you nothing.
The Me Show
by David Trudeau Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
The songs were not interesting enough to sustain the hour. It seemed to me the story was mostly about Korenne, her setbacks in life, and her cleverness.
Draws you in slowly
by Pat Lindgren Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
It took me a little bit to warm up to this show. She did a really good job of drawing us in just a little bit at a time. By the end of the show, I was hooked. A good singer-songwriter who shares with you how each song presented itself to her.
A Fun Show
by Rob Callahan Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Tells eight stories with accompanying songs, within the larger story of a muse in training and a struggling singer/songwriter who work together at honing their talents. A funny, quirky and well-paced performance.
Fun songs
by Jim Belich Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
The focus of the show is songs about oddballs in US history, from a lightbulb eater to cheerleading nuns. I loved the songs, nicely written and well-performed, and the people they were based on were definitely interesting. Elisa has a very nice stage presence and is clearly in her element when singing and playing. The framework of the tenth muse didn't work for me as much, as I would have preferred more background on the historical characters. (A more cabaret-type format would probably work better.) The people ARE very interesting and the song format only provides so much room to talk about them. Still, all in all I very much enjoyed the performance. With the sing-a-long element this is a great show for families.
Fun and inspiring
by Michele Campbell Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Elisa has a put together a great collection of songs about people who lived on the edges of society. She's got a great spirit and a lovely voice. Her performance really engages the audience to sing along. This show made a great impression on me.
Playful and Witty
by Dale Swanson Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
A talented writer and pleasing singer musically combines historical tales in her dialogue with a mythological muse.
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