





PLAY
SIX POINTS THEATER presents
Musical Revue / History Out Loud
Co-Created by Barbara Brooks & Raymond Berg
Directed & Choreographed by Shelli Place
Music Directed by Raymond Berg
An original musical revue, Promise of America: A New Celebration of Jewish American Song brings together live performance and short narratives exploring the scope and influence of Jewish American music across genres and generations, from the early 1900’s to the present day, including songs of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, rap, and rock, illuminating how Jewish voices, then and now, shaped the soundtrack of our nation.
THEATER

Highland Park Community Center Theater
1978 Ford Parkway
St. Paul, MN 55116
Promise of America:
A New Celebration of Jewish American Song


PERFORMANCES
TICKETS
MAY 2 - MAY 17, 2026
Saturday, May 2 ………….…...….. 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 3 ………………....…….. 1 PM
Sunday, May 3 …………………....….. 5 PM
Tuesday, May 5 ……………….……… 1 PM
Wednesday, May 6 ……….....…… 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 7 ………….....……. 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 9 ………….....…….. 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 10 ………….….….……. 1 PM
Tuesday, May 12 …………….………. 1 PM
Wednesday, May 13 ………....….. 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 14 …………..……. 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 16 ……………..….. 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 17 ……………..….…… 1 PM
🕖 Show Run Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes with one intermission
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âž¡ Content Advisory: This production is appropriate for all ages.
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Tuesday 1 PM ............................. $38
Wednesday 7:30 PM ................... $38
Thurs 7:30 PM ............................. $32
Friday 1 PM ..................................$38
Saturday 7 PM ............................. $43
Sunday 1 PM ............................... $43
Sunday 5 PM ............................... $32
Discounts
Groups of 10+ = $4/off each individual ticket
(In order to help cover essential operational costs, each ticket price includes a $3 processing fee).
Call 651-647-4315
for more information


The Artists

BENJAMIN DUTCHER*
Actor / Singer
Benjamin is a Twin Cities based singer, actor, and educator who has been seen on stages across the country. His repertoire covers a vast range of both opera and musical theater, and includes on-camera appearances for History Channel and PBS.
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Previous engagements include work with Theater Latté Da, History Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theater, Frank Theatre, Artistry Theater, Trademark Theater, The Playwright's Center, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Opera Columbus, Out of the Box Opera, Skylark Opera, Mill City Summer Opera, St. Croix Valley Opera, and Minnesota Opera.
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Benjamin was a part of the Drama Desk Award-winning Cast of “All is Calm” presented Off-Broadway, and especially loves being a dad.

KIM KIVENS*
Actor / Singer
Kim has performed with many local companies including Six Points Theater where she was in
25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, The Chanukah Guest, What I Thought I Knew, Natasha and the Coat, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, and Church and State.
Other stages include Theater Latté Da, Children’s Theatre Company, Hennepin Theatre Trust and Park Square Theater, among others.
Kim is also an on-camera and voiceover actor.

Barbara Brooks
Concept/Book
Barbara has spent the last 40 years in the world of theater. She is founder and Producing Artistic Director of Six Points Theater where she’s produced over 110 shows and nurtured 16 world premieres to the stage. Now in its 31st season, Six Points Theater garnered five Ivey Awards and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Arts Achievement Award. With an interest in providing opportunities for young children to experience and learn through theater, she commissioned four holiday shows, one with original music, that have played to thousands of pre-school through fourth grade students. Favorite stage credits include Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof (Paul Bunyan Playhouse), and Kate in Brighton Beach Memoirs (St. Croix Valley Summer Theater). At Six Points Theater she appeared in The Value of Names and Parade (co-production with Theater Latté Da), and directed The Magic Dreidels. A native New Yorker, she received a B.A. in Music from Vassar College and an M.A. in Music Therapy from the University of Minnesota.

Shelli Place
Director/Choreographer
Shelli is thrilled to be returning to Six Points Theater, directing her third production. She has staged comedies, dramas, and musical revues in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and created live shows for museums and major cruise lines. As Creative Director for Disney Business Productions, she developed shows for Fortune 500 companies. Minnesota credits include shows at the Guthrie Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, Park Square Theater, Old Log Theater, Jungle Theater and the Hennepin Theatre Trust. Shelli is co-founder and Producing Artistic Director of PRIME Productions, dedicated to “Celebrating Women in their Second Act!”

Miranda Shunkwiler*
Stage Manager
Miranda is thrilled to be back for her sixth season with Six Points Theater. Born and raised in the Twin Cities, they have been blessed to be part of the theater community, stage managing for companies such as The Jungle, Prime Productions, History Theatre, Theater Mu, Artistry, Yellow Tree Theater, New Native Theatre, Stages Theater Company, Minneapolis Musical Theatre, and many more. She couldn’t do it without the support of her wonderful partner, friends, family and of course her four cats.

Todd M. Reemtsma
Lighting Designer
Todd returns to Six Points Theater following designs for The Happiest Man on Earth and The Last Yiddish Speaker earlier this season. Previous Six Points Theater designs include An Act of God, Survivors, Just for Us, The Wanderers, Two Jews Walk Into A War, and many others. Locally, Todd has designed The Cake at Theater in the Round Players and Frosty: The Musical, A Christmas Carol, and Man of La Mancha at St. Croix Falls Festival Theatre. He has also designed lighting for American Repertory Theatre-Director’s Lab (Cambridge, MA), Gallery Players (Brooklyn, NY), and Footsteps Theater Company (Chicago, IL).

Joey Van Phillips
Drums & Percussion
Joey Van Phillips (Musician) is a drummer, percussionist, father, husband, actuary, television enthusiast, little league coach, chicken wing expert. A third-generation drummer and acclaimed and versatile musician, Joey’s career has spanned over two decades, dozens of records and multiple continents. He has written for, recorded, and performed with Dessa, Aby Wolf, Jonathan Brooke, and the Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra. In 2017, Joey released his debut album, Punch Bowl. To read more about this endeavor, visit his incredibly outdated website at jvpmusic.net.

IMANI HARRIS
Actor / Singer
Imani is a Minnesota-based actor and musical theater performer with a passion for bold characters and storytelling.
Their stage credits include the Witch in Into the Woods, Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Jane in Loveville High. Additional theater work includes Radium Girls, Much Ado About Nothing, Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963, and A Christmas Carol.
Imani has trained in an intensive performing arts program studying tap, jazz, ballet, acting, and vocal performance.

RANDY SCHMELING*
Actor / Singer
Randy returns to Six Points Theater after appearing in And Then They Came for Me in our 9th Season.
He is a 20 year theater veteran in the Twin Cities. He’s performed on stage at The Ordway, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, History Theatre, Theater Latte Da, Illusion Theater, Park Square, and many more. He has toured shows both nationally and internationally.
Randy is an accomplished singer and voice over artist, as well as a theater educator. He resides with his family in St. Paul.

Raymond Berg
Arrangements/Music Director/Keyboards
Raymond is excited to be doing his first show for Six Points Theater! A veteran of the Twin Cities music theater scene, he's conducted 31 mainstage productions at the Ordway, along with work at the Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, History Theatre, Artistry, and more. He’s the composer of a number of children’s musicals and musical scores for the Guthrie Theater and Mixed Blood Theatre. As an arranger, his music has played to audiences in 129 productions of Sisters of Swing in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and Austria. His arrangements are in shows licensed by Music Theatre International and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Library. He was a founding arts instructor at SPCPA and has taught at Children's Theatre Company and Minnesota Opera. He’s written jingles for a host of commercials for radio and television with clients ranging from McDonald's to Volvo. He received two Ivey Awards for Best Musical Direction. He lives in the Twin Cities with wife Michelle.

A. Emily Heaney
Costume Designer
Emily is returning to Six Points Theater after designing costumes for An Act of God and The Messenger last season. She has provided costumes for many theaters and schools in the Twin Cities area for over two decades, recently with Walking Shadow Theatre, Gremlin Theatre, and Totino-Grace High School. Emily is the National Costume Rental Coordinator at Norcostco.

Brady Whitcomb
Scenic Designer/Technical Director
Brady returns to Six Points Theater after Vienna, Vienna, Vienna, An Act of God, The Messenger, Just for Us, Torch Song, The Moneylender's Daughter, and Sisters in Law. Credits include Stages Theatre Company., Lakeshore Players Theatre, SOAR Regional Arts, Cross Community Players, and Bunce Performing Arts. He also creates art in photography, mixed media, and animation.

Kendall Roland
Assistant Stage Manager
Kendall is a recent graduate of Winona State University and is excited to be working with Six Points Theater again. Kendall chose to work in theater to help creative people share important stories with their communities and now, more than ever, knows that this work is vitally important. Previous stage management experience includes Winona State University’s production of Footloose, the River Arts Alliance’s production of Bach at Leipzig, and Six Points Theater’s production of The Happiest Man on Earth.

Christian Wheeler
Guitar, Mandolin, & Bass
Christian Wheeler (Musician) is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in the Twin Cities. This is his first show at Six Points Theater. He has performed at the Ordway, Chanhassen Dinner Theaters, Theater Lattè Da, and First Avenue.


* Appearing through an Agreement between this theater, Barbara Brooks, and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theater as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.



Season Producers
Rhoda & Don Mains
Ann Wynia
Individual Producers
Myron Frisch
Ellen Mack & Tom Bates
Producers Circle
Amy & Sonny Miller
Mary Ann & David Wark
