MOVERS & SHAKERS: Artsy Notes From Around the Twin Towns

November 5, 1998.By Revue of the Twin Cities.

We had to ask: just what does local director Peter Rothstein’s mother think of his company’s new show, “Oh S***, I’m Turning Into My Mother”?

“Well, she’s not much on the title,” cracked Rothstein, who actually got the show’s moniker from a kitschy refrigerator magnet. “She took one look at the [publicity] postcards we were planning to send out” – which, incidentally, do not use asterisks in the excrement-related title – “and said, ‘The U.S. Postmaster will not deliver these!”

While Rothstein does a marvelous imitation of his own mom, the director-performer (who theatergoers may remember for his out-there performance as Buzz in Park Square Theatre’s “Love! Valour! Compassion!” last year) will remain behind the scenes for this show. In addition to directing, he and Denise Prosek are co-producing the piece for their cabaret company, Theater Latté Da. The show is a montage of tunes by artists as diverse as Reba McEntire, Mama Cass and Broadway’s Kander & Ebb, mixed in with affectionate and outrageous reflections on motherhood by local actor Tod Petersen. And by the way, Rothstein is quick to point out that his mom put all her reservations aside when she saw a sneak preview last week. “She loved it – she was laughing and crying,” reports her proud son. For ticket information and a review of “Oh S***, I’m Turning Into My Mother,” see Center Stage on page 26.