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The Wind Phone

By Broken Wing Productions

Directed by Nicole Wilder

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The Wind Phone is found in a quiet park, not connected to any earthly system. On it, mourners will call their loved ones passed in hopes of finding the peace to work through their pain.
Adult language
The creators say this show is appropriate for ages 16 and up
Seat Reservations and Show Tickets
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Add to Schedule Date Time Ticket Options Quantity Purchase
Sat 08/03 7:00 PM

Pre-sale closed Online sales end at 11:59pm the day before the show, or when 70% of the house is sold.

Sun 08/04 7:00 PM

Pre-sale closed Online sales end at 11:59pm the day before the show, or when 70% of the house is sold.

Fri 08/09 7:00 PM

Pre-sale closed Online sales end at 11:59pm the day before the show, or when 70% of the house is sold.

Sat 08/10 7:00 PM

Pre-sale closed Online sales end at 11:59pm the day before the show, or when 70% of the house is sold.

Sun 08/11 7:00 PM

Pre-sale closed Online sales end at 11:59pm the day before the show, or when 70% of the house is sold.

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Reviews for: The Wind Phone


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Video Trailer
Cast and Crew
Nicole Wilder (she/her)
Director

Nicole Wilder is a Twin Cities based theatre artist and musician who received her MA in Theater from Miami University in Ohio, where she focused on directing and gender studies. She is proud to have helped many emerging playwrights and visionaries bring their stories to the stage, as she did in 2022 with My Empty Arms, also a Broken Wing Production. In addition to jumping in to direct, she also serves as the Director of Mentorship Opportunity with Broken Wing. Watch for more information on that!!

Sheree Froelich (she/her)
Lana/Playwright/Co-Creator

Sheree is thrilled to be back in the Minnesota Fringe Festival! You may have seen her previously at Fringe in Mermaid Productions' Have you seen this Girl, Jezebel Productions' Reclaiming My Time and Sheree wrote and performed Broken Wing Productions' My Empty Arms, Minnesota Fringe Festival's golden Lanyard winner for Audience Pick, 2022. Outside of Fringe Sheree has been privileged to work with some fantastic companies including Wonderlust Productions, Freshwater Theatre, Theatre Unbound, Paper Soul, Gnarly Beard Theater, and the Nichole Carey’s Christmas Cabaret. She is a company member at Freshwater Theater, a founding member and Artistic Director of Broken Wing Productions, board member at Arts Nest, and cohost of the YouTube series Singing with Scot. In her free time Sheree loves hiking, walking fuzzy corgi Lucy, gardening, listening to her spouse play guitar and is a huge fan of Elevensies (PO-TA-TOES). She's proud to be a part of The Wind Phone. Grief is such a challenging and often lonely process. Her hope is that seeing this show will help others feel less isolated and find comfort in the stories they hear.

Callie Aho (she/her)
Co-Creator

Callie Aho is a theater artist based out of Minneapolis. As a director, some of her favorite credits include Radiant Vermin with Lyric Arts, Independence with Chameleon Theater Circle, Teenage Misery with Devious Mechanics, and Reclaiming My Time with Jezebel Theatre Company for the 2019 Minnesota Fringe Festival. She is also the resident intimacy director with Lyric Arts, where she has worked on such productions as Proof, Little Women, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberly, The Wedding Singer, and many more. She is very excited and proud of her work as part of the creative process for The Wind Phone. And while she wishes she could be a part of this production, she is thrilled to be enjoying her greatest role of being a parent.

Megan Kim (she/her)
Alice

Megan Kim is thrilled to be in her second production with Broken Wing, having appeared in My Empty Arms in 2022. She is a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy-Los Angeles. She spent 9 years acting and singing in LA before returning to the Twin Cities. Megan is a company member with Wonderlust Productions and Gnarly Bard Theatre. Other theatre credits include: Artistry, Freshwater Theatre, Theatre Pro Rata, The Neighborhood Playhouse and Next Act Theatre. She also performs with Pillsbury House + Theatre’s Breaking Ice program.

Kira Pontiff (she/her)
Peggy

Kira first caught the theater bug as a student at South High School in Minneapolis and went on to major in Theater Arts at Hamline University. Some of her most notable projects include, Independence with Chameleon Theater Circle and Most Massive Woman Wins with Theater Unbound. She can also be seen in the movie, Guns of the Apocalypse from local filmmaker Christopher Mihm.

Anthony Sisler-Neuman (he/him)
Carter

Anthony works as a theater-maker and educator in the twin cities. He and his wife, Haley, are the co-founders and directors of Graceful Monsters Educational Theatre Collective, working with youth. Anthony also facilitates conversations with fellow educators and caregivers about mindfulness in language, specifically around gender identity. He has had the pleasure of working with Uprising Theatre Company, 20% Theater Company, Freshwater Theater Company, the Twin Cities One Minute Play Festival, Fortune's Fool, and others. He is so grateful to be performing such an important piece of theatre and dedicates this show to his brother from another/"hetero" life-mate who has been running the post Earthside party for seven years now, Mikey and his namesake (my toddler) who reminds me every day that his memory lives loudly right by my side.

Boo Segersin (she/her)
MaryAnne/musician

This is Boo's 9th year at the Minnesota Fringe! You may have seen her in past Fringe productions with The Winding Sheet Outfit (Årsgång, The Darger Project, Edward Lear, Blood Nocturne, Sisters Fox), Theatre Pro Rata (The Convent of Pleasure), Really Spicy Opera (Game of Thrones: The Musical), or Ghoulish Delights (5 prisoners, Melancholy London). Outside Fringe, she has performed with many lovely companies such as Puppet Lab/Open Eye, Wayward Theatre Company, Transatlantic Love Affair, Nimbus Theater, Stages Theatre Company, Theatre Unbound, Collective Unconscious, Fearless Comedy Productions, Impossible Salt, Swandive Theatre, and Six Elements Theatre. Boo graduated from Augsburg University with a B.A in Theater Arts. To get email notifications about her upcoming shows, sign up for her newsletter here. @aboointhetheatre

Wini Froelich (she/her)
Understudy

Wini is honored to join the Wind Phone rockstars. Wini performed in Fargo Allegro at the 2023 MN Fringe Festival. She also appears in The Mystery Cafe in productions such as: Hollywood's Most Wanted and Alma Murder. She has performed with Theater ProRata, TigerLion Arts, Freshwater Theater, Full Circle Theater, and Wayward Theater. See her up next in Lincoln's Children with Goulish Delights, The Vibrator Play with Gnarly Bard Theater and Til' Death Do Us Die and A Cruisemas Carol (snort laugh) with The Mystery Cafe. Thank YOU for supporting live theater and MN Fringe!

Mike Mellas (he/him)
Stage Manager

Mike Mellas is thrilled to be working with Broken Wing Theatre as stage manager for The Wind Phone. Mike's a long-time Minnesota Fringe enthusiast, directing both Aging in an Age of Change and Tales From the Fiefdom in last year's Fringe. When he's not doing theatre things, he's probably at work running a local arts nonprofit, or cuddling with a dog that looks like a lizard.

Andrew Lester (he/him/his)
Set/Prop Designer

Andrew Lester is an award-winning, multi-talented artist. A professional dancer, he is a company member of Shapiro & Smith Dance and has also worked with many other prominent companies, both locally and internationally. As an actor, he has performed with Siege Perilous Productions, Shadow Horse Theatre, and understudied at Park Square Theatre. Also an avid designer, he's created costumes for Freshwater Theater, done scenic design for the Phoenix Theater, and fabricated props and costumes for various cabarets. Andrew is the co-founder of Alchemy Arts, which premiered its first production, When You Hear the Chime, at the MN Fringe Festival in 2023.

Sarah Riley (she/her)
Original Artwork

The paintings of Sarah Riley are inspired by nature, folklore, and dreams. Riley has a deep and sincere reverence for nature and the creatures that dwell there. The tradition of storytelling and making sense of the world through legends, lore, and creativity are an important part of every culture, and Riley strives to capture this narrative, story-like quality in her art. Riley’s background in Art Therapy and Ecopsychology has honed her lifelong belief that art IS therapy, and it is her ongoing goal to make art which elicits catharsis and serenity for its viewers.

Mark Moore (he/him)
Set Construction

A native of Illinois, Mark spent 30 years in industrial sales and the past 20 years as a priest in the Episcopal church. He began woodworking over 40 years ago making cabinets, furniture, and novelties for homes and churches. This is his first foray into making theater set pieces.

Scot Froelich (he/him)
Producer/Box Office

Scot is a long-time Fringer, having worked on festival shows since 2002. He's performed in a dozen or so, sound designed many more (including this year's Close Call by Brian Watson-Jones and They Still Make Film For That? by Kevin Ealaín), and written and produced four of his own, including Men Will Be Boys in 2013, Break Your Heart in 2016, A Man's Guide... in 2019, and last year's Aging In an Age of Change. He's also a company member at Freshwater Theatre since 2010 (started here at the Fringe with Ruth Virkus' Table 12) and the newly-minted Managing Director of Broken Wing Productions (kicked off with 2022's My Empty Arms). Scot believes whole-heartedly in the Fringe's power to encourage, develop, and promote new artists and is tremendously proud to be launching a theatre company rooted in development and growth via the incubator of Fringe. You can learn more about Broken Wing Productions' mentorship-based approach at our website, Broken Wing Productions, or chat with Sheree, Nicole, or Scot when you see us around the Fringe!

More Information

Praise for The Wind Phone:

"...this particular call is worth picking up," says the Pioneer Press!

Single White Fringe Geek says Broken Wing is a returning favorite and shares, "...smartly written and executed, and just the right level of heartfelt."

The Stages of MN says "The Wind Phone is a lovely and moving theater piece..."

Twin Cities Geek proclaims, "At least one of these stories will be sure to gut you while also helping you connect with some hope and empathy..."

Cherry and Spoon has us on the Must See list! "...the preview confirmed that this is sure to be a sweet and poignant and maybe even funny exploration of grief and loss. Also, it's an outdoor show, which is what summer is all about."

Lavender has included us in their "Queerest Fringe Possible" guide!

 

Important! This is an outdoor venue and we will perform, rain or shine, except in the event of lightning or other unsafe conditions. Please keep your umbrellas small/reasonable to respect the  sightlines of patrons behind you. 😊

 

The Wind Phone is an original work created by Sheree Froelich and Callie Aho. Based on the therapeutic concept of speaking to our lost loved ones to gain closure and catharsis, The Wind Phone takes its inspiration from Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki. In 2010, Sasaki installed a phonebooth in his garden so he could call his deceased cousin - someone he'd loved and communicated with regularly. In 2011, the Tōhoku tsunami killed over 15,000 citizens of the region Sasaki lived, and he opened his wind phone to his neighbors.

Since 2011, wind phones have popped up in regions all over the globe. At the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival, you can see their therapeutic value in action. Who would you call?

You can learn more about the original wind phone and its legacy since 2010 here:

Where to find a wind phone

CBS Sunday Morning

WKYC: The Bridge Between You and Lost Loved Ones

PBS: Lost Families

Lit Hub: ...bridge between life and death

Find out more about Broken Wing at our website!

Where to find the show!

The Ribs of Humanity are also known as the Campbell Plaza next to Herbert M Hanson Jr. Hall on the U of M campus. We're at the corner of South 4th Street, South 19th Ave, and Riverside Ave.

 

minnesotafringe.org https://minnesotafringe.org
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