Miss Richfield 1981 - Phony Baloney for the Holidays

Writer and Performer

Miss Richfield dedicates her life to the friendly citizens and responsible merchants of her hometown—Richfield, MN. Her live performances across the country receive critical acclaim with The New York Post declaring Miss R as “the must-see act in Provincetown” and The Chicago Sun-Times describing her as “Garrison Keillor meets Mary Tyler Moore.” Miss R’s wide appeal includes riotous appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “Today” on NBC, “Cake Boss” on TLC, and “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” on Bravo, along with being a national spokesperson for Orbitz and Palm Springs, CA. Each year her schedule of more than 100 shows sell out theaters and nightclubs across the country, including a summer residence at the Pilgrim House in Provincetown, MA, and frequent tours with Atlantis Events cruise ships and resorts. And Miss R always looks forward to returning home for the holidays to perform shows at the ILLUSION THEATER. Miss R invites you to “like” her on Facebook, follow her on Instagram, and watch her on YouTube. Visit missrichfield.com where she keeps a calendar of events and shares words of wisdom, such as her favorite Bible verse: “It’s important to be nice, but it’s nicer to be important.”

Director

Michael founded ILLUSION THEATER in 1974. Michael has served as Artistic Producer for Illusion since its inception and has been a Project Director for the vast majority of ILLUSION THEATER’s programs, leading and overseeing all elements of planning, implementation, finance, evaluation, and reporting. These include all Education programs, productions, and a host of new program initiative grants and contracts supported by foundations, corporations, federal, state, county, and city sources.

Michael has guided the production of more 400 world premieres, bringing to the stage the work of a diverse and eminent group of artists. He has directed over 100 ILLUSION THEATER productions including the American premiere of Edward Bond's RESTORATION and the highly acclaimed 1991 production of MISS EVERS' BOYS. He directed Kim Hines' I BELIEVE I'LL RUN ON...AND SEE WHAT THE END'S GONNA BE for the Kennedy Center's 1996 prestigious New Visions/New Voices Festival, ILLUSION’s searing production of THE LARAMIE PROJECT, and the Midwest premiere of the Kirsten Childs’ groundbreaking musical THE BUBBLY BLACK GIRL SHEDS HER CHAMELEON SKIN. He conceived and directed the Twin Cities IVEY Award-winning, ILLUSION-commissioned adaptation by Allison Moore of Willa Cather’s MY ANTONIA. In 2012, he co-created (with composer Roberta Carlson) and directed ILLUSION’s original and highly popular music revue LOVE & MARRIAGE, which was slightly revised and presented as LOVE & MARRIAGE: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES, in the wake of Minnesota’s passage of gay marriage and the defeat of DOMA.

Musical Accompanist

Todd has been at home behind a piano for well over 50 years,
which should come as no surprise when you consider his grandmother and her twin sister knew Lawrence Welk. He was destined to bump into Miss Richfield 1981 (EITHER at The Hub Shopping Center at 66th and Nicollet in Richfield OR on the #18 local bus) after moving to Minneapolis in 1989, and he's tickled to have been her collaborator for 26 years.

He has played all over town for various arts organizations, most notably as accompanist for the Minnesota Boychoir, where he regularly gets mistaken as the choir's bus driver.

Stage Manager

Virginia has stage managed ILLUSION's popular Miss Richfield 1981 Holiday Show for the past two years and recently stage managed Patrick Scully’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Gay Man. Virginia created the Projection & Sound design for Bob Beverage's 2023 Fresh Ink production of The Long Fall Down. Additionally, they have provided support as crew and front of house.  A 2021 graduate of St. Olaf College, Virginia also has a background in Japanese language and Asian studies.

Lighting Designer

Alex Clark is a freelance lighting designer and photographer with an MFA in lighting design from the University of Minnesota and a BA in theatre, social science, history, and international relations from the University of Minnesota – Morris. He is blessed and cursed with an insatiable curiosity about everything and a fascination for how light interacts with our world. Recent lighting designs include  Lady Day (Yellow Tree Theatre), Clue (SOAR), Something Rotten (Phipps Center), Small Mouth Sounds (College of St. Benedict), Quilters (Perpich), White Christmas (Phipps Center),and RARE (Sod House Theatre).