The Best of Hank & Rita: A Barroom Operetta
An original stage presentation by Joe Tougas, performed by The Frye (Joe Tougas and Ann Rosenquist Fee) and Dan Vierck
The Best of Hank and Rita is a real-time concert performance taking place long after this fiction-al singing-songwriting duo’s brief moment in the Top Ten. The show opens with audio of Rita’s breakup letter written earlier that day and left behind at the hotel for Hank to find after the show. The scene cuts to house comedian “Danny Vee,” finishing up his opening act with wisecracks about microwaves, confusing trends and the tabloid follies of tonight’s headliners, Hank and Ri-ta.
The duo takes the stage upbeat and polished per usual, Rita resolved to have one last good time together, Hank oblivious to the real state of their relationship. When a fan makes an unex-pected request, the show veers off the safe set list and into deeper cuts — requested by each other — from the duo’s past, songs chronicling of pain, lust, revenge, and hope.
The story and songs are written by Joe Tougas, who draws on two decades as a regional arts and entertainment journalist and editor who regularly covered bands like Hank and Rita, bands whose popularity peaked long ago but who carry on and find audiences in secondary markets.
Tougas performs as Hank along with Ann Rosenquist Fee as Rita. Tougas and Fee are real-life performers and songwriters in the acoustic duo and Grand Kabaret favorites The Frye. The show also features Madison, Wis. standup comedian Dan Vierck as Danny Vee, Hank and Ri-ta’s opening act.
“The Best of Hank and Rita” being performed in summer and fall of 2015 in Mankato, Minneap-olis, Duluth and, on Aug. 22, New Ulm. Musician or fan or both, you’ll enjoy this original and un-forgettable evening.
Tickets: $10 Members/$15 Nonmembers
Date and Time
Saturday Aug 22, 2015
8:00 PM - 11:00 PM CDT
Location
The Grand Kabaret, 210 N. Minnesota St., New Ulm
Fees/Admission
$10/Members, $15/Non-Members
Website
Contact Information
507-359-9222
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