BRIDGE PRODUCTIONS
Thursday, June 3 - 7:00 PM
Saturday, June 5 - 8:00 PM
Monday, June 7 - 7:00 PM
Wednesday, June 9 - 7:15 PM
Saturday, June 12 - 3:00 PM
BLUE COLLAR DIARIES
by Michelle Myers Berg
Playwright, performer, and one-woman virtuoso Michelle Myers Berg spins tales of her working class childhood in St. Paul ’s Merriam Park, circa 1960’s. Sometimes hysterical, sometimes heartbreaking, Michelle illuminates the overlooked lives of twenty-some different characters in a richly detailed narrative. Meet a colorful array of characters, from radio show host Sister Melba Toast to street-wise cheerleaders, from a rhythm-driven black musician to a beer-swilling neighborhood pool shark named Heine. None of the characters, however, are as intimately drawn as that of Berg’s own father, a Korean War veteran who keeps his painful past hidden away from his family.
Blue Collar Diaries gives touching insights toward the timeless bonds of community and family, depicting shared history as a unifying roadmap to where we’ve been and where we’re going. For ages 12+.
About the Playwright/Performer
The fifth of eight children, Michelle grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a classically trained actress with a BFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and graduate work at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. She has appeared on stage at the Cricket Theatre, Frank Theatre, Theatre in the Round, History Theatre, Actors’ Theatre of Minnesota, Theatre Unbound and many others.
Michelle has twenty-five years of professional voiceover experience in radio and television with clients that range from General Mills and Medtronic to Target and the Liquor Barrel. Some of her voice over work has also included narration for PBS documentaries and character based live industrials (Event Labs, JDR Productions, Design Group and Metro Connections) as well as hosting awards events such as the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest.
She has spent time as a Tour Guide, performed at the Bryant Lake Bowl as a part of the Women Stand-Up series and is in the process of writing a new script for Bridge Productions. Michelle reads to some seven classrooms a week as part of the Screen Actor's Guild's literacy program BookPALS.
