Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Highline Times/Des Moines News
Comedy, wine tasting combined for Sell’s play
By Aya Takechi
Special to the Times/News
T.M. Sell is a man who loves to make people laugh. But you won’t find him headlining as a stand-up comic or taking pratfalls in a Three Stooges-style comedy. IN fact, you probably won’t find him on state at all.
But Sell’s work HAS brought many a chuckle to audiences, nonetheless, Sell is the founder (and chief playwright) for Breeders Theater, a hearty band of comic thespians who provide, what he calls, “industrial strength entertainment.”
This is Sell’s unique brand of theater, which combines comedy, art and wine tasting.
Did you say, “wine tasting?”
You read that right – for three weekends in January, Sell and Breeders Theater have teamed up with the E.B. Foote Winery in Burien to present Love’s Painful Itch, a laugh0filled evening of theater, hors d’oeuvres and tasting of E.B. Foote wines.
Performed by a capable troupe of Puget Sound area actors, Love’s Painful Itch is Sell’s latest in a long line of original scripts for the stage.
“I’ve been writing plays since I was seven,” confesses Sell, a journalism and political science professor at Highline Community College. But his passion for play writing never bore as much fruit as it has now.
Sell spent 20 years as a journalist before taking his current post at HCC.
“When you’re writing everyday, the last thing you want to do when you come home is write more. Now that I’m a college professor, I finally have to to do this!”
Love’s Painful Itch is a romance novel parody, and follows the perils of young Miss Chastity Bodice and her world-wide, musical search for love.
Des Moines’ Nancy Warren has composed songs for the story, and doubles as musical director/keyboardist. “We have good singers!” exclaims Warren, “Which is the reason why there is music in the show.”
The evening starts around 6:30pm with the tasting of fine wines and hors d’oeuvres.
Act 1 of the play begins, followed by more wine tasting at the intermission. After that, Act 2 is performed, with more wine tasting when the show concludes.
“In the winter, we do tell the audience to dress warmly,” adds Warren. “The E.B. Foote Winery is a warehouse, and the temperature doesn’t get above 60 degrees.”
But Warren and Sell emphasize that Breeders Theater offers real entertainment value.
“For $20, you get the wine tasting (their wines are very good!), the hors d’oeuvres . . . and you get theater!”
All that, and plenty of laughs as well. Sounds like an evening well spent.
Love’s Painful Itch opens Friday, Jan. 18, and plays through Feb. 1, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 PM and Sundays at 2pm. There will be a special performance on Monday, Jan. 20, 7 pm, which will benefit the Highline Community College Foundation.
Tickets are available at the E.B. Foote Winery, 127-B S.W. 153rd St., Burien, phone 206-242-3852, or at Corky Cellars, 22511 Marine View Dr., Des Moines, phone 206-824-9462.