Chan Poling
Chan Poling, composer-performer-author, and Patty Radford Henderson, a marketing strategist-entrepreneur, were married December 23 at their Crocus Hill home.
A private dinner and reception for family and friends was held at the evergreen and flower-festooned St. Paul restaurant Meritage. Chef Klein prepared a sumptuous multi-course meal for the bride and groom's extended families followed by a charming seasonal "wedding cake" made of two towering croquembouche, a traditional French pastry popular at Christmas. There was plenty of champagne for all, imported from the family vineyards of their friends at Gratiot-Pilliere, where the couple had visited and participated in the champagne harvest just a few weeks earlier.
Mr. Poling proposed in Paris on September 18. Former mayor of St. Paul Chris Coleman looked like he had raided Chan’s closet sporting a snappy wool plaid blazer, an obvious nod to the Minnesota music legend and the couple's love for all things plaid.
The guest list of luminaries from the media and arts world enjoyed late night canapés and frites with béarnaise, all to the belle-époque waltz musical styling of Chris Lynch and the Dust of Suns. The couple danced a short romantic turn as Mr. Poling's daughters serenaded the couple with renditions of "Edelweiss" and "L.O.V.E."
Needless to say, it's been a busy season for Chan Poling, with his next adventure being Jesse James the Musical at the History Theatre in St. Paul. I reached out to Chan to find out how he intends to bring the story of Jesse James and his attempted robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield to life as a musical.
How did Jesse James the Musical come together?
Ron Peluso as the History Theatre in Saint Paul contacted Jeffrey Hatcher and I and commissioned us to write a musical based on the Jesse James legend and the gang’s Northfield Bank Raid. This will be our third “Hatchling Production” for Ron and the History Theatre.
Give us an idea as to what audiences can expect to see.
A Hatchling Show is usually a little offbeat, very musical (meaning the story is told blending music, songs and dialogue in an organic way), funny, entertaining... and elucidating, we hope. It might be worthwhile to note that we’re working hard to find a unique way of telling this story that does NOT include the use of loud gunfire onstage. There will, however, be plenty of bad language and questionable behavior.
Jesse James the Musical. Help me understand the musical direction of a story about Jesse James?
One thing I insisted on was that I was not interested in doing a “period piece.” The musical direction I’m going with is pure Rock and Pop as opposed to western sounding pastiche. Exploring Jesse as media product, which he was. As I told the cast the first day, musically this is more Hamilton than 1776.
Playing the role of Jesse James had to be a fun role to take on for many local actors. Share with me your vision when casting Jesse James.
We are pleased to have Tyler Michaels King as our lead for Raw Stages. The other actors are of mixed gender and race and will be playing many roles.
You have had a string of successful shows at the History Theatre with Glensheen and Lord Gordon Gordon. What’s next on your plate and can we expect any of these shows to make their Broadway Debut on the Great White Way?
Who knows if Jesse will resonate with a larger audience? We may know in a year or so. Meanwhile Jeff and I are always working on new shows.
