Kevin Kling Returns to the Guthrie 12/5

The Guthrie will again host nationally acclaimed humorist, actor and playwright Kevin Kling and his celebrated one-man show Tales from the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log on Monday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. Kling will be joined by special guests Simone Perrin, Dan Chouinard, Peter Ostroushko and the Brass Messengers. Following the performance, Kling will greet fans and sign copies of his recently released children's book, Big Little Brother, now available for purchase in the Guthrie Store. Single tickets are $28 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Best known for his popular commentaries on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and his storytelling stage shows, Kling delivers hilarious, often tender stories, which have delighted audiences around the country. Yule Log is no different, as Kling spins his hilarious yarn of family traditions and holiday merriment. Wry tales, both old and new, of Midwestern Americana take surprising turns, from laugh-out-loud bizarre to touchingly insightful.

Kling has just released his first children's book, Big Little Brother. Published by Borealis Press, Big Little Brother features whimsical drawings by noted local cartoonist and illustrator Chris Monroe and traces a familiar arc from sibling rivalry to brotherly love.

As a playwright, Kling has authored 21A, Home and Away, Fear and Loving in Minneapolis, The Ice Fishing Play, and Lloyd's Prayer, in addition to his co-adaptations of Goldoni's The Venetian Twins and The Canterbury Tales for the Guthrie. In 2005, the Guthrie launched an eight-week regional tour of Kling's Freezing Paradise: An Evening with Kevin Kling, which visited more than 20 Minnesota communities and performed in Iowa, Michigan, and North and South Dakota.

In the wake of a number of compact disc collections of his stories, Kling's first book, The Dog Says How, brought readers into his wonderful world of the skewed and significantly mundane. He did it again in Kevin Kling's Holiday Inn (2009), a romp through a year of holidays and a lifetime of gathering material.

Kling describes his zodiac sign as "Minnesota with Iowa rising..." He grew up in Osseo, a Minneapolis suburb, and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater. His storytelling started when a friend from the now defunct Brass Tacks Theatre asked him to perform his stories. Since then, he has been awarded numerous arts grants and fellowships. The National Endowment for the Arts, The McKnight Foundation, The Minnesota State Arts Board, The Bush Foundation, The Jerome Foundation and others have recognized Kling's artistry.

The GUTHRIE THEATER (Joe Dowling, Director) was founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963 and is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. With annual attendance of nearly 500,000 people, the Guthrie Theater presents a mix of classic plays and contemporary work on its three stages. Under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie continues to set a national standard for excellence in theatrical production and performance. In 2006, the Guthrie opened its new home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, the Guthrie Theater houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms and dramatic public lobbies. www.guthrietheater.org.

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