dsmWeekly - December 4, 2024

Pam Sherman stars as the godmother of newspaper columnists through Dec. 21 at the Temple Theater. (Photo: Jesse Ewing)

ARTS & CULTURE

Theater review: Erma Bombeck's wisdom, served warm
By Michael Morain

In a review of the play “Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End,” it’s tempting to simply fill up the next few paragraphs with with quotes from her beloved housekeeping column. There’s just so much good material.

“Never trust a doctor whose office plants have died.”

“If you want to get rid of stinking odors in your kitchen, just stop cooking.”

“Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they’ll think that’s all you’ve done since graduation.”

That must have been tempting for the playwrights, too. But somehow, Allison Engel and her twin sister, Margaret Engel, managed to distill three decades of Bombeck’s syndicated columns and bestselling books into a tight, bright, one-hour, one-woman show that captures her wit, warmth and tell-it-like-it-is honesty.

In the current production, which Des Moines Performing Arts opened Tuesday and continues through Dec. 21 at the Temple Theater, the charming actor Pam Sherman delivers so many of those famous lines as if they just occurred to her while she is folding laundry or click-clacking away on the typewriter she sets on an ironing board in the bedroom she shares with her husband, Bill. She just chatters away, as if talking to a friend, as if her columns had suddenly sprung to life and slipped on a housedress and cardigan.

In the process, a portrait emerges of a famously ordinary woman who lived through an extraordinary chapter of the 20th century, as a child in the Great Depression, a young mother in the baby boom — “the biggest, boomiest boom in history” — and an undersung champion of women’s rights and the Equal Rights Amendment during the 1960s and ’70s.

As she put it, “I was blazing a trail all right, but it only led from the laundry room to the sink.”

But, of course, that’s an understatement. Even though her 4,000-some columns for 900 newspapers covered a beat that “started at the crabgrass in the front yard and ended at the back porch,” she mowed a path for other women in media to follow. She articulated the everyday thoughts and loftier, often deferred dreams of a whole generation of women in an era before folks could share such musings on social media. And she just kept at it, churning out columns until a few days before she died, in 1996.

The list of writers who followed Bombeck’s lead includes both of the Engel twins, whose distinguished careers started with stints at the Des Moines Register and Tribune. During a Q&A after Tuesday’s show, they explained that one of Bombeck’s sons had invited them to write the script after seeing a Los Angeles production of their earlier play, “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins,” starring Kathleen Turner. The Engels jumped at the Bombeck offer, partly because their own mother was one of her biggest fans. The sisters pored over her columns and visited her husband, who showed them family photos and her trusty old typewriter. (For more of the back story, check out Peggy Engel’s lively conversation earlier this week with Julie Gammack, another longtime columnist.)

The results of the Engels’ teamwork premiered in Washington, D.C., in 2015 and has been produced some 80 times across the country in the years since. But it's hard to imagine a better version than the one that’s here in town for the next few weeks. By the end of opening night, the audience seemed to agree with what Bombeck sputtered at the very beginning: “Oh, gosh – it’s really wonderful to be here.”

The Des Moines Concert Handbells ring in the holidays on Saturday.

BEST BETS

Holiday concert round-up

It’s beginning to look — and sound — a lot like Christmas. All the Whos here in Whoville, the tall and the small, will start singing this weekend and they’ll SING! SING! SING! right on through the next few weeks.

So why not catch a concert? Here are the best options from the fa-la-lot.

Des Moines Big Band
7 tonight at Noce. The cozy little jazz club sets a record this month with 23 nights of holiday shows. Highlights include the 15th annual "Home for the Holidays" show with Max Wellman and Dave Rezek, and a visit from Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, fresh from stops at Dizzy’s in New York and the Green Mill in Chicago. Find the full festive schedule online.

Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus

2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Hoyt Sherman Place. The men, women and transgender members of the chorus sing new and old festive favorites (including a little something by Cher) in a program that focuses on gratitude.

Harmony Central Chorus
3 p.m. Saturday at Hope and Elim Church. The women’s chorus and several other ensembles perform a concert to celebrate the season and raise money for the Young Women's Resource Center.

Des Moines Concert Handbells
4 p.m. Saturday at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola. The group rings in the holidays with bells and chimes at three “Star of Wonder” concerts this month, first in Indianola, then 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Indianola and 3 p.m. Dec. 14 at Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines.

The A Sisters
7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Tallgrass Theater Co. in West Des Moines. The singing sisters and a few friends return for their annual holiday cabaret with songs from way back when.

Des Moines Choral Society
7:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Ambrose Cathedral. The choir and a chamber orchestra perform a range of historical classics by Mozart and others, contemporary work and a few familiar carols in the marvelous 1891 cathedral.

Des Moines Community Orchestra
2 p.m. Sunday at Grace United Methodist Church. The orchestra performs its annual “Messiah” sing-along concert. Four vocal soloists will handle (Handel!) the heavy lifting, while the audience joins in for “Hallelujah!” and the other choruses.

Gina Gedler

7 p.m. Sunday at Salisbury House. The beloved local jazz singer pulls out a few holiday hits from Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Diana Krall and others. Go early to mingle and tour the historic mansion decked out in its holiday finest.

Central Iowa Wind Ensemble
7:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall in Ames and 3 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Staplin Performing Arts Center at Valley High School in West Des Moines. This year’s holiday program runs the gamut, from meditative (Lauridsen’s “O Magnum Mysterium”) to festive (Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride").

Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble
4 p.m. Dec. 15 at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The choir and a string orchestra perform classics by Venetian composers, notably Vivaldi and Monteverdi, as well as a few popular carols.

Heartland Youth Choir
4 p.m. Dec. 15 at Drake University’s Sheslow Auditorium. The program features several ensembles of singers, from tiny tots up through the high school Chamber Choir.

The King’s Singers
7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at Drake’s Sheslow Auditorium. The men’s a cappella group is famous worldwide for balancing precision with creative expression.

Elaine Dame and the Turner Center Jazz Orchestra
7:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at Drake’s Turner Center Jazz Center. The Chicago jazz singer joins the band for a “G.I. Jukebox” program, featuring holiday hits from the 1940s.

Mannheim Steamroller
2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Des Moines Civic Center. The band fires up all its high tech, multimedia razzle-dazzle during its tour’s single-day stop in Des Moines.

Des Moines Symphony Brass

7:30 p.m. Dec. 21 and 4 p.m. Dec. 22 at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Cue the trumpets, trombones and tubas: The orchestra’s brass section takes center stage for a new holiday tradition. Make reservations and go an hour early on Dec. 21 for a demonstration of the pipe organ, when kids will get a chance to pull out all (or most) of the stops.

Glenn Miller Orchestra
7 p.m. Dec. 22 at Hoyt Sherman Place. Treat your parents (or yourself) to an early Christmas gift with the famous big band founded by Clarinda’s favorite son.

The Week Ahead

Chelsea Handler (7 p.m. Thursday): The sharp-tongued comedian and TV host brings her stand-up show to the Des Moines Civic Center. Fair warning: Everything is fair game.

“Dear Evan Hansen” (7:30 p.m. Thursday): The national tour of the Tony-winning musical about a high schooler’s struggle to fit in stops for a single night at Stephens Auditorium in Ames.

Christkindlmarket (5-9 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday): The annual outdoor holiday market brings its Old World charm to the plaza outside Principal Park, where you’ll find European-style goodies, hand-crafted gifts, traditional music and — new this year — a cozy after-hours party at Yuletide Hall.

Living History Farms Family Christmas (noon-3 p.m. Saturday): Bundle up for a 19th-century Iowa Christmas at Living History Farms, where you can hop on a horse-drawn wagon with honest-to-goodness jingle bells, make an orange-clove pomander, visit St. Nick, and chime in with Victorian carolers at the Flynn Mansion.

"Elf" (1 p.m. Saturday): The best way to spread Christmas cheer? See Buddy appear! Catch one of Will Ferrell's greatest hits on the silver screen at the Varsity Cinema. (And if you go early, you just might get a cookie and see Santa.)

Holly & Ivy (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday): Tour the grand old Salisbury House, where local designers, florists, home stagers and other creative types will deck the halls with holiday splendor, and pianists will tickle the ivories on the custom-built Steinway.

Diva alert: Movie buffs and opera fans will gather next Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Varsity Cinema for a screening of the new biopic about the opera star Maria Callas, directed by Pablo Larraín and starring Angelina Jolie (pictured). The event, co-hosted by Des Moines Film and the Des Moines Metro Opera, includes a pre-show talk with the opera scholar Roger Pines from Chicago. Buy tickets online.

dsm Home Design Awards: We're thrilled to announce a few more finalists for the 2025 dsm Home Design Awards. (Check out photos of the finalist projects.)

Historic Renovation or Restoration (50 years or older): ALT Design Studio with Invest DSM, Zenith Design + Build

Kitchen Remodel: Casee Burgason Interior Design, Dwell Home Furnishings and Interior Design, Morris Lare

Living Room Remodel: Grand Homes & Renovations, MainBuilt Custom Homes, Zenith Design + Build

Bath Remodel: Eden and Gray Design Build, Hal Davis, Zenith Design + Build

Check out photos of the finalist projects. We'll unveil the winners at a ceremony on Feb. 25, so stay tuned for registration details.

Find handmade ornaments: The Greater Des Moines Partnership hosts its fifth annual scavenger hunt for handmade ornaments Friday through Dec. 15. It’s a search around downtown and other locations for ornaments created by more than two dozen Central Iowa artists. Pick up a few hints online.
dsm unveiling party: We’re kicking off 2025 with a special dsm unveiling on Monday, Jan. 13. Join us at Wells Fargo Arena to celebrate our first issue of the year, then stick around for the afterparty courtside at the Iowa Wolves game. Note: Registration is required due to limited space.

In 2018, Stiles spearheaded an effort to get egg farmers and producers to commit to providing the Food Bank of Iowa with enough eggs each month to help feed hungry families. Affectionately called “Cracking Hunger,” their combined efforts deliver more than 36,000 dozen eggs — or 432,000 individual eggs — every month to alleviate hunger in Iowa.

“If you’re in agriculture, it’s a natural tendency for you to feel like you have a real role in feeding the world,” Stiles said. “For our egg farmers, you know, they take that role very seriously, and it’s important to recognize that they have donated to Iowa food banks for years.”

Stiles said the collective effort to stock Iowa’s food banks started years ago and ramped up in 2018. They helped farmers build relationships with food banks and coordinated efforts to provide eggs more consistently throughout the year, not just during the holidays and National Egg Month in May.

Not long after that kickoff, Stiles said the campaign reached a fever pitch. Even during the COVID pandemic, egg farmers stepped up and continued to deliver eggs to those in need. Nothing, not even avian influenza and other challenges, held them back from making good on their goals.

Though not a farmer himself, Stiles said playing a role in the outreach to Iowa’s food banks has been a good opportunity to “do the right thing,” to help provide more wholesome food choices for people in need.

“Egg farmers across the country have been doing this for years and years, so it’s not something new,” he said. “But hopefully it’s something that can provide eggs on a more consistent basis throughout the year.”