Josef, a playwright, lyricist, librettist and composer, has worked for several years with a core group of Twin Cities theaters: Bedlam Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, and the Zamya Theater Project, a program that creates original work in collaboration with artists who have experienced homelessness. His plays and musicals feature wild, fantastical worlds full of soaring music, subversive wit and hilariously beguiling nonsense.
Plays
The final installment in Josef's Open Eye outdoor musical trilogy, this lighthearted Midwestern mashup of Titanic, Show Boat and sea monsters delighted audiences during its four-week sellout run. This pseudo-historical show follows a determined young heroine as she embarks on a quest to become the first-ever female steamship captain on Lake Superior, encountering a wild array of comical characters along the way.
Praised by critics as "80 minutes of joy, wonder and delight for all ages," this lighthearted musical comedy explores the legend of Bigfoot in a ridiculous and fast-paced fashion. Set in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, the show begins on the premises of a remote luxury resort where residents and guests alike are up in arms over reports of a mystical mountain monster roaming the streets at night. A local conspiracy nut then launches the community into a wildly humorous series of misadventures in the woods to find the creature. "Hair Ball!" premiered as an outdoor production at the Bakken Museum of Minneapolis, produced by Open Eye Theatre.
Premiered in 2021 as an outdoor musical, this charming and playful musical comedy offers a satirical spin on the traditional Paul Bunyan legend. An out-of-shape Paul is lured out of retirement to save a tiny northwoods town caught in the clutches of an evil lumber baron's magically-induced polar vortex, while his now-sentient sidekick Babe runs amok as an overzealous socialist intellectual.
A mysterious call of distress from her mother sends a young astronomer on a bewildering and revelatory journey through the memories and fictions of her childhood. This "musical in miniature" sends up the familiar tropes of fairy tales and Disney princesses with a unique blend of ridiculous comedy, puppetry, and poignant family drama. The show is all-ages, but resonates with both youth and adults, exploring the ever-shifting nature of parent-child relationships through the world of childhood stories.
Written in collaboration with the Zamya Theater project, this show adapts "The Wizard of Oz" as a contemporary tale about poverty and homelessness. The story follows a young woman from rural Minnesota, who complains often about others on public assistance until her own home is lost during a catastrophic flood. Forced to move to the city to access public resources, she finds support through an unlikely array of new companions and gains a different understanding of what "homeless" really means.
Written as a challenge from an artistic director to come up with "the worst Christmas show ever," this theatrical abonimation re-imagines Chekhov's "The Seagull" as a holiday-themed musical comedy (performed as dinner theater in its original production).
A "toy opera" adaptation of Heinrich Hoffman's "Der Struwwelpeter," a collection of cautionary tales for children. Darkly humorous and whimsical, the show celebrates the joys of misbehavior with a dazzling array of inventive puppetry.
An alternate universe where characters inspired by "The Honeymooners" collide with Greek tragedy and midcentury American drama. Performed by an all-female cast, this play humorously deconstructs destructive male archetypes at the heart of the western canon.
This absurdist comedy tells the tale of a hilariously inept high school debate team, led by an unfortunate tandem of an overzealous football coach and a failed actor who insists on only speaking in accents. Several bizarre subplots ensue, including the mournful tale of a lonely cardboard box and their unrequited love for the school's guidance counselor. The show was selected as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival's "Encore Series" and later produced at the Guthrie Theater.
Successes
"Hair Ball: A Bigfoot Musical Adventure," with book, music and lyrics by Josef Evans, was produced in Minneapolis by Open Eye Theatre in association with the Bakken Museum. The show is a follow-up to last year's "Log Jam," also written by Evans and produced by Open Eye at the Bakken.
"Constance in the Darkness," a world premiere musical by Josef Evans, completed a sold-out run in March of 2018, with 3 extensions. More about the show here: http://www.openeyetheatre.org/constance-in-the-darkness