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and how to make your own twinkly stars at home ✨
Ben Thietje
July 24, 2025 • Est. Reading Time: 8 minutes
Hello! I’m Ben, executive director at the Phipps.
Welcome to The Flying P, a weekly newsletter covering your Phipps Center for the Arts and anything else I might want to throw your way.
This issue has…
📷 Some Nifty Pics
big thanks to Molly Jay🐟 A Garbage Fish
stop littering for god’s sake😳 A Big Balustrade
maybe the biggest
PROGRAMMING
Shaping up to be an absolute ball
wowowowowowow!
Guys! Guys! Guys!
We just got our first look at production photos for Cinderella, a Phipps ballet, and boy-oh-boy do things look beautiful. Big thanks to Molly Jay for these great shots.
The production opens tomorrow, folks (yeah, this Friday)! It’s only a two-weekend run, and sales are picking up — don’t snooze on this one!
PHIPPS TOP 10
best-selling upcoming events this season by tickets sold…
1. Cinderella, a Phipps ballet (previously: 1)
2. It’s a Wonderful Life (previously: 2)
3. Little Shop of Horrors (previously: 4)
4. Deathtrap (previously: 3)
5. Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (series) (previously: 5)
6. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow: The Music of Amy Winehouse & Carole King (previously: 6)
7. Hornucopia (previously: 7)
8. Miss Nelson is Missing! (previously: 9)
9. Colleen Raye’s New Year’s Eve (previously: 8)
10. Silent Centennials (previously: 10)
BETTER HURRY LIST
best-selling upcoming events this season by percent sold
(i.e., closest to being sold out)…
1. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow: The Music of Amy Winehouse & Carole King (previously: 1) SOLD OUT — click to join the wait list
2. Cinderella, a Phipps ballet (previously: 2)
3. Hornucopia (previously: 3)
4. Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (series) (previously: 4)
5. Silent Centennials (previously: 5)
as of 7/24/25
SAUSAGE-MAKING
Behind the scenes of Cinderella
As usual, the Production team here at the PCA have outdone themselves with Cinderella. Here are a couple of my favorite little nuggets:
The Balustrade
Check out how HUGE this set piece is. It’s so large that it has to utilize nearly the entire shop to roll on and off stage. You can see a bit of the finished product in the photo above and an aerial shot below.
…in my best Roy Scheider: “You’re gonna need a bigger shop.”
it’s…large
The Stars
There’s a scene or two that feature some stars twinkling away in the Cinderella night sky. They look really lovely — I let you see for yourself when you stop by for a performance.
What are these stars made of? They’re tiny balls of tin foil hanging on a string, of course!
you can just barely make them out
not very twinkly at this distance
This is just the tip of the design iceberg. Catch a performance of Cinderella, a Phipps ballet, to see all of this PCA Production Team magic and more.
artist: Phill Menge
👆
my favorite gallery piece of the week
This piece appeals to my desire to doodle and play with Hot Wheels.
Get yourself to the Overlook Gallery, people!
VISUAL ARTS
Scrappy is back
Scrappy doin’ Scrappy things
Have you met Scrappy?
In 2013, Twin Cities sculptor, Mary Johnson, was commissioned through a private grant to create a river-themed sculpture for RiverFest (which is this weekend, btw). This giant fish was constructed using repurposed scrap metal.
Each year, volunteers add to the structure by processing and repurposing litter collected in Hudson during the annual river clean-up. Neat!
Which means…if you stop littering, Scrappy dies.
Just kidding. Stop tossing your crap on the ground like a heathen. But if you do decide to litter (omg don’t litter!), please make sure the trash is as beautiful as possible. For Scrappy.
Look for Scrappy near the PCA at this weekend’s RiverFest.
Hey, guess what: next week’s issue will mark the one-year anniversary of The Flying P! I’m putting together a little survey that I’ll ask you to complete so I can make the newsletter even better (is that even possible?). Look for it next Thursday!
Can you make the pieces fit?
Prove it by completing The Flying P(uzzle).
👇
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Talk to you next week!
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