Johann Sebastian von Dangerfield

Be careful not to put classical music and its composers too high on a pedestal--you'll miss out on a lotta fun.

Johann Sebastian Bach was a complicated, and very real man. He was not a god (even though his manuscript scores were inscribed "Soli Deo Gloria"). As a young man he got into a duel with a bassoonist over a remark about his playing. He was put in jail after he left the Duke of Weimar's employment without permission. He liked his beer and wine, and he must've liked sex considering that he fathered 20 kids by his 2 wives.

Bach could, with Rodney Dangerfield, complain of never getting any respect. He was not the first choice by the city of Leipzig to be their new main man of music. He wasn't even the 2nd choice.

The competition for that post is the subject of a new play called "Bach at Leipzig" getting its regional premiere this weekend at the Loading Dock Theater in downtown St. Paul. They describe it like this:

It's Leipzig, Germany, 1722, and the sudden death of organ master and

cantor Johann Kuhnau has brought to the city an eclectic mix of misfits

and also-rans intent on winning his vacant post. The competition's

stiff, and their skill at bribery, blackmail, and betrayal is even

stiffer. And who's this latecomer Johann Sebastian Bach?

The Loading Dock is an intimate (106 seat) theater at 509 Sibley Street, between 9th and 10th on Sibley in Downtown St. Paul. The show runs weekends through March 11th. The box office number is 651-228-7008.

I'm gonna check it out.