Belville Productions

In the works for 2026, a revival of Nina, Madam to a Saintly City, the 1980s hit about St. Paul’s folkloric “innkeeper,” Nina Clifford. The play draws on oral history Belville recorded from the cub reporters, delivery boys, and shopgirls who had stories to tell of the house on South Washington Street and the dazzling demimonde who opened their doors to the politicians and police of the capital metropolis.

Waiting in the wings, You Can’t Get to Heaven Through the USA, Belville’s timeless tale of Swede Hollow and its immigrants. The title echoes what Scandinavian pastors preached to their flocks as the migration to the New World emptied out the churches of the Old. This six-character play that toured the US also features the Italian community and always stimulates lively post-performance discussions on how the play provides “a clear-eyed look at the issues of intolerance.”

                       

Progress continues on devising the new work, Rio Journal, based on reportage, letters and diaries from Lance’s almost ten years as a foreign correspondent for UPI (United Press International) and ABC, broadcasting from Brazil, “the country of the future,” and writing from Amazonia and South American cities from Brasilia to Buenos Aires. Composer Eric Peltoniemi contributes songs to samba by in celebration of his three plays in collaboration with Belville, including Tubal and the Yankee. 

                            

Belville Productions produces, publishes, and promotes plays drawn from social issues, folklore, and history with an emphasis on telling untold stories. Our starting point is the legacy of the late Lance S. Belville, History Theatre co-founder, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Winner in Playwriting and author of more than 50 produced plays.

In Minnesota, Belville's best known scripts include the award-winning Scott and Zelda, The Beautiful Fools, his acclaimed one-man analysis of Empire Builder James J. Hill, The Man Who Bought Minneapolis, and the scripts for the musicals, Plain Hearts, Down to Earth, Mesabi Red and Cowgirls

We as performing and creative artists collaborate with theatres, schools, and organizations in Minnesota, the Midwest, nationally and internationally to reach and build new audiences for theater that celebrates communities. 

A fiscally sponsored project of Springboard for the Arts. To give to Springboard: https://givemn.org/organization/Springboard-For-The-Arts

Photos (L-R)

#1  Eric Peltoniemi, Lynn Lohr, Tom Berger

#2  Margaret Chase, Lynn Lohr

#3  Bruce Bohne, Elsa Cornell, Joe Kudla

#4  Actress Claudia Cardinale in Rio de Janero for filming interviewed by Lance Belville