Author: Dominic Orlando

NIWA GEKIDAN PENINO–“Out There” at The Walker

I think I’m going to stick with the theme of upended expectations while reviewing this year’s “Out There” Series at The Walker.  Last night’s production, Kuro Tanino’s “Nikwa Gekidan Penino” (The Room Nobody Knows) was the poster boys (boys?) for that…

WONDERBAUM & LAPD at The Walker’s Out There 2014

Almost a decade ago, I learned my lesson about walking into a theatre space and rolling my eyes at the set.  I was at the Walker Art Center’s annual “Out There” series.  Back then I was going through my first…

“The Veterans Project” from Footprints Collective & Mixed Blood

First, let’s get the obvious out the way:  you should go see The Veterans Project.  It’s been developed and staged with great care by Leah Cooper at a fantastic space that was completely new to me (the Fort Snelling Base Camp)—and it…

“Uncle Vanya” at The Guthrie

One of the strangest things to happen in the last season of “Breaking Bad”, AMC’s meth-fueled drama, is the role-switch (or apparent role-switch) of the two main characters.  Walter White, desperate and stricken with cancer, goes from high-school chemistry teacher…

Nature Theatre Of Oklahoma, At The Walker Art Center

Alternately exhilarating and tedious, Nature Theatre of Oklahoma’s “Life and Times:  Episode One” is, without a doubt, a one-of-a-kind experience. “Life and Times” is a sung-thru music-theatre piece, using as its libretto 16 hours of recorded audio—company member Kristin Worrall…

Wicked at the Orpheum Theater

Is there any point, really, in reviewing “Wicked”? By now, everyone’s seen it, loved it, hated it, or made up their minds after simply hearing about it and/or reading someone else’s review.  Why write another one? The children—you say.  Think…

Ivey 2013, At The Historic State Theatre

Good morning, Minneapolis!  Dominic couldn’t make the awards Monday Night, so he sent me, Cousin Donny!  All the way from Los Angeles, but I’m always happy to spend a weekend away from that glittering ratrap! Sorry to file so late,…

URINETOWN at The Jungle Theater

The Jungle Theater‘s delightful, exuberant production of Urinetown is occasionally hoisted on its own humorous petard.  The show first premiered in New York over a decade ago—its brand of insider humor—commenting on the cheesy musical even as it presents us…