A play has two primary sources of appeal. First, there is the moment-by-moment texture. Is it fun to act? Fun to watch? Does the language enthrall, are there compelling nooks and crannies in the characters? Does the design provide good…
Category: Theater
Xtreme Theatre Smackdown, produced by Theatre Unbound
It’s called the Xtreme Theatre Smackdown: Six playwrighting teams, a collection of actors and directors, and all y’all out there who provided input on the producing company’s (Theatre Unbound) website. Judging by the size of the audience, that was a…
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 Phantom Of The Opera at the Orpheum Theatre
The Phantom Of The Opera (playing at the Orpheum through Jan 5) has become an international phenomenon. It opened in London and on Broadway in the late 1980s and is still running, having racked up more than 10,000 perfs. Dozens…
Black Nativity: A Holiday Concert at Penumbra Theatre
If you see one Christmas show this year, pick Black Nativity: A Holiday Concert. It’s absolutely wonderful, and it will make you feel wonderful, too. Penumbra Theatre is much more than Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity but it is the show…
A Christmas Pudding at Open Window Theatre
Are you not the type for irreverence? Not in the mood for a blockbuster Broadway show? Wondering what happened to wholesome, traditional Christmas variety shows? Open Window Theatre has an answer for you. “A Christmas Pudding,†adapted by David Birney…
The Sexual Life Of Savages, Walking Shadow Theatre Company performing at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage
The Sexual Life Of Savages (Walking Shadow Theatre Co., performing at the Theatre Garage, through Dec 14). What a gutsy, ambitious, throw-down-the-gauntlet title. Here, the title seems to suggest, you will find a play about crazed reptilian passion. The characters…
“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…
Cinderella at the Children’s Theatre Company
In Cinderella (at the Children’s Theatre Company, through Jan 5), Cinderella’s ugly (an understatement) stepsisters, Pearl and Dorcas, are played by CTC vets Dean Holt and Reed Sigmund. Her deliciously malevolent stepmother is portrayed by Autumn Ness. Wow. Never have…
Driving Miss Daisy at the Jungle Theater
Wendy Lehr is in this play! James Craven! Holy moley! Why can’t live theater generate Twins-like, Vikings-esque excitement? Certainly, seeing artists of the caliber of Lehr and Craven bring a play to life is at least as exciting as watching…