World War One, aka the Great War.  Unrelenting sordidness, a sea of blood seeping into endless mud, no-man’s-land stretching for hundreds of miles, forty plus million human beings killed or maimed, a whole generation lost. No heroes, no real villains. …
Tag: Hennepin Theater Trust
The Book Of Mormon at the Orpheum
Mormonism offers a broad-side-of-the-barn target for satirists. Just a few historical details (I can’t help myself): in the 1830s Joseph Smith dug up (on a hill in upstate NY) a set of golden plates etched with writing (“reformed Egyptian”). Using…
Catch Me if You Can at the Orpheum Theater
The story of a youthful con artist, staying one step ahead of the law, living by his wits, naïve and fearless, is a great story. In the hands of accomplished writers, it transfers to the musical theater genre surprisingly well.…
Mamma Mia! at the Orpheum Theatre
The pitch for the Broadway touring production of Mamma Mia! is “You already know you’re gonna love it!†Judging by the opening night audience, at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, I’d say that’s fairly accurate. A good portion of…
Million Dollar Quartet at the State Theatre
I did a scientific analysis of the audience at Million Dollar Quartet (at the State Theatre, through April 1) (I looked around). I immediately perceived that a person with the Rogaine concession would clean up. The show seems geared largely…
American Idiot at the Orpheum Theater
Green Day’s “American Idiot†is one smashing great show. You’re going to have to like rock, but if you do, you will be moved by this refreshingly original musical. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day front man, lyricist and co-bookwriter) is…
The Lion King at the Orpheum Theatre
“I don’t do children’s theater,” director Julie Taymor informed the powers-that-be at the vaunted Disney Corporation “and I don’t do cute.” To their immense credit, they hired her anyway. The inventive Ms. Taymor then proceeded to transform the animated Disney…
Hair at the Orpheum
I was an earnest schoolboy in a small southern Minnesota town when Hair (at the Orpheum, through March 6, produced by the Hennepin Theater Trust) first came out. It blew me away. I never saw the actual show, of course;…
Young Frankenstein at Orpheum Theatre
The Hennepin Theater Trust continues its season of touring productions with the Mel Brooks classic, Young Frankenstein, a musical version of his movie spoof on the monster horror genre. But everybody knows that movie, right? If you do, you won’t…