Misterman by Frank Theatre performing at the Southern

April 7, 2013
By
Misterman by Frank Theatre performing at the Southern

If you missed John Catron‘s intensely silly, hootingly funny and utterly astonishing work in The Winter’s Tale at the Flying G a few seasons back, you should endeavor to journey back in time and check it out.  Failing that, you should see Misterman, at Frank Theatre (performing at the Southern, through April 28).  Catron...
Read more »

In the Time of Butterflies at Mixed Blood Theatre

April 6, 2013
By
In the Time of Butterflies at Mixed Blood Theatre

Mixed Blood Theatre brings another adaptation by Caridad Svich with the world premiere of In the Time of Butterflies (En El Tiempo De Las Mariposas). Produced by artistic director Jack Reuler and directed by José Zayas, it is an engaging and moving portrait of siblings caught up in the stormy politics of the mid-20th...
Read more »

Flashdance at the Orpheum Theater

April 3, 2013
By
Flashdance at the Orpheum Theater

The Hennepin Theatre Trust continues to do its part in bringing Broadway-bound new shows to Minneapolis audiences. Minnesota did its part by filling the seats with fans who may have come of age with its movie namesake. Flashdance the Musical certainly delivers on the flash and the dance – and the working-class-girl-making-it-on-her-own theme is...
Read more »

Deathtrap at the Jungle Theater

March 29, 2013
By
Deathtrap at the Jungle Theater

“Do you have any idea how much,” Sidney Bruhl rhapsodizes in Deathtrap (at the Jungle, through May 19), “a play like that is worth in today’s market?  Two million dollars!” Is it really possible?  That a combination of glib theatrics, rapier-thin characters, twisty thrilleresque plotting and nasty comedy could transform an innocent dramatist into...
Read more »

Light in the Piazza by Theater Latte Da at the Ordway McKnight Theater

March 18, 2013
By
Light in the Piazza by Theater Latte Da at the Ordway McKnight Theater

Nobody does musical theater better than Theater Latté Da. Notice I didn’t qualify that with an “in the Twin Cities.” If theater were a competition (and thank heavens that it isn’t) this company could offer courses in how to do it right. I don’t gush often, but I’m gushing now. First lesson: How to...
Read more »

Jackie And Me by the Children’s Theatre Company

March 17, 2013
By
Jackie And Me by the Children’s Theatre Company

Joey Stoshack has an amazing ability: he time-travels.  Using an old baseball card, Joey whirls and twirls his way back into the past.  In the case of Jackie And Me (playing at Children’s Theatre Company, through April 14), Joey visits Brooklyn in 1947, where the young, black, fiercely talented Jackie Robinson is being invited...
Read more »

Hmong Bollywood by Pangea World Theater performing at InterMedia Arts

March 15, 2013
By
Hmong Bollywood by Pangea World Theater performing at InterMedia Arts

Bollywood is the common term for the lengthy (they are usually 3+ hours with intermission) Hindi language extravaganzas made in India.  These movies, also called masala (i.e., spicy) films, feature genre-mashing combinations of melodrama, romance, love triangles.  They contain nasty villains, hunky men and astonishingly beautiful sari wearing women.  And of course catchy songs...
Read more »

Spunk at Penumbra Theatre

March 14, 2013
By
Spunk at Penumbra Theatre

Review written by Janet Preus and John Olive. Penumbra Theatre came charging back to life last night with a production of Spunk, an adaptation of three stories by the great Zora Neale Hurston, written for the stage by George C, Wolfe, with music provided by Chic Street Man.  Penumbra’s iteration of Spunk is directed...
Read more »

Yellow Fever by Mu Performing Arts at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio Theater

March 11, 2013
By
Yellow Fever by Mu Performing Arts at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio Theater

The Guthrie’s Dowling Studio Theater is the site for Mu Performing Arts fresh, new production of their founder and artistic director’s play, Yellow Fever. Although it’s been thirty years since the play’s premiere – and the W. W. II-era internment camps are a generation or more removed – the play’s premise remains as meaningful...
Read more »

Elemeno Pea at Mixed Blood Theatre

February 24, 2013
By
Elemeno Pea at Mixed Blood Theatre

Money porn. There’s a long tradition in American storytelling of asking audiences to gawk at the shallow goings-on of the ultra-rich.  The tradition began in the 20s with the work of Edith Wharton, came into its own during the Depression (My Man Godfrey), found real traction in the Ronald Reagan 80s (Tom Wolfe’s hootingly...
Read more »