Passing Strange (at Mixed Blood Theatre, through May 11) is an example of that ancient, hoary, and utterly old-fashioned theatrical entity: the rock musical. Everyone is in the band. The cast plays various instruments – not brilliantly, but you can’t…
Month: April 2014
Shrek, The Musical at Children’s Theatre Company
Unless you’ve spent the last dozen years sequestered in a Kazukistan monastery, you know the story of Shrek, The Musical (at Children’s Theatre Company, through June 15): Shrek, an ogre, rescues Princess Fiona from the nasty dragon, falls for her,…
Mercy Killers at Pillsbury House Theatre
The best theater kicks down walls, pulls off the gloves and starts swinging. Mercy Killers, written and performed by Michael Milligan and produced by Pillsbury House Theatre, is that kind of play – a piece that rages against America’s broken…
Three Penny Opera by Frank Theatre, performing at the Southern
Three Penny Opera (Frank Theatre, performing at the Southern, through May 4) was written in 1928 by playwright Bertolt Brecht with music by composer Kurt Weill. I point this out because the program for the Frank production makes no mention…
Detroit at the Jungle Theater
A friendly backyard barbeque with the neighbors builds to the frayed edges of an absurd but frighteningly believable premise in the Jungle Theater’s production of “Detroit†by Lisa D’Amour. You just won’t believe what happens and it’s not what you…
Romeo and Juliet by Collide Theatrical Dance Company at the Lab Theater
Collide Theatrical Dance Company came flying out on the stage last night with an exuberant, fresh interpretation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.†Have you not imagined Juliet tap dancing her despair over her banished Romeo, to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It? 
Once by Hennepin Theatre Trust, at the Orpheum Theatre
Compare the focused intimacy of Once (at the Orpheum, through April 6) with the over-the-top, big-bang-for-your-buck musicals recently produced in the same venue. Phantom Of The Opera, Evita, The Book Of Mormon, et al. Once contains no gee-whiz, that-musta-costa-fortune scenic…