Author: Janet Preus

Review | Dear Evan Hansen: a musical for today

Orpheum Theatre through June 9

“Dear Evan Hansen” has arrived in Minneapolis and it’s a hot ticket; the Orpheum Theatre was packed for opening night. Winner of multiple 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, the show astonishing technical flash with a moving…

A Brand New Day Cabaret launched at the Ordway

Part narrative, part singing, all heart

The Ordway has just launched a new Cabaret series, “A Brand New Day.” Based on its inaugural show, “Breaking Barriers: Love on the Broadway Stage from Hair to Hamilton,” which I attended January 31, this is an appropriate title. It’s…

Noises Off at the Guthrie Theater

Nonstop laughing!

Are you ‘bout ready for a good laugh? How about a couple hours of nonstop laughing? That’s what the Guthrie Theater delivers with Noises Off, by Michael Frayn, a classic modern farce (and there sure aren’t many of those!) If…

Review | The Tempest: spare and wondrous

By Theatre Coup d’Etat at Springhill Ministry through November 17

Theatre Coup d’Etat heads into Halloween with spirits and spells in an absorbing and taut production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We sit in a square, empty room. Chairs in a circle – one row only. A few dramatic lights. Sound…

Minnesota Theater Awards launches

New program celebrates area theater practioners

The Twin Cities theater community gathered last night to celebrate the year’s accomplishments and recognize its finest work. The Minnesota Theater Awards has sprung up in the vacuum left when the Ivey Awards folded earlier this year. According to Brant…

REVIEW | Marisol challenges us all

Produced by Theatre Coup d’Etat at SpringHouse Ministry Center through May 19

Theatre Coup d’Etat has made a brave move with José Rivera’s play “Marisol.” The premise is provocative, the action disturbing and the characters flawed and intriguing. In Rivera’s apocalyptic urban fantasy world, God is old, senile and dying, and violence…