Beale Street. Few places figure so centrally in American musical culture. A case could be made for Congo Square in New Orleans, for the now-disappeared jazz clubs along 52nd Street, Laurel Canyon in the 1960s, the Grand Ole Opry. But…
Author: John Olive
T Bone N Weasel at Theatre Pro Rata, performing at the Gremlin
T Bone N Weasel (Theatre Pro Rata, through March 18, performing at the Gremlin Theatre) is showing its age. First produced in 1986 (and dozens of times since), playwright Jon Klein‘s endlessly amusing tale of the two hapless doofuses bouncing…
Interview With Jon Klein
Jon Klein’s funny and sharp T Bone N Weasel premieres this weekend at the excellent Theatre Pro Rata. The play runs at the Gremlin Theatre, 2400 University Avenue in St. Paul, through March 18. Jon was kind enough to respond…
Talley’s Folly at Workhouse Theatre Co.
Talley’s Folly (Workhouse Theatre Co., through March 11) is the late and greatly lamented (he died not quite a year ago) Lanford Wilson‘s most-performed play. In part, the reason for this is practical: Talley’s Folly is a two-hander, featuring two…
Buzzer at Pillsbury House Theatre
The past is painfully present in Tracey Scott Wilson‘s evocative (and challenging) Buzzer (Pillsbury House Theatre, through March 18). Jackson is the very model of a successful three piece suited attorney: perfect pedigree (Exeter/Harvard University/Harvard Law School), salary augmented by…
As You Like It by Ten Thousand Things Theater performing at Open Book
If ever a play were to test the light-free, minimalist, performer-centric technique employed by the unique Ten Thousand Things Theater, it would be William Shakespeare‘s opulent As You like It (TTT performing at Open Book, through March 11). The shift…
Crashing The Party at Mixed Blood Theatre
“Dying is easy,” went the famous (and quite possibly apocryphal) last words of the famous actor. “Comedy is hard.” Indeed, and if you want to glean a sense of just how difficult stage comedy can be to pull off, check…
Slasher at Urban Samurai, performing at the Sabes Jewish Comunity Center
Slasher (Urban Samurai, performing at the Sabes Jewish Community Center, through Feb 18) would make a better movie. Playwright Allison Moore‘s premise is terrific: director Marc Hunter has cast Sheena as “the last girl” – the lead, in other words…
End Of The Rainbow at the Guthrie Theater
To his credit, in End Of The Rainbow (at the Guthrie, through March 11) playwright Peter Quilter refuses to give us the “pretty” Judy Garland, the achingly luminous singer who wowed us in The Wizard Of Oz (age 17), A…
Ragtime, The Musical at Park Square Theatre
E. L. Doctorow was the author of two respected but not widely read novels when in 1975 he thundered onto the literary scene with Ragtime. Set 1902-17, the novel blends history and fantasy, private characters with oversized historical figures (J.P.…