Do we count William Shakespeare‘s pastoral romance As You Like It (the Acting Company, performing in the Guthrie‘s Dowling Studio, through Feb 3) among the bard’s weaker efforts? A mere pot-boiler, a crowd-pleaser? Lovers and court sophisticates retreating to the…
Category: Reviews
Aida by Theater Latté Da, performing at the Pantages Theatre
First the good: Aida (Theater Latté Da performing at the marvelous Pantages, through Jan 27) is a rippingly good show. If you like full-bore, rock-’em-sock-’em musicals, Latté Da delivers the goods. Anchored by a stirring Elton John/Tim Rice score (those…
La Natividad, a co-production of In The Heart Of The Beast Puppet And Mask Theatre and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
If you want to glean a sense of the transformative power of masks watch as Maria dons the Virgin Mary mask in La Natividad (a co-production of In The Heart Of The Beast Puppet And Mask Theatre and St. Paul’s…
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.…
Elf at the Ordway
Need a little “Sparklejollytwinklejingley†this Christmas season? Looking for an overload like indulging in an entire plate of Christmas cookies? I’ve got just the thing: take someone who could use a little Christmas to the Broadway musical, “Elf,†showing through…
The Servant Of Two Masters at the Guthrie Theater
The Servant Of Two Masters (at the Guthrie, through January 20). First some mechanicals come out in semi-darkness, speaking pidgin Italian. They kill the lights and we have an exquisite firefly effect: twinkling lights, hundreds of them, seeming to float…
A Behanding In Spokane at the Gremlin Theatre
Playwright Martin McDonagh has a rep as a hard-drinking Irishman, an angry and dyspeptic glorifier of domineering mothers, gravediggers, cripples (okay, let’s say differently abled wheelchair-bound schemers) and, in the case of A Behanding In Spokane (now playing at the…
It Is She Who I See by Interference Arts at the Ritz Theater
This is not exactly a review, but then “It Is She Who I See†is not exactly a play. I would like, however, to try to describe it to you because if you’re the sort of person whose interest is…
“Old Times” by Nightpath Theatre at The Loring Alley Theater
One of the pleasures of reviewing theater in the Twin Cities is discovering another brave, small theater company tackling a challenging play and nailing it. The company is Nightpath Theatre, the play is “Old Times,†a modern classic by Nobel…
How the Grinch Stole Christmas at The Children’s Theatre
The holiday season approaches, so it must be time once again for that lovable grouch called “Grinch†to attempt to steal Christmas from us. He can’t succeed, as we know, but it’s oh, so much fun watching him try. The…