The Hobbit at Children's Theatre Company

The Hobbit at Children's Theatre Company

When: March 12 - April 14, 2019
At: Children's Theatre Company
Running Time: Two hours with intermish

Dean Holt in The Hobbit. Photo by Dan Norman.

About:
"Our unlikely hero, Bilbo Baggins, would much rather be sitting in his cozy Hobbit Hole with a cup of tea and a plate of bacon and eggs. However, he somehow finds himself on a magically mystical adventure. Staged with speed and surprises, you’ll be delighted as things change before your very eyes. Discover what happens as Bilbo travels on an epic journey over freezing mountains and a frightening forest, meeting all sorts of fierce creatures—some who want to eat him, others who turn into dear friends."

What We Thought: The Hobbit is an epic adventure, so why is Children's Theatre presenting this show with only five actors and two musicians? Because imagination is their business and they do it well. This new script, adapted by Greg Banks, who also directs this production, keeps the cast hopping. 

ALL the Theater Love - Can't Wait for These Winter 2018 Shows!

Friends, February 2018 is rich in amazing theater. Once you've recovered from that big sports game that is allegedly here sometime soon, go support one of our fantastic theaters! YEAH! Um, skol?

Here are a few of the over 31 (!) shows that are opening around February for which we are the most excited. Here's why you should put them on your list as well.

The Abominables at Children's Theatre Company

"Check it—
Can I be real a second?
For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?"
- Right Hand Man, Hamilton

About The Abominables at Children's Theatre Company ...

First of all, yay for new musicals! Hurrah for for the Children's Theatre Company for partnering with The Civilians, the fascinating NY-based "company that creates new theater from creative investigations into the most vital questions of the present" that brought us Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play and a host of other amazing sounding productions.

Secondly, but not secondarily, is the tragic passing of Michael Friedman, who wrote the music and lyrics for this show. Please read this lovely tribute to him by Sarah Larson at the New Yorker: 

"Michael Friedman, who died Saturday, at forty-one, was a brilliant and prolific composer and lyricist, a pianist, a thinker, a mile-a-minute talker, a gesticulator, a person who dazzled and could leave you dizzied—not just by his talent and intelligence but by his kindness and humanity, which were always at the forefront of his work."

With all that said, though, I wish I could give this show some love. But I need to be real (a second). I found this show really problematic.

Let's start at the very beginning. Here's the summary from the CTC website:

"Rink rats, hockey moms, tournament weekends and the quest to play your best – It’s tryout season in the Great State of Hockey! Mitch has always played on the A team for the Prairie Lake Blizzards – these are his guys – they've played together forever, but he's worried this could be the year he gets sent down to the B team. When a new “kid” appears at Bantam tryouts, things go from bad to worse. From the land of ice and nice comes the first Minnesota hockey musical! Will you love it? You betcha!"

Hockey! Musical! Minnesota-set! Fun fun, right? Not so much.

Mitch Munson (Henry Constable) has been practicing all summer for hockey tryouts, and convinces his friends to let him go out on the ice first, which, astonishingly enough, they do. He tries out but does not make the A team. A new family has moved to town with their yeti son, adopted from the Himalayas. (It turns out yetis are really good at hockey.) Harry, the yeti (Ryan Colbert), gets a spot on the A team, and Mitch gets a spot on the B team. Cue massive amounts of pouting and privilege from young Mitch, mostly at the expense of the new kid in town. Mitch does everything he can to try and bring Harry down, including finding his lost yeti parents, so they will take him away.

I've got two major concerns with this show.

The first is that the show is remarkably inconsistent and underwritten. Although the Civilians is notable for devising and creating their work as a group, Steve Cosson is credited as the writer.

We meet Mitch's parents, Ellen and Charlie (Autumn Ness and Reed Sigmund), but we learn almost nothing about them except that she is a hockey mom (who likes to drink and be an A team parent) and he--I don't know. Does he support Mitch? Is he a toxic sport parent? Does he think Mitch is a lousy hockey player? Does he have shattered dreams from his own sporting youth? We get a hint of that near the end of the play, but not when we need it--in the beginning.

Our "hero", Mitch, is severely undercharacterized. He has practiced all summer. That is all we know about him, and yet we are expected to sympathize with him and with the journey he takes (eventually) to being less of a brat (in theory). I got to be honest: When a young, white, male character is expected to earn our interest and affection merely by existing, I can't help but feel that the playwright is considering the white male character to be the neutral default (see Steven Epp in Refugia). Apart from that, the character is just a complete whiny little creep.

Oh, and Mitch has two younger sisters: Tracy (the always delightful Natalie Tran) and Lily (an engaging Valerie Wick), neither of whom gets nearly the attention that Mitch does, despite the fact that Tracy is a great hockey player. A particularly infuriating scene has Mitch breaking Tracy's trophy (which she was sharing with another player due to their excellent teamwork) with no repercussions whatsoever. It is never referred to again, nor is Tracy's admirable sportsmanship. Certainly not by the parents. A note: Having the script acknowledge that these characters get less attention does not get you a pass on shortchanging their stories. And when Lily gets lost in the snow because her parents have again ignored their daughters, she saves herself and others with intelligence and competence that literally no one even comments on.

Let's meet Mitch's arch-enemy, shall we? Harry the yeti (a delightful and poignant Ryan Colbert) and his parents (Bradley Greenwald and Elise Benson), as well as son Freddy (adorable and winning Alejandro Vega) have just moved to town so that Harry can play hockey and make friends. Wait, what? A yeti? Explain how.

APPARENTLY, Hank and Judy, mountain-climbers/television stars/authors/etc., were climbing in the Himalayas and found a young Yeti and took him home and named him Harry. Although we are told Hank and Judy are selfish, self-centered egotists, apparently they care enough about their son to bring him to Minnesota to play hockey and make friends.

And here's where everything gets just a little bit more complicated. Having recently seen The Sneetches at CTC, I know that children's theater often has deeper and more substantial themes than one might find at face value.

Hank and Judy are human, and Harry is a yeti. He is constantly referred to as "other" and especially so when Mitch takes so strongly against him and refers to his adopted status derisively. Even his parents consider him as "other" and highlight his differences from his human teammates. Part of Mitch's plan to get back on the A Team involves him contacting Harry's yeti parents, who come to town and accuse Hank and Judy of stealing their son.

Seriously, how can you not see this as a depiction of transracial adoption? Or at the very least, an incredibly problematic portrayal of adoption in general.

The yeti parents have no names. Hank and Judy are portrayed by white actors and their adopted son is portrayed by an actor of color. Stephanie Bertumen plays a variety of anonymous characters, with far less dialogue than her counterpart Doug Nethercott. And far more ridiculous wigs.

I truly don't know what to make of this musical. If it's truly a light-hearted hockey musical, it at least needs to tell us what these characters want and need. What drives them? What is our happy ending? Why can't we resolve a few problems? Why isn't it more fun? If it's something more serious, then tackle those issues. I literally think the writer did not consider the implications of portraying adoption and certainly transracial adoption in this way. But that's no excuse, especially for the Children's Theatre, which generally does pay attention to issues like these.

One last note: CTC does have a content advisory page for the play, and it includes this statement:

Special note: This production contains potentially triggering situations surrounding adoption. If you and/or your child have adoptive experiences, please contact the ticket office...

That doesn't seem to be enough. Putting together new work is hard, but especially when creating a new play for and about children, I'd hope that the creative team would be on the lookout for problems like these.

Matilda - National Tour at the Orpheum Theatre

Matilda the Musical, playing through April 2 at the Orpheum Theatre, is a delight from start to finish. And I am so relieved! I had seen the show back in 2011 at the Cambridge Theatre in London, and was so enchanted by it that I wasn't sure I even wanted to see the national tour for fear that it wouldn't live up to that original experience.

Catching Up - Post-Hiatus Post

Dear Friends,

We here at Minnesota Theater Love have dropped the ball on the AMAZING amount of theater in February and March 2017. Our apologies and thank goodness our friends at Twin Cities Theater Bloggers are ON IT. They are doing amazingly fun backstage videos and interviews in addition to reviews, so follow them on Facebook. All the cool theater kids are doing it.

So here's a super short look at some things we've seen lately--for posterity's sake.

Look at that fabulous set! Photo by Dan Norman

Six Degrees of Separation at Theater Latte Da - Holy cats, this SET. Walking into the Ritz Theater, Latte Da's new home (hooray!), I almost stopped in my tracks to take it in. I just wanted to live in that stage, with its expansive sofas, massive coffee table, and fabulous art (courtesy of artists from the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District). Scenic design was by Kate Sutton-Johnson. Great cast, of course: Mark Benninghofen, Sally Wingert, Patrick Bailey, Kendra Anne Thompson, and JuCoby Johnson. Great play. Also short. Man, I am REALLY out of practice. Oh, and there was a John Doyleish element of musicians and actors playing music onstage. It ain't easy to be an actor these days.

Dreamy Justin Kirk

Dinner at Eight at Minnesota Opera - Another world premiere opera from Minnesota Opera, with music by William Bolcom and libretto by Mark Campbell. Based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Minnesota Opera has done some beautiful new works in the past year, especially last year's The Shining. And hurray for new work! But this one didn't work. Set in the 1930s, the play is a classic of dry wit. And dry wit simply doesn't translate to traditional opera singing. Some good performances, though, especially Mary Dunleavy as Millicent Jordan. And it was short.

The 24 Hr. Plays at Pantages Theater - The 24 Hour Play Project brings together theater artists to create time-limited theater around the world that benefits various organizations. Playwrights come together and have 24 hours to write six short plays, which are cast and performed the following day. An amazing array of Twin Cities actors and playwrights were featured, as well as a few out-of-towners, like Justin Kirk. The evening was hosted by the charming and talented David Darrow, and his guitar, and benefited Spotlight Education and UMD Theatre Scholarships. Above all else, though, it was so lovely to be in an audience of people who LOVE theater and were so enthusiastic and appreciative. It made my bitter old theater heart grow two sizes.

Bradley Greenwald in The Sneetches.
Photo by Dan Norman

Booty and the Beast: A Tinderella Story at Brave New Workshop - Why do I not go to BNW all the time? This show, a hilarious blend of classic Disney fairy tales and modern dating drama, was so delightful and funny that my face hurt from smiling. Plus, you can text drink orders to your server. They should have a required coat check, though, like 54 Below. Those tables are tight!

The Sneetches: The Musical at Children's Theatre Company - Attended this sensory-friendly performance partly for work, and partly for fun. CTC works with the Autism Society of MN to put on regular sensory-friendly performances of their shows, featuring quiet spaces, low lighting in the house during the show, fidgets and noise-cancelling headphones and plenty of friendly volunteers. The show, featuring another fabulous cast including Max Wojtanowicz, Paul R. Coate, George Keller, Natalie Tran, Kim Kivens, Ryan Colbert and way more, was charming and beautifully designed. It seemed to go on a bit long though, belaboring the same points (but hey, it's children's theater). Then Bradley Greenwald showed up in a red wig, and a green plaid suit and livened things up immeasurably. Good fun and yay inclusiveness!

Kimberly Richardson in The Red Shoes.
Photo by Ron Ravensborg.

The Red Shoes at Open Eye Figure Theatre - Produced in partnership with Joel Sass’ Oddfellows Collective. Conceived, written, designed and directed by Joel Sass. Featuring performer Kimberly Richardson. This show is rather bananas and genius. If only we hadn't seen it on the last day, we'd be sharing the word far and wide. What's it about? Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and incorporating elements of vintage detective novels, and modern day anxiety, this show (as Sass writes in his Director's Note): "The Red Shoes evokes a highly stylized landscape of convoluted mystery, subconscious menace, fever dreams, and existential crisis." I'd also add that Richardson's performance was a tour de force, and the amazingly inventive stagecraft was fascinating. So many truly astonishing moments that will stay with me for a long time. This show is far too good to go away--I hope we see it come back.

Whew. Caught up now and ready to attack a new season of theater. Happy theatergoing, theater friends!