Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West

Following the success of 2023's The Defeat of Jesse James, the History Theatre is again tackling a Wild West (or Midwest) legend (in her own mind). Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West plays from May 17 to June 8, and after opening night, I'm already hoping to see it again.

 

(l-r) Erin Nicole Farsté, Tod Petersen, Grace Hillmyer,

John Jamison II (center), Leslie Vincent, Thomas Bevan.

Photo: Rick Spaulding.

Whoa, Nellie! tells the rip-roaring musical tale of Nellie King, the “wily and scandalous female cowboy detective” whose countless criminal exploits and penchant for male attire made her an 1800s Minnesota media icon. By turns hilarious, tuneful, and deeply emotional, this grand spectacle resurrects an array of vaudevillian superstars to share a story of surprising contemporary resonance. Plumbing the depths of America’s obsession with celebrity, the show reveals potent historical truths around gender, addiction, mental health, and media sensationalism, as it follows Nellie’s desperate pursuit of the love, acceptance and transcendent immortality it promises. (History Theatre)

Since this is the History Theatre, it's about a real person, albeit one that not many people have heard of. Nellie King cut a swath through Minnesota and the Dakotas in the late 1800s, calling herself a detective (then a new profession) to enable her lying and thievery, while also making appearances on the stage.

The show is a moment out of time, with Nellie staging a show about her life on an opera house stage. She has gathered a troupe made up of notables from her era, none of whom were likely to have known King in real life, but who all share a history of being marginalized due to their identities. Each of these players also play a number of roles in the story of Nellie's life. If it sounds confusing, it's not.

The always-electric John Jamison II is superstar vaudeville performer Bert Williams. Erin Nicole Farsté brings wonderful presence and a killer voice to singer Aida Walker. As Julian Eltinge, a popular female impersonator of the era, Jay Owen Eisenberg deftly plays a number of male and female parts to perfection. Tod Peterson is John Durham, the impresario who brings Nellie's show to the stage, and plays roles from comical to threatening. Grace Hillmyer plays a hauntingly innocent ingenue. Leslie Vincent is a rough and tumble Annie Oakley, which made me want someone to cast her in Annie Get Your Gun ASAP. Therese Walth is the indomitable Nellie Bly. Thomas Bevan shows his range as a variety of Nellie's romantic conquests.

(l-r) Leslie Vincent, Em Adam Rosenberg, Tod Petersen.

Photo: Rick Spaulding.

Em Adam Rosenberg is captivating as Nellie King, whether Nellie is sweet-talking a jailkeeper, conning a mark, or romancing someone else's husband. With a stunning vocal range and impressive depth, Rosenberg plays Nellie's highs and lows with equal fervor.

Josef Evans wrote the book, lyrics, and music, and his script and songs address Nellie's life and times while drawing parallels to our current moment. There were many songs I'd like to hear again, but a favorite was the number performed by Walth, Vincent, and Farsté "You Gotta Be Crazy (Not to Go Crazy)" as a counterpoint to the mens' number "Hysterical Damsels."

Laura Leffler's direction keeps the story moving, with fun, appropriately period choreography by Joey Miller, who is also the associate director. The set by Joel Sass, representing a long-gone St. Paul opera house, and lights by C.Andrew Mayer are spot-on (pun intended). Bryce Turgeon's costumes give us a cheeky look at the actors in their undergarments, which makes their quick changes between characters an easy task.

The music, orchestrated by Robert Elhai and directed by Amanda Weis, provides great support to the singers with a small but mighty four-piece ensemble (Weis, Kyle Simons Baker, Corey Fitzgerald, and Audrey Q. Snyder).

Whoa, Nellie: The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West is a wonderful night at the theater. Once again, History Theatre brings our region's history to life in the most magical way.

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. 

Little Women at the Jungle Theater

The Jungle Theater's new production of Little Women, playing through October 21, should appeal to most fans of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel. The theater commissioned the adaptation from playwright Kate Hamill, whose version of Sense and Sensibility was performed at the Guthrie Theater in the fall of 2016. Jungle artistic director Sarah Rasmussen directed that production, as well as the new Little Women.

GIRL Shakes Loose at Penumbra Theatre

GIRL Shakes Loose is the final show in Penumbra Theatre's 40th anniversary season, and it's an ambitious, engaging, and energetic world premiere musical that explores modern, black female identity.


This intimate new musical by Imani Uzuri (music & lyrics) and Zakiyyah Alexander (book & lyrics) includes the words of poet Sonia Sanchez, whose work is grounded in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. Directed by May Adrales, this is a rare show that has a creative team comprised of all women of color.

If that's not reason enough to celebrate this show, Penumbra Theatre and Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy have been directly involved with the bringing this musical to life. As Ms. Bellamy writes in her program note:

Alexis Sims and the plaid shirt.
Photo by Allen Weeks.

"That we are investing in the representation of ourselves, our lives, how we love, and who we love with such tenderness, excellence and ferocity is to be widely celebrated. GIRL Shakes Loose truly is #blackgirlmagic!"

YES!

The cast of GIRL Shakes Loose. All hail Jamecia Bennett.
Photo by Allen Weeks.

The story of GIRL Shakes Loose isn't groundbreaking, except that it's being told about a young woman of color. The title character, simply called GIRL, is a young black woman at a crossroads in her life. She has worked hard for success, attending a good college, obtaining a graduate degree, and running her own start up in Oakland, California. When her company goes bust, she loses any sense of who she is, and has to learn whether her life is worthwhile without the career success she worked so hard to get. Meanwhile, her love affairs are in equal disarray. GIRL heads to New York, and then to Atlanta to attend a family funeral, all the while figuring out what home really means.

Alexis Sims and Kory Pullam.
Photo by Allen Weeks.

As played by Alexis Sims, GIRL is quite sympathetic, even when she's feeling very sorry for herself. It helps that her moping isn't indulged by her friends, or by her family when she goes back to Georgia. She has an engaging spark of energy, and her voice is, quite simply, exceptional.

Jamecia Bennett brings her considerable talents to bear as GIRL's aunt, who tries to reunite her niece with the mother she hasn't seen in years. Thomasina Petrus is, as always, terrific as the mother who feels abandoned by her child but can't bear to condemn her.

Bennett and Petrus also stand out as singers in the eight-member ensemble which musically accompanies GIRL's journey and play the people she meets along the way.

A few standouts: John Jamison is very funny as a friend whose couch she crashes on, and he has an amazing singing voice which I hope to hear again soon. Kory Pullam, wonderful in so many local productions of the last few years at Pillsbury House, the Guthrie, as well as a standout role in Choir Boy, is compelling as an old love, while Tatiana Williams shows tenderness as well as anger as a more recent lover. China Brickey, Lamar Jefferson, and Valencia Proctor also bring beautiful voices to the mix.

Tatiana Williams rocks the house.
Photo by Allen Weeks.

The music is contemporary, with detours into gospel, doo-wop, R & B and other styles, with the strong ensemble present for most of the music and Sanford Moore leading the band from backstage. John Acaerrgui's sound design puts the voices front and center without being over-amplified. I wasn't exactly whistling when I left the theater, but I could see the music taking hold over a few listenings.

In intention, the show felt a little RENT-like to me. Possibly due to the minimal set and revolving cast of characters, and possibly due to a plaid shirt that outstays its welcome on stage.

But I love that the show is trying something new, musically and narratively. Not only is it telling the story of a young woman of color finding herself, it's also telling a story in which a person doesn't have to find someone else to find herself. This is pretty unusual in musical theater, and I applaud it wholeheartedly.

The Passage - 7th House Theater at the Guthrie

Alejandro Vega (and Bob Beverage.)
Photo by Amy Anderson.

The Passage: or, What Comes of Searching in the Dark is a personal and touching new musical by the ambitious young company 7th House Theater,

With music, lyrics and book by company member David Darrow, The Passage is at Guthrie's Dowling Studio (now through December 4). 7th House Theater, which previously created The Great Work and Jonah and the Whale, works in a very collaborative process--the show is credited as created and directed by 7th House Theater

Eleven-year-old Albert comes home from school to a house with a monster in the basement, so he spends a lot of time in his backyard tent when he isn't braving the perils of the cracked driveway to take out the trash for his harried mom. His new next-door neighbor, Cassie, decides to help him find and fight the basement monster.

Alejandro Vega is perfectly cast as Albert. He has an impressive roster of stage credits, including as Danny in the Minnesota Opera's recent premiere of The Shining. He plays both the childlike enthusiasm and the onset of maturity with aplomb. As Cassie, Mary Bair is almost eerily mature, spouting off facts and algorithms with the same calm she uses to discuss her absent father. Lara Trujillo and Bob Beverage play Albert's parents,

Grant Sorenson (Ensemble), Lara Trujillo (Mom), Alejandro Vega 

(Albert Grissom),and Cat Brindisi (Ensemble). Photo by Amy Anderson.

A bare stage with just a few moving pieces represents Albert's house, backyard, Cassie's house, and the far reaches of Albert's imagination. A barefoot, gray-clad ensemble act as narrators and other characters, building, populating, and narrating the scenes.

The Passage is very much about growing up and coming to terms with the non-imaginary dangers of real life. Along the way, childhood beliefs and memories are celebrated and challenged in songs.

The music is lovely, and the sparse instrumentation (orchestrated by Thomas Speltz) seems to fit the style perfectly. The three musicians (John Lynn, piano; Kristian Anderson, guitar; and Courtney van Claff, cello) provide just enough sound to allow the beautiful harmonies of the ensemble (Cat Brindisi, Derek Prestly, Grant Sorenson, and Kendall Anne Thompson) to soar.

The show is not long (about 75 minutes with no intermission), but feels like it tries for too many layers of metaphor. Just as the show should be easing Albert toward reality, it adds unnecessary and somewhat heavy-handed symbolism. The Passage is an ambitious new work, but would benefit from some streamlining to emphasize the heart of the story.

If you are undecided whether this show is for you, note that it is part of the Level Nine Initiative and tickets are only $9. Try something new! Check out the promo video below:

tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN - Mu Performing Arts at Boss Thrust Stage / Park Square

Photo: Keri Pickett

Wow - what a long title! Mu Performing Arts is celebrating the 50th World Premiere with this work, as well as helping to celebrate 50 years of Asian American Theater.  In 1965 the East West Players was founded in Los Angeles. It started as a place where Asian American actors could explore parts outside of the stereotypes that were prevalent in the 1960's Hollywood. This theater company ended up becoming a major player in Asian American Theater along with Seattle's Theatrical Ensemble of Asians, San Francisco's Asian American Theatre Company, and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York City. Mu Performing Arts has continued the work that these four companies has started.

tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN is the latest of 50 World Premieres that Mu Performing Arts has produced, as well as being the final production of this season. It is the first full-length play by Victor Maog, and is directed by Artistic Director Randy Reyes. It tells the story of a young boy who travels from the Marcos-era Philippines to the San Francisco Bay Area to meet his long lost parents. He travels from a country full of strife and military rule only to find himself in America, lonely, hiding in his bedroom and conjuring a pro wrestling fantasy to escape his new life.

Photo: Keri Pickett

The work sounds fascinating on paper, and was interesting to watch on stage. The raised stage is set as a Wrestling Arena, with a single rope surrounding all four sides, audience on all four sides, and a sunken space in the middle of the stage. Lights are set under the two steps leading up to the top level. The action starts with tot (Randy Reyes) talking to his lola - grandmother (Mary Ann Prado) about wanting to see his parents, while at the same time not wanting to leave his home and all his friends. Quite a bit of the dialogue during this time is in a patois mix of English, Spanish, and Tagalog (I think - there is no information, nor translation provided). He asks at this time, and often through out the show, why his parents left him in the Philippines, and why he has to go to America. When he arrives in America, he finds that his parents Hope Nordquist, and Eric "Pogi" Sumangil) are not as he had expected or hoped. He also has to contend with a new sister (Stephanie Bertumen - Reyes's actual sister). The parents disagree often, and seem to have little regard for the bullying that tot deals with at school and in the neighborhood. tot falls in to his imagination and creates a pro wrestling fantasy to help him escape his troubles. These fantasies are filled with Mother Superior (Prado), The Dame (Nordquist), The American Dream (Bertumen), The Announcer (Sumangil), and the hero - The Orbiter (Torsten Johnson). Michelle De Joya and Kyle Legacion fill out the rest of the cast playing the chorus, as well as two "ring announcers" who carry signs around the ring telling the audience where the scene is set and/or what it is about.

Photo: Keri Pickett

The cast, and the performances are solid and good. All the various characters are singular and distinct. It is interesting to watch the various relationships and see how they play out. The difficulties I had were mainly with the script. When the wrestling aspects began it was not clear that these were fantasies, or something that the father in America was working on as he also played the announcer. I also didn't see the character of tot changing or growing during the show until the resolution at the end when they show him as a grown-up. The character, as I saw it, remained as a child - petulant, self-absorbed, and not worrying about who he may hurt when he fights with his sister, or wrestles with her. Towards the end of the work there is an extended scene of domestic abuse that I found very troublesome to watch - to the point where I turned away. So, let this be a trigger warning to some of you. The director's notes state that tot explores "immigration, imagination, domestic violence, the American dream, bullying, and misogyny, all through the theatrically violent professional wrestling world." I felt that the showed all these things but didn't go much deeper. Though thinking back I could see where some of the "wrestling" moments could be understood as a metaphor for what tot was going through - but it wasn't clear to me.

I think work like this is important. All of our stories should be told and shared on the stage. I love that Mu Performing Arts is here in the Twin Cities providing a different perspective, while also being a big part of our community here. While I may not have liked this show, I still am looking forward to seeing more of their work.

Two Boys Kissing at Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus

I can't imagine a better way to celebrate the LGBTQ community and Pride than seeing Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus's (TCGMC) World Premiere of Two Boys Kissing. 

Composed by Joshua Shank and based on the book by David Levithan, Two Boys Kissing follows the stories of Harry and Craig, two gay teenagers who decide to break the world record for the longest kiss; Avery and Ryan, two teens falling in love; and the story of Cooper, who lives his life online until his secrets are discovered by his parents. 

And here's the part that is so very touching: These stories of family, and first love, and bravery, and pain are all watched over and commented on by a Greek Chorus of gay men who have died of AIDS. Men who were taken from this world too early, who are observing how much has changed--and how much has not.

Act One of this concert (running only this weekend: June 17-19 at Ted Mann Concert Hall) starts with a selection of various musical numbers. The show starts beautifully. The curtain opens to reveal the entire TCGMC holding candles and singing a beautiful song by Joseph M. Martin called "The Awakening." As the song progresses, the lights slowly come up to reveal the faces of the chorus. It's gorgeous and moving.

The first act features "The Body" by the TCGMC Chamber Singers, commissioned in honor of their 35th Anniversary Season (with poetry by Joyce Sutphen). OutLoud performs a few numbers (a gorgeous "It's a Grand Night for Singing", and "Embraceable You"), as well as a few lovely numbers by the full chorus. The act ends with "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" and I'll let my musical theater nerd/historian sister tell you about that.

Jules here! I thought "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" was an offbeat choice of song. It's a Rodgers and Hammerstein number that isn't that well known. The concert program (and the R&H website) lists it as being from State Fair, but it was originally written for Oklahoma! but cut before the show opened. It has been included in some of the stage versions of Cinderella, and in the stage version of State Fair that opened on Broadway in 1996. When I went to look this up, I found that the song had been recorded by Judy Garland for Meet Me in St. Louis, and by Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett for Take Me Out to the Ball Game, though it was cut from both those movies. So this is a song that has never really found a home. But hearing it sung by the chorus made it a touching anthem for love of all kinds:

Boys and girls like you and me

Walk beneath the skies

They love just as we love

With the same dream in their eyes.

Act Two is Two Boys Kissing.  If you've not read the novel by David Levithan, please do so. I'll wait while you request it from your local library, or order it from a reputable local independent bookseller (such as the adorable Addendum Books in St. Paul).

The moment the Prologue began, my eyes filled with tears and the tears did not abate through the entire performance. Narrators tell the stories of the teens, as well as the thoughts of the chorus watching over them, interspersed with gorgeous choral numbers by the entire chorus. So beautiful, so emotional.

A bit from the book that touched me deeply in both the book and performance: 

"If you are a teenager now, it is unlikely that you knew us well. We are your shadow uncles, your angel godfathers, your mother's or your grandmother's best friend from college, the author of that book you found in the gay section of the library. We are characters in a Tony Kushner play, or names on a quilt that rarely gets taken out anymore. We are the ghosts of the remaining older generation. You know some of our songs. We do not want to haunt you too somberly. We don't want our legacy to be gravitas. You wouldn't want to live your life like that, and you won't want to be remembered like that, either. Your mistake would be to find our commonality in our dying. The living part mattered more. We taught you how to dance."

A few months ago, New Epic Theater presented Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart (in repertory with Coriolanus--both were amazing). Two Boys Kissing feels like such a natural (and lovely) follow-up to The Normal Heart--and David Levithan cites it as one of his influences. Check out his website for more of his influences in writing this book. I'd add, as I always do: the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin, a delicious series of novels which follows a group of gay and straight friends in San Francisco from the 1970s to the present.

If you're not convinced yet that you need to see this show (or at least buy the cd online from TCGMC), here's one more bit from the book that I loved:

"One of the many horrible things about dying the way we died was the way it robbed us of the outdoor world and trapped us in the indoor world. For every one of us who was able to die peacefully on a deck chair, blanket pulled high, as the wind stirred his hair and the sun warmed his face, there were hundreds of us whose last glimpse of the world was white walls and metal machinery, the tease of a window, the inadequate flowers in a vase, elected representatives from the wilds we had lost. our last breaths were of climate-controlled air. We died under ceilings. 'Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.' It makes us more grateful now for rivers, more grateful for sky."

Two Boys Kissing is for anyone who believes in the power of song to convey the most intense emotions, for anyone who's fallen in love, for anyone who's been hurt by love, for anyone who has lost a loved one, and for anyone who still believes in love and still believes in hope.

The Shining - World Premiere at Minnesota Opera

Few things seem more unlikely than an opera based on a Stephen King novel. High culture meets bestselling horror fiction? Worlds converging? And yet, it's true. And it's practically perfect.

The Shining is a world premiere commissioned by Minnesota Opera as part of its New Works Initiative. Composer Paul Moravec is a newcomer to Minnesota Opera, while librettist Mark Campbell’s previous works include the world premieres of Silent Night and The Manchurian Candidate (both also commissioned by the Opera). The collaborators went back to Stephen King’s original 1977 novel, and not the well-known Stanley Kubrick film, which King was never happy with.

Brian Mulligan and Kelly Kaduce (photo by Ken Howard)

If you have somehow missed the book, the Kubrick film, or King's 1997 miniseries, The Shining is a novel about Jack Torrance, who gets a job as caretaker for the Overlook Hotel in Colorado over one winter. He brings his wife Wendy and their son, Danny, and plans to work on a play he is writing. He's hoping the isolated hotel will help him with his work, and to make a fresh start with his family, after his alcoholism and temper have cost him a teaching job. But the Overlook has other plans for Jack.

The line between musical theater and opera can be a little close, and some work is better suited to another genre. But The Shining is absolutely perfect as an opera. The music and libretto, natural and realistic in the beginning of the opera, perfectly encapsulates the increasing tension and heightened emotion of the story. The fantastic stage and production designs supports the music and cast at every point.

Production photo by Ken Howard

Minnesota Opera has put a ton of resources into this production, and it all shows on stage. Masterful projection design sets the scene, showing us the vast uninhabited expanses that surround the hotel, helping us to feel the isolation that soon envelops the Torrance family.

Layers of animation and projection combine with practical sets to blur the lines between the realism of the opening and the encroaching sinister forces as the hotel and its madness become all too real. 59 Productions, who designed the animations and projections, recently won a Tony for An American in Paris, and has contributed to a number of Broadway and Metropolitan Opera productions.

Brian Mulligan, Kelly Kaduce and Alejandro Vega
(photo by Ken Howard)

The cast was perfect. As the increasingly tortured Jack, Brian Mulligan used his beautiful baritone voice in ways both lovely and ugly, devolving at times into speaking and shouting, conveying the character’s state of mind. Minnesota Opera favorite Kelly Kaduce as Wendy was glorious as always, showing the intense love and commitment of her character as well as her growing fear.

As Danny, young Alejandro Vega was very good in the difficult role of this gifted child who experiences much more than the adults around him. His energy and focus were impressive, and made Danny feel like an actual child in spite of his gifts, which included channeling the voices of the hotel’s ghosts, with the chorus chiming in eerily.

Alejandro Vega and Arthur Woodley (photo by Ken Howard)

Aside from the Torrance family, the strongest (human) presence in the opera comes from Arthur Woodley as Dick Hallorann, cook at the Overlook. Hallorann is heading to Florida, but he recognizes that Danny has the shining (visions, or precognition) as does Hallorann. Woodley has a great deep voice with incredible ringing high notes. He was so in tune and in touch with the character’s protectiveness of Danny. He was a joy to hear and to watch on stage.

Also of note is a male quartet comprised of Mark Walters, Alex Ritchie, John Robert Lindsey, and David Walton, who sang at a pivotal point in the second act. They were truly sinister and sounded so good together, especially when Brian Mulligan joined them in song. The chorus, and other featured singers were all fantastic.

Look at that gorgeous production design!
(photo by Ken Howard)

In addition to the fantastic singing, the performers acted the play beautifully. The connections of the family felt very real, which made it all the more disturbing when things really start to go wrong. The violence necessary to the story was more realistic than most drama seen on opera stages.

Every bit as important as characters are the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel, and the hotel itself. Skillfully contrasted with the realistic, everyday relationships and activities of the Torrance family are the ghosts. They are first seen only as silhouettes, but as Jack’s mania grows, so do the depictions of the hotel’s creepy previous inhabitants, until Jack is moving freely among them.

Creepier and creepier. (photo by Ken Howard)

Modern opera can be a challenge: how can a modern composer create something on par with operas that have existed and been loved for hundreds of years? The Shining is a truly modern opera that features some lovely melodies, but is also truly unsettling. The music creates a tense musical atmosphere that was never overbearing but also never let up. Occasionally tough and sometimes discordant, the music is wonderfully performed to provide the creepy atmosphere that kept the tension mounting. 

Costume rendering by Karin Kopischke

Costume rendering by Karin Kopischke

The costumes, by costume designer Karin Kopischke, add to the stark contrast between the reality of the Torrance family and the surreality of the Overlook's other residents. Each costume is beautifully appropriate to each character, from the everyday 1970s wear of the Torrances to the uniforms of the previous caretakers and staff to the outlandish and unsettling costumes of the masked partygoers.

Honestly, the whole production was superb. Every element worked together perfectly to create a truly sinister and unsettling atmosphere while telling a great story of love and sacrifice that remains true to Stephen King's wonderful book. The Shining is a perfect evening at the opera. Hurrah to Minnesota Opera for commissioning this work; I hope this marvelous addition to the canon has a long, successful life.

(co-written by KRL, Jules and Carly)