October Theater Preview - Hear it on KFAI Radio!

(from the fabulous Minnesota Digital Library collection)

Curious about upcoming theater here in beautiful Minneapolis-St. Paul?

Gather your friends and family 'round the radio this Monday morning for Minnesota Theater Love's inaugural radio spot. We are terribly excited to be making our broadcast debut!

You can hear us discuss the shows you absolutely HAVE to catch this October on Monday, October 6th at 7:30 a.m. on KFAI: Radio Without Boundaries (heard in Minneapolis on 90.3 and in St. Paul on 106.7).

Here's a sneak peek at what you'll hear on the broadcast--besides super enthusiastic theater chat--from your Minnesota Theater Love friends:

We talk about a few shows that we mentioned in our September 2014 Theater Preview, including Colossal at Mixed Blood Theater, The Heidi Chronicles at the Guthrie (but mostly because of the hilarious Kate Wetherhead of our favorite web series Submissions Only), and Master Class at Theater Latte Da.

Plus, we gave a bit of a shoutout to the local theater web series Theater People, which you should definitely check out!

Stay tuned for news about more radio appearances!  We'll also be posting a link to the broadcast here on our blog.  So much theater fun!

Marcus, or the Secret of Discovering New (to me!) Talent

One of the things I love about Minnesota theater (as opposed to say, New York) is that when I see an actor whose performance wows me, I am reasonably sure that I'll be able to catch them in another production soon.

I just had this delightful experience while watching Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet, a Pillsbury House Theatre and The Mount Curve Company co-production at the Guthrie Theater (playing now through October 5--go see it!)

This final installment of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s acclaimed Brother/Sister Plays featured an amazing ensemble cast.  A unique aspect of this play is that the cast often sat in chairs on the side of the stage and watched the action when they weren't in scenes.  Watching them watch the action was an unexpected delight.  So, on to the cast!

Mikell Sapp, Nathan Barlow and Aimee K. Bryant (twincities.com)

Some of the actors I had seen and enjoyed in theater around town, like Aimee K. Bryant (loved her most recently as Marian the Librarian in Ten Thousand Things' The Music Man), Thomasina Petrus (love her AND her cashew brittle), James A. Williams and Nathan Barlow.

But there were a few actors that were pretty new to me that I am definitely putting on my don't-miss list:

Mikell Sapp (Terrell) - There are some actors who capture your attention so completely when they're onstage and Mikell Sapp is one of those actors.  He has an amazing energy and wonderful timing. Saw him first in The Ballad of Emmet Till at Penumbra Theatre, where he stood out in that excellent cast as well.

Lauren Davis, Nathan Barlow and Joy Dolo (pillsburyhousetheatre.com)

Joy Dolo (Shaunta lyun) - I've never seen Joy Dolo before (although her local appearances are extensive--I'm a little ashamed to have missed her), but will keep an eye out for her work.  She is incredibly funny and quite poignant as well.  Marvelous performance.

Lauren Davis (Osha) - Lauren Davis (and Joy Dolo) so perfectly embodied the characters of teenage girls, it was hard to believe they weren't straight out of a local high school.  Davis, in particular, was so uncannily accurate that her character gave me some interesting insight into my library's teenage patrons.

And just for fun, here's a cute Star Tribune blog post (with pictures!) about McCraney's visit to the Guthrie to see Marcus.  From the post:

Playwright Terell Alvin McRaney McCraney said that he often is fully engaged, sometimes in call-and-response style, when he watches his shows.

"It's supposed to be fun," he said.

To wit, he laughed out loud during Saturday's evening performance of "Marcus," sometimes talking back (encouragingly) to the actors.

“That’s it,” he said during a musical number called “Sun Shower,” performed by Nathan Barlow as Marcus and Lauren Davis and Joy Dolo as his friends Osha and Shaunta.

McCraney was vocal during turns by all the performers, especially Thomasina Petrus as under-her-breath cusser Elegua, James A. Williams as funerary marcher Ogun, Jamila Anderson as bible-reading Oba, and Mikell Sapp as Marcus' funky school friend Terrell.

How much fun would it have been to see it with McCraney?  SO fun.  No shushing the playwright!

September 2014 Theater - What I'm Looking Forward To

From http://simpsons.wikia.com/

After a bit of a theater-dry summer, the fall theater season is upon us.  My personal goal this year: more plays by smaller theaters that are new to me. I also want to see productions that feature actors and creators of color (#weneeddiversetheater) to back up my endless complaints about plays with white people shouting at each other.

So here's what I'm looking forward to in coming weeks and why. Listed in order by start date, not excitement. (For my most eagerly anticipated show, you'll want to go straight down to Mixed Blood's Colossal).  Did I miss something amazing opening in September or October?  Tell me in the comments!

The Mystery of Irma Vep - Jungle Theater

August 29 through October 19

Why: Because even though I get frustrated with the Jungle's love for doing the same shows over and over again, I do love this play, love Bradley Greenwald, and am intrigued by Stephen Cartmell after seeing him in Ten Thousand Things' Dirt Sticks.  

"Set on a "dark and stormy night," Lady Enid and her husband arrive at a haunted estate complete with werewolves and mayhem, as well as an impromptu side-trip to the tombs of Egypt! Don't miss this farcical thriller and gender-bending tour-de-force!" (Jungle Theater)

Sexy Laundry - Park Square Theatre

September 5 through September 28

Why:  I always find John Middleton really interesting to watch.

"Alice and Henry have to make a change. After twenty-five years of marriage, three children and stalled careers, the couple has fallen into the same old dull routine. They desperately hope a staycation at a fancy hotel – and a copy of Sex for Dummies – will cure all that ails them. Can the once-happy couple reignite a passion that’s more than skin deep?" (Park Square Theatre)

Strumply Peter - Open Eye Figure Theatre
September 11 through September 25
Why: Because the first time I went to Open Eye, Michael Sommers drove by and gave us parking advice.  Also, I love their intimate space and German cautionary tales.
"Strumply Peter, a Toy Opera, is the latest original creation from Open Eye Figure Theatre, inspired by the cautionary poems 19th century German physician Heinrich Hoffman composed to entertain his children. Where but on the Open Eye stage can Strumply Peter whisk away children to make them sweeter? This cautionary Toy Opera is a flourish of amusements with puppetry, larger than life characters, and a miniature music hall band." (Open Eye Figure Theatre)

The New Electric Ballroom  - Frank Theatre

September 12 through September 28 - New Century Theater
Why:  Because Enda Walsh's Misterman was super weird and original.

"Set in a small fishing town on the west coast of Ireland, two aging sisters re-enact a night in the early 60s with a seductive rock singer as a cautionary tale for their younger sister. Party dresses, sponge cake, rock n’ roll and regret swirl into a fantasy-fueled night of storytelling in this beautiful and devastating play of broken hearts."  (Frank Theatre)

Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet - The Guthrie Theater presents a Pillsbury House Theatre and The Mount Curve Company co-production

September 12 through October 5 - Dowling Studio

Why:  Because I'm ashamed that I haven't seen the other two of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Brother/Sister Plays.” Theater slacker.

"Sixteen-year-old Marcus is haunted by his dreams and dogged by doubts from his friends and family. Days before an ominous storm on the Louisiana bayou, Marcus journeys to discover who he is and where he comes from by unraveling the secrets of his deceased father Elegba. As Marcus pieces together his own ancestral legacy with help from his tightly-knit, intergenerational community, he realizes the special power that being “sweet” brings." (Guthrie Theater)

Middle Brother - Mu Performing Arts
September 12 through September 28 - Southern Theater
Why:  Because Mu's work with Park Square Theater has introduced me to so many talented actors--I'm excited to see one of their own shows.
"The plan was so simple.  1.) Eat Korean food.  2.) Drink Korean beer.  3.) Live and work in the homeland for the first time in 22 years.  But only days away from moving back to the Midwest, Billy is unexpectedly reunited with his Korean birth brother and must somehow reconcile his modern American life with his newfound Korean past." (Mu Performing Arts)

The Heidi Chronicles - Guthrie Theater

September 13 through October 26, 2014 - Wurtele Thrust Stage

Why:  Because although I've never really taken to Wendy Wasserstein, I LOVE Kate Wetherhead in Submissions Only.  

"Witty, insightful and poignant, The Heidi Chronicles traces the coming of age of Heidi Holland from high school in the radical ʼ60s to her career as an art historian in the heartless ʼ80s."  (Guthrie Theater)

Gabriel - Walking Shadow Theatre

September 26 through October 11 - Minneapolis Theatre Garage

Why: Because sometimes a premise just sounds intriguing.

"A tiny, rocky island in the middle of the English Channel. A bitter winter night, two years into the German occupation. A young girl calls on ancient fairy magic, and a beautiful, naked young man washes up on the mine-filled Guernsey beach. Is he an English pilot? Or a Nazi officer? For the women who found him, Gabriel could either be their savior, or the biggest danger they've ever met."  (Walking Shadow Theatre)

Eating Raoul - Minneapolis Musical Theatre

October 3 through October 26 – New Century Theatre

Why:  Because ... what?  Eating Raoul the Musical?  I mean, what?  

"Meet Mary and Paul Bland, a couple who just want to open a restaurant in 1960s Los Angeles. But they’re broke…until an accidental death by frying pan fills their pockets with cash. The bodies begin to pile up, but they need to team up with Raoul, their sexy building superintendent, to get rid of the evidence. Raoul turns their lives upside down, both financially and sexually. But this murderous partnership cannot last…and one of them will pay the ultimate price." (Minneapolis Musical Theatre)

Master Class - Theater Latte Da
October 8 through November 2 - MacPhail Center for Music

Why: Because I love Theater Latte Da and I've read much about Master Class, but have never seen it.

"Master Class is a fictionalized account of the series of classes the glamorous and commanding Maria Callas, the most influential vocal artist of the 20th century, instructed on the art of performing opera." (Theater Latte Da)

Colossal - Mixed Blood Theatre
October 10 through November 9 

Why:  Because holy cats, read the description!  Also, Stephen Yoakam.  And, I haven't been to Mixed Blood in ages.

"Performed in four 15-minute quarters with a half-time show, featuring a dance company, a drum corps, and a fully-padded cast, Colossal is an epic event that simultaneously celebrates and attacks our nation's most popular form of theater: football. A star football player–a pro prospect, one of the most graceful runners in the world, and a man in love with a teammate–struggles to move forward in the wake of a catastrophic spinal cord injury. With a cast of two dozen men, and full contact choreography, this play about love, ability, and extraordinary feats of strength tackles definitions of masculinity and the male body as a vehicle for language, violence, and silent expression through dance, football, and disability." (Mixed Blood Theatre)

From http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/arts/2013-03-27/tackling-footballs-dark-side/

Romeo & Juliet - Ten Thousand Things 

October 10 through November 2 
Why: Because it's Ten Thousand Things and hardly anything but actual physical illness keeps me from their shows.
"A diverse cast takes on Shakespeare's tale of finding love when surrounded by family and societal cultures of violence." (Ten Thousand Things)

So MUCH theater, so little time!  Happy theatergoing!  

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Guthrie

"We are agreed that a critic is not, and never will be, a member of the audience.  Not only is he paid to attend, he is paid to listen; and this sobering circumstance colors his whole attitude toward the material on stage.  The critic says: This is an extremely bad play--why is that?  The audience says:  This is an extremely bad play--why was I born?  There is a real difference."

- I Don't Want To See the Uncut Version of Anything by Jean Kerr

I am not a critic--not remotely. But I saw Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Guthrie last night and all I can say is, MAN, am I tired of seeing plays with white people yelling at each other.  Also, this is 2014, right?  Why is the only African-American actor in the cast playing the cleaning woman?  Also, Vanya and Sonia?  GET A JOB.

 
As usual, the Guthrie audience really enjoyed it (although not enough for the obligatory standing ovation), but that's not unusual.  I remember this getting fairly good reviews when it was on Broadway, starring Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce and Kristine Nielsen.  (How could you go wrong with that cast?)  Also, Christopher Durang won the Tony in 2013 for this play.  So is it just me?  Am I unreasonably crabby about theater featuring white people who should stop whining and get jobs? 

Let's go to the Internet and see!  (Isn't it nice that you can always find someone to agree with you online?)



Ben Brantley's 2012 review in the New York Times, Insecure Namesakes With a Gloomy Worldview, in which he praised the performances, had this to say:

"That means that for a couple of benignly stretched-out hours, Durang fans can watch a master of antic psycho-comedy play with Chekhov like a self-amusing cat toying with a tangled string. Notice I didn’t say mouse. Mr. Durang is not in the killing vein here." 

So if you like that kind of thing, there you go.

I'm not the only one whose racism radar was triggered by the character of cleaning woman Cassandra--played by Isabelle Monk O'Connor, who was just wonderful in Theater Latte Da's recent production of Our Town, and deserves better than this role.

I think Scribicide: A New York Theater Blog's post They Should Have Left Vanya and Sonia and Masha to Chekhov which reviews the 2012 production, gets it right, referring to Shalita Grant, who played the role of Cassandra on Broadway:

 "And Ms. Grant, who was a delight in the Pearl’s Philanderer, has possibly the play’s most difficult task, charming her way through an awkward, vaguely racist role. (Do we really need another gyrating, magical Black character whose only narrative purpose is to save white characters?)"

Answer?  No.  Scribicide also says:

"It is only fair to mention that on the night I attended the audience was positively roaring and constantly interrupting the actors with applause. The phrase, I suppose, is crowd-pleaser. The crowd was pleased. I was not."

Ours too!  And me too.

I found myself dissecting the humor--what the audience was laughing at, what they weren't, and in Threat Quality Press's post Christopher Durang and the Court of Cannibals, the author perfectly encapsulates my vague feeling while describing the scene where Sonia throws a coffee cup against the wall:

"...this is a textbook example of the kind of joke that doesn’t go anywhere: the playwright, noticing that his play is boring, has a character do something unexpected; realizing that “unexpected” isn’t the same thing as “a joke”, he has the characters react to each other in the hopes that they’ll eventually squeeze out a laugh."

Threat Quality Press, would you like to sum up?  You put it SO well:

"I just want to reiterate that this play, with its go-nowhere jokes, its leaden exposition, its racist caricatures, this play that is a self-confessed lump of vomit composed of half-eaten, better plays, this play that climaxes with five minutes of an old man yelling at a cloud, won the Tony Award for Outstanding New Play. It won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Production, the Drama League Award for Best Production of a Play, the Drama Desk Award for Best Play, the Outer Circle Critics Award for Best Play and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play. It, along with Venus in Fur (by David Ives, America’s other favorite author of community theater audition monologues), is one of the most-produced non-musical plays in the country right now. This play is a pile of hot garbage, and the worst that reviewers in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Associated Press, et al have had to say about it is “Certain bits go on too long and the exposition could be lightened” (that’s Charles McNulty at the LA Times, in case you’re wondering)."

I only hope that the Guthrie production generates the kind of discussion that the New York production has.  Kind of makes me tempted to go to a talk-back, just to see the response.  But then I'd have to see it again, and it might make me throw a coffee cup at the wall.

Little Shop of Amazing (at 7th House Theater)

I have seen a LOT of productions of Little Shop of Horrors. The 2003 Broadway revival with Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler and an underused Douglas Sills; the subsequent tour with the lovely Jonathan Rayson as Seymour; Ten Thousand Things' dark, innovative (as always) and unsettling production with Jim Lichtscheidl; and various high school and community theater productions.  There's also a soft place in my heart for the movie, because I saw it in the theater in 1986--and, of course, Ellen Greene!  And of course, the original film (although A Bucket of Blood is a much better Corman, IMHO.)

This is all to say that I know the show backwards and forwards and I'm a tough audience. But I'm SO GLAD that I read the rave review of 7th House Theater Collective's recent production in City Pages. I tend to seldom read reviews before seeing shows, but something about Ed Huyck's review (possibly the part that said: "I want to see it again. No, I want to see it 10 times.") compelled me to buy tickets for the last performance on Sunday night. 

Even though the show is indelibly etched in my brain already, it was like seeing the show for the first time. With a super minimalist staging (a laboratory framing device that didn't 100% work for me), musically quite bare bones, and in the intimate Open Eye Figure Theatre space, this production was outstanding. (Check out 7th House's Facebook page for lots of great production photos.)

Can I just tell you about Grant Sorenson as Seymour?  We've seen him before, as a predatory young man in Spring Awakening, and recently reading the stage directions in one of Theater Latte Da's Next Musicals, and probably in countless other shows.  But MAN.  This young man is a star.  I predict it--and I'm seldom wrong.  It's lovely to see young performers with amazing talent because you know they have so many fabulous roles and performances ahead of them.  He has a somewhat dark look--I think of him as being a great fit for the Emcee role in Cabaret without much work at all--but as soon as he put the glasses on, he WAS Seymour.

And I loved that although he was shabby and poor, he wasn't stupid or pathetic, as Seymour can often be portrayed.  His slight physique worked perfectly for the character, and the intelligence in his character played off well against Maeve Moynihan's portrayal of Audrey as genuinely a bit dim, but sweet--also a tough portrayal to get right.  Sorenson sang the heck of out this role, and after "Somewhere That's Green", when he kissed Audrey?  DANG.  Seymour never gets to seem like he could actually get and keep the girl.  This Seymour did, and dare I say it?  He's a bit of a sexy Seymour.  More raving:  Sorenson has amazing physicality, terrific diction and timing (so great to hear all the hilarious Ashman & Menken lines landing so perfectly--i.e., the line with the Petunia/junior line in "Mushnik & Son," which he delivered with the perfect amount of knowing irony), and he does marvelous comedic work with his face alone--though he uses everything else as well.

Every member of the ensemble was wonderful.  The timing was perfect--the whole show was so TIGHT. Amazing that it was directed by the ensemble themselves.  And the singing!  Beautifully sung, but not oversung.  I loved that the singing didn't overwhelm the storytelling.  For example, Moynihan's "Suddenly Seymour" was a revelation.  Hardly anyone can sing it as Ellen Greene did--though many people try--but Moynihan made it her own.

The girl group/scientists of Gracie Kay Anderson, Liz Hawkinson and Cat Noble sang beautifully together, had plenty of sass (without being annoying), and held together the action beautifully, whether portraying Mushnik or Audrey II.  They were all marvelous but I especially enjoyed Gracie Kay Anderson's performance--she has a marvelously animated face and wonderful comic timing, in addition to a great voice.

Robert Frost as the accompanist and occasional ensemble member did beautifully at leaping in and out of the action.  And what can you say about David Darrow?  He's wonderful in everything I see him in, and I loved that as part of the ensemble, we saw him much more than if he just played the dentist.

For such a bare bones production, there are so many elements that will stay with me.  "Mushnik & Son", with all of the ensemble taking turns playing Mushnik, which leads to a much more engaging (and dancey!) staging.  The beakers of blood thrown against the clear curtain when Audrey II starts killing.  The cardboard box that represents Audrey II, which amazingly works, especially at the very end, and the ensemble all playing Audrey II, which was beautifully depicted.

And did I mention tight?  Stopwatch-like timing, and under two hours with intermission.  After sitting through way too many bloated, draggy shows, this was a bit of heaven.

In short, it was an exciting, inventive production of a show I've seen too many times to count. Though I'd seen some of the performers before, this was my the first production I've seen by 7th House Theater. If this is the kind of work they're doing, it definitely won't be my last.

Total random P.S.:  Did you know there was a Little Shop of Horrors game?  What?

Theater About Theater: Our Country's Good at the Guthrie

Last night, I saw the first performance of Our Country's Good, an Out of Joint and Octagon Theatre Bolton production showing at the Guthrie. It's an inventive theater piece, performed by a small cast playing multiple roles and manipulating the scenery, kind of like Kneehigh Theater did with their production of Tristan and Yseult a few months ago and Brief Encounter a couple of years back. But where Kneehigh's shows emphasize emotion, this one touched my head more than my heart.

The play follows a group of soldiers and convicts sent from England to found a penal colony in Australia, which would be the first English settlement in Sydney. With the direction of a young officer hoping to be promoted, a group of convicts rehearses a production of George Farquhar's comedy The Recruiting Officer.

As an actor, I found quite a lot to like in the depiction of these hardened, hopeless convicts learning lines and taking direction. There are a number of funny lines and good observations about theater in Timberlake Wertenbaker's script. But the play also touches on issues of crime and punishment, the possibility of rehabilitation, the dehumanizing effects of extreme punishment, and even a bit about the effects of colonization. It's a lot to fit into a play, even at 2 1/2 hours, so it lapses occasionally into preachiness.

The cast of Our Country's Good

Script aside, the acting was wonderful, with the players showing the gradual humanizing effects of their theatrical endeavors. The scenery, while spare, was effective, with a platform representing the ship, the stage, and a number of other objects, and a system of curtains and rigging reminiscent of the ship which brought the prisoners to the colony. The curtains provide the backdrop for beaches, tents, and finally the stage. The story, based on the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally, is based on actual events. It makes me want to learn more about the time. I think I'll start with Out of Joint's Workpack on the play, available on the Guthrie's website.

The show also made me think about other plays about the transformative power of theater. A post for another time, perhaps!

So How LONG Is the Show?

Super awesome Ed Koren image from NYT

Having been (rightfully) accused of having a short attention span, the recent New York Times article Get. Arts. Fast really spoke to me.  Love this:

 "The city that gave the world the New York minute has a need for speed that only cultural sprints can satisfy, short-burst offerings that slip smoothly into even the tightest leisure-hour schedule.  On a prosaic level, short art frees up precious time."

I get a frisson of excitement every time a show is advertised as 90 minutes with no intermission.  I know I'm going to get in, get my theater on, and get out in time to live my life.

So, as a public service, my intention was to list the running times of a few of the shows around town--to assist in theatergoing planning for those of us who may have busy lives, expensive babysitters and/or short attention spans.

Patrick Stewart wants to get to the bar after the show.

I often plan crazily packed NYC theater trips this way.  You know, can we make it from Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet to Don't Quit Your Night Job at 54 Below?  If we go to the matinee of Die Fledermaus at the Met, will we have any time to eat (or breathe) before Pippin?

AND YET ... this information was really surprisingly hard to find!  Apart from the Guthrie Theater, hardly any theater companies list this info on their website.  I scoured the web for this info, trying the theater websites, reviews and even ticketing companies and had very little luck. Here are a few I tried to find:

Mercy Killers at Pillsbury House Theatre - about 70 minutes (but I only know because I saw it)
Passing Strange at Mixed Blood Theatre - ??
Threepenny Opera - Frank Theatre at The Southern - about 3 hours (again, I saw this one)
Rapture, Blister, Burn at 20% Theatre Company - ??
Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at the Guthrie - Run time: 2 hours 45 minutes including intermission (from their website)

Hamlet at Guthrie - 2 hours 25 minutes plus intermission (from their website)

Shrek at Children's Theatre Company - 2 hours with 15 minutes intermission (from their website)

This is all to say--hey!  Theater companies!  You're awesome and I want to come and enjoy your theater.  But I may be parking at a meter, or getting up early for work, or trying to squeeze two shows in an evening, so help me out!  List your running times!  Thank you!  TheaterLove OUT.