Broadway tour of "Kimberly Akimbo" at the Orpheum Theatre

Somehow I missed seeing the 2023 Tony-winning best musical Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway, so I'm thrilled that it finally made its way to Minneapolis for one short week. I went into the show knowing almost nothing about it (which is rare for me), other than it was about a teenage girl with a disease that caused her to age rapidly. As the show unfolded, every moment was a delightful surprise. This is not a big splashy huge-cast over-the-top kind of musical. It's a small intimate story that's told well, with complex, distinct, relatable characters, and music that perfectly expresses the emotions of the story. Truth be told, that's my favorite kind of musical. It's similar to a Next to Normal or Fun Home in scope, but much lighter in tone, although it does deal with some heavy themes as our Kimberly deals with turning 16, the average life expectancy of someone with her (unnamed) disease. But it's also really funny, sweet, and touching, with fun, catchy, singable songs. It's the kind of musical that will lend itself well to regional productions, and I look forward to that, but in the meantime, don't miss this opportunity to see this well-deserved Tony winner live and in person - through July 13 only!

Musical Mondays at Lush, July 2025

The last time I went to Musical Mondays, it was the night before the 2024 presidential election. At such an uncertain and scary time, it was so comforting to be there in the welcoming community that is Musical Mondays. Now, eight months later, when the world is even more scary and uncertain that we could have imagined on that night, it still feels so good to gather in community and celebrate artists, music, and being together. Because no matter what, "the world goes round," and so does this monthly cabaret series started by BFFs Max Wojtanowicz and Sheena Janson 13 years ago. This was the 108th installment of Musical Mondays (but only my 23rd), and featured an incredible cast of six talented performers, some old faves and some new faves, supported by an awesome three-piece band. Truly, if you're a fan of local music-theater and you've never been to Musical Mondays, you are missing out on one of the things that makes this community so great. And as I say all the time - if you're a person who casts local musicals, you really should check this out and cast all of these people in your shows! Read on for a summary of this month's show, and make your plans to attend the next show on August 4 (if you can take a night off Minnesota Fringe, which I probably cannot). Watch their Facebook page for the cast announcement and other details.

"Much Ado About Nothing" by Frosted Glass Creative at Rustic Roots Winery

On my way home from St. Croix Festival Theatre to see their super fun production of Kate Hamill's Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B last weekend, I stopped at the gorgeous Rustic Roots Winery in Scandia to catch the final performance of Frosted Glass Creative's production of Much Ado About Nothing. It turned out to be a lovely theater road trip day. Outdoors really is my favorite way to experience Shakespeare; it's so much more fun, playful, and accessible. Frosted Glass Creative has performed at Yellow Tree and other locations around town and along the St. Croix River, but this was my first experience with them. And hopefully not my last; their next show is my sentimental favorite The Sound of Music, performed outdoors in Stillwater for one weekend in August. They seem to have taken up the mantle of "Broadway on the St. Croix" after Zephyr Theatre dropped it, and I'm glad they're continuing this fun tradition of outdoor musicals in beautiful Stillwater.

"Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B" at St. Croix Festival Theatre

St. Croix Festival Theatre has been performing in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, beside the beautiful St. Croix River, for 35 years. I've recently become aware of them; they've started inviting me to their shows and my blogger buddy The Stages of MN has been to a few shows. As appealing as it is, and as much as I love that theater exists outside of metro areas, it's hard for me to take a road trip to see theater when there's more theater in the Twin Cities than even I can see. But when they program a season that includes plays by Kate Hamill and Lauren Gunderson, as well as the rarely done gem of a musical Ordinary Days, it's nearly impossible for me to stay away! Since theater in the Twin Cities has slowed down a bit for the summer, I was able to make the scenic one-hour drive through darling Minnesota-Swedish towns to the charming river town of St. Croix Falls (just across the river from Taylors Falls). And now that I've been there, I'm going to make more of an effort to get back. The show that lured me there is Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B, a modern reimagining of the classic detective tales by Kate Hamill, the most produced playwright in America this season. Her plays have often been seen in the Twin Cities, including some local commissions, and they're always fresh, funny, feminist, modern, and cheekily theatrical. This one is no different, and Festival Theatre has assembled a talented four-person cast to bring this fun and clever play to life. It's playing for one more weekend (click here for tickets), followed by several more intriguing offerings this year (click here for season details).

"Cabaret" at the Guthrie Theater

"What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a cabaret, old chum, come to the cabaret!" Truer words have never been sung, and they have never been more true than now. With our world getting weirder and scarier every day, who doesn't need to "leave their troubles outside" every now and then? But Kander and Ebb's brilliant musical Cabaret is a subversive little thing. It lures you in with fun and sexy songs and dances, and then slowly, ever so slowly, it reminds you that it's not so easy to forget your troubles. They're still there, even when we're not thinking about them, and maybe they've even gotten worse when we weren't looking, when we were dancing. This musical cautionary tale about the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany, which the Guthrie had originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 before a global pandemic shuttered all theaters, has never felt more relevant than it does right now in the summer of 2025. The Guthrie's stunning new production of Cabaret is perfectly marvelous and utterly devastating, and it's the #TCTheater event of the summer. Do not miss it! The Kit Kat Klub remains open for business (until it tragically shuts its doors every night) through August 24.

"A Pink Triangle" at the Phoenix Theater

Local playwright Kirby Taylor has written a new one-act play called A Pink Triangle, referring to the symbol that gay men imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps wore on their clothing. In addition to targeting all Jewish people and pretty much anyone who disagreed with him, Hitler also attempted to stamp out the thriving gay culture that existed in pre-WWII Germany (see also Cabaret, for which this play could be the sequel). The 1979 play Bent, which I saw a production of in 2019 by The BAND Group, also covers this topic in a pretty horrific way. The horrors in A Pink Triangle are more implied, not explicitly seen but ever-present. It's really more of one long conversation between a father and son, both imprisoned in a concentration camp for reasons that become clear. Both actors in this two-hander give powerful performances, in a story that's becoming more and more relevant as our own government begins to take action against and slowly chip away at the rights of various marginalized groups. The short run of A Pink Triangle concludes with two final shows this weekend.

"Penelope" by Theatre Elision at Elision Playhouse

It's such a joy to revisit a good show after a period time. As an audience member, but also, I imagine, as an artist too. Theatre Elision staged the new one-woman (and five-musician) musical Penelope last summer, just a year after it premiered in New York. They're remounting it this summer for just two weekends at their home Elision Playhouse in Crystal. If you missed it last summer, you really must see it this year; like most of Theatre Elision's work, it's a musical you can't see anywhere else. And if you did see it last year, you might find deeper meaning and understanding this year, as I did. Penelope really is a gem of a musical, and Christine Wade is even more at home in the role than she was last year (a performance that earned her a Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award nomination). The show is just 70 minutes long, preceded by a bit of Greek trivia, in an intimate welcoming space with concessions. It has more of a concert vibe than a traditional musical, so it's great for music lovers as well as musical theater fans. Just five shows remain - make your Penelope plans now!

"Endometriosis: The Musical" at Theatre in the Round

The Minnesota Fringe Festival* is a great place for artists to develop and showcase new work. But truthfully, even the best shows at Fringe usually work best within that framework (less than an hour in length, presented at an experimental festival). But every once in a while, you'll see a show that feels like it has life beyond Fringe. The smash hit of the 2022 festival, Endometriosis: The Musical, was one such show. I knew immediately that this was more than "just" a Fringe musical, and "it needs to be seen by more people than just five (likely sold out) Fringe performances." Thankfully, the folks at Theatre in the Round (the venue for the 2022 show) saw that too, and have worked with the creators (book by Maria Bartholdi, music by Kristin Stowell, and lyrics by both) to develop Endometriosis into a full-length musical. Sadly, a show about women's reproductive health and the increasing dangers to it, and our ever more broken health care system, has only become more relevant in the last three years. What better way to bring attention to these issues, and to talk (and sing) about periods and other things related to "lady parts," than in an original musical? And to do it in such a fun, funny, entertaining way. As I wrote in 2022, Endometriosis: The Musical is "beautifully and cleverly written, both hilarious and poignant, and utterly relatable for any human who has ever menstruated." If you're looking for a new, original, relevant, locally created, silly, sobering, highly entertaining musical, go see Endometriosis: The Musical at the oldest theater in Minneapolis, and one smart enough to recognize the potential of this Fringey musical. 

"Stop Kiss" by Theater Mu at Gremlin Theatre

Yesterday was a tough day here in Minnesota. It began with horrific politically motivated attacks on our state legislators that resulted in two deaths and two people severely injured. It then transitioned into inspiring "No Kings" protests in our state capital and around the country. I ended the day at the theater, seeing a queer Asian story about love in the face of hate and violence, and found great solace there. Sadly, hate and violence are a part of our world that never seems to go away, but the hope is that we can make the voices of love, connection, and community loud enough to drown out the hate. Stop Kiss, written almost 30 years ago by Asian American playwright and screenwriter/producer Diana Son, is about two women, in this production Asian American women, who fall in love and are confronted with violence because of it. It's a beautifully written play in two timelines, as funny and sweet as it is tragic and heart-breaking, and Theater Mu's nearly flawless production is a must-see. Even now. Especially now.

"The Adding Machine" by Clevername Theatre at the Hive Collaborative

Clevername Theatre's production of the 1923 play The Adding Machine feels like a sequel of sorts to last year's production of the 1928 play Machinal, or at least a continuation of the theme. Both plays are a little weird and dark, performed in an Expressionist style, are about the mundanity and absurdity of everyday life, and even share some cast and creative team. Where Machinal focused on a woman trapped in societal expectations and the extremes she goes to to escape, The Adding Machine tells the story of a man fired from his boring job of 25 years, also going to extremes to escape, only to find more of the same. Once again, Clevername has taken a hundred-year-old play, performed it in the style it was intended, and made it relevant to today. See it at The Hive Collaborative through June 22.

"Passion" by Theatre Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Updating my Sondheim spreadsheet this morning (because of course I have a Sondheim spreadsheet), I have now seen ten of the 17 musicals for which he wrote music and lyrics, in a total of 31 productions (most of which you can read about here). Can you guess which theater company I've seen do Sondheim the most? Theater Latte Da of course, whom I've seen do seven different shows (they've done more, but a few were before I "discovered" them). I was able to check Sondheim show #10 off my list* this morning thanks to their new production of the rarely done Passion, which Latte Da's Artistic Director and director of this piece Justin Lucero calls "one of the most divisive works in the American musical canon." I can see why it's not done as often as, say, Into the Woods (the Sondheim musical I've seen the most productions of). It's a messy love triangle with not very likable or even at times understandable characters. As Justin notes, it's "not a traditional love story - it's a meditation on obsession, vulnerability, and the aching rawness of human need." It's not a pretty love story, but the score is very pretty, the characters are fascinating and compelling, and Latte Da's production is all-around gorgeous. It's an unusual musical for sure, but that's not a bad thing, in fact in this case it's a very good thing, and I'm grateful to Theater Latte Da for the chance to experience yet another intricate creation by arguably the best musical theater creator of the 20th Century. The messy, tragic, gorgeous Passion continues through July 13 at the Ritz Theater.

Twin Cities Improv Festival at the Phoenix Theatre

With the closure of HUGE Theater last year, the Twin Cities Improv Festival has a new home - Phoenix Theater in Uptown. For four days, you can watch improv troupes from here in the Twin Cities (and we have a lot of great ones) as well as troupes from around the country and even some from other countries. I attended the first, all-local, night of the festival and had a great time watching some beloved familiar improvisors and some new-to-me improvisors. Each had their own spin on the artform, most started with a suggestion or two from the audience and they took that somewhere unexpected. The Phoenix is a great welcoming location (despite the never-ending construction on Hennepin), with snacks and drinks (including espresso drinks) sold in the cozy lobby. Keep reading for my thoughts on the eight improv troupes I saw (two or three troupes are grouped together in each set, with up to four sets a night), and click here for the schedule of shows continuing through Sunday.