Lakeshore Players Theatre's 71st season just keeps getting better! I would say that their new production of the hilarious satirical musical Urinetown is the best thing they've done this season, but then I remember the other great shows they've done this season (She Loves Me, I Am My Own Wife, and more). Suffice it to say that this is their best season since I've been attending shows at the Hanifl Performing Arts Center in lovely downtown White Bear Lake (which admittedly has only been about six years). Urinetown is one of my favorite musicals, since seeing the Broadway tour over 20 years ago. There have been a handful of #TCTheater productions, but it's been a while, so I was thrilled to see it as the conclusion of this ambitious season which began with the smart, funny, and relevant play What the Constitution Means to Me. I'm even more thrilled to report that it's a fantastic production, with a talented and energetic cast, detailed design, fun choreography, and direction that hits on all of the humor and relevancy of the script (continuing through May 19).
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
"A Year with Frog and Toad" at Children's Theatre Company
Saturday, April 27, 2024
"Language Archive" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater
Julia Cho's The Language Archive, which premiered in 2010, is a sweet, odd, and endearing little play. Park Square Theatre produced the regional premiere in 2015, when I called it "smartly written, funny, a bit fantastical but very grounded in reality... touches the heart as well as the mind and the funny bone." I described it thusly: "It's about the different languages that we all speak, not just the actual language, but also the more intimate informal languages that we develop in relationships with the different people in our lives. Even though the characters in the play all speak English, they struggle to communicate with each other on a deeper level, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, as we all do." It's a great choice for Theatre Pro Rata, which consistently makes interesting choices (this is actually one of the rare times when I've seen one of their play choices previously). They've employed a talented five-person cast (Park Square had seven), and an inventive design with some unique delights. You can see this little gem of a play now through May 4 at the Crane Theater.