Wednesday, July 9, 2025

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 than 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.

Here's a list of this month's performers, along with where you can see them next:
the band:
our host (who is extra fun when the kitchen is closed but the bar is open):
They always post the song list on Facebook after the show, so you can play a little "name that tune" during the show with your friends, and find out the answers later. Here's what we heard this month, each one a gem:
  • Heat Wave (As Thousands Cheer) - all
  • Epic III (Hadestown) - Drew
  • Much More (The Fantasticks) - Ann
  • Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Ain’t Misbehavin’) - T. Mychael
  • But The World Goes Round (And The World Goes Round) - Dayle
  • What Do I Need With Love? (Thoroughly Modern Millie) - Danny
  • With You (Ghost) - Adair
  • What You Don’t Know About Women (City of Angels) - Dayle and Ann
  • Be a Lion (The Wiz) - Adair and T. Mychael
  • That’ll Show Him (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum) - Dayle
  • The Riddle Song (Floyd Collins) - Drew and Danny
  • What Is It About Her (The Wild Party) - Adair
  • Lover Come Back To Me (The New Moon) - Ann
  • Unexpressed (by John Bucchino) - Danny
  • Please Don’t Let Me Go (by Scot Alan) - Drew
  • Make Them Hear You (Ragtime) - T. Mychael
  • Sun is Gonna Shine (Bright Star) - all
We also got a fabulous preview of Burnsville Summer Theatre's production of The Prom - if you are anywhere near the southern metro between July 24 and August 2, go see this! And we learned about a new podcast that sounds like a must-listen for musical theater nerds: The Little Things You Hear Together that dives deep into cast recordings.

They also gave away a bunch of free tickets - every $5 donation gets you a raffle ticket. This month's winners get to see:

Anytime you go to Musical Mondays it's fun, entertaining, educational, and community building. But when T Mychael Rambo is there, who is a gift to this world that you should make any effort to see anytime you can, it's even more so. He talked about teaching kids confidence through the song "I Believe I Can Fly," which instilled confidence in everyone in the room, and gifted us with this inspirational and very timely James Baldwin quote: "Not everything you face can be changed, but nothing can be changed until you face it." And it's even better if we face it together, and maybe with singing.

T Mychael Rambo, Ann Michels, Dayle Theisen, Adair Gilliam,
Drew Reynhout, and Danny McHugh (photo credit: @cherryandspoon Instagram)
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