"Mamma Mia!" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

I fell head over heels for the Ordway Original production of Mamma Mia! last summer, calling it "fantastically fun and surprisingly moving, performed by a mostly local and all fabulous cast." So when I heard that Chanhassen Dinner Theatres had chosen it as their summer 2019 production, I thought, so soon? why? The answer is that it's an inherently fun and feel-good show show, and while the Ordway production still holds a special place in my heart, it only ran for two weeks and the Chan reaches a much larger out-state audience. There's room for two big, beautiful, fantastically fun Mamma Mia!s in this town. What I love most about this show is that it's very female-forward. Yes there are male characters, but it's truly about the women's stories. Better yet, it's about women loving and supporting each other, not competing with each other. The true love story at the heart of this piece is the love between parent and child, the love of lifelong female friendships. I can't think of any better message to celebrate this summer.

"Newsies" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

The Children’s Crusade: kids walk out of their jobs or schools to take to the streets and stand up for what they believe in, for a fairer and safer world. Does this describe recent current events, a historical event, or the plot of a Disney musical? Trick question - the answer is all of the above! At the same time that the children of Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of latest tragic school shooting, are leading children across the country in making their voices heard, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is presenting the regional premiere of Newsies, a new musical adaptation of the 1992 Disney movie based on the historical newsboy strike of 1899. As is happening today in real life, the kids involved the historical strike and the characters in the musical demand that the people in power listen to them in their call for justice. But the latter group does it with music and fabulous dancing. Children truly are our hope for the future, and Newsies celebrates that idea while providing a fun, entertaining, and inspirational show.

"Grease" at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

Friends, I am here to tell you that in the southwest suburb of Chanhassen, Grease is most definitely the word of the summer. And yes, it may be 20 degrees with below zero wind chills and late winter snowstorms in this upside down weather world we now live in, but Grease is here to take you into spring, through summer, and even into early fall with a super high energy, gorgeously cast, supremely fun show. There's nothing subtle about this production that goes for big performances, big high notes, and big laughs. Grease is a guaranteed crowd-pleasing seat-filler, but the Chan doesn't just rest on the easy nostalgia of the piece. Instead, they've put in every effort to make this production the best it can possibly be.* It's very likely to sell well for them for the next seven months (who doesn't love Grease?), and it deserves to because it's pretty much the most fun you can have in a theater.

"Musical Mondays" at Hell's Kitchen, February 2017

Kira: It is a peculiar thing about these mortals. They all know they will die, yet they are determined to create something. The "human spirit" is termed. It makes me feel... feel... oh Erato what is the word for which I search? You know, where something is so grand and so earnest yet ultimately so preposterous that one has to laugh. What does one call that?

Erato: Andrew Lloyd Webber?

Kira: There we are! The human spirit gives me great feelings of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"Camelot" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.

Even in a musical, this idyllic world cannot last forever. The problems of the real world - war, greed, betrayal - come crashing in despite the legendary King Arthur's dreams of peace. Perhaps turning a blind eye to reality is not the best way to keep the peace, but it sure was nice while it lasted. Even though I have some issues with the book, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres beautifully brings the mystical and idyllic world of Camelot to life with gorgeous design, a fantastic cast, and beautiful music.

"Beauty and the Beast" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

Of all the Disney heroines, the odd girl with her nose stuck in a book is the one that I relate to most, especially since the 1991 movie Beauty and the Beast came out when I was a teenager and at my most odd bookishness. Belle is a heroine for all us normal girls who feel like we don't quite fit in. She meets another odd soul (who conveniently happens to be a handsome prince inside) and they make a connection, bringing out the best in each other. Yes it's a typical Disney fairy tale that ends in a wedding, but at least it's a meeting of equals who rescue each other. A few years after the movie, Beauty and the Beast was adapted into a successful Broadway musical (the 9th longest running musical on Broadway), and in 2005 Chanhassen Dinner Theatres was one of the first regional theaters to mount a production. Now, 11 years later, director Michael Brindisi and his team are revisiting this classic and beloved fairy tale with an energetic show that is flawlessly cast and beautifully designed. My inner odd bookish teenage girl (who's never very far beneath the surface) was quite pleased.

"The Great Work" by 7th House Theater at the Guthrie Theater

It could be considered an act of hubris to name a new piece of music-theater The Great Work. But in the case of 7th House Theater's new original musical, their second in two years and just the fifth production in the short life of the company, it's a fitting title. This small and lovely story of an Austrian composer returning home, with his estranged late-in-life daughter in tow, is beautifully and poignantly told in just over an hour through stirring original music and innovative use of movement, props, and set design. A fruitful collaboration between 7th House company members (music and lyrics by the uber-talented David Darrow, book by Grant Sorenson, choreography by Cat Brindisi, directed by all three), the wonderful eight-person ensemble, the gorgeous six-person orchestra (directed by Jason Hansen, who also did the orchestrations), and creative set designer Kate Sutton-Johnson, this truly is a Great Work. I know these next two weeks are busy for many of us, but if you can spare an hour in your schedule to see this show, you will be rewarded (be sure to get your tickets soon before they're gone).

"The Most Happy Fella" - A Reading by Second Fiddle Productions

Wikipedia says Frank Loesser was "an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and music to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others." I, like many people, have seen and love both of these shows (click on above titles for details of how I love them). But I had never seen or even really heard of The Most Happy Fella, one of those "among others" that Loesser wrote (and for which he also wrote the book). What a perfect choice, then, for Second Fiddle Productions, "a reading series that breathes life into uncommon and rarely produced musicals." Last night they presented a one-night only reading of the show at Camp Bar, featuring some of the Twin Cities brightest music-theater talent. And I'm so glad they did so that I could experience this lovely musical!

The Most Happy Fella is a love story, if a bit of an unusual one. It goes something like this: boy (Tony, played by Bill Marshall) meets girl (called Rosabella, played by Elizabeth Reese) in a San Francisco restaurant and leaves her a tie pin and a love note instead of a tip, girl doesn't remember boy but begins a correspondence with him, boy is afraid girl will reject him so he sends her a photo of a younger boy (Joe, played by Aleks Knezevich), girl agrees to marry boy and arrives at his Napa farm, girl is disappointed that boy lied to her and has a dalliance with the younger boy, boy and girl fall in love, girl finds out she's pregnant with younger boy's baby, boy is crushed but ultimately decides he loves girl and accepts the baby as his own (that last bit is actually very similar to a current storyline on The Bold and the Beautiful). A little convoluted, but it's actually a very sweet love story.

The most well-known song in the score is "Standing on the Corner," which doesn't sound as much like sexual harassment when sung in sprightly four-part harmony. A few of the other songs seemed vaguely familiar to me, but most of the songs I had never heard before. The show skews towards the opera end of the music-theater spectrum, about which Loesser said "I may give the impression the show has operatic tendencies. If people feel that way - fine. Actually all it has is a great frequency of songs. It's a musical with music." There's definitely an operatic feel to the score - sweeping and romantic with soaring melodies. The hero of the story, Tony, is an Italian immigrant, so some of the songs are partly in Italian, which only makes it more fancy. But mixed in with this opera-like music are some down home Country-Western feeling songs, both on the Napa farm and when Rosabella's friend Cleo is talking about her hometown, "Big D (Little-A Double-L-A-S)." It's a strange and lovely mix of musical styles that's quite pleasant to listen to.

the cast of The Most Happy Fella (photo by Second Fiddle)

Also quite pleasant to listen to is this 13-person cast crammed on the small stage at Camp Bar, accompanied by a 4-piece band. Even though they have the script and score in front of them, they all give full performances not just of the music, but also of the emotions of the characters. And many of them are doing this on their day off! On stage were Ruthie Baker (Artistic Director) and Adam Qualls, currently appearing in the fabulous new musical Glensheen just a few blocks away at the History Theatre. A few blocks beyond that at Park Square Theatre is where you can see Music Director Nic Delacambre as one half of the delightful musical murder mystery Murder for Two. Randy Schmeling recently performed in the Ordway's latest Broadway Songbook, and Aly Westberg just finished a short run of Murder Ballad with Minneapolis Musical Theatre. Everyone in the cast can be seen on various stages around the Twin Cities; in fact there was so much talent on that stage that much of it was underused (like the always adorable Suzie Juul). Bottom line is - these are all busy people who come together to learn this show for just one night!

The Most Happy Fella marks the final show in Second Fiddle's second season. Hopefully next year will bring another selection of rare and delightful musicals "read" by super-talented artists. If you want to help make that happen, remember them on Give to the Max Day, coming up on November 12.

"The Light in the Piazza" by Theater Latte Da at the Ordway McKnight Theatre

Theater Latte Da's new production of The Light in the Piazza is an absolute dream of a musical. From the moment the first chord was struck by the five-piece onstage orchestra, it cast a spell on me from which I hoped I would never awaken. The 2005 multiple Tony-winning musical* features a stunningly gorgeous score (written by Adam Guettel, grandson of Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein), and a beautifully romantic story, with a twist. Theater Latte Da's production is fairly straight-forward and simple, allowing the beauty of the piece to shine through. Even though it's a new musical, there something about it that feels classic and timeless. I was moved to tears on several occasions by the music, brought to vivid life by the talented ensemble of musicians and actors.

Light in the Piazza is based on a novella of the same name, and tells the story of a woman named Margaret and her daughter Clara travelling to Italy in the 1950s, a place Margaret hasn't visited since her honeymoon with her now-distant (geographically and emotionally) husband. Clara meets a local boy named Fabrizio and falls in love. Margaret has dedicated her life to protecting her daughter, for reasons that become clear as the story unfolds, but begins to see that perhaps it's time to let Clara grow up in her own way. We also meet Fabrizio's complicated family. This is a story about many kinds of love, Clara and Fabrizio's innocent and sweet new love, the complicated love of several married couples, and perhaps most touching of all, the love between a mother and daughter whose lives have revolved around each other for years.

young lovers Fabrizio and Clara
(Aleks Knezevich and Jessica Fredrickson)
photo by Michal Daniel

In characteristic Latte Da style the show is perfectly cast. Jessica Fredrickson's lovely voice is perfectly suited to Clara, and she brings a charming innocence to the character. Kathleen Humphrey creates a complex and layered character in Margaret; her struggles to do right by her daughter are heart-breakingly evident in her face. Aleks Knezevich is charming as the young and in love Fabrizio, and his gorgeous voice almost made me forget that Matthew Morrison originated the role on Broadway. Jessica and Aleks have a believable and beautiful chemistry, not surprising since they are engaged in real life (could they be any cuter?), and they sound incredible together on these sweeping love songs. Everyone in the small ensemble is great in their multiple roles, as they populate the city of Florence with any number of characters strolling through the piazza, often speaking in Italian. Standouts include Erin Capello as Fabrizio's unhappy and jaded sister-in-law Franca, in stark contrast to the naive Clara, and Bill Scharpen as Fabrizio's elegant father who spends a lot of time with Margaret as their children are getting to know one another.

The music of The Light in the Piazza is something quite special. I remember reading that Adam Guettel first composes all of the music, then goes back and adds lyrics where necessary. Several of the songs are sung party or entirely in Italian, and unlike at the opera, there is no English translation available. But with music this emotional and expressive, you don't need to know exactly what Fabrizio is saying in "Il Mondo Era Vuoto" to understand what he's feeling. Some of the singing is neither English nor Italian, just a wordless singing that is pure musical expression, as in the touching love song "Say It Somehow." Fabrizio and Clara don't speak the same language, but somehow they understand each other. Similarly, the audience doesn't need to have the words spelled out to understand the emotion of the scene. The five-piece orchestra (directed by Denise Prosek) is much smaller that the original Broadway production; it has been stripped down to the essentials - piano, violin, cello, bass, and harp (harp!). In the intimate space of the Ordway McKnight Theatre, it's just right.

Clara and her mother in Florence
(Jessica Fredrickson and Kathleen Humphrey)
photo by Michal Daniel

The stage of the McKnight Theatre has been transformed into a picturesque representation of the Italian city of Florence by scenic designer Rick Polenek. Two dimensional cardboard cutouts of famous buildings and statues stand in the background, moved around by ensemble members. They almost look like illustrations in a book, which adds to the feeling that we're inside a fairy tale. The costumes (by Rich Hamson) are pure perfection. The women wear a parade of 50s style dresses, complete with full skirts with tulle, and matching hats, gloves, shoes, and purses. The men are in smart suits with hats. The showpiece is Clara's perfectly lovely tea-length wedding dress (spoiler alert), and the final scene is like a beautiful painting.

As Margaret sings in the final number, love may be a "Fable," but The Light in the Piazza makes you believe. It's a wistful, dreamy, romantic fairy tale. But it's not all sweetness and light, there's enough harsh reality to keep you grounded. It's a fitting conclusion to what has been another wonderful season for Peter Rothstein and Theater Latte Da. It began with Sondheim's Company last fall, which, despite being 40 years old, felt like a contemporary and often cynical look at modern marriage. Then came Aida, a big spectacular Broadway-style rock musical. The Light in the Piazza is a gorgeous new musical that feels like a classic. This season has displayed a really nice variety that showcases Latte Da's talent at bringing musical theater to life.

Go see this gorgeous new classic, playing now through April 7, and like me, you will leave the theater singing, "now is... I am... happiness!"



*Light in the Piazza won six Tony Awards in 2005 (including best score), but was beat out for best musical by Spamalot, which I'm coincidentally seeing today. (Update: Spamalot is great fun, but doesn't compare to beauty of this piece.)

"A Night in Olympus" at Illusion Theater

It was a last minute decision to see A Night in Olympus, the final show of Illusion Theater's Fresh Ink series ("showcasing the developing work of new and established artists in Minnesota"). The deciding factor? The cast. Norah Long, Tyler Michaels, Jessica Fredrickson, Randy Schmeling, and Aleks Knezevich - I couldn't possibly miss that! And I was not disappointed. A Night in Olympus is a new original musical (my three favorite words) with an unoriginal story (unpopular and insecure high school girl dreams of being beautiful and winning the favor of the popular boy, only to realize that the guy she really wants is her best friend who's been there all along - see any Molly Ringwald movie from the '80s) told in an original way (gods and goddesses disguised as high school teachers work their magic to make the change come about). The music is great, the jokes are clever, and the cast is indeed fantastic. With a lesser cast the piece might not have worked as well, but each member of the cast reveled in their role(s) and really sold it. An impressive feat considering the limited time they had to prepare and the fact that the script was constantly changing throughout the four-show run. In fact they had scripts in their hands for most of the show, which was no distraction at all, and the show ran smoothly (at least from the audience perspective). The creators Chan Poling (music and lyrics) and Jeffrey Hatcher and Bill Corbett (book) will continue to work on the piece and hope to find another home for it. I'd love to see a full production of the show with the original cast intact!

Maggie (Jessica Fredrickson) and Harry (Tyler Michaels)

The setting of our story is a high school in Olympus, Indiana, a nowhere town that the kids can't wait to escape from. The lovely-voiced Jessica Fredrickson  plays Maggie, the Cinderella-like main character (after playing Cinderella herself at the Ordway last year) who gets her wish of becoming beautiful and popular, only to learn that it's not exactly what she hoped. Her best friend Harry (the incredibly talented Tyler Michaels) can never get up the nerve to tell Maggie that his feelings for her go beyond friendship. When she's transformed into the beautiful girl and no one recognizes her as Maggie, everyone flocks to her except for Harry, who's not impressed by her physical beauty but keeps looking for the real Maggie. He leaves a series of messages on her voice mail, and finally pours his heart out to her in the sweetest zombie-themed awkward love song I've ever heard. Tyler is definitely the one to watch on the local music/theater/dance scene. He's got charisma and stage presence to spare, a great voice, and a really unique physicality about his acting that informs whatever character he's playing and that is captivating to watch (and was on display here in a zombie walk).

The remaining six cast members play multiple roles of students, teachers, and gods, with minor costume changes (hoody = student, no hoody = teacher). Norah Long  has a lot of fun with her three distinct characters - the shallow popular girl, the stereotypical gym teacher (slash goddess Diana), and our heroine's sympathetic mother - and manages to bring depth and interest to all of them. Mark Rosenwinkel comes alive when his coach character is revealed to be the god Mars ("Thank God I'm a God Again"). Austene Van is truly divine as the beautiful teacher all the boys have a crush on, who is actually Venus, the goddess of love. Matt Rein is the outrageous bully as well as the nice guy teacher who wants to live a normal mortal life. Randy Schmeling is the poor picked on kid who finally gets revenge on his nemesis (ironically named Randy) as well as the nerdy A/V teacher who is actually (spoiler alert) Zeus! Finally, Aleks Knezevich truly hams it up as the stupid jock, the creepy janitor with changing accents, and especially as the evil Hades, god of the underworld. I've only seen Aleks in more serious singing roles so it was fun to see him let loose with something a little lighter. In addition to being great individually, the ensemble works and plays wonderfully together. There are some fun group numbers, including "The Most Beautiful Parking Lot." I know, it sounds strange, but it's so fun and infectious you can't help but smile.

I'm a little bummed that I only caught the tail end of Illusion Theater's Fresh Ink series. I'll pay more attention next year; I love seeing and supporting new original works of theater. I imagine in a program like this, the cast is there to showcase the work. But in this case, the cast was the star of the show. And the show was a great vehicle to showcase some incredible talent.

"Ragtime" at Park Square Theatre

I would like to say that Park Square Theatre's production of the musical Ragtime is the show of the year, but I know that it's only January, and there are 11 months to go.  But 2012 would have to be a pretty good year for this show not to make it onto my end of the year best of list.  I was a little afraid my expectations would be too high; I've been looking forward to this show for months because Ragtime is one of my favorite musical theater soundtracks and the cast list looked superb.  But I was not disappointed, the show lived up to my expectations in every way.  The cast is indeed superb and includes several of my favorites in top form; the music sounds divine thanks to the depth of talent in the large ensemble and the fantastic orchestra (as expected when Denise Posek of Theater Latte Da is the Music Director); and the costumes, choreography, and sparse set all add to the feeling of time and place - 1906 in New York City and its suburbs.  With a cast of 35, this is Park Square's largest production to date, but the stage did not feel crowded, just full of life and music and pain and beauty.

Ragtime is based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel of the same name and tells the story of three families - an upper class White family, an African American family, and an immigrant family.  The three families' lives become intertwined with each other, as well as with several historical events and figures, such as anarchist Emma Goldman, magician Harry Houdini, and chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit (played by Kersten Rodau, Sasha Andreev, and Caroline Innerbichler, all perfectly cast and wonderful in their roles).  The hero of our story is Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (the charismatic Harry Waters, Jr.), a ragtime piano player in love with a poor servant named Sarah (Brittany Bradford in a beautiful performance that's completely different from the last time I saw her, as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q).  Coalhouse's journey takes a drastic turn when he's faced with discrimination and tragedy.

Sarah lives with the seemingly perfect well-to-do family consisting of a father, a mother, and a son, as well as mother's younger brother and father.  Curiously, these characters (with the exception of the son, Edgar) don't have names, so that they could be anyone or everyone.  I've seen Lee Mark Nelson and Christina Baldwin many times, but I don't think I've ever seen them perform together.  It was worth the wait, they both give great performances as these layered characters.  Mark makes Father both sympathetic and aggravating as he's caught in the old ways and refuses to change.  Christina gives Mother such strength and yearning, hope and determination, and her voice is amazing as always, especially in the moving ballad "Back to Before."  Noah Coon is adorable as little Edgar, the boy who mysteriously knows more than he should (warn the duke!).  Finally, Younger Brother is on a journey all his own, always looking for something to cling to and finding it in unfortunate places (or persons).  Aleks Knezevich (the rightful captain of the Pinafore) is perfect for the role in this perfectly cast show.

At the center of our third family is another one of my favorites, Dieter Bierbrauer, as a poor immigrant trying to make a better life for his daughter (the adorable and talented Megan Fischer, who doesn't have as much to do here as in last year's Annie).  Tateh's path crosses with Mother's several times, in what turns out to be a most excellent love triangle.  (Lee Mark Nelson, Christina Baldwin, and Dieter Bierbrauer singing in three-part harmony, I thought I'd died and gone to Minnesota musical theater heaven!)  All of the characters in this story are connected somehow, and what each does affects the others.  The ensemble is spectacular, and several of them shine in their spotlight moments, such as Timotha Lanae (who was also on board the Pinafore last summer) as Sarah's friend.

In addition to the perfect cast and music, the choreography (by another Latte Da regular Michael Matthew Ferrell), set design (by Rick Polenek), and costumes (designed by Andrea M. Gross) also add to the production.  I'm not sure where the direction (by Gary Gisselman) ends and choreography begins when you're moving this many people around a small stage, but not only is it flawlessly done but it also really enriches the characters and helps define their story.  The same can be said for the costumes, especially in the opening sequence, when all the upper class people are dressed in pale linen, the immigrants in dark earth tones, and the "Negroes" in bolder colors, creating an obvious division that melts away as their stories blur together.  The stage is sparse, with a second story around the edge of the stage to allow for characters to come and go in the background. The few set pieces almost look like "silhouettes" (as Tateh sings), allowing the story to be the focus.  A screen is occasionally lowered to display real images from the time period, further adding to the sense of time and place.

This is a heavy show, at times so difficult to watch that I closed my eyes to try to erase the images of violence and injustice.  But there are also lighter moments of humor (I particularly enjoyed the ode to baseball, "What a Game").  I read the book after first seeing the musical in 1998, and remember thinking that it's not a book that screams "make me into a musical!"  But it proves that no topic is off limits for musical theater, if done thoughtfully and respectfully and creatively.  Ragtime is such a musical. 

This country is always struggling, always changing, always trying to better itself.  And there are always going to be tragedies and set-backs along the way, but hopefully each generation leaves the world slightly better for the next generation, for all the Coalhouse Walker IIIs of the world.  Ragtime deals with what it's like to be an American, then and now, good and bad.  As Gary Gisselman said in a post-show discussion, it's about racism and immigrants and the rich vs. the poor, themes that we are still dealing with today.  But it's also about family and love and hope for the future.  Ragtime officially opens tonight and plays through February 19, and it's definitely worth seeing.  It may even be worth seeing twice!



Ragtime trailer from Park Square Theatre on Vimeo.

"H.M.S. Pinafore" at the Guthrie Theater

My favorite production that I've seen at the Guthrie in the past eight seasons of being a subscriber is the Gilbert and Sullivan musical (or opera) Pirates of Penzance, in the spring of 2004.  It was the final show of my first season as a subscriber, and I loved it so much I immediately bought a ticket to see it again.  It exemplified everything that's good about the Guthrie - a huge cast comprised of local and national talent, beautiful choregraphy and direction, gorgeous sets and costumes, all-around high quality entertainment.  So when I saw another Gilbert and Sullivan show on the schedule for this season, my expectations were high.  I attended the opening night* of the show, and I was not disappointed.  I'm not sure it eclipses my memory of Pirates, but it came close and was reminiscent of that show that I loved so much.

I saw a production of H.M.S. Pinafore about five years ago at Theatre in the Round, so I was somewhat familiar with it, although since that was before my days of blogging I don't remember a whole lot about it.  I know that the music has been changed and "modernized" for this production, but I'm no expert on Gilbert and Sullivan so I can't really speak to that, other than I enjoyed what I heard.  The fantastic orchestra is onstage (Andrew Cooke is the musical director and arranger), which is fun to see because the orchestra is usually not visible in the thrust theater.  The set is the deck of a beautiful ship.  And the costumes, like in Pirates, made me drool.  The women wear gorgeous dresses that are all bright colors and flounces and bustles and ruffles.  And the hats!  Of course costumes mean little when the substance isn't there, but that's not a problem in this case.

The plot of Pinafore is similar to Pirates: star-crossed lovers who come from different classes, singing and dancing seamen (in this case sailors in the Queen's navy), a woman with a secret about our hero's birth, and an appearance by the venerable Barbara Bryne as Queen Victoria.  The earnest lovers Ralph (a lowly sailor) and Josephine (the captain's daughter) are played by Aleks Knezevich and Heather Lindell, both of whom have gorgeous voices that are a pleasure to listen to.  The woman with the secret is called "Little Buttercup," and comes on the boat to sell trinkets to the sailors.  The versatile Christina Baldwin, most recently seen in The Moving Company's original piece Come Hell and High Water, is quite amusing in this role.  Equally amusing is Robert O. Berdahl as the buffoonish captain who's never sick at sea and never swears.  Well, hardly ever.  His crew salutes him while snickering behind his back, for which he abuses them.  Josephine is betrothed to the ruler of the Queen's navy - Sir Joseph (Peter Thomson, also hilarious), who is accompanied by "his sisters and his cousins and his aunts" (the wearers of the aforementioned gorgeous dresses).  There are a dozen sailors on deck who perform many wonderful dances (choreographed by David Bolger).  The most impressive is a show-stopping tap dance in the second act.  I love a good tap dance, especially when performed by dancing sailors!

I had never been to an opening night at the Guthrie before (my season tickets are usually later in the show's run), so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  At the end of the performance, director Joe Dowling (Artistic Director of the Guthrie) came onstage to talk a little about the show as well as the 5th anniversary of the new Guthrie building.  There was much applause for the show as well as for the Guthrie, and what it means to this community.  After the performance there was a champagne reception in the lobby, although I didn't see too many actors in attendance (it is a little hard to recognize them out of wardrobe).  All in all it was a wonderful evening at the theater, one of many I've had in this beautiful building.  H.M.S. Pinafore is playing all summer, and it's great summer blockbuster entertainment.

*I received two complimentary tickets from the Guthrie to attend the opening night of this show.  Since I have season tickets I would have seen it anyway, but this gave me the opportunity to see it earlier in its run and tell you all about it earlier.  I'm looking forward to seeing it again with my season ticket next month, and seeing how the show has grown (as well as possibly catching some of those one-liners I might have missed).

Update: it was even better the second time around!  Everyone seemed more comfortable in their roles, and therefore they were able to have even more fun with the material.  This is such a fun, high-energy show, I don't think I would ever tire of watching it.

"Into the Woods" at the Bloomington Civic Theatre

Into the Woods at the Bloomington Civic Theatre was the first show on my list of productions I wanted to see this year.  There are two reasons I wanted to see it: 1) my New Years' resolution to see more Sondheim; and 2) I've been hearing good things about BCT lately, particularly in the bios of some of my favorite new actors, so I was curious to check it out.  I was not disappointed on either count.  As music director Anita Ruth pointed out before the show, Into the Woods is one of Sondheim's happier musicals, and this company of actors, musicians, and designers did a wonderful job with it.  There was a "talk back" after the show (love that!) where Anita and most of the actors came out on stage to discuss this show and the theatre in general.  BCT program director Bonnie Erickson was also available to answer questions.  Most of the actors have "day jobs," which makes their fine work with this challenging piece all the more impressive.  I hope to see some of them again, either on the BCT stage or on professional stages in the area.  Anita and Bonnie talked a little about the challenges of programming a season of musicals, balancing classic, familiar pieces that a portion of the audience wants, with more innovative and original pieces that appeal to another part of the audience (like me!).  It was interesting to hear about the life of this theatre and the work that they do.

Into the Woods, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, was first produced in 1986.  The plot is a mash-up of several well-known fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel, as well as an original story about a baker and his wife who want to have children but are cursed by a witch.  In the first act, the baker and his wife go on a quest to have the spell reversed and intersect with the tales of the other characters, all of whom go "Into the Woods" to begin their journey.  By intermission, everyone seems to have gotten what they wanted, but the second acts delves into what happens after the "happily ever after."  Sometimes the consequences of getting what you wanted are not all good.  As Glinda says in Wicked, "Getting your dreams, as strange as it seems, is a little, well, complicated."  The music is typical Sondheim: unusual and beautiful melodies with clever and fast-paced lyrics.

Highlights in the cast include Karen Weber as the witch, who later has her youth and beauty restored but her power taken away (you can't have everything).  She gets to sing the most well-known song, "No One is Alone," and does so beautifully.  Adam Qualls as the baker duets with the witch on that song, and is quite charismatic and natural on stage.  Colleen Somerville is his equal partner and wife, until she's charmed by the prince in the woods.  Laurel Armstrong is the Cinderella who comes to realize the fairy tale prince may not be the answer to her dreams after all.  Aleks Knezevich and Eric Heimsoth are the charming princes in "Agony" who, once they find their princesses, are not entirely satisfied.  Courtney Miner is a spitfire of a Red Riding Hood, and Joshua Hinck sings beautifully as the addle-brained Jack whose best friend is a cow, and who sets off a chain of events he didn't see coming.  The set was colorful and whimsical with moving pieces that functioned as beds, rocks, or trees depending on the scene.

Now that I've discovered BCT I'll definitely be keeping on eye on their schedule.  Their next show is the Cole Porter musical Kiss Me, Kate this spring, which might also be worth checking out.  I was very impressed with the all-around quality of the show and am glad to add BCT to my rotation of theaters.