Broadway tour of "Parade" at the Orpheum Theatre

Last night, the National Tour of the 2023 Tony winner for best revival of a musical opened right here in Minneapolis. Parade premiered on Broadway in 1998 and ran for only three months, but won the Tony for score (Jason Robert Brown, his first of two Tonys, the second for The Bridges of Madison County) and book (playwright Alfred Uhry, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Driving Miss Daisy). Almost 25 years later it was revived in a stunning and devastating production that I was fortunate to see.* I'm so glad that it's going on tour, because this is a story that America needs to see right now. Unfortunately, this very American story of antisemitism, racism, otherism, corruption in the judicial and political systems, fearmongering, mob violence, and media distortion of the facts only gets more relevant with each passing day. Heavy subject for a musical? Yes, but not all musicals need to be light and happy. In fact the best ones delve into heavy issues and shed light on the dark places of our past and present, and do it with gorgeous music that evokes the emotions of the story better than a history book or even a play ever could. Twin Cities theater-goers should feel honored to be the first ones in the country to experience this brilliant production, and if you're a fan of meaningful and relevant music-theater that's also beautiful to watch and listen to, go see Parade (through Sunday only - click here for info and tickets, including group sales and student/educator rush).

"The Bridges of Madison County" on Tour at the Orpheum Theatre

I'm not usually a fan of turning movies into musicals, but when Jason Robert Brown is the composer, I'm on board. I've been listening to the exquisite cast recording of the 2014 Broadway musical The Bridges of Madison County (adapted from the 1992 best-seller novel by Robert James Waller and the 1995 movie) since hearing a few songs at Musical Mondays last month, and I'm obsessed. It was a thrill to hear this gorgeous score live and watch the story play out around and through it, a story of impossible but life-changing love. The show inexplicably ran only a few months on Broadway, but lucky for us the first national tour is stopping at the Orpheum Theatre this week. If you're a fan of music-theater, or just music in general, go see the show to experience one of the best scores coming out of Broadway in recent years, wrapped up in a sweeping romance.