Kate Beahen and the Hometown Favorites at Lyric Arts

When Lyric Arts had to cancel a few weekends of their production of It's a Wonderful Life due to breakthrough COVID cases amongst the large cast, they called on Kate Beahen to help fill a few dates on the calendar, and encourage patrons to remember Lyric Arts or other local theaters in their year-end giving. A Lyric favorite and native of the Anoka area, Kate has appeared many times on the Main Street stage, as well as other stages around town, in both plays and musicals (my favorite: playing the Idina Menzel role in Lyric's regional premiere of If/Then and absolutely making it her own). She recently formed a band with her brother Bob and a few of her friends, calling themselves The Hometown Favorites and appearing at Crooners Supper Club. In the few days before Christmas, they did two holiday* shows at Lyric, and I was lucky enough to catch one of them. Kate's an incredibly talented vocalist and performer, and is also a natural at hosting a show and bantering with the band and the audience. It was a much needed fun and festive evening of holiday music and cheer.

"Musical Mondays" at Hell's Kitchen, October 2015

Last night was "Gentleman's Night" at Musical Mondays at Hell's Kitchen. Which means that this installment of the almost 3-year old monthly cabaret series featured five fabulous men. Hosted by real-life and onstage BFFs Sheena Janson and Max Wojtanowicz (see their original autobiographical musical Fruit Fly for more on their relationship), Musical Mondays is a great way to support local talent, mingle with the theater crowd, and enjoy some amazing performances of musical theater songs beloved and new.

In addition to the music, Hell's Kitchen (located on 9th Street in downtown Minneapolis) offers a nice beer selection and some tasty appetizers and meals to enjoy while you watch. The event is free, with a $5 suggested donation that goes to the performers. In exchange you're entered into a raffle to win tickets to current shows, which this month included:

• THE SPITFIRE GRILL at Lyric Arts
• PHANTOM at Artistry
• THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Chameleon Theatre Circle
• GLENSHEEN at History Theatre
• MURDER BALLAD at Minneapolis Musical Theatre

As a special treat this month, the Twin Cities Public Television series MN Original was there filming for an upcoming feature. If you've never seen MN Original, I highly recommend you check it out to see the amazing work of Minnesota artists, not just theater artists but all art forms, some you didn't even know existed (all episodes available online).

The cast was accompanied by the master Jerry Rubino on keyboard, Bill Crean on bass, and Bob Beahen on drums. The full set list from last night's show is available on the Musical Mondays Facebook page, but here are a few of my favorites:

• Tre Searles beautifully sang "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" from Show Boat, and an inspiring anthem called "Belief" with which I was unfamiliar.
• Sherwin Resurreccion was a charming "Mr. Cellophane" (from Chicago), and led the cast in the always fun "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" from Guys and Dolls, which I still remember him singing at a Mu Gala years ago.
• Kevin Leines sang a lovely rendition of "Try to Remember" from The Fantasticks (and he looks a little like Jerry Orbach too!).
• Andrew was adorable singing the title song from She Loves Me, and also sang a song from Jonathan Larson's Tick Tick Boom.
• Matt Goinz was the one member of the cast unfamiliar to me, but if his favorite musical theater song is "Being Alive" from Company, and he can sing it this dreamily, he's OK in my book.
• The guys combined for a couple of duets, including Kevin and Matt's beautiful "Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden, and Andrew and Tre on "Just True" from Yank.
• In addition to giving us chills with "Finishing the Hat" from Sunday in the Park with George, Max also made us laugh while serenading his newly married co-host Sheena with a song he'd written to the tune of "Somewhere That's Green" (possible new chapter of Fruit Fly?).
• The cast of MMT's Murder Ballad sang a number from the show, which made me wish I could see it! Unfortunately with just three Friday night performances, my schedule would not allow it. But you should go see the last performance this Friday at Bryant Lake Bowl!

Before closing the show, the guys told us where we could see them next. Tre will be in Sister Act at the Chanhassen, opening next month; Andrew will be singing in Second Fiddle's one night only staged reading of The Most Happy Fella next Monday; Matt performs with the excellent vocal ensemble Cantus; Sherwin will be serving delicious food on his food truck; and someone needs to hire Kevin so we can see more of him!

That's it for this month. The next Musical Mondays will be an anniversary celebration on November 2, and it sounds like a fantastic line-up! (Unfortunately I won't be able to make it because I'll be in NYC, recovering from having run 26.2 miles, and seeing as many shows as I can!) Stay tuned to the Musical Mondays Facebook page for information on upcoming shows, as well as when you can see the MN Original feature.

"Zoot Suit Riots" by Collide Theatrical Dance Company at the Lab Theater

Collide Theatrical Dance Company is a bit of a step out of my comfort zone as a theater blogger. But I do love to watch dance, and Collide (named for the collision of various art forms, including dance, theater, and music) allows this theater geek to get a dance fix in the form of storytelling, which is what theater is all about. Their latest original jazz-dance musical creation is Zoot Suit Riots, based on the historical riots in 1943 Los Angeles that spread to other parts of the country. This version of the riots takes place in Harlem in a dance hall similar to the historic Savoy Ballroom, and while the story may be a bit thin, the dancing is spectacular and does a wonderful job of expressing emotions and defining characters.

Let's start with the music. The five-piece band, directed by Bob Beahen on percussion and also including keyboard, upright bass, guitar, and my favorite jazz instrument the clarinet, sounds super smooth and cool and jazzy. The song selections are mostly standards from the era like "Moondance" and "You Can't Take That Away from Me," with a little Queen and Lady Gaga thrown in for good measure. Singing these songs are two amazing vocalists, Katie Carney and Ben Bakken (did someone say Queen?), solo and duet. The choice of music is, as always, spot on, and it's fun to hear modern pop music played and sung in the '40s jazz style.

the company and the band (photo by V. Paul V.)

Hand in hand with the music is the dancing, which is awe-inspiring to this non-dancing theater geek. Directer/ choreographer/creator of the piece Regina Peluso combines various styles of dance (jazz, ballet, tap, Fosse, contemporary) to create something unique and so much fun to watch. Whether solo dances or group numbers, the dances perfectly suit the music which perfectly suits the moment in the story. In fact, the dancing is so expressive and tells the story so well that I wish they would eliminate the short scenes with dialogue, which are a bit stilted. These dancers are better actors when they're dancing; when they're dancing I know who they are and I believe them. Some of Collide's earlier pieces had no dialogue and told the story entirely through music and movement (with a short story summary in the program), and were the stronger for it.

Galen Higgins flies high (photo by V. Paul V.)

The ten dancers in the company are all beautiful, graceful, strong dancers (including familiar faces Renee Guittar, Riley Thomas Weber, and Jeffrey Robinson in the lead roles), but the standout in this show is Galen Higgins as a hard-nosed, fierce-tapping Marine. His tap dance (which he also choreographed) is huge and fast and explosive. Lastly, there's no costumer listed in the credits, but I'm always amazed how the dancers can move so well in what look like street clothes, and look stylish while doing so.

Zoot Suit Riots officially opens tonight and continues through March 15 at the gorgeous Lab Theater, a great space for dance. (Discount tickets available on Goldstar.)