"On the Razzle!" at Park Square Theatre

When British playwright Tom Stoppard died last fall at the age of 88, the only bright side was the hope that theaters would be inspired to produce more of his work. That hope is beginning to be realized, with Park Square Theatre's production of Stoppard's 1981 comedy farce On the Razzle! to open their 51st season. Despite being a Stoppard fan (Arcadia is my favorite play), I had never heard of this one. Park Square's Artistic Director Stephen DiMenna, who also directs, chose it because "of all his plays, this is perhaps the most luscious comic farce of them all." Turns out it's based on the same play as Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (the 19th Century Austrian play Einen Jux will er sich machen), which was in turn the inspiration for the musical Hello Dolly! It's a familiar story told in an even more comedic way, with lots of clever wordplay as one would expect from Stoppard, although this is the frothiest play of his I've seen. This 13-person cast is full of #TCTheater powerhouses, as well as some young and upcoming talent, and the design is positively gorgeous. Go On the Razzle! with Park Square Theater in the Historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul now through October 25.

"Sweet Charity" at Artistry

Artistry is beginning their 2025 season in a similar fashion as their fantastic 2024 season: a classic musical staged almost like a concert with a full orchestra on stage, and fabulous dancing in front of it. The 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity, adapted into a movie in 1969 starring Shirley MacLaine, is an excellent choice for this type of treatment; it almost feels like a series of vignettes about a NYC dance hall hostess in the '60s, rather than one continuous story with beginning, middle, and end. The strengths of this Bob Fosse show truly are the music and dancing, with a story about a "dance hall girl" looking for love in all the wrong places and continually being rejected that feels a little dated. So why not put the focus on the music, dancing, and performances of this terrific cast? The result is an absolutely smashing production that soars with one big music-and-dance number after another. Sweet Charity continues at the Bloomington Center for the Arts through February 16.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "Hugo and Maeve Join A Cult!"

Day: 3

Show: 6

Title: Hugo and Maeve Join A Cult!

Category: Comedy / Horror

By: Alex Stokes / Sky Blue Productions

Created by: Brendan Nelson Finn, Abilene Olson, and Alex Stokes

Location: Bryant Lake Bowl

Summary: Twenty-something friends Hugo and Maeve are seduced by chocolate into joining an Oompa Loompa cult in the bowels of the Mall of America.

Highlights: This is just good fringey fun. Liberally sprinkled with Minnesota references, cult references, and Roald Dahl references, it tells the story of these two friends who go to the mall for some Bubba Gump Shrimp and end up in wigs and cloaks, running for their lives. Exhausted from the forced labor of shrimp farming next to the Rainforest Cafe, they find an empty room and livestream their story in the hopes that someone will rescue them. They tell us the bizarre details of their cult, which really are no more bizarre than the real cults they bring to mind (NXIVM, Scientology, Heaven's Gate). Created and directed by Alex Stokes and performed by Abilene Olson and Brendan Nelson Finn (winner of the 2023 TCTB Award for best comedic performance), you're in good hands - these folks know funny. There's a bit of horror, and a fun voiceover cameo, but mostly it's just these two loveable idiots lamenting their fate. It's a short one at about 40 minutes, and I would have happily spent another 10 or 15 minutes with Hugo and Maeve in the basement of the Mall of America.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.