"God of Carnage" at Lyric Arts

In 2009, God of Carnage won the Tony Award for best play. It closed in 2010, and the Guthrie produced it the following year, when I called it "a tightly wound, intense, darkly hilarious four-person play about what happens when our baser natures come to the surface." I still have vivid memories of it (which is noteworthy, considering I've seen over a thousand plays since them). It's a treat to revisit this smart, sharp comedy again in a well done production at Lyric Arts. The strong four-person ensemble is a great team, director Scott Ford has paced the 90-minute four-way conversation well, and the design tells us immediately where we are and who we're dealing with. To my knowledge, no #TCTheater has done this play since the Guthrie in 2011, so kudos to the little community theater in the 'burbs for tackling this prickly and sometimes unpleasant (in a good way) play and doing it so well.

"If/Then" at Lyric Arts

2014 saw the Broadway premiere of a new original musical written by the creators of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal (Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt) for two of the original stars of the Pulitzer Prize-winning RENT (Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp). I went to see If/Then with super high expectations, which is probably why I was underwhelmed. It's not going to win a Pulitzer (few musicals do, only nine if you want to get nerdy about it), in fact it didn't even win a Tony. But the more I listen to the score and see the show (I also saw the national tour a few years ago), the more I like it. It may not be a brilliant musical, but it's a good one, and it's original, fresh, and modern, which is hard to come by these days. Lyric Arts in Anoka was lucky/smart enough to snag the regional premiere, and I'm quite impressed by what this little community(ish) theater in the 'burbs was able to do with this complex show. A solid cast (and one outright superstar in Kate Beahen), a clever design that captures the spirit of NYC, clear direction by Elena Giannetti, and interesting movement around the small stage bring out the best in this smart, funny, moving, and thought-provoking new original modern musical. I can't ask for much more than that.

"Always... Patsy Cline" at Lyric Arts

To open their 2017-2018 (a season that I had the pleasure of announcing earlier this year), Lyric Arts is bringing back the popular tribute to the life and music of one of our greatest voices gone too soon - Always... Patsy Cline. This sweet little musical (or really, play with music) allows the audience to get to know the real Patsy through her real-life friendship with one of her fans, Louise Seger. I saw the show last year, and was happy to return to see it again this year. It's the same heart-warming and musically satisfying show, with a few changes in the cast and creative team. Just like last year, Always... Patsy Cline is perfectly cast, full of heart, and highly entertaining for anyone who's ever heard Patsy's music, and let's face it - who hasn't?*

Silent Sky at Lyric Arts

Have you ever heard of Henrietta Leavitt? Neither have I. But we should have. This early 20th Century female astronomer's discoveries gave us the ability to measure the universe. The much more famous (and male) astronomer Edwin Hubble built on her work and won the Nobel Prize for his work, which Henrietta could not because she died young before the full effects of her work were seen. None of us can control "who lives, who dies, who tells your story,*" but if the history books don't tell her story, we can be happy that theater is. Lyric Arts' production of Silent Sky (which, by the way, is written by a woman, directed by a woman, and features a mostly female cast) is a beautiful tribute to this brilliant, passionate, and dedicated woman who helped to quantify the idea that there is more out there in the universe than just this world we know.

"A Christmas Story" at Lyric Arts

The 1983 movie A Christmas Story has become a holiday classic, thanks in part to TBS running it for 24 hours on Christmas Day every year. Full of humor, nostalgia, and heart, this story of 9-year-old Ralphie and his quest for a very special BB gun for Christmas is a charmer. Fans of the movie are sure to enjoy Lyric Arts production of the play version of the movie, written in 2000 by Philip Grecian (which is different from the musical version that the Ordway did a few years ago). While this story based on a 30-year-old movie based on memories of a time 40 years before that is a bit dated, and viewed a bit differently in today's environment, the heart of the piece is still there. At the Sunday matinee performance some of my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (from Artfully Engaging, No Filter Reviews, One Girl, Two Cities, and Twin Cities Stages) and I were greeted with a Christmas cocktail, and after the show we chatted with the adult members of the cast and toured the set, with more Christmas cocktails of course. We bloggers always welcome the opportunity to talk to artists about their work and to learn about what happens behind the scenes.* Lyric Arts is one of the top community theaters in town (along with Theatre in the Round), and it was a treat to get to know them a little better and enjoy this festive and fun holiday show.

"Always... Patsy Cline" at Lyric Arts

The plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper is known as "the day the music died." But what about the plane crash a few years later that killed Patsy Cline? On that day the world lost one of the best voices it's ever known. Always... Patsy Cline gives us a peek into the human side of the music icon as we get to know her through her fan, friend, and pen pal Louise. The new production at Lyric Arts in Anoka is perfectly cast, full of heart, and highly entertaining for anyone whose ever heard Patsy's music, and let's face it - who hasn't?

"Shrek: The Musical" at Lyric Arts

"Fairy tales should really be updated." So sings Shrek in the 2008 musical adaptation of the smash hit 2001 movie. And that's exactly what the creators of the movie and the musical (playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, who also wrote Rabbit Hole, Good People, and Fuddy Meers, and composer Jeanine Tesori, who is also responsible for one of my favorite musicals Violet, opening soon at Yellow Tree Theatre) have done. Lyric Arts' joyful and colorful new production is my third go-round with Shrek: The Musical, for which I have much affection despite it being a blockbuster movie adaptation. The musical retains and builds on the funny, clever, irreverent tone of the movie, adding a diverse collection of songs. This updated fairy tale for the modern age is well done by Lyric Arts with a fantastic cast, bright and colorful set and costume design, and a joyfully irreverent spirit.

"The Explorers Club" at Lyric Arts

"To Science!" Such is the rallying cry of the fictional Explorers Club in the new play by Nell Benjamin (co-writer of the musical Legally Blonde). But it's not just fiction; the real-life Explorers Club is an organization founded in 1904 and still going strong, a group of scientists committed to "the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space." The play is a riff on this idea, taking it to farcical extremes and exploring what happens when one of the members dares to propose that a woman join the group. The result is a silly, witty, and fun play well executed by Lyric Arts with a strong cast and fantastically detailed set design. Not a bad way to open the season!

I doubt that the real members of the Explorers Club are as ridiculous as their fictional counterparts. Explorer Percy (Peter Ooley) insists that he has discovered the "East Pole," botanist Lucius (Brandon Osero) grows poisonous plants named after the women he loves because he's afraid to tell her how he feels, Professor Sloane (Leigh Webber) is intent on finding The Lost Tribes, and Professors Walling (Grif Sadow) and Cope (Robert Zalazar) are so affectionate with their animal subjects that they've lost any scientific objectivity. Into their midst comes Phyllida Spotte-Hume (Jessica Scott), discoverer of a lost city and the object of Lucius' affections. The other members of the club are aghast at the idea of a woman joining their ranks, thinking she'll be too distracting to their work (reminiscent of the #iammorethanadistraction movement against school dress codes). But she also brings excitement and adventure in the form of the native Luigi (a highly physical and newt-like performance by Brendan Veerman) who unwittingly offends the queen, bringing Sir Humphries (Warren Sampson) and the British Army to the Club's door. Along with Irish assassins and killer monks, they create quite a ruckus. It's quite a far-fetched and ridiculous situation, but it's all in good fun!

the Explorers Club is in session! (photo by Mike Traynor)

The other star of the show is the set (designed by Brian Proball) and props (Emma Davis et al.) that look like they came right out of the Librarian movies. The set (dominated by a huge set of doors, stairway to the second floor, and a bar) is chock-full of authentic-looking artifacts including a mummy's case, a full suit of armor, shrunken heads, a large plant that grows, a giant rhino head, elephant leg stools, and weapons of every sort. All of the elements come together smoothly and with great comedic timing under the direction of Matt McNabb, highlighted by some thrilling and intricate drink choreography that is flawlessly performed by the cast (one wonders how long they had to practice catching those drinks, and if they use their new found skill to impress their friends at parties).

The Explorers Club is all light and fun silliness, a strong start to Lyric Arts' 20th anniversary season that includes, among others, A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas (a must-see for LIW fanatics like myself), the small and quirky musical The 25th Annual Spelling Bee, the huge and boisterous musical Shrek, and the classic comedy The Odd Couple. The Explorers Club continues through September 27 at Lyric Arts Main Street Stage in Anoka (discount tickets available on Goldstar). So raise a glass to science, comedy, and theater!

"Cabaret" at the Lyric Arts Main Street Stage

One of my favorite shows last year was Frank Theatre's Cabaret, starring Bradley Greenwald and Melissa Hart (from the original Broadway production of the show). So when I attended a production at Lyric Arts Main Street Stage* in Anoka, I tried to put that out of mind, knowing that it was unfair to compare the two. But I was really impressed by the production. All of the leads are great in their roles, the Kit Kat girls are fantastic, the set is interesting and effective, and Cabaret is in my opinion one of the best musicals ever written. I love that it's wildly entertaining and fun and sexy, but also has an undercurrent of desperation just below the frivolity on the surface. Lyric Arts does a great job with both parts in their production running now through August 5.

Cabaret takes place in pre-WWII Berlin, just before the rise of the Nazis. It's the end of the relatively calm period in Germany between the World Wars, just before everything falls apart. And that's the desperation you can feel throughout the piece, that sense that something awful is coming, which the characters in Cabaret choose to deal with by living life as fully and as presently as they can, epitomized by Sally Bowles. She's the star of the Kit Kat Klub, living from day-to-day, man-to-man, painting her fingernails green because "I think it's pretty." She meets Cliff, an American writer, and they live happily together for a short time before the darkness that's brewing in Berlin starts to become apparent. He wants them to return to America, but Sally isn't a housewife in the suburbs kind of girl. She chooses to remain in her beloved Berlin, for better or worse.

Highlights of this production include:

• A fearless and animated performance by Max Malanaphy as the Emcee.
• Eric Brandhorst as the earnest Cliff, who sounds beautiful (and sings a lovely song I've never heard before "Don't Go").
• Katie Hahn as Sally Bowles is fierce and funny, and her final number "Cabaret" is the sad, desperate, determined cry of life that it should be.
• Debbie Swanson and Kristo Sween are just charming as the late in life couple who bond over "a pineapple."
• The set (by Brian Proball) features two levels (with the band upstairs), a fireman's pole put to good use by the actors, and cabaret tables both upstairs and down.
• The choreography (by Jon Michael Stiff) is inventive and interesting and fun, ably performed by the Kit Kat girls.
• The costumes (by Lisa Mangone) are really cool and make everyone look fabulous.

As a resident of the Northeast suburbs, I've been wanting to check out this Anoka theater for a while now. It's a nice little theater (and they sell popcorn in the lobby!), and this was a great first show for me. A few of the shows on their 2012-2013 season appeal to me so I'm sure I'll be making the trip again. Cabaret is definitely worth it, especially if you live on the Northern side of the Cities. I love the idea of a true community theater in the suburbs, so you don't always have to drive into the city to see great theater, and Lyric Arts definitely fits the bill.

the Emcee surrounded by the Kit Kat girls

*I received one complementary ticket to see Cabaret.