"Mamma Mia!" at Lyric Arts

Last night, Lyric Arts opened their joyful production of the perhaps the most beloved jukebox musical, Mamma Mia!, and the entire run is already sold out. This is extremely rare, and speaks to both the draw of this great little theater in the 'burbs, and the popularity of Mamma Mia! Although it didn't win a single Tony Award, it ran for 15 years on Broadway, making it the 9th longest running Broadway musical (soon to be eclipsed by The Book of Mormon), and was adapted into a movie starring no less than Meryl Streep, which also inspired a sequel, and potentially a third movie to come. Why do people love Mamma Mia! so much? Maybe because it's chock full of familiar (to people of a certain age) songs from ABBA that are upbeat and endlessly singable. Maybe because it's set on a Greek island that we'd all love to escape to, especially after a long and difficult Minnesota winter. But I like to think that the reason we love Mamma Mia! is that the central love story is between a mother and a daughter, and between female friends. At its heart, inside the silly and contrived story of a young woman looking for her father, it's a story of friendship, community, and family, especially those that look different from the norm. It's a feel-good heart-warming musical that appeals to all generations. And Lyrics Arts' production, with a talented and gorgeously diverse cast, is a great one.

"Abuelita" by Prime Productions at the Capri Theater

Prime Productions is continuing their work that "amplifies the voices of women over fifty" with a world premiere new play that, while not written by a woman in her prime, is centered around several of them. NYC-based playwright Nathan Yungerberg (who has Midwestern roots) has written a fictional story inspired by his real-life experience as a biracial adoptee growing up in the Midwest and connecting to his Afro-Caribbean heritage later in life. A story of a 15-year-old boy finding his identity with the help of his "Abulelitas" (if Abuela is Spanish for grandmother, what does Abuelita mean? that you love your Abuela a lot, as one of the characters says). It's a story of community, of grief, of healing, of growing up, of not growing old but continuing to change and explore all that life has to offer. The beautiful, funny, authentic new play Abuelita continues at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis through March 29.

"Cost of Living" by Full Circle Theater at 825 Arts

Frank Theatre introduced #TCTheater to Polish-American playwright Martyna Majok's work with their excellent production of Ironbound in 2024 (a nominee for a Twin Cities Theater Bloggers Award for best play), followed by Sanctuary City earlier this year, which Theatre in the Round also produced a few months later. Now, thanks to Full Circle Theater, we finally get to see her 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cost of Living. All of her plays (at least those I've seen) deal with the immigrant experience, classism, the struggles of average Americans, and the failure of the American Dream. Cost of Living does this through the stories of two disabled characters and their caregivers, with a raw and unflinching look at the lives that they lead. The good news is Full Circle's production, in the intimate 825 Arts on University in St. Paul, is excellent; the bad news is they only have eight performances (after a week of community performances), half of which are over. So if you would like to see the excellent regional premiere of this funny, moving, surprising, thought-provoking play - act fast!