"The Venetian Twins" by Theatre Forever at the Southern Theater

Wikipedia tells me that Commedia dell'arte is "a form of theatre characterized by masked 'types' which began in Italy in the 16th century." Theatre Forever is presenting the 18th century Italian comedy The Venetian Twins in such a style, with broad, exaggerated, physical comedy, as part of the Southern Theater's ARTshare program. Even though much of it is not really my kind of humor (like Dr. Jody Kimball-Kinney, I find the frequent "erotic pantomimes" to be more gross than funny), it's quite clever and very well done, with total commitment by the dozen members of the ensemble under the clear direction by Jon Ferguson.

"Hairspray" at Artistry (formerly known as Bloomington Civic Theatre)

Bloomington Civic Theatre has recently rebranded themselves as Artistry, and they've set the bar pretty high for the new direction of the organization. Their first production, a new take on the old favorite Hairspray, is fun and lighthearted, has a powerful and very relevant message about equality and self-love, is performed by a dynamic and diverse cast, and is directed and choreographed with great energy and spirit. It's an all-around wonderful show and is sure to be a smashing success (get your tickets now before they sell out). If Hairspray is any indication, I expect Artistry's inaugural season* to be the top-notch!

At this point I'm sure everyone's seen some version of Hairspray, whether the original movie, the musical based on the movie, or the movie based on the musical based on the movie. Normally this would be a recipe for disaster, but this story is so rich and music-filled that each iteration works. Despite not looking like the prim and proper skinny girls on her favorite TV show, The Corny Collins Show (think American Bandstand), Tracie wins a spot on the show and begins to dance on TV. She can't understand why her "colored" friends can't be on the show, so she arranges a protest and is promptly thrown in jail. But she gets out, continues towards her goal, wins the boy of her dreams, and achieves racial harmony through dance.

What does a 2002 Broadway musical based on a 1988 movie set in 1962 have to do with 2015? As it turns out, a lot. Tracie Turnblad is a heroine for the ages, proving that a young woman who doesn't meet society's standards of beauty can live a happy and fulfilling life, fall in love, and enact social change (all while dancing and singing!). And more than 50 years after the fictional events of the show take place, we are still traveling that road towards racial equality. The protest scenes include signs saying "Black Lives Matter" and "Hands Up, Don't Shoot," landing the show squarely in the present day and bringing an even greater poignancy to the song "I Know Where I've Been." Lyrics such as "there's a road we've been traveling, lost so many on the way" and "there's a struggle that we have yet to win" mean even more today. And somehow singing "I Love You Baltimore," and the entire show that's based on John Waters' love letter to his hometown, takes on a deeper meaning after the events that played out there earlier this year. I was moved to tears several times, which is a rare thing in musical that's also this much fun.

Brandon Caviness and Gracie Anderson
as Edna and Tracie Turnblad

Artistry has compiled a fantastic cast, and it's nice to see some new faces among the familiar ones. Starting at the top, Gracie Anderson is everything you could want in a Tracie Turnblad. She can sing and dance with the best of them, but more importantly, she has great charisma and winningly portrays Tracie's huge heart and spirit. As teen heartthrob Link, Nicholas Kaspari is no Matthew Morrison (who is?), but he's got some smooth moves and oodles of charm, and makes Link worthy of Tracie's affection. It's refreshing to see parents as loving and supportive of their daughter and her crazy dreams as Tracie's parents are. Brandon Caviness is fabulous in this role of a lifetime as the hausfrau Edna who learns from her daughter that it's not too late to take her place in the world, and Alan Holasek's Wilbur is all sweet and lanky awkwardness. The two of them make a charming and "timeless" couple.

"The Big Doll House"

2014 Spotlight Award winner Angela Steele proves she's more than worthy of that honor with her terrific performance as Amber, the mean girl everyone loves to hate (and she looks like a blond bouffanted Cristin Milioti). Catherine Noble is hilarious as Tracie's gum-popping sidekick Penny. Is that Melissa McCarthy stealing scenes in a number of roles from the president of the hairspray company to a cop? No, it's Meagan Kedrowski, but she coulda fooled me with her very specific comic creation of these characters, complete with funny voices and weird faces. Last but definitely not least, Bey Jackson's performance as Motormouth Maybelle, and specifically his rendition of the aforementioned Civil Rights anthem "I Know Where I've Been," is a thing of inspiring beauty.

A hallmark of BCT/Artistry is their traditional pit orchestra let by Anita Ruth, but in this show it's so much fun to see them on stage like a big band on a TV show, sitting behind the Painted Ladies of Baltimore on this simple but effective set by Erica Zaffarano. Ed Gleeman's '60s period costumes are fabulous and might make you miss Mad Men a little less, with the men in sharp suits and the women in lovely full-skirted dresses (several of which I would like to own). And kudos to wig designer Paul Bigot for creating the appropriately over-the-top hairsprayed hairdos.

When the director is a choreographer and a former American Bandstand dancer, you know there's going to be some amazing dancing in the show. Michael Matthew Ferrell has teamed with choreographer Kristin Iiams to create a fun and fast-moving show with such sharp, fast, fun, and very '60s dancing that I wish I were born a few decades earlier. In the capable hands of dance captains Emily Madigan and Krysti Wiita and this dynamic young cast, the dancing is a joy to watch. Warning: it's hard to sit still watching this show!

Hairspray is a show that's been done many times in the last 13 years, so you might wonder, why now? Artistry answers that question by bringing a feeling of relevance and immediacy to this poignant and moving story wrapped up in fabulous '60s song and dance. And it's a beautiful thing to see such diversity on stage and in the audience, especially at a theater in the suburbs (other suburban theaters - take note!). Hairspray continues through September 13, get your tickets now because they're going to be hard to come by (also check for discount tickets on Goldstar).

*The musical theater season continues with Yeston and Kopit's Phantom, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Fiddler on the Roof. Also check out the plays in Artistry's black box theater.

"Little Shop of Horrors" by 7th House Theater Collective at Open Eye Figure Theatre

The great thing about the Twin Cities theater community is that not only can you see big lavish productions at the Orpheum, Ordway, or Guthrie, but you can also see small low-tech productions in odd or tiny spaces that will surprise and delight you every bit as much as those big productions, or even moreso. 7th House Theater Collective's 7-person (7 must be their magic number) stripped-down version of the cult horror movie turned off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors is just such a show. This darkly funny and surprisingly sweet musical about a man-eating plant and the poor schlub who sells his soul to it, featuring a fun doo-wopy score, has long been one of my favorites, but I've never seen it quite like this. This talented young ensemble of seven (with no director to guide them) has put their own creative spin on this classic and created something fresh and fun and original.

If you've never seen Little Shop in any of its incarnations (see also the 1986 movie), here's a brief plot summary. Aspiring botanist Seymour finds a strange and interesting plant and brings it into Mushnik's Flower shop, where he works with Audrey. He soon finds out that the plant, named Audrey II, will only grow if he gives it blood, but in return it makes Seymour's life wonderful - the failing flower shop flourishes, Seymour becomes famous, and most importantly, he thinks it makes him look better in Audrey's eyes. But the dilemma comes when Seymour needs to find more sources of blood to satisfy Audrey II's growing appetite. He's sold his soul to the devil and there's no turning back.

On the tiny stage at Open Eye Figure Theatre, 7th House brings this morbidly hilarious world to life in a delightfully inventive and low-tech way, involving an overhead projector, a plastic shower curtain, a skull, fake blood, and a series of increasingly larger cardboard boxes. The show runs about 90 minutes including a short intermission, which feels exactly the right length. Similar to what Ten Thousand Things does in their productions, they've stripped the show down to its bare essentials to get to the heart of the piece, without any unnecessary fluff.

Company member Grant Sorenson plays Seymour with just the right mix of sweetness, lack of self-confidence, and a growing inner determination to do what he has to do to get what he wants in life, mainly Audrey. As Seymour's love, Maeve Moynihan is pitch-perfect, both in her powerful voice and in her portrayal of Audrey's charming ditziness. I've watched Maeve grow up on local stages; just six years ago she was little Carrie Ingalls in a musical version of Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie, and now she's all grown up and playing one of the most iconic roles in musical theater. In between she was young Violet in my favorite Theater Latte Da show Violet (when I referred to her as "teenage wonder"), and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the Children's Theatre (at which time I said "I only hope that after she becomes a big Broadway star she comes home every now and then to grace us with her talent"). It's a thrill to see her back on stage playing an adult, and I look forward to seeing what her bright future holds. Grant and Maeve make for a completely adorable Seymour and Audrey, and if you don't get chills at the end of "Suddenly Seymour," one of the best musical theater love songs ever written, you probably don't have a soul.

6/7 of the cast of Little Shop of Horrors
(photo by Kelly Nelson)

The other five members of the ensemble play all of the other roles, sometimes at the same time. Gracie Anderson, Liz Hawkinson, and Catherine Noble as the girl group Greek chorus sound fantastic and deliver the campy material the way you need to - with complete conviction. Robert Frost provides most of the musical accompaniment at the piano and serves as Musical Director, as well as occasionally getting in on the action of the show. Company member David Darrow's take on the gleefully maniacal and sadistic dentist, whether abusing poor Audrey, singing to his mother in a Norman Batesian kind of way, or getting high on laughing gas, is a true delight (and oh, by the way, he also plays guitar, trumpet, and percussion). In a clever twist, both Mr. Mushnik and Audrey II are played by the entire ensemble, which is kind of genius and turns what are usually duets into really fun group numbers in "Mushnik and Son" and "Feed Me." Seeing Seymour surrounded by the voice of the plant in several bodies gives it a whole new dimension.

This is only 7th House's third production as a company, after debuting last summer with a groovy production of Hair, followed earlier this year by the smart and sexy Cinephilia. If this group of young talented theater artists who have created a space for their work is not yet on your radar, they should be. Their next show is something that makes me very happy - a musical collaboration between David Darrow and the super talented couple Mary Fox and Blake Thomas*. Blake is one of my favorite musicians and an incredibly talented songwriter, and I got a taste of David's songwriting skills in his Fringe show a few years ago, so the two of them writing and creating together is something I would not miss for the world. Jonah and the Whale will play in the Guthrie's Studio Theater this December. But in the meantime, head to Open Eye to experience this darkly funny and delightfully inventive Little Shop of Horrors (playing through June 29 only).



*Click here to listen to Blake and Mary's radio show, Take it With You, recorded live monthly in Duluth. It's a wonderfully new and fresh take on the old radio variety shows of the past, full of hometown humor, heart, and Blake's original music.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.