"Marie and Rosetta" at Yellow Tree Theatre

I first heard of Sister Rosetta Tharpe when I saw Park Square Theatre's regional premiere production of the play Marie and Rosetta in 2018. Known as the "godmother of rock and roll," she certainly should be more well known, and this play makes sure that she is. Yellow Tree Theatre was scheduled to do the play last season, but had to reschedule it to this season, and it was worth the wait. Written by Playwrights' Center affiliated writer George Brant, Marie and Rosetta imagines the night of the first performance of Rosetta and her protege/duet partner Marie Knight. A night in 1946 Mississippi when there was no room at the inn for two black women singers, so they rehearsed and slept in a funeral home with a kindly owner. This play with music paints a beautiful picture of these two very different women, their music, and their relationship, as well as the hardships both faced in their lives and careers, and brings these two musical legends to vivid life.* Unfortunately I caught the show at the end of the run - there are only four more performances before it closes this Sunday, so get out to Osseo soon to catch this great two-hander!

"Is God Is" at Mixed Blood Theatre

Playwright Aleshea Harris' play Is God Is, receiving just its second production at Minneapolis' Mixed Blood Theatre, is a revenge play. More than that, it's a revenge fantasy. Filled with the kind of vengeance that we don't resort to in real life because we're civilized people, but it sure is fun to think about. When you hear of a man who does horrible things to his wife and/or children, or even worse, experience it first hand, there's a part of the primal brain that wants to deliver an eye for an eye. This play is the cathartic fulfillment of those desires. It reminds me of the Dixie Chicks' song "Goodbye Earl," in which two friends conspire to kill the abusive husband of one of them. Critics cried - you're advocating violence and murder, how horrible! No - it's fiction, art, fantasy, metaphor, seeing an evil someone get what they deserve, if only in our imagination. Such is Is God Is, tenfold, in all its horrific yet somehow satisfying violence to avenge great hurts against one's self and loved ones.

"The Legend of Georgia McBride" at the Guthrie Theater

Reminiscent of La Cage aux Folles and Kinky Boots, but with a spirit and humor all its own, The Legend of Georgia McBride is a drag show with a beautiful message of finding one's identity and embracing those you love as they discover their identity. What it doesn't resemble so much is playwright Matthew Lopez's other work seen recently on #TCTheater stages, the intense Civil War drama The Whipping Man, a beautiful and heart-breaking play done by Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company last year. Which just goes to show the range of the playwright, although I think it's safe to say that Georgia McBride is the more personal work. Similar to the protagonist Casey, he found himself in a drag club in Florida, although the details of the story are different. Georgia McBride is a really fun show, and you also may learn a bit about drag performance, and rethink some stereotypes about the real people behind all the glitz and glamour of the show.