"Yarrrh! The Lusty, Busty Pirate Musical" and "Have Yarrrhself a Lusty, Busty Xmas!" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at The Hive Collaborative

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Fortune's Fool Theater is giving back by offering two shows completely free to their audiences! Father/daughter co-Artistic Director team Daniel and Ariel Pinkerton decided to not only remount their smash hit 2009 Minnesota Fringe show Yarrrh! The Lusty, Busty Pirate Musical, but to also create a brand new holiday* sequel Have Yarrrhself a Lusty, Busty Xmas!, both written by Daniel and starring Ariel. My first year attending the Fringe was 2011, so I did not see the original Yarrrh! The Lusty, Busty Pirate Musical, but that's the title of a Fringe hit if I've ever heard one! I found both shows to be really fun, clever, tongue in cheek, and chock full of pirate cliches and double entendres. They've got one weekend left of their three-weekend run, with both shows playing on Saturday, and the new show only playing Friday and Sunday. Head to The Hive Collaborative for some free pirate fun! (And check out all the other festive offerings at The Hive.)

"Cold Planet Warm Heart" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at Crane Theater

Fortune's Fool Theatre's new original musical Cold Planet Warm Heart is billed as "a warm-hearted, family-friendly science fiction tale that explores themes of immigration, inclusion, and the need to both discover and follow our heart's desire." I found it to be really cute and sweet, and definitely appropriate for kids (although I didn't see any in the audience on opening night). It's a feel-good piece for adults too, about community, and finding love in unexpected places, and creating a peace-filled world. Teaming up again after 2017's lovely The Lady with a Lap Dog, Daniel Pinkerton (book and lyrics) and Robert Elhai (music) have created a fun musical with great songs that are both comic and poignant. The six-person all-female cast, some of whom play multiple characters, give earnest, heart-felt, and funny performances and sing the at times intricate score well. Check it out, with or without kids, at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis now through November 19.

"To Breed, Or Not To Breed" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at the Crane Theater and Now Streaming

Back in early November when theaters were open at limited capacity, just before the November surge tightened things up again, Fortune's Fool Theatre presented a new piece called To Breed, Or Not To Breed at the Crane Theater* in Northeast Minneapolis. I chose not to attend, because I've been very cautious since the start of the pandemic and don't anticipate returning to the theater until the vaccine is more widely distributed and/or local case numbers decrease significantly (maybe this spring if things go well?). But fortunately for us, Fortune's Fool recorded these performances and have made them available to view on YouTube for free, with a suggested donation if you're able. I watched all three 50-ish-minute installments this weekend and found this series of storytelling pieces about the choice to have or not have children very engaging, moving, relatable, and honest.

"The Lady With A Lap Dog" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at Open Eye Figure Theatre

Attention lovers of small, intimate, beautiful new musicals! Fortune's Fool Theatre is presenting just such a piece at Open Eye Figure Theatre for two short weekends only, of which this is the final one. Unfortunately it opened on the same weekend as about a dozen other #TCTheater shows and I was unable to catch it until a few nights ago, and now just two performances remain. But if you hurry, there's still time to see The Lady with a Lap Dog. Based on one of Chekhov's best known short stories, with just a three-person cast and a three-piece orchestra and about 80 minutes long, it's a lovely little piece and shouldn't be missed by anyone who loves new (and locally created) musicals.

"Rough Cuts" at Nautilus Music-Theater: "Bold in Their Breeches" and "The Lady with a Lapdog"

Have you ever been to "Rough Cuts," Nautilus Music-Theater's monthly series in which they present readings of new works of music-theater? Even though they've presented 170 "Rough Cuts" over 23 years, you're forgiven if you've never been, or even if you've never heard of it. Their website is uninformative (but it appears they're working on improving it) and while they are on Facebook and Twitter, they're not very active on either. Maybe they like it that way, because even with this lack of publicity there was a standing room only crowd at their small studio space in St. Paul's Lowertown neighborhood last night. But that's why I'm here, to let you know about delicious well-kept secrets in the local theater world such as "Rough Cuts."