"Dial M for Murder" at Yellow Tree Theatre

Yellow Tree Theatre is opening their 17th season in a cozy strip mall in Osseo with a classic: the 1952 play Dial M for Murder, adapted into a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and now smartly adapted by local prolific playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. The Guthrie produced this adaptation earlier this year, so I wasn't that excited when I heard Yellow Tree was doing it so soon after. But seeing the show last night, it totally won me over. It's a classic for a reason - an intricately plotted thriller with a strong female heroine who escapes death - and this new adaptation honors that but makes the story more modern with a few slight changes (the murderous husband is a failed novelist rather than former tennis celebrity, and the American writer named Max that his wife has an affair with is a woman). Yellow Tree's production on their sweet little intimate stage (as opposed to the Guthrie's expansive and lush thrust stage), with a fantastic four-person cast (one less than at the G), is definitely worth seeing, whether or not you've seen this story before. Dial M for Murder plays Wednesdays through Sundays until October 13.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "A Murder on the Great Grimpen Mire Express"

Day: 9

Show: 26

Title: A Murder on the Great Grimpen Mire Express

Category: Comedy / Mystery / Literary adaptation

By: Fearless Comedy Productions

Created by: Tim Wick & Jami Newstrom

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A mashup of two of the most beloved mystery stories: Murder on the Orient Express and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Highlights: This is a very funny, clever, well-written show. Putting two of English literature's favorite detectives (Poirot and Holmes) together* is a fun idea, and the show plays on the idiosyncrasies of both characters. Like in Orient Express, Belgian (not French!) detective Hercule Poirot is traveling by train when he happens upon a woman - a Baskerville heir - who's afraid someone is trying to murder her. She has enlisted the services of famous detective Sherlock Holmes, setting up a bit of a rivalry between the two detectives. But Holmes isn't actually on the train, he's sent his trusty assistant Watson. Ms. Baskerville tells the two men her story (with some fun feminist commentary on the damsel in distress trope). Poirot interviews everyone on the train, and of course solves the mystery. The set quickly and cleverly transforms from the sleeping cabins to the dining car and back again. Everyone in the cast is great, particularly Edwin Strout as the mustachioed detective, Angela Fox as the slightly amnesiac Ms. Baskerville, and Dawn Krosnowski stealing scenes as multiple characters (who all come together in the end). Their final performance is today, the final day of Fringe, so you still have time to see this fun, clever, well executed mashup.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

*For more Holmes/Poirot fan fiction, go see Park Square Theatre's return this after a couple dark years with the original play Holmes Poirot by Jeffrey Hatcher and Steve Hendrickson.

"Anon(ymous)" by Full Circle Theater at Park Square Theatre

A play that was commissioned by and premiered at Children's Theatre Company in the early aughts is receiving a lyrical and haunting new production by Full Circle Theater at Park Square Theatre, a building that has been largely empty this year as Park Square works through some financial difficulties. But Anon(ymous) brings life and theater back into the space. Playwright Naomi Iizuka uses inspiration from The Odyssey to tell the story of a refugee, which is incredibly relevant right now with the growing numbers of people fleeing their homes due to war and violence. We follow one such person, an unnamed young man from an unnamed country, on his long journey home, in a story both grounded in reality and fantastical. 

"Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story" by Wayward Theatre at the James J. Hill House

For an alternative (or complement) to the Guthrie Theater's annual production of A Christmas Carol, head across the river and see what the creative minds at Wayward Theatre Company are bringing to this classic story. Not only are they focusing on the ghostly aspects of the story and doing it in the gorgeous (and slightly spooky on a good day) James J. Hill House, but they're also performing in ten different locations around the house with three staggered groups of 30-person audiences walking around to the different locations. I always enjoy ambulatory site-specific theater, and this Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story is intricately planned, well executed, and provides an immersive (but not interactive) experience into this familiar and beloved tale of redemption. With three performance times every Wednesday through Sunday (except for Christmas Eve and Day) through New Year's Day, you have plenty of opportunities to follow Scrooge on his journey. But with only 30 tickets per show, and some performances already selling out, don't wait too long to secure your ticket.

"The Thin Place" at DalekoArts

It's October, and #TCTheater is starting to get spooky. There's something about a chilling story that's so satisfying when the leaves start to turn and the weather gets cooler. A few days after I saw Theatre Elision's hauntingly beautiful Ghost Quartet, I made the gorgeous drive out to New Prague to see DalekoArts' regional premiere production of Lucas Hnath's new play The Thin Place. My drive was rewarded with a thoroughly chilling and captivating story, told by a great cast and sparse but effective design. See this deliciously spooky story at the Prague Theatre in charming downtown New Prague weekends through October 9 only!

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2022: "Michael Bay's Bridgerton VII: Revenge of the Forlorn"

Day: 7

Show: 23

Title: Michael Bay's Bridgerton VII: Revenge of the Forlorn

Category: COMEDY / PHYSICAL THEATER / SCI-FI

By: Snikt! Bamf! Thwip! 

Created by: Tim Wick & Jami Newstrom

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A spoof of Netflix's smash hit series Bridgerton, with some Michael Bay transformers elements thrown in.

Highlights: Confession: I had to google Michael Bay to see what movies he was involved in, so I was definitely there for the Bridgerton of it all. And I was very satisfied in that regard. The story revolves around our favorite BFFs - Penelope Featherington (Angela Fox) and Eloise Bridgerton (Alison Anderson). There's a dashing suitor known as Viscount Studleywright (Michael Bloom), a meddling mother (Breanna Cecile), and even a voiceover by Whisledown (Dawn Krosnowski). But here our heroines also have to deal with the evil Lord Montjoy (Edwin Strout) and his inept accomplice (Samuel Poppen) trying to sabotage the Bridgerton ball and therefore the entire family's reputation. There's a running comentary about how the men simply do not hear the women (funny because it's true), and the benefit of guilds (i.e., unions). About halfway through the show, it turns from Bridgerton to Michael Bay, with our characters losing their charming British accents and instead speaking and acting like crass Americans. There are explosions, and fights, and transformers! But in the end, the two friends come back together and vow to take their lives, and their stories, into their own hands. The Fringe isn't the Fringe without a trendy pop culture spoof, and this show fills that spot nicely.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Not in Our Neighborhood" at History Theatre

The History Theatre original play Not in Our Neighborhood was scheduled to run in rep with Not for Sale in March 2020. We know how that story goes - both productions were shut down shortly before opening. But now, over a year and a half later, History Theatre is opening their new season with Not in Our Neighborhood and will present Not for Sale in February. Both plays deal with with redlining and segregation in St. Paul in the early and mid 20th Century, a local history that feels even more important and relevant now than it did a year and a half ago. Not in Our Neighborhood tells the true story of a prominent and successful St. Paul Black couple who in the 1920s chose to leave the Rondo neighborhood to move into the all-white Groveland Park neighborhood, and the discrimination they faced.

"The Ugly One" by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at Open Eye Figure Theatre

The Ugly One (aka Der Häßliche auf Deutsch) is a funny and absurd little play that skewers our obsession with looks, in particular the concepts of "beautiful" and "ugly." Unfortunately the protagonist is an able bodied white male of average height and weight, which is the least likely person to be discriminated against because of looks. In the workplace, women are expected to wear make-up, people of color sometimes can't have natural hairstyles, older people are expected to color their hair to look younger, and people with different body shapes, sizes, or abilities face looks-based discrimination most often. Which makes the story of a man who's so ugly he's overlooked at work seem a little unlikely, but maybe that's the point. Maybe he represents how silly and unfair all looks-based discrimination is. Regardless, Walking Shadow Theatre Company's 70-minute production is well done - delightfully odd, funny, and does make one think about all of the above issues.

"Caught" by Full Circle Theater at the Guthrie Theater

When I took the elevator up to the Guthrie Theater's 9th floor Dowling Studio, accompanied by high school students dressed for prom*, I didn't know what I was in for. I knew I was attending my third Full Circle Theater show, and I knew enough about them to expect it to be something thoughtful, well done, and relevant to the world we live in. And I knew this play had something to do with Chinese political art. All of those things are true, but Caught is so much more. It's a Russian doll of a play with layers upon layers of truth, reality, and artifice. By the time it was over I didn't know what was real, where the play ended and reality began. And that's the point of Caught, to make us question truth, reality, art, politics, even theater. It's a brilliantly written play (by California based playwright Christopher Chen), perfectly executed by director Rick Shiomi and the team. I'm not going to be able to tell you too much about it because I don't want to spoil the surprising and delightful trip, but just trust me - you need to see this play. And with all tickets just $9 as part of the Guthrie's Level Nine initiative, you have no excuse not to.

"Isaac's Eye" by Theatre Pro Rata at Gremlin Theatre

In Isaac's Eye, playwright Lucas Hnath (recently nominated for a Tony for A Doll's House: Part Two, soon returning to Broadway with Hillary and Clinton) imagines the life of one of our most famous and most prolific scientists - Isaac Newton. The smart, funny, modern play, well written and well realized by Theatre Pro Rata, is one of those plays that will get you thinking about issues big and small. Similar to the theme of Sunday in the Park with George, a young Isaac is forced to decide between home and family, and his passion and work in the larger world. The play seems to question whether or not his hard work and sacrifice is worth it if he died alone. Looking at all of his contributions to the world of science, I would answer a definite yes. If he had chosen a small town family life, giving up science, we wouldn't now how gravity works! But that's a question for each viewer to grapple with and decide for themselves.

"Equivocation" by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at Gremlin Theatre

The subtitle of Bill Cain's play Equivocation could be, It's Hard to Be the Bard. It's hard to be the bard at a time when one of England's longest reigning monarchs to date, who has kept the country relatively stable and supported your artistic career, is gone, and you're dealing with a tumultuous and changing political and religious landscape, with a choice to either support the new ruler and his lies or tell the truth. Can you imagine such a situation?! This is the fictionalized version of true events proposed in the play, in which playwright William Shakespeare (or Shagspeare) is commissioned by the newly crowned King James I to write a play of the recent failed plot to kill the king and members of Parliament, known as the Gunpowder Plot. The play mixes history, religion, theater, and politics in an immensely clever, if a bit too long and involved, way. Walking Shadow Theatre Company's staging of Equivocation, playing at Gremlin Theatre through June 24, is engaging and entertaining (or at least as engaged and entertained as this morning person can be at 10:30 pm).

"The Weir" by Wayward Theatre at Urban Growler Brewing

Sitting in a pub, drinking beer, listening to one of my favorite songs by my favorite musician Glen Hansard ("Revelate," which more accurately is by The Frames), about to watch an Irish play - this pretty much describes my ideal Tuesday night. I love Irish culture, I love beer, and I love site-specific theater. Irish playwright Conor McPherson's play The Weir is pretty much just five people sitting in a pub trading stories, and the cozy space at Urban Growler Brewing (the first woman-owned microbrewery in Minnesota!) was chosen wisely by Wayward Theatre (which has also brought us Tartuffe at the James J. Hill House and Ghost Train at the Minnesota Transportation Museum). Head to Urban Growler (off 280 and University in St. Paul), grab a beverage from the tap room (or even a pre-show dinner, from the smell of it they have great food too), head back to the pub/theater space, and settle in for some good craic.

"Ghost Train" by Wayward Theatre and Mission Theatre at the Minnesota Transportation Museum

Wayward Theatre Company, the company that recently brought us an "innovatively imagined and well executed" Tartuffe at the James J. Hill House, is now partnering with Mission Theatre Company to bring us the deliciously fun and spooky Ghost Train in another one of 19th century railroad millionaire James J. Hill's buildings. The Jackson Street Roundhouse was once a maintenance facility for the Great Northern Railway, and now houses the Minnesota Transportation Museum. Filled with old trains and displays about the long ago era of train travel, it's perhaps the coolest space in which I've ever experienced theater. Or maybe that's just my inner Sheldon Cooper talking. But there's no doubt that surrounded by all of this historic equipment and memorabilia, it's quite easy to be transported back to the 1920s by this comedy/melodrama/thriller play and its terrific cast and detailed design.

"Goodbye Cruel World" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Theatre Pro Rata's Goodbye Cruel World closes today so if you haven't seen it already, I'm afraid you're out of luck. (Sorry about that, blame NYC.) But for the record, it's a fun and wacky ride ably driven by six actors playing multiple characters, often in the same scene. A modern adaptation of Russian playwright Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide, which was banned by the government and not produced until after his death, it's a farcical look at a man down on his luck who offhandedly wonders if he would be better off dead, only to be taken seriously by his wife, neighbors, and eventually the whole town. Everyone from the church to the intelligentsia, a post man to an artist, wants Semyon to promote their cause in his suicide note. His neighbor decides to turn it into a lottery, but in the end Semyon realizes he doesn't want to die, much to everyone's disappointment. Read on for some highlights of the show.

Fringe Festival 2016: "And To Think That I Saw It At 221B Baker's Street"

Day: 5

Show: 23

Title: And To Think That I Saw It At 221B Baker's Street

Category: Comedy

By: Rooftop Theatre Company

Created by: John Newstrom and Tim Wick

Location: Southern Theater

Summary: A brilliantly funny mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Seuss.

Highlights: I know, it sounds weird. Everyone's favorite rhyming children's author combined with one of the most beloved literary characters of all time? But it works beautifully well. And in a fun twist - Sherlock Holmes is a woman (it's about time)! In typical Holmsian style, Dr. Watson (Samuel Poppen) narrates a case as the brilliant Ms. Holmes (Dawn Krosnowski) solves it effortlessly. Their client in this particular case is none other than The Cat in the Hat, who is searching for his missing Things. A trip to Whoville is in order, where Holmes and Watson meet several other Dr. Seuss characters, from a Lorax to Cindy Lou Who (hilariously protrayed by Lana Rosario, Jason Kruger, Roseah Germ, and Tim Jopek with multiple costume changes). Of course Ms. Holmes' nemesis Moriarty (Edwin Strout) is behind the disappearance of the Things, and of course she saves the day. Creators John Newstrom (director) and Tim Wick (writer) have managed to successfully combine these two beloved franchises in a way that's sure to please fans of either one, as well as people who enjoy clever comedy.

Fringe Festival 2015: "The Consolation"

Day: 3

Show: 9

Title: The Consolation

Category: Drama

By: Ethel-Ready! Productions

Written by: Ari Hoptman

Location: U of M Rarig Center Arena

Summary: The story of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann on trial in Israel is told along with the Milgram experiment that tested just what people would do when ordered.

Highlights: Friends, this one is intense. The Consolation is not your typical fun and frivolous Fringe show. The story of a Nazi war criminal on trial may not be new, but it's beautifully and succinctly told in this thought-provoking play that lays bare all of the complexities involved and leaves the viewer with an unsettled feeling. Eichmann is at times infuriating and at times sympathetic, thanks in part to a brilliant performance by David Mann. Scenes of the trial in front of an unforgiving judge (Jim Pounds) are interspersed with scenes talking to an unnamed visitor (Jennifer Blagen) who seems to be trying to understand how one can be driven to do such horrific things, which Eichmann tries to explain was just a bureaucratic job to him (seen in flashbacks with his assistant, played by Clarence Wethern), despite the fact that millions died as the result of his paperwork and meetings. And then there's the experiment. Dr. Milgram (Edwin Strout) asks the subject (Robb Krueger) to deliver increasingly greater shocks to a person in another room, and even though he's disturbed by the pain he's inflicting on this stranger, he continues. The play is well constructed by playwright Ari Hoptman, with scenes and timelines intersecting and flowing into one another. Clear direction by Jean Wolff and great performances by the cast bring this story to life in a disturbing way. The Consolation is a heavy drama, beautifully done, that makes one think not just about the crimes at hand, but the complicated idea of following orders vs. following your conscience.

"33 Variations" at Park Square Theatre

33 Variations is part fascinating music history, part poignant family drama, and part classical music concert, which adds up to an entertaining evening of theater. Park Square's production of the Moisés Kaufman play satisfies on several levels - intellectual, emotional, musical - and features a great seven-person cast (plus one talented pianist) who bring the past and present together in an intriguing way. This is just one of two shows currently playing at Park Square (I'm looking forward to seeing the first production on their new stage, The House on Mango Street, next week). St. Paul is the place to be.

From 1819 through 1823, Ludwig van Beethoven composed 33 variations on a 50 second waltz by music publisher Anton Diabelli. It is one of the last works he wrote before his death in 1827, written at a time when he was almost completely deaf. In one of the world's greatest ironies, this brilliant composer who created some of the most beautiful music in existence eventually could not hear his or anyone else's music, except in his head. Playwright Moisés Kaufman uses this particular moment in music history as a jumping off point for his play, in which a modern-day music scholar, Dr. Katherine Brandt, becomes obsessed with this work and researches it as one of the final works of her own career. The lives of these two geniuses, Beethoven and Katherine, play out in parallel as both feel the time running out and become increasingly desperate to finish their work, to leave something behind that matters.

In the play we see scenes from the 19th century with Beethoven, his trusty assistant and biographer Anton Shindler, and Diabelli, interspersed with scenes from today with Katherine, her daughter Clara, Clara's boyfriend and Katherine's nurse Mike, and Katherine's German colleague Gertrude. Recently diagnosed with ALS, Katherine decides to spend her remaining healthy days in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace and location of many of his papers, conversation books (used to talk to friends after his hearing deteriorated), and musical sketches. Katherine and Clara have a tenuous relationship; Katherine is one of the most respected and successful people in her field, while Clara flits from job to job, causing her mother to worry that she's living a "mediocre" life. Despite the prickliness of their relationship, Clara loves her mother and is concerned that she is doing too much and not taking care of her health. She and Mike eventually join Katherine in Bonn as her health declines. In her final days, Katherine is forced to let go of some of her assumptions about about Beethoven, music, her daughter, and the idea of success. Katherine's fate is tragic, yet it's a beautiful journey that this family experiences together.

Kaufman beautifully weaves together the two narratives, highlighted at the end of Act I when the three realities - 19th century Vienna, Katherine and Gertrude in Bonn, and Clara and Mike in NYC - collide and all keep repeating, "time is scarce," "this is my last opportunity, "I must be allowed to finish the work," each meaning something slightly different, yet the same. At the end of the play, Katherine finally meets the object of her obsession as she dreams of Beethoven and the two have a conversation. Katherine realizes that what Beethoven has done with his variations is slow down time - turn a 50 second waltz into a 50 minute composition so that the listener can hear every beat, phrase, and moment in the music. A fine example for life, but so difficult to do in today's busy modern age.

Edwin Strout as Beethoven and Karen Landry as Katherine

The Ordway's Artistic Director James Rocco has ventured across Rice Park to direct this play with music, and juggles all of the many pieces well. It all plays out on a mostly bare stage with various levels and boxy tables and chairs, with three video screens displaying the backdrop of the scene or the musical sketch being discussed. Every time a specific variation is commented upon, we hear it played by pianist Irina Elkina, on a piano that almost disappears into the background when not being played. The music adds so much to our understanding of the discussion and really brings it alive. I know next to nothing about classical music, but I found it beautiful and fascinating, and now I want to hear all 33 variations.

On the non-musical front, Karen Landry gives a brave and fully committed performance as Katherine, taking her from a stubborn, determined, independent woman to that same spirit trapped in a failing body, forced to accept help. Her physicality and speech slow down as Katherine's ALS takes hold of her. Karen has great chemistry with Jennifer Maren as Katherine's daughter Clara, with Jennifer portraying Clara's frustration with her mother and reluctance to accept that she's failing (and we also get to hear her beautiful voice). Also great are Michelle Myers as Gertrude, with a lovely German accent, and Nate Cheesman as the charming and steady Mike. Back in the 19th century, Edwin Strout plays Beethoven as a larger-than-life character, just how we imagine those creative geniuses to be - temperamental, loud, selfish, demanding, but somehow tolerated because of the greatness he achieves. Robert-Bruce Blake plays the enigmatic Anton Schindler in a such way that we don't really know if he's telling the truth, or what his motives may be. Rounding out the cast is Peter Simmons as the vain Diabelli, providing some comic relief.

33 Variations continues on Park Square's proscenium stage (i.e., the "old" one) through November 9. If you like smart, funny, historical, relevant, poignant, moving, well-written and -acted theater, with beautiful music as an integral part of the story, you'll want to add this one to your list. Stay tuned to Cherry and Spoon for a report on the new stage.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Rocket to the Moon" by Gremlin Theatre at the New Century Theatre

They get me every time. Gremlin Theatre, that is. I've seen everything they've done over the past couple of years and it's always been a play I've never heard of and know nothing about, a seemingly obscure little known work. And they're always just absolute gems that reach in and grab me in the heart, gut, funny bone, or all three. Their current production, Rocket to the Moon, is no exception. It's a tragic love story set in a dentist office in 1938, but it's really about a handful of complex characters that we grow to know and care about over the course of a few hours despite, or perhaps because of, their flaws, all so beautifully and vulnerably brought to life by this excellent cast.

New York City dentist Dr. Ben Stark is offered a chance to move his practice to a bigger and better location, but is talked out of it by his pragmatic wife Belle. Part of her reasoning is that the money for the move comes from her father Mr. Prince, whom she despises. Ben has no confidence or ambition, and after ten years of marriage does everything his wife tells him to. As one character says, his unhappiness has become a habit he's not even fully aware of; he's "like an iceberg, three-quarters under water." His father-in-law is his exact opposite, a man of means brimming with confidence, who knows what he wants and goes after it. He encourages Ben to do something to shake things up, maybe even have an affair with his pretty young assistant Cleo. Which he eventually does, not because "Papa" told him to, but because Cleo is as full of life as Ben is devoid of it. She has hopes and dreams and believes she will achieve something wonderful in her life, despite her unhappy home life which she continually lies about. But this is not a happily ever after kind of play; these are all sad damaged people, some of whom make choices that may move them towards happiness, and some of whom continue to be stuck.

Dr. Stark (Peter Christian Hansen) and Cleo (Jane Froiland)
(photo by Aaron Fenster)

This is such a great cast, directed by Ellen Fenster (who is also responsible for making me weep at last year's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds). It's truly a joy just to sit in the audience and watch them work. Peter Christian Hansen is able to reign in his usual magnetic stage presence to portray the unassuming dentist who's just going through the motions of life, emotions deeply hidden, until he begins to wake up with Cleo. Jane Froiland is effervescent as Cleo, and while I usually don't root for a man to cheat on his wife, I so wanted her and Ben to find happiness together. Ben's wife could be seen merely as the shrew who holds him back, but Daisy Macklin Skarning makes her a sympathetic character as well, a woman who's known deep grief and is surviving the only way she knows how. Craig Johnson is, as usual, an absolute delight as Mr. Prince. True he's given the best lines, speaking in unusual and descriptive metaphors, but his delivery is scrumptious. He makes Mr. Prince's offer to Cleo really quite attractive; a girl could do worse than a smooth-talking well-dressed charming older gentleman whose only goal in life is to woo her! Nicely rounding out this seven-person cast are David Coral as Ben's alcoholic partner, another sad and lost man; Jason Rojas as Ben's friend, challenging him yet protective of him; and Edwin Strout, stealing scenes as the flamboyant dance director.

I love what Gremlin has done with the New Century Theatre. The usual stage is so wide and shallow that it almost looks two-dimensional, which works for some shows but less well for others. This is definitely a piece that is more than two dimensions and needs room to breathe. Scenic and lighting designer Carl Shoenborn and his team have built out a square thrust stage with plenty of space for Ben to get as far away from his fears as possible. He's filled it with vintage office furniture and accoutrements, with evocative lighting relaying the time of day or emotion of the scene. Costumes by A. Emily Heaney add to the period feel, from Mr. Prince's smashing three-piece suits to Belle's lovely dresses and hats to Cleo's efficient uniform.

Rocket to the Moon continues at the New Century Theatre in the City Center in downtown Minneapolis through June 1, with half-price tickets available on Goldstar. This play is another one of those theatrical gems that Gremlin has plucked from obscurity and polished to it's most achingly beautiful form. It would be a shame to miss this one.