Broadway tour of "Company" at the Orpheum Theatre

On my first trip back to NYC after Broadway reopened in late 2021 after an unprecedented 18-month intermission, one of my must-sees was Company. Director Marianne Elliott's reimagining of the 1970 Sondheim musical played West End in 2018-2019 to great success, but had only a handful of previews on Broadway in March 2020 before everything went dark. It finally opened in December of 2021, and this genius production of a brilliant Sondheim creation was worth the wait. Flipping the gender of the main character (which I've been calling for practically since I first saw the show), as well as other slight tweaks, brought this 50-year-old musical into the 21st century with a whole new exploration of relationships and gender roles. I loved everything about it. And now, this brilliant revival is finally here in Minneapolis, but only for one week! Sondheim fans, fans of classic musicals, fans of forward-thinking music-theater - get yourself to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis now! Click here for info (including info about student/educator rush tickets) and to purchase tickets.

"Bullets Over Broadway" on tour at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts

I didn't have high expectations for Bullets over Broadway, the 2014 Broadway musical based on the 1994 Woody Allen film now playing at St. Paul's Ordway Center, because it's: a) a movie adaptation, b) a jukebox musical, and c) written by Woody Allen (who has one of his characters say, "The artist can be forgiven anything if he produces great art." Um, no). None of these are my favorite things. But low expectations often leads to a better experience, as it did here. While definitely not "great art," Bullets over Broadway features some fantastic choreography, great performances by the talented ensemble (although they're a little too white than what is acceptable in a post-Hamilton world), and period songs that are well chosen and for the most part sound like they were written for the story.