2025 #TCTheater Favorites - It Was a Great Year (in theater anyway)

2025 was in many ways a terrible year, with increasing violence, wars, division, bullying, and the dismantling of our democracy. But in difficult times, I always look to the artists - to hold up a mirror to our society, to show us a way out of the dark times, to create empathy and conversation, or to distract us from the harsh reality of the world with some joyful entertainment. Our #TCTheater artists really stepped up to the task this year on all fronts. From The Mystery Cafe's* high school reunion themed comedy/ improv/ mystery immersive dinner show Alma Mater in early January, to my longtime favorite a capella group Tonic Solfa's annual (and final?) New Year's concert at the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud, I saw 256 live performances this year. That's slightly more than last year, and right up there with my pre-pan highs. In fact, I think this year, and this fall in particular, was the busiest season in #TCTheater since a global pandemic shuttered all live performance venues for some 16 months. It's good to be back, and a theater season that's so busy even I can't see everything is a great problem to have. Of the 256 shows, 242 were here in Minnesota, including 39 Minnesota Fringe Festival shows and 6 Twin Cities Horror Festival shows, as well as a half dozen or so non-theater concerts that I did not write about (because I decided I needed more live music in my life). I also saw shows in our neighbor state of Wisconsin, and of course in the greatest city of the world NYC, and even one concert of Mozart and Strauss in Vienna, where the famous composers (and original rock stars) lived and worked. Yes, it was a fantastic year of theater, music, dance, comedy, and more. The good work continues in 2026, and it can't help but make the real world better.

2024 #TCTheater Favorites - The Best Year Post 2020

This year we marked the fourth anniversary of the day that theater (and nearly everything else good in the world) shut down due to a global pandemic. And while there are still cancelled shows and understudies stepping in at the last minute due to the virus that won't go away, it feels like this was the first full year of theater since the pandemic, and definitely #TCTheater's best. From a second viewing of Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's fabulous 2023 revival of Jersey Boys in early January, to an understudy performance of this year's remount of one of my 2023 faves Dinner for One on New Year's Eve Eve at the Jungle Theater, I saw 251 live performances in three countries, and three different states in this country. That includes 147 plays, 67 musical/opera/dance shows, 19 concert/other, and 18 comedy/improv, 230 of which were in Minnesota (including 31 Minnesota Fringe shows and 7 Twin Cities Horror Festival shows). That's definitely back to pre-pan levels, and about as many as one human can handle in 366 days (I needed the extra day this year). This task of narrowing down that list of shows to a few (dozen) of my favorites is something I both look forward to and dread every year. There's just so much amazing theater happening on a daily basis in this town that it's nearly impossible to do. But here's my best attempt:

2023 #TCTheater Favorites - Almost Back to Normal

Here we are friends, at the close of another year of theater, and the beginning of a new one. It's hard to believe that it's been almost four years since a global pandemic halted all live indoor performances for almost 18 months. I went from seeing over 200 live performances in 2019 (and for several years before that), to 49 in 2020, to 86 in 2021 (the year that live theater began to return), to over 150 in 2022 (when theater was back but not out of the woods). But now, finally, 2023 felt almost like a normal year of theater. From the incredible touring production of King Gilgamesh and the Man of the Wild at the Jungle in snowy early January, to my second viewing of Christmas at the Local on New Year's Eve, I saw 226 live performances (including 41 Fringe shows, 10 concerts at the best little folk festival in Minnesota - Storyhill Fest, and a half dozen shows in NYC). The virus is still around, and performers still miss shows due to illness, and some shows are still cancelled because of it, but we know better how to deal with it now, with vaccines, masks, and understudies keeping theater going. This is definitely the hardest favorites list I've had to write since 2019, since there was so much good theater to choose from this year. It's a welcome problem to have. So without further ado, here are some of my favorite shows of 2023 (in alphabetical order, click on show title for full review). I know this list is too long, but don't blame me, blame the incredible artists of #TCTheater for making it impossible to narrow down my list of favorites to anything less than 50!

2022 #TCTheater Favorites - Finally, a Full Year of Theater!

2019 was a fantastic year of theater, during which I saw over 200 shows. Then came 2020, and a global pandemic that shut down theater for much of that year and into the next. With increasing vaccinations and decreasing infection rates, theater came back in the fall of 2021, but not without cancelled performances and entire productions due to new variants and higher infection rates in the winter months. It hasn't been an easy road, with the COVID requirements put in place by Actors Equity (union) for the safety of artists and patrons, a significant decrease in theater attendance, and financial instability that caused at least two local theaters to suspend all performances. But if there's one thing we've learned the past few years, it's that artists will find a way to make art. I couldn't be happier that in 2022 I finally experienced a full year of theater again, with some really amazing and creative work by our intrepid local theaters. From the Broadway tour of Come From Away in January (during which they flew in cast members from across US and Canada to keep the show up and running in the high Omicron days), to my second viewing of Theater Latte Da's new holiday classic Christmas at the Local on New Year's Eve, I saw about 140 theater performances in Minnesota (not counting a few out of state theater trips and 23 Minnesota Fringe shows in 7 whirlwind days), which is a pretty great bounce-back from the last two years, if not quite up to pre-pan levels. And now I have the difficult task of narrowing down the amazing shows I saw this year to a small list of favorites. Here are my 10 (or so) favorite musicals, plays, new work, and more.

#TCTheater 2021 - a Hybrid of Favorites

We did it, friends: somehow, we've made it to the end of another year. A year that started in the bleak darkness of a much too long intermission from live theater, continued through a glorious summer of outdoor performances, and into the sudden hopeful return of #TCTheater, almost like we knew it before, but different. Things looked pretty great in September as many companies returned to the stage with a new season, but a bit of darkness has descended again with the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant that has forced show closings and cancellations on Broadway and here at home. The future is uncertain, but the experience of the past nearly two years dealing with this pandemic gives me confidence that we will get through this too, and theater will continue. But first, let's pause and look back at the year that was in #TCTheater.

Oh What A Year - 2020 #TCTheater Wrap-Up

Well friends, here we are. This is the time I would normally be agonizing over the list of 200-some shows that I've seen in the last year, trying to narrow it down to a few dozen favorites. But there's nothing normal about this year, at least not since early March. I saw my last indoor live performance on February 23 (a cabaret show by Colleen Somerville and friends called "Songs that Make Me Feel Better" at Bryant-Lake Bowl), then I spent two weeks in paradise (aka New Zealand), and came home on March 11 to a world I'd never known, a world I could never have imagined - a world without theater. And now, nearly 10 months later, we're still living in that world. My heart breaks for all of the artists, theater companies, and performance venues who have lost work and income over that time. For me, I haven't lost income, just my reason for living. Or one of the biggest ones anyway. It's not just that I have more free time than I've had since college, or that I'm bored, or even that I miss theater. It's bigger than that. Theater is my way of experiencing the world, theater is my way of interacting with the world, and after ten years of blogging (I "celebrated" my 10th anniversary in August), I'm not quite sure who I am without it. Yes, I've found things to fill the time, and fill my soul a little (I bought a Minnesota State Parks permit for the first time in my life and visited 22 of them, I went on a scavenger hunt around Roseville looking for 20 beautifully painted six-foot statues of roses, I started cross-stitching and playing around on the piano again), but nothing is the same as sitting in a roomful of humans (now a scary thought) experiencing storytelling that takes you to another place. I believe that there is a light at the end of this theater-less tunnel, but how long we have yet to travel in that dark tunnel is unknown. So at this time, I'd like to look back on the year that was 2020, in hopes that the worst is behind us.

2019 #TCTheater Favorites

Happy New Year #TCTheater friends! This is the 10th year-end wrap up I have written on this blog; this summer I will mark 10 years of writing about theater in Minneapolis and St. Paul. That's a lot of theater, and a lot to love. This year I saw about 200 shows (not counting 29 Fringe shows), and I would like to share with you some of my favorite experiences of the year.

2018: The Year that Was in #TCTheater

Dear 2018, it’s been a wild year. You’ve brought us highs and lows, tragedies and triumphs. I’m sure many people are happy to say good-bye to you. But in the Minneapolis/St. Paul theater world, you’ve been grand, truly grand. And I now have the very difficult job of summarizing the approximately 190 locally created shows I’ve seen by over 80 theater companies (not counting 36 Fringe shows; click here for my festival favorites). For the first time since I started blogging eight and a half years ago, this is a slight decrease from the previous year – I’ve definitely found the saturation point. Even still, I’m at the theater more days than not, and I like what I see much more often than not. I started out with a list of about 50 shows I loved this year, which I attempted to whittle down to something a little more manageable. Keep reading for my 2018 #TCTheater favorites, in roughly alphabetical order.

My 2017 #TCTheater Favorites

Well here we are again friends, the end of another excellent year of #TCTheater. 2017 marks the first year that I didn't increase my theater intake from the previous year (perhaps I've reached the saturation point of how much theater one mortal can see in a year). I saw the same number of shows this year as last year - about 200 plus about 50 Fringe shows (you can read my favorites of those here), not counting my two Chicago theater trips (to see Hamilton twice) and my fabulous week in NYC (Hello Dolly! Dear Evan Hanson! Come From Away!). My 200 #TCTheater shows were distributed in approximately a 1:2 ratio of 70-ish musicals to 130-ish plays, so I thought I'd share my top 10% of each in each category, along with a few other noteworthy trends of the year. Know that I could easily have added another 20 shows that I loved to these lists, because there is so much brilliant theater being made in St. Paul and Minneapolis. But these are the shows I loved so much I wanted to see them again (and in a few cases I did). They're listed in alphabetical order, with a quote from my original review that explains why it made the list (click on the title to read the original post).

2016 Favorites in #TCTheater

My dear theater friends, here we are again at the end of another year. Time to reflect and look back on the amazing year that 2016 was... in terms of theater anyway, if not in other areas. And now is the time, when we are faced with crises on many fronts, that we need to look to our artists to lead the way, to shine a light on the problems in the world and start a conversation. Thankfully we have an unparalleled pool of theater artists in the Twin Cities, whose work I will be looking toward and sharing in the year to come.

2015 Twin Cities Theater Wrap-up: What I'm Most Grateful For

This is the seventh year that I've listed my favorites in Twin Cities theater, and it's getting harder and harder to keep the list at a reasonable number. In 2015 I saw over 200 shows by about 70 different theater companies at over 50 venues around the Twin Cities (including the 44 Fringe shows I saw in one crazy week in August). Going through this long list of plays, musicals, comedies, dramas, and everything in between, my initial list of favorites numbered over 50. "This is going to be impossible!" I thought. But then I realized this post isn't about shows that I liked, or even shows that I loved. This is about shows that left me with the feeling of - theater is the most wondrous and magical thing in the world, and I'm so grateful that I get to do this! After five and a half years of writing about Twin Cities theater, I'm in the fortunate position of being able to see just about any local show that I want to - for free! How lucky am I?! So the theme of this year's favorites list is gratitude. This is my thank you to the theater artists that create such beautiful work, the many PR people I work with who kindly arrange for my tickets, and all of you who read, comment, share, and otherwise support Cherry and Spoon. Here are the things I'm most grateful for this year (click on the linked show title to read the original post).

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things in 2014 Twin Cities Theater

Happy New Year my fellow theater lovers! 'Tis the season when we look back and celebrate the year that was, while looking ahead to an even better year to come. And what a year 2014 was! In my 4th full year of blogging I saw more shows than ever before: over 150 shows, representing over 60 local theater companies at over 50 venues around town (not counting the 37 Fringe shows I saw and the seven shows I saw on my week-long NYC trip in April). I know I'm often accused of being "nice" or "not writing anything negative," but I truly do enjoy pretty much everything I see. Some shows of course I love more than others, and that's what this post is about. I'm not saying they're the best shows of the year, but they're the ones that stayed with me the most, because they made me laugh, or cry, or think, or challenged me, or comforted me, or caused me to see something in a new way. I decided to present them in categories this year, and in no particular order. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite things.

My favorite musicals:

• I've been a fan of the Ordway's Broadway Songbook series since its inception a few years ago, so it's about time I mentioned it in one of these year-end wrap-ups. This series of entertaining and informative lessons on musical theater history showcases some of the area's best singer/actors performing songs from a particular theme or composer. This year's excellent selections were great American composer George Gershwin, lyricist team Comden and Green, and Broadway's first 100 years. Next up: "Rock and Roll on Broadway," April at the Ordway (get your tickets now, these shows have a tendency to sell out).

• In another brilliant year for Theater Latte Da, which also included a lovely and folky music-infused production of Our Town and an outstanding performance by Sally Wingert in Master Class, the highlight was their first show. Cabaret was presented as part of the "Broadway Re-imagined" series with Hennepin Theater Trust, and it was everything Broadway should be, but local! A fabulous cast led by Tyler Michaels' stand-out performance as the Emcee (the first of many for him this year), a fantastic on-stage band, sets, costumes, choreography, everything combined to make a nearly perfect show. As I wrote at the time, "There is not one single thing that I would change about the show, other than extending it so that I could spend the rest of my life sitting in the Pantages Theatre experiencing the beautiful and tragic world of Cabaret."

• I was planning to put 7th House Theater's inventive stripped-down production of Little Shop of Horrors on this list until a few weeks ago, when I saw their original musical creation Jonah and the Whale. Featuring original music written by company member David Darrow and super talented local musician Blake Thomas, with a bittersweet book by Tyler Mills, I wrote, "It's everything I want theater to be - fresh, innovative, delightful, heart-breaking, inspiring, genuine, and epic."

• This summer, Mu did Sondheim, in a big and beautiful way. This is how I described their production of A Little Night Music on Park Square's stage: "The music sounds gorgeous, the costumes are luscious, the show is funny but a little sad too, and the cast is fantastic (and by the way, they also happen to be Asian-American). It's another gorgeous production of a classic."

• Ten Thousand Things' musicals are like no other. In their trademark bare bones style, everything is stripped down, including the orchestra. But somehow that makes the music more organic to the story; there is no separation between big splashy dancey song and the dialogue, it's just a continuous flow of mesmerizing storytelling, e.g., The Music Man: "This ensemble of wonderful actors led by Luverne Seifert cast their spell over me just as Professor Harold Hill cast his spell over the people of River City. I've seen a dozen Ten Thousand Things shows over the last several years and love everything they do, but this show is my favorite. So utterly charming, delightful, sweet, funny, and moving, it's a perfectly executed concept."

• The big musical event this summer was the Guthrie's practically perfect production of the beloved Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady. The nationally cast lead actors (who were all pitch-perfect) were backed by abundant local talent in supporting roles and the ensemble. I wrote that it was "so full of life and energy and dance and music," a truly joyous experience.

• Next to Normal is a brilliant piece of music-theater, and that's just not me talking, it won a Pulitzer. This fall, Bloomington Civic Theatre took a break from the large-cast feel-good classic musical that they do so well (see: Guys and Dolls) to bring this small-cast intensely dramatic and moving rock musical to their stage. Anita Ruth, queen of the pit orchestra, this time directed an onstage rock band and the six-person cast sang their guts out, in a beautifully heart-breaking way.

• Speaking of rock musicals, there is Passing Strange. Mixed Blood Theater's production of this short-lived but critically acclaimed Broadway musical was absolutely thrilling, and featured a breakout performance by Nathan Barlow (who broke even further out as the title character in Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet, more on that a bit later). I called it "a completely unique creation that comes from the heart, features an awesome rock score, and is wildly entertaining, poignant, funny, and relevant."

• Last but not least, I'm always thrilled to see any performance of my favorite musical RENT, and even more so when it's as well done as Lyric Arts production was this summer. Featuring a wonderful ensemble cast, great band, and cool set design, simply put, "Lyric Arts has done Jonathan Larson proud. I can think of no higher praise."

My favorite plays:

• It was another great year at the Jungle (and also happens to be founding Artistic Director Bain Boehlke's last in that position), including the engaging one-woman show Shakespeare's Will, the heart-breaking The Heiress, the wacky The Mystery of Irma Vep, and the sweet and touching On Golden Pond. But perhaps my favorite was the outrageous dark comedy Detroit, featuring a perfect foursome in Angela Timberman, John Middleton, Anna Sundberg, and Tyson Forbes as neighbors in anywhere, America. "The Jungle never lets me down and this is a perfect example of why - a smart, funny, relevant play, fantastic cast, and perfect execution of difficult technical elements."

• Frank Theater and Irish playwright Enda Walsh seem to be made for each other. Misterman was on my favorites list last year, and New Electric Ballroom was one of my favorites this year. Frank beautifully brought to life the small, sad, and disturbing world of three Irish sisters trapped in the past and the fishmonger who's their only contact to the outside world. In other words, "Frank once again does beautiful work with this weird, challenging, disturbing, completely engrossing, crazy brilliant play."

• In the cold, dark basement of the Soap Factory, Theater Coup d'Etat created a hauntingly beautiful experience with One Flea Spare, about a handful of people trapped by the plague in 17th century London. So real and raw and intense was the experience, I still get chills just thinking about it. "You can't ask for much more than that from theater - a beautifully written, thought-provoking, disturbing play with wonderfully real and raw performances by the small cast in a space that adds to the tone of the show, that has a lasting impact on the audience."

• Torch Theater's production of the new play Prints, by ubiquitous local actor John Middleton, was just plain fun. This very funny and at times chilling gangster story featured a fantastic cast, sharp and clever writing, a local connection (the 1933 kidnapping of St. Paul tycoon William Hamm), and spot-on set and costumes. Pure entertainment.

• 2014 feels like the year that Yellow Tree Theatre was deservedly recognized for the great work they've been doing in a strip mall in the suburbs. After winning two Ivey Awards for their fast and funny production of The 39 Steps, they opened their new season with a lovely, sad, beautiful production of The Rainmaker, featuring Ivey winners and YTT newcomers Peter Christian Hanson and director Craig Johnson (who, BTW, also directed Prints). "It's funny and sweet, hopeful and devastating, a prime example of the beautiful theater that Yellow Tree has been doing for going on seven years, made only richer by the influx of talent from the larger Twin Cities theater scene."

• In their first year without a permanent home, Gremlin Theater produced two gems, as they are wont to do. Tennessee Williams' A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur found a home in an apartment next to Open Eye, and was funny and a little tragic. But A Rocket to the Moon, at the New Century Theatre, was the one that really got to me. "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."

Most heart-wrenching: Failure: A Love Story was not only my favorite Fringe show of the 37 I saw this year, but also one of my favorite shows of the year. "Director Joshua James Campbell and this beautiful eight-person cast have created the perfect tone for the show, walking that delicate line between lighthearted quirky comedy and heartbreaking and heartwarming love story. This show is everything I want from a Fringe show, really everything I want from theater - funny, quirky, whimsical, musical, poignant, touching, surprising, moving, and utterly heartbreaking. I was reduced to a weepy mess at the end of this show because it touched me so deeply in so many ways with its true and beautiful depiction of love in its many forms. 'Just because something ends doesn't mean it wasn't successful.'"

Best one-woman show: Sally Wingert has had a pretty remarkable year in a remarkable career. Perhaps most remarkable was her portrayal of an 80-year-old Jewish woman telling her story in Minnesota Jewish Theatre's Rose. She just sat there in someone's living room and talked to the audience of about 40, and completely transported us to her world. Good news - if you missed this Ivey award-winning show, you can catch one of the encore performances this January. It is "inspirational, horrifying, funny, charming, disturbing, brutally honest, and entirely compelling."

Best two-hander: In Pillsbury House Theatre's Gideon's Knot, Aditi Kapil and Laura Esping played the mother and teacher of a 5th grade boy who has recently died. The interaction between these two women played out in real time, and both actors' performances were so real and raw it was almost painful to watch. It was intense, gripping, extremely compelling theater.

Best pairing of two plays in repertory: Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead are just begging to be performed in rep, aren't they? Lucky for us The Acting Company complied, showing us two very different but intricately related sides of the popular story of the doomed prince at the Guthrie this spring. The same story played out on the same stage with the same cast playing the same characters, the latter play smart and hilarious as only a Tom Stoppard play can be, the former familiar play seen with new eyes. John Skelley gave a doubly great performance by showing us two sides of Hamlet, and the brilliant comedy duo Grant Fletcher Prewitt and Ian Gould were like the Abbot and Costello of Shakespeare. Shakespeare shouldn't be this fun.

Best physical theater: Transatlantic Love Affair does theater like no other company. With just the actors on a bare stage with no set or props, they create a world and invite the audience into it. Early this year they remounted their Fringe hit from a few years ago, a very loose retelling of the Cinderella story called Ash Land, and it was as lovely and moving as the first time I saw it. Coming up: the remount of another Fringe hit, These Old Shoes, at Illusion Theater in January.

Guthrie highlights: I've been a Guthrie season subscriber for over ten years, and I'm never disappointed by what the cornerstone of this theater community has to offer. In addition to the aforementioned My Fair Lady, highlights this year include the thought-provoking conversation in Freud's Last Session, the inspirational The Mountaintop, the Southern family dramedy Crimes of the Heart, the super fun Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the charming and innovative The White Snake, the gripping drama A Steady Rain, and the highly entertaining The Cocktail Hour, which earned me my very first Guthrie quote.

Best use of location: Tiger Lion Arts' Nature was something truly unique this year. An "outdoor walking play," this lovely cast shared the real life friendship of Emerson and Thoreau, played out in the most perfect setting - the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Walking through the fields and flowers, hearing the birds chirping overhead, watching this story of friendship and communion with nature, was nothing less than magical and mystical and grand. "For the song of nature is everywhere if we take the time and listen hard enough."

Best completion of a trilogy: This trilogy doesn't involve hobbits and dwarves and elves, but it's even more compelling. Three years ago, Pillsbury House Theatre presented the first of Tarell Alvin McCraney's Brother/Sister plays, which tell universal stories of love, loss, family, and relationships through a specific set of characters in Louisiana. In the Red and Brown Water was followed by The Brothers Size in 2012, and this fall, we finally saw the conclusion in the next generation of characters - Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet. It's an epic undertaking, played out over three years, but the conclusion was oh so satisfying.

Best old-fashioned comedy: There's a reason Neil Simon's 1965 comedy The Odd Couple was made into a sitcom; it's a veritable joke factory. Bloomington Civic Theatre staged this classic with a dream team of Sam Landman as the cigar-smoking, sarcastic, sloppy, gruff Oscar and Wade Vaughn as the sensitive, fastidious, tidy, emotional Felix. With a stellar supporting cast and a detailed set design, it was like watching the best TV sitcom on stage.

Most promising new work: I love attending readings, it feels like you're getting a sneak peek at something new and even participating in the development process, as many readings conclude with a feedback session. My favorite new work in development this year was the new musical Sweet Land, based on the 2005 Minnesota-made movie. Last spring I wrote: "Sweet Land is such a special little movie, a small story but one that's so moving and timeless and beautiful. The musical is everything I hoped it would be, retaining what was so special about the movie and its wistful, funny, romantic tone, and only adding to it with the wonderful new original music of the Americana style that I love so well." The development process continues with a selection of songs presented as part of Nautilus Music-Theater's Rough Cuts Series next week.

Most thrilling set revelation: nimbus theatre's Ghost Sonata, a delightfully bizarre and surreal Strindberg play, featured an unforgettable moment involving the set. At the beginning of the third and final act, the large formidable wall that was the backdrop for the first two acts fell forward in a slow, graceful, and powerful swoosh that literally and figuratively blew my hair back, revealing a floral wonderland behind it. The play also featured great acting and lovely haunting original music, but it was this one moment that is one of the most memorable of the year.

Most devastating experience: Presented in rep with another war play at the History Theatre, Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq was a deeply affecting experience. At the time I wrote, "After seeing this play I was completely devastated. I had a hard time shaking it. It was one of the most powerful experiences I've had at the theater in quite some time. Because it's not just theater, and it's not just history (both of which the History Theatre does so well), it's about very real and devastating issues facing women in the military." One of the beautiful things about theater is that it can give voice to people whose stories are not heard often or loudly enough, such as the real stories of these brave women.

Best football play for people who don't like football: I haven't watched a football game, in person or on TV, since I was forced to go to games in high school because I was in the marching band. But like one of my favorite TV shows Friday Night Lights, Mixed Blood Theatre's Colossal was not really about football. It was a gut-wrenching story of a young man whose expected future was taken away from him, all told in an innovative way within the confines of four 15 minute quarters and a ticking clock, and with great athleticism and grace.

Most ambitious programming: Park Square Theatre opened their second stage this fall and began a season of nearly twenty productions, both their own productions and collaborations with other theaters around town, and a commitment to greater diversity and outreach to youth. It's exciting to see this theater expansion in lovely downtown St. Paul, and I look forward to spending more time there in the coming years.

Most exciting new theater company: After 7th House Theater's fantastic production of Hair in the summer of 2013, I figured there was a 50/50 chance that we'd see them again. After all, their name comes from a Hair lyric, so maybe they just came together for that one show and would be a one-hit wonder. But this group of young, talented, smart, creative, ambitious theater artists returned this year with not one but three innovative and forward-thinking productions: Cinephelia, a smart and sexy four-person drama staged in an apartment building; an inventive production of Little Shop of Horrors, in which the plant was represented by a cardboard box and an overhead projector was used to illustrate points; and last but not least, their first original creation - the lovely new musical Jonah and the Whale (see above). It seems these kids are here to stay, and I couldn't be happier about it or more excited to see what they do next year.


So there you have it - a few (OK, more than a few) of my favorite things this year. 2014 was also the year that I cut back my hours at my day job so that I would have more time to spend doing what I love - going to the theater and sharing my thoughts and experiences on this here blog. I make no money doing this, other than free theater tickets (thanks to all of the theaters that offered me press comps this year!), but it makes my life fuller and richer and happier. Looking back over this past year, I am filled with gratitude for all of the amazing theater I experienced, the wonderful and talented people I met, and the fact that I was able to share it all with you. I would love to hear your thoughts on my choices, and your own favorite things this year, in the comments section below. Here's to an even better 2015!

2013 Twin Cities Theater Wrap-up

It's that time of the year again, time to reminisce about some of the amazing theater experiences I had in 2013. And since this is the first year in the past 13 that I haven't made a trip to NYC, everything I saw was right here in Minnesota. This year I saw over 120 locally produced plays, musicals, dance shows, and even an opera (not counting the nine touring shows and 25 Fringe Festival shows I saw). They range from Aida to Yellow Fever (alphabetically) and from Aida to All is Calm (chronologically; in a strange sort of symmetry, my first and last shows of the year were both Theater Latte Da and Hennepin Theatre Trust collaborations at the Pantages). These shows represent over 50 of our fabulous local theater companies at about 50 different venues, from a small intimate audience of 25 people in the magnificent James J. Hill house, to the 2500-seat historic Orpheum Theatre. So without further ado (and in alphabetical order), these are some of my favorite theatrical experiences of this year (click on the title to read my full thoughts on each show).

The first on my alphabetical list, I'm including The Big Lowdown (a co-production of Bedlam Theatre and Live Action Set) because it’s different than any other theater I've ever experienced: a walking tour of St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood with surprise performances of dance, music, puppetry, and theater around every corner and hidden in every shadow. A truly magical and wonderfully unique evening.

I saw some great stuff at the History Theatre this year, including a surprisingly compelling story of two Minnesota Supreme Court justices, Courting Harry. But my favorite was the Baby Case, a musical about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Except that it wasn't really about the kidnapping, it was about the media circus that surrounded it, that is only different from today's media circus in terms of format and quantity. With wonderful double-lead performances by Peter Middlecamp and Kendall Anne Thompson, a fantastic ensemble, great original music and choreography, I found it to be "funny, moving, entertaining, informative, relevant, thought-provoking, and with tunes you will leave the theater humming."

I agree with the Ivey voters about the Guthrie's Clybourne Park – a wonderful cast of mostly familiar faces in a brilliantly written Tony-winning play that strikes at issues of race, class, and gender. Sometimes it's a good thing when theater makes you uncomfortable, in this case it's very good. (Other favorite Guthrie shows include: Born Yesterday, Other Desert Cities, Skiing on Broken Glass, and Tribes)

Compulsion or the House Behind by Minnesota Jewish Theater was a fascinating look at a Jewish American writer largely responsible for making Anne Frank's diary known to the world. But the story is not that simple, as his obsession takes over every aspect of his life. A complex true story brought to life by an excellent three-person cast and a truly innovative use of puppetry.

In a year of producing only plays written by women (proving once again that their commitment to diversity isn't just so many pretty words), Mixed Blood presented some great work, including the smart and funny dark comedy Elemeno Pea. But I was most impressed by the ambitious trilogy of plays Displaced Hindu Gods by Aditi Kapil. Three completely different plays built around similar themes, with excellent overlapping casts highlighted by a funny, heartbreaking, and vulnerable performance by Debargo Sanyal as an intersex stand-up comic. This was the only time outside of the Fringe Festival that I've seen three plays in one day, and it was quite a glorious marathon of theater.

Gremlin Theater concluded their run in their space on University in St. Paul with the excellent The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (they are currently without a permanent home but plan to produce work at other locations beginning early next year). This was one of those experiences in which I didn't know anyone in the cast and had no idea what the play was about, and was blown away. I can't even think about it without starting to tear up. This heartbreakingly beautiful tale of a seemingly awful mother who loves her daughters desperately but doesn't know how to love them hit me right in the gut.

The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical Hair is one of my favorite musicals, and one of the most important in the history of musical theater. This summer it was brought to life by 7th House Theater Collective, a brand new company of some of the most talented young musical theater actors in town (including rising superstars Cat Brindisi and David Darrow). This was a raw and intimate version of the trippy and profound creation that is Hair.

Lyric Arts' The Laramie Project was an all-around beautiful production. This community theater in the suburbs presented an important work of theater that deals with the difficult issue of hate crimes, as well as how art can be used to process, heal, and teach. After seeing this play I wrote, "At its best, theater can give us a forum to understand and explore the most difficult and important issues of our time, and that's what this play does." Well done, Lyric Arts.

Everything Bloomington Civic Theatre did this year was excellent (see also Singin’ in the Rain and Cabaret), but I particularly loved their rich production of the epic musical Les Miserables. With a terrific cast led by one of my favorite actors Dieter Bierbrauer as Valjean, and Anita Ruth's big beautiful pit orchestra, I came to appreciate this classic in a way I never had before.

I saw two productions of American playwright Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical masterpiece Long Day's Journey Into Night this year, both within a few weeks of each other. The Guthrie's production was beautiful and completely satisfying, but then I saw The Gonzo Group's production in the great hall of the James J. Hill House. The perfect marriage of story and location, with a real-life family standing in for O'Neill's family (husband and wife Richard Ooms and Claudia Wilkins, and their son Michael Ooms), and an audience of just 25, I felt as if I were an uncomfortable guest in the Tyrone's tragic family home.

In a year full of wonderful one-man shows (see also Sam Landman in Thom Pain (based on nothing), Stephen Yoakum in An Iliad, and Wade Vaughn in Cul-de-Sac), one stands out clearly in my memory. Frank Theatre's production of the Irish playwright Enda Walsh's Misterman was a wild and crazy ride through the mind of one disturbed but sympathetic man. The brilliant performance by John Catron was matched by the detailed set (I’ve never seen the usually sparse Southern Theater look so cluttered) and sound design (many recordings of different voices playing on cue). A complicated combination of elements that fit together seemingly effortlessly.

Theater Latte Da had a strong year of regular programming (including Aida, Light in the Piazza, Steerage Song, and All is Calm), but what I loved best was their new works series NEXT: New Musicals in the Making. They presented staged readings of three new music-theater pieces, all so different and so wonderful in their own way. When the Moon Hits Your Eye is a play about eccentric characters living in a NYC neighborhood with a diverse selection of songs. C. is a new musical adaptation of the classic French play Cyrano de Bergerac, written by and starring the multi-talented Bradley Greenwald (with music by Robert Elhai). Finally, Bessie's Birthday is an expanded version of a short piece presented in 2009, a funny and poignant musical about a quirky family in Wisconsin. When I’m dismayed by the proliferation of inane movies being turned into a musicals, Theater Latte Da gives me hope for the future of musical theater.

Speaking of original musical theater, there is Ordinary Days. I absolutely loved Nautilus' production of this musical in a series of vignettes about the intersecting life of four New Yorkers. Listening to four fantastic voices (belonging to Jill Anna Ponasik, Kristen Rodau, Doug Sholz-Carlson, and Max Wojtanowicz) with no amplification in a small intimate space was thrilling. It filled me with the pure joy than only truly good musical theater can.

Another entry in the category of the new original musical is Yellow Tree Theatre's Stay Tuned, featuring music by one of my favorite local musicians, Blake Thomas (when he's not composing for musical theater, he's a pretty amazing country singer/songwriter). I wrote at the time, "Stay Tuned is a charming story about American music and its changing forms (from radio and record albums to podcasts and downloads) with really lovely and diverse original music performed by talented singer/actor/musicians."

A great year at Park Square Theatre (see also the funny and intense Good People and the delightful baseball musical Johnny Baseball) was highlighted by Stick Fly, one of those dysfunctional family stories that are so compelling to watch, as they delve into issues of race, class, gender, education, and relationships with smart and fast dialogue. In short, "This is a smart, engrossing, challenging (with several jaw-dropping moments of - they did not just say that!), thought-provoking, emotional, funny, and very real play."

Ten Thousand Things does theater like no other, and everything they do is top-ten-list-worthy. I really loved their brilliant Greek tragedy as hip-hop musical The Seven, but my favorite of their work this year is A Streetcar Named Desire. It's a play I've seen several times before, but never quite like this. In typical TTT fashion, it's stripped down to the bare essentials, with the awesome four-person cast (particularly Kris Nelson as the brutish Stanley and Austene Van as the fragile Blanche) fully embodying these classic characters in Tennessee Williams' gorgeous Southern tragedy. It was "a brutally real and emotionally affecting two hours that's at times difficult to endure. Seeing Williams' tragic story so up close and personal is almost too much to bear. In other words - they did it right."

This was another strong year for the Jungle Theater. I could put every one of their five shows on this list, but I'll narrow it down to Urinetown (an absolutely fantastic ensemble cast led by the always wonderful Bradley Greenwald, interesting and intriguing choreography, smart and funny lyrics, and just plain fun) and Venus in Fur (Anna Sundberg and Peter Christian Hansen in a smart, sexy, funny, Tony-winning play, what more do you need to know?). Although I also loved the tense thriller Deathtrap, the gripping Fool for Love, and the absolutely lovely Driving Miss Daisy. The Jungle is at the top of its game.

Besides these favorite local shows, two events this year deserve special mention. The Guthrie Theater celebrated its 50th anniversary with an amazing concert called BEHOLD featuring beloved Guthrie vets in person (Peter Michael Goetz!) and on video (Christopher Plummer!) as well as theater greats (Whoopi Goldberg descending from the ceiling! Brian D'Arcy James singing a song written by Jason Robert Brown just for the occasion!). It was a truly wonderful celebration of the Guthrie Theater and our outstanding theater community.

Of the non-local shows that I saw this year, I was most touched by Billy Crystal's one-man show 700 Sundays, in a short run at the State Theatre before its return to Broadway. I was expecting a laugh riot, and it was that, but I wasn't expecting it to be so incredibly moving. Billy was extremely personal and vulnerable, and opened himself and his life up to share with the audience - truly beautiful and special.


Every year I pick a few of my favorite artists, not for just one performance, but for multiple remarkable works throughout the year. I really struggled with my choices this year; my list of favorites is long and there are so many artists whose work I loved this year. But in the end I narrowed down to these few:

She may be the daughter of Twin Cities theater royalty (Dad is the Chanhassen's Artistic Director Michael Brindisi, Mom is the fantastic actor Michelle Barber), but Cat Brindisi is a true talent in her own right. Here are a few things I've written about her this year: "never less than 100% committed to whatever character she's inhabiting" (Displaced Hindu Gods); "if I were casting someone to play me in a musical, I'd pick Cat too!" (Fruit Fly); "someday when Cat Brindisi wins her first Tony Award, I'll be sitting at home on my couch cheering her on and remembering the day I heard her sing "Easy to be Hard" in a sweaty little garage space in Minneapolis" (Hair); and "Simply put, Cat Brindisi is a star" (Aida). I look forward to what she will show us in 2014 and beyond.

The Artistic Director of Gremlin Theatre (see Gamma Rays above), Peter Christian Hansen, had a great year on several stages around town (including three of my favorite shows listed above). First was the smart and sexy Venus in Fur at the Jungle, followed by a short and sweet play about Minnesotans in the Civil war, put on by the Minnesota History Center and reuniting him with his Venus co-star Anna Sundberg (who, by the way, was one of my favorite artists of 2011). He played two roles in the Ivey-winning Clybourne Park at the Guthrie, and also appeared in two of the three plays in the Displaced Hindu Gods trilogy at Mixed Blood. He's always so compelling on stage, and I always enjoy the Gremlin's work, so I hope to see more of both of them in 2014. (You can see Peter next as C.S. Lewis in Freud's Last Session at the Guthrie in February.)

2013 was the year of Sally Wingert (but isn't every year?). At the Guthrie she played the mother of not one but two deliciously dysfunctional modern families (in Other Desert Cities and Tribes), a 19th century Russian mother trying to marry off her daughter well (The Primrose Path), and two very different aunties in one play (Pride and Prejudice). The cherry on the sundae of her work this year was her very funny and very real portrayal of the title character in Dark & Stormy's darkly funny The Receptionist. Oh, and did I mention she also gracefully hosted BEHOLD (along with Greta Oglesby)? Not a bad year's work. (Next up: Fraulein Schneider in Theater Latte Da's Cabaret.)

One of the stars of Ordinary Days (see above), Max Wojtanowicz shined in this and several other projects on and off stage. On stage he was a member of the ensemble of the delightful baseball musical Johnny Baseball at Park Square, and also played a rare serious non-musical role in the clever Six Characters in Search of an Author at the Gremlin. But even more impressive is his creative work. The charming autobiographical musical Fruit Fly that he wrote with best friend Sheena Janson was presented as part of Illusion Theater's Fresh Ink series, in which he also starred. Lastly, he was one of the brains behind the hilarious political satire musical Shelly Bachberg Presents: How Helen Keller and Anne Frank Freed the Slaves: The Musical at this summer's Fringe (with music by Michael Gruber for both musicals). He's a great talent onstage and behind the scenes, with more to come I'm certain.

Lastly, my "one to watch" of 2013 is Bryan Porter. I didn't know who he was a year ago, but I've seen him five times this year on five different stages around town, which is a credit to his talent and his commitment. He's endlessly watchable, whether he's portraying Cliff in Cabaret at BCT, a reality TV producer in Six Characters in Search of an Author at the Gremlin, multiple characters in Walking Shadow's Gross Indecency and History Theatre's Christmas of Swing, or a mysterious prince in Sherlock Holmes at Park Square. And he has a lovely voice (see him next in the Ordway's Broadway Songbook in January). I think he has great potential and I look forward to watching him grow on stages around the cities.


That's it, my friends. The year that was in Twin Cities theater. And it was grand, wasn't it? I'm looking forward to even more great theater in the coming year, and I'm particularly excited about 2014 because I've decided to cut back on my hours at my "day job" so that I have more time to spend on Cherry and Spoon, and perhaps grow and expand it. I have a few ideas of things I'd like to do, but I'd love to hear your feedback. What would you like to see on Cherry and Spoon? What do you love, what do you think could improve? Comment below, send me a Facebook message, or email me. Thanks for your support, and I wish you a Happy New Year filled with health, joy, and much wonderful theater.