"Time Piece" by Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre and the Flying Foot Forum Featuring Katha Dance Theatre at Park Square Theatre

I caught the first preview of the new dance show Time Piece at Park Square Theatre last night, and it was the most magical experience. I was there to see Flying Foot Forum, a favorite since the early days of this blog for their infectious and exciting percussive dance style. But I was blown away by the artistry of all three companies and the way that they worked together and intermingled their seemingly different styles, representing traditional dance forms from around the world. Dance is one of the universal languages that unites us all, and is one of the oldest forms of storytelling. This collection of pieces definitely tells stories, evokes emotions, and is just mesmerizing to watch. Time Piece officially opens Saturday and runs through next weekend only on Park Square's Andy Boss Stage (with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy opening in their main theater next week), so head to St. Paul soon to experience the joy and beauty of these three dance companies.

"French Twist" by Flying Foot Forum at Hanifl Performing Arts Center

Flying Foot Forum is taking their charming original dance musical French Twist on the road! They've performed it several times throughout their history, including at Park Square Theatre last year for their 25th anniversary, at which time I wrote: "A series of thrilling and entertaining dances loosely tell the story (with very little dialogue) of a group of friends in a cafe called "Chez Jojo" (the proprietor played by Joe Chvala, natch). With vibrant costumes, a detailed and eclectic set design, a mix of live and recorded music (and film!), the wonderful ensemble of dancers/singers/musicians brings this dream of Paris to vivid life." They've brought back that cast (mostly), and shortened it to just over an hour, with perhaps a few other small tweaks. It's a delightfully fun and quirky show. I caught it at Hanifl Performing Arts Center, the beautiful new home of Lakeshore Players Theatre. Here's where you can see it over the next few months:

Fairmont - Sept 28, 2019, https://fairmontoperahouse.org/shows-and-tickets/
St Olaf College - Oct 26, 2019, https://wp.stolaf.edu/dance/eventsperformances/
Grand Rapids - Jan 11, 2020, https://www.reifcenter.org/event/flying-foot-forum/
Mankato - April 25, 2020, https://www.mnsu.edu/theatre/season/tickets/
Wykoff - May 30, 2020, http://dreamacresfarm.org/events

"Heaven" by Flying Foot Forum at Park Square Theatre

A dance musical about the Bosnian War? Why not! It may sound like a crazy idea, but in the hands of creators Joe Chvala (Artistic Director of theatrical dance company Flying Foot Forum) and Chan Poling (renowned local musician and composer of musicals such as History Theatre's smash hit Glensheen), it's a thing of beauty. The Bosnian War in the mid 1990s was a devastating event that resulted in the deaths of 100,000 people, many the result of ethnic cleansing. The devastation and horror, along with the beauty and culture of the people, is expressed through story, music, and movement in an incredibly moving way. I saw Heaven at the Guthrie's studio theater eight years ago and loved it, and I'm thrilled that Park Square Theatre has brought it back so that this story can live on and be shared with a wider audience. Combined with the excellent and sobering exhibit Genocide and Justice: From Nuremberg to the International Criminal Court by World Without Genocide, it makes for a really powerful evening that goes beyond theater. Even though the show is over two and a half hours long, I didn't want it to end.

"French Twist" by Flying Foot Forum at Park Square Theatre

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Joe Chvala's percussive dance troupe Flying Foot Forum* has brought back their original dance musical French Twist. Now playing on Park Square Theatre's Andy Boss stage in the basement of the Historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul, it feels like a weird and magical dream of a barely remembered night in Paris. A series of thrilling and entertaining dances loosely tell the story (with very little dialogue) of a group of friends in a cafe called "Chez Jojo" (the proprietor played by Joe Chvala, natch). With vibrant costumes, a detailed and eclectic set design, a mix of live and recorded music (and film!), the wonderful ensemble of dancers/singers/musicians brings this dream of Paris to vivid life in what would be a perfect 90-minutes-no-intermission (if not for the early and unnecessary intermission). Escape the hot and steamy streets of St. Paul to the cool and fun world of French Twist (through July 15).

"Passing through Pig's Eye" by Flying Foot Forum at Park Square Theatre

The dance/theater company Flying Foot Forum never disappoints, with it's fast, rhythmic, and yes, flying foot choreography, performed by top-notch dancers with much theatricality and storytelling. But with their newest creation, Passing through Pig's Eye, they're offering all this and more! Starting at Park Square Theatre's Andy Boss Stage in the basement of the historic Hamm building in downtown St. Paul, the cast leads the audience through the building and out onto the streets, where we learn a bit of the history of our fair capital city. It's an exceedingly fun time, watching the incredible dancers/singers/ performers, walking around beautiful downtown St. Paul, and even participating in the music and dancing (if you choose, the audience participation is completely voluntary and without pressure). I highly recommend experiencing Passing through Pig's Eye for yourself for an entertaining, immersive, non-threateningly participatory, uniquely fun night of music, theater, dance, and history.

"Alice in Wonderland" by Flying Foot Forum at the Lehr Theater

Like the rabbit in Lewis Carroll's beloved novel Alice in Wonderland, I ran to the theater last night thinking "I'm late! I'm late!" A combination of forgetting I needed to get gas, construction that caused me to miss my exit, a determination to get my last IceCrema of the summer, and the theater entrance not being where I thought it was caused me to finally arrive where I was supposed to be at just after 7:30. But fortunately, Flying Foot Forum's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is not your typical theater performance, with everyone sitting quietly in their assigned seat well before the curtain goes up, so I was actually right on time. The show begins not in the Lehr Theater but in the lobby (tip: do not go to the entrance under the marquee on 5th street, but rather the entrance around the corner on St. Peter), where a group of crazily costumed actor/singer/dancers lead you down the rabbit hole into this delightfully mad world.

Like the original, this Alice in Wonderland doesn't make a whole lot of sense and doesn't really have a throughline plot, other than Alice leaving her home in search of something more. Rather it is comprised of a series of odd vignettes with the various characters she meets down that rabbit hole and through the tiny door. From the lobby, we do eventually make our way to the Lehr Theater (named for the incomparable Wendy Lehr), which has been transformed into a Wonderland with colorful cartoonish sets (by Peter Baker, Robin McIntyre, and Joe Chvala) on all sides of the theater. There are just a few chairs for those who need them, otherwise take a seat on the floor or stand in the back, and be prepared to move around. Warning: this show, billed as "a new immersive musical event" is participatory; you will be asked to stand up and dance. And if you're like me, you might not find this amusing, but rather awkward and uncomfortable as you count the seconds until the lights go back down. But I appreciate the spirit of it all, and others seemed to be enjoying it, so consider yourself forewarned and prepare to either jump in with both feet, or find a quiet corner from which to observe the action.

All of our favorite characters are here, the White Rabbit (Ed Williams, Jr., an appealing host and guide), the Cheshire Cat (an incredibly agile Brian Evans who throws himself around the space with irrepressible energy), the Queen of Hearts (a completely unrecognizable Jake Endres), the Dormouse (an adorably sweet and simple Charles Robison), the Duchess (a deliciously creepy baby-tossing Bryan Porter), and of course, Alice herself, represented by the golden voice and childlike wonder of Laurel Armstrong (who is sharing the role with Courtney Miner on alternate dates). The energetic ensemble, who gamely throw themselves into this bizarre world, includes students from the St. Paul Conservatory for the Arts (in which the theater is located) and a rotating cast from area high schools. All are dressed in colorful and wacky costumes (by Mary Anna Culligan, Cindy Forsgren, and Joe Chvala) and outrageous make-up.

Creator/director/choreographer Joe Chvala (who also appears as Tweedle Dum and others) brings his signature "flying foot" percussive style of dance to some rousing group numbers, from a dance-off at the door of Wonderland to the falling pack of cards. In addition to the aforementioned audience participation, volunteers take part in a dance competition for the queen. All of this is accompanied by fantastic music performed by the band and cast, including the unmistakable vocals of Natalie Nowytski, lending an Eastern European flair to the music.

Flying Foot Forum's Alice in Wonderland is a wonderfully inventive adaptation of  a beloved story. If you've got little ones, bring them along, they seem to love it. Part of the fun was watching the kids watch the show, including a toddler in a leopard print skirt and red polka dot rain boots who was about the cutest thing ever, laying on the step with her chin resting on the stage, complete enraptured. Head to downtown St. Paul to experience this delightfully mad world, playing now through October 12.

My Year of Theater, 2011

What a year it has been!  In my first full year of having this blog, I made a conscious effort to see more diverse local theater.  The result is that I doubled the number of Minnesota theater events I attended, from around 40 last year to around 80 this year.  Not counting the Minnesota Fringe Festival and touring productions, I saw shows by almost 30 different local theater companies.  That's not even half of the theater companies in Minneaplis/St. Paul, so I have much more to do next year!

Here are a few of my favorite shows from this year (in alphabetical order).  Click on the title of each show to read my full thoughts at the time I saw it.

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Theater Latte Da

It's a safe bet that a Latte Da show will appear on my year end favorite list every year.  I loved this delightful musical about a bunch of misfit middle school spellers so much, I saw it twice.  Sweet and funny with a super talented young cast who perfectly embodied the eccentric kids, this was another hit from Theater Latte Da.

Cabaret, Frank Theatre

This was an unexpected highlight of the year: a classic musical by Kander and Ebb, starring one of my favorite local actors (Bradley Greenwald as the emcee) and a member of the original production (Melissa Hart as Fraulein Schneider), produced in the darling little theater on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.  It's such a rich piece of theater, heart-breaking and wildly entertaining, and new-to-me Frank Theatre did an amazing job with it, as well as facilitating a wonderful post-show discussion on the afternoon I attended.

Come Hell and High Water, The Moving Company

Early this year, I went to Baltimore to see a friend of mine in the weird and wicked play The Homecoming, coincidentally also starring Minnesota actor Steven Epp.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit I wasn't very familiar with him at the time, having never seen a Jeune Lune show before they closed up shop.  But now I know - he's kind of brilliant.  Steven and Dominique Serrand of Jeune Lune have a new theater company, and this year they presented the original piece Come Hell and High Water, based on a William Faulkner story about a flood in New Orleans (no, not Katrina, although that's certainly brought to mind).  I don't even know how to describe it; there was music, movement, story-telling, and water.  A lot of water.  What I loved most about this show is that it was unlike anything else I've ever seen.  It's a thrill to see something so completely original.

Doubt and Man of la Mancha, Ten Thousand Things

Don't make me choose between these too amazing productions by Ten Thousand Things!  They brought their completely unique, bare-bones, intimate, authentic style of theater to these two different plays - one a short, serious exploration of child abuse in the Catholic Church, the other a beloved musical about a man with a dream.  Each with a brilliant cast (Sally Wingert and Kris Nelson in Doubt, Steven Epp leading the way in La Mancha) that shined without elaborate sets or lighting to distract from the work of bringing the story to life, I couldn't possibly pick a favorite between the two.  They were both heart-breakingly beautiful in their simplicity and truth.

Hamlet, Jungle Theater
I admit it - I have a hard time with Shakespeare.  It takes me a while to get inside the language and really feel what's going on.  But I didn't have any problems with the Jungle Theater's production of Hamlet this year.  Bain Boehlke designed the inventive set and directed the fabulous cast, led by Hugh Kennedy as a very real Hamlet.  The whole production felt utterly modern and current, including innovative use of video, while still remaining true to the original work.

Heaven, Flying Foot Forum

I really loved this original dance/music/theater piece by Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum.  I had no idea what to expect walking into the Guthrie's studio theater, and was blown away by the story of an American journalist in the Bosnian War, and the way it was told through music, dance, and images.  This is what musical theater can and should be: original, relevant, inventive, moving, and full of wonderfully diverse music and dancing.  And for some inexplicable reason, this is the most viewed page on my blog, with twice as many views as the next highest page.  It makes me think that maybe they're shopping the piece around trying to find new life for it, which makes me happy.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Two Trains Running, Penumbra Theatre

2011 was the year I was introduced to August Wilson's ten-play cycle about the African American experience in the 20th century, although really it's about the American experience.  Ma Rainey is about a jazz singer in the 1920s and the musicians that play with her, and the struggles they face amidst the racism of the time.  Two Trains tells the story of the patrons and owner of a diner in a 1960s neighborhood that's disappearing.  Both are brilliant studies of life and history and characters.  And no one does it better than Penumbra Theatre, which has produced more August Wilson plays than any other theater in the country.  I look forward to next season's selection.

Pride, Pillsbury House Theatre
This might have been the most difficult play to watch this year; there were some brutally violent scenes.  But it was also very moving and meaningful and well done.  Four actors all played multiple characters and depicted the story of two gay men and the woman who loves them, in two distinct time periods - 1958 and 2008.  Tracey Maloney, Matt Guidry, and Clarence Wethern all brilliantly portrayed two different versions of the same character, one in each time period.  Subtle changes in voice, wardrobe, and carriage of the body instantly let the audience know which time period was being presented.  The play illustrated just how far we've come in 50 years, and that we still have a ways to go.

[title of show], Yellow Tree Theatre
Musical theater is my favorite thing in the world, so a musical that celebrates (and maybe pokes a little fun at) musical theater is bound to be on my list of favorites.  This musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical is hilarious and full of musical theater references.  It was a perfect choice for the cozy intimate stage of Yellow Tree, my favorite little theater in the suburbs.  The fabulous four-person cast (Jessica Lind, Mary Fox, Andy Frye, and J.C. Lippold) had as much fun as the audience.  It also gave me a new motto: "I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing."

Twisted Apples, Nautilus Music-Theater at the Fringe Festival
This was my first year attending the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and I loved it.  I saw ten shows in a little over a week (a record even for me), some funny, some moving, some weird, but all in all a wonderful sampler of the talent in the Twin Cities.  My favorite show of the Fest turned out to be one of my favorites of the year - the original music-theater piece Twisted Apples by Nautilus Music-Theater, the second of three short operas that will eventually make up a full three-act opera based on Sherwood Anderson's 1919 short story cycle Winesburg, Ohio.  Led by a gut-wrenching performance by Norah Long, it completely captivated me and brought me into the world of the little frontier town, so much so that I found the sunshine outside jarring when I left the theater.  I look forward to next year's installment.

Since it's hard for me to pick just ten, here are ten more shows I loved: 7-Shot Symphony, After Miss Julie, August: Osage County, Avenue Q, Burial at Thebes, Edge of Our Bodies, H.M.S. Pinafore, I Am My Own Wife, Little Shop of Horrors, and Wizard of Oz.


In addition to the above plays and musicals, there are a few artists whose work stood out for me this year, whom I saw multiple times in wonderfully diverse productions.

Bradley Greenwald appeared in two of my favorite shows this year, and I don't think that's a coincidence.  From the emcee in Cabaret to a German transvestite antiques collector in I Am My Own Wife, and everything in between ("everything" in this case being Hamlet's murderous uncle and a buffoonish soldier on the Way to the Forum), he's always a joy to watch.  Whether he's speaking or singing in that magnificent voice of his, in English or in German, he puts everything he's got into his performance, and I can't get enough.

Unlike my other two favorite artisits, I didn't know who Anna Sundberg was before July of this year, although I had probably seen her before.  But this fall she starred in three fantastic and diverse plays by three different theater companies, showing great range in playing a woman among immigrants in early 20th century NYC (Girl Friday's Street Scene), a very modern woman dealing with relationship issues (Walking Shadow's reasons to be pretty), and the entitled daughter of the owner of a large estate in 1940s London (Gremlin Theatre's After Miss Julie).  Oh, and she won an Ivey Award for emerging artist, so I guess I'm not the only one who took notice.

I have to admit I don't usually pay attention to the director of theater or movies.  I'm never quite sure what to attribute to the director vs. the cast or the writer.  But here's what I do know: every play or musical directed by Peter Rothstein that I've seen has been excellent theater, so he must have had something to do with it.  It's always high quality work from top to bottom, beginning with the seemingly perfect cast he assembles.  Whether it's with Ten Thousand Things (the thought-provoking Doubt, see above), The Children's Theatre (two shows that'll make you feel like a kid again, Annie and The Wizard of Oz), a joint production between the Ordway and 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle (the colorful and entertaining Guys and Dolls), or his own Theater Latte Da (the moving Song of Extinction; an original piece about immigrant music that he created with pianist Dan Chouinard, Steerage Song; and the delightful Spelling Bee), a Peter Rothstein directed show is always entertaining, or interesting, or thought-provoking, or hilarious, or heart-breaking, or moving, or all of the above.

 

Those are just a few of the things I loved this year in the rich and deep world of theater in Minnesota.  Thanks to anyone who read my blog this year, posted comments, emailed me with show suggestions, offered me free tickets to come to their show, or went to the theater with me.  It's such a joy to experience the amazing theater in this town and to get to share my experiences, thoughts, and feelings with you all.


P.S. I only made it to New York once this year, but I did pretty good.  I saw three of the best Broadway musicals of the year (The Book of Mormon, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, and Follies), and two off-Broadway shows I really enjoyed (a new production of my favorite musical RENT, and the thought-provoking two-person play Freud's Last Session).  I've already started my list of new shows I want to see, so hopefully I'll get back to NYC again soon!

My Favorite Shows of the First Half of 2011

I’ve seen more than 30 local theater productions by almost 20 different theater companies so far in 2011. Now that the year is half over, I thought I’d reminisce about a few of my favorites.

[title of show], Yellow Tree Theatre
My favorite little theater in the ‘burbs produced this hilarious four-person musical about musicals, which was the perfect fit for their small intimate space (“four chairs and a keyboard”). This piece is like a love letter to musical theater, and the soundtrack is so much fun to listen to. The fantastic cast was obviously having just as good a time as the audience was. I also have to thank Yellow Tree for introducing me to the music of Blake Thomas in their production of Our Town. Check him out if you like real, original, authentic country music.

Cabaret, Frank Theatre
I love Cabaret; it can simultaneously make you laugh and break your heart. Starring Bradley Greenwald as the emcee and original Broadway cast member Melissa Hart as Fraulein Schneider, as well as a talented and diverse ensemble, this production by previously unknown-to-me Frank Theatre did just that. And it also introduced me to the perfectly lovely little theater on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.

Heaven, Flying Foot Forum
This show gives me hope for the future of musical theater. In a time when it seems like just about every “new” musical on Broadway is a jukebox musical or tired adaptation, Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum created an original piece that’s moving and entertaining, and everything musical theater should be. Tackling a subject one wouldn’t normally think of for a musical (although I believe no topic is off limits for musical theater), Heaven tells the story about an American war photographer in Bosnia.  Repeating what I said in my original post, “Original musical theater that uses music and movement to tell an interesting, relevant, meaningful, entertaining story, and to help us make sense of the world we live in. That's what musical theater can, and should, do. And when that happens, there's nothing better.”

Man of La Mancha, Ten Thousand Things
I’m pretty sure that Ten Thousand Things will always have a place on any “best of” list I write because of their sparse, intense, stripped-to-the-bone productions with nothing getting in the way of the pure talent of the performers. They produced two amazing shows this year but I decided on Man of La Mancha for this list (even though Doubt, A Parable, featuring Sally Wingert and Kris Nelson and directed by Peter Rothstein, was also brilliant). Silly, profound, inspirational, and featuring an amazing cast led by the crazy brilliant Steven Epp as Don Quixote, the man with an impossible dream, I hope that it meant as much to the “non-traditional” audiences that were privileged to experience it as it did to me.

I was originally planning to list my six favorites of the last six months, but after the above four I couldn’t decide among the many other shows I loved. So I’ll just briefly list a few more:

• Mixed Blood Theatre’s production of another one of my faves, Avenue Q, was joyous and perfectly cast.

• Mu Performing Arts brought fresh life to Little Shop of Horrors, and not because it featured an all Asian American cast. The plant was a slinky, sultry woman!

• I saw my first August Wilson play this year, Penumbra’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Guthrie, and I can’t wait to see more of his ten-play cycle on African American life in the last century.

• Peter Rothstein and Dan Chouinard’s original theater/concert piece Steerage Song featured a super talented cast of singers, musicians, and actors, and reminded us all of our immigrant past.

• 7-Shot Symphony, an delightfully original piece of “physical theater” by Live Action Set, was a combination of a Western and classical myths, and also featured a yodeling love song!

• The Moving Company’s Come Hell and High Water (featuring Steven Epp again), was inventive, surprising, moving, and all wet. 

• My two favorite Guthrie shows so far this year are the darkly hilarious God of Carnage and the extravagant musical H.M.S. Pinafore (which I get to see again later this month!).

Those are some of the highlights among the amazing local theater productions I've seen in 2011 so far.  My two favorites among the touring productions were both shows I had seen twice on Broadway, and both tours featured members of the original Broadway casts: the American tribal love-rock musical HAIR, and the brilliant Next to Normal.

Here's hoping the second half of 2011 is even better!

"Heaven" by the Flying Foot Forum at the Guthrie Theater

It was a last minute decision to see Heaven yesterday.  I had heard about this dance/music/theater piece about an American photographer in the Bosnian war and was intrigued.  So when I found myself with a free Sunday afternoon, I decided to do what I most love to do on a Sunday afternoon - see a matinee.  It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made recently; I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to see this amazing, intense, beautiful show!

Heaven is a production by the dance company Flying Foot Forum, directed by Artistic Director Joe Chvala (pronounced koala, as the lovely woman sitting next to me who knew Joe as a child told me).  They specialize in a style of dance called "percussive dance," and while the dancing is definitely an integral part of the storytelling, I wasn't expecting Heaven to be as much of a classic musical theater piece as it is.  The music (written by Chan Poling) is of various styles, ranging from traditional music of Eastern Europe, to a classic musical theater love song.  I found the score to be inventive, original, moving, and memorable; if there were a soundtrack available, I would buy it!

But let me start at the beginning.  The Guthrie website warned audience members to be in their seats 15 minutes before the show started for the "pre-show entertainment."  The stage is set up as a cafe, and while the wonderful band (directed by Jake Endres and featuring the amazing vocals of Natalie Nowytski) plays traditional music, people start filtering into the cafe, greeting each other, talking, laughing, dancing.  It feels like a welcoming neighborhood sort of place; I wish this place were real and I were a part of it.  Then the dancing starts to get more aggressive, and like in the school dance scene in West Side Story, dancing turns into fighting turns into dancing again.  The proprietor of the establishment (played by Joe Chvala) breaks up the fight, and welcomes the audience to "Cafe Heaven," where "all are welcome."  But be careful, because the sentiment "all are welcome" also applies to "Cafe Hell" across the street.  And as the story unfolds, it becomes clear just how short a journey it is from one place to the other.

The protagonist of the story is Peter Adamson, an American photographer (played by the wonderful Doug Scholz-Carlson, who is so good I'm surprise I haven't seen him in anything before).  Peter is in Bosnia to serve as a witness to the atrocities of war, hoping he can somehow change the world.  After three years he's become jaded and convinced that no one can do anything to help.  A few days before shipping out, he meets a man named Faruk and agrees to go on one last mission to help him find his wife.  The experiences he has on the journey and the people he meets prove to be life-changing, in more ways than one.  He gets the one shot that lands him the front page of the New York Times, that might possibly bring awareness and an end to the senseless killing.  But he's conflicted about his success because he knows that there's much more behind the photograph.  In the end, he finds he can't leave this place and its people behind.

This is mostly an ensemble piece, and what a talented ensemble!  Most of the actors play multiple roles from soldiers to citizens and everything in between.  Joe Chvala and Sherwin Resurreccion serve as narrators and guides through much of the action, and display the percussive dance style to great effect.  The lovely-voiced Laurel Armstrong (whom I recently saw in Into the Woods at the Bloomington Civic Theatre, which Joe Chvala also directed) plays Lejla, a woman that Peter meets along the way (the afore-mentioned love song).  Eric Webster is the hardened and bitter soldier Faruk who wants nothing more than to live a life in peace, reunited with his wife.  All of the dancers are amazing, expressing the frustration and pain and hopefulness of the people through their dance.  It's quite impressive what that many dancers can do in such a small space as the Dowling Studio!

Another interesting feature of this piece is the use of images.  Often when Peter takes a photograph, that photograph is projected onto the backdrop of the set, giving the audience a chance to see the world through Peter's lens.

This is the kind of musical I wish were prevalent on Broadway today, instead of umpteen movie and TV show adaptations and jukebox musicals.  Original musical theater that uses music and movement to tell an interesting, relevant, meaningful, entertaining story, and to help us make sense of the world we live in.  That's what musical theater can, and should, do.  And when that happens, there's nothing better.