"Venus in Fur" at the Hive Collaborative

The 2012 Tony nominee for best play Venus in Fur had its regional premiere at the Jungle Theater in 2013, and to my knowledge that's the last time we've seen it in the Twin Cities (although I did see it at the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona in 2018). Until now, that is. Multi-talented #TCTheater artists and friends Hope Nordquist and Kyle Weiler, who worked together on Anything Goes at Lakeshore Players Theatre last year (Kyle directing and choreographing, Hope playing the starring role) are self-producing a limited run of this smart, funny, thorny, sexy play at The Hive Collaborative, a great space and community in which to do this sort of thing. They've enlisted fellow artists to help make this show, and the result is an extremely compelling 90 minutes - but only for three performances (the first of which was nearly sold out). Get your ticket now for August 9 or 10 if you want to see a fantastic production of this rarely done gem of a play in an intimate (read: small) space.

"In the Heights" at Artistry

This summer, Artistry is doing just the second #TCTheater production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's first musical, In the Heights (the first was the Ordway in 2017). While his most well-known musical Hamilton (currently the 16th longest running musical on Broadway, closing in on #15) is an epic story about famous people - the founding fathers - In the Heights is an intimate story about everyday people - a Latin American immigrant community in NYC's Washington Heights neighborhood. But it's epic in its own way, telling stories of home, family, community, identity, growing up, that are relatable to anyone with a home or a family or a community. Artistry's production features a fantastic local cast, and is full of energy, joy, and heart. And it's particularly wonderful to celebrate a community of immigrants right now, when our own immigrant communities are in danger. In the Heights is a love letter to the hard-working, close-knit neighborhood communities that make up NYC, that make up America. Don't miss this rare chance to see the 2008 Tony-winning best musical In the Heights - head to Bloomington between now and August 30 (extended!).

"The Welkin" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

My previous experience with British playwright Lucy Kirkwood is the three-person drama The Children, an intimate, personal, and political story about the fallout of a nuclear disaster, which Jungle Theater produced in 2019 shortly after it premiered on Broadway. Her 2020 play The Welkin is quite the opposite in scale, featuring a cast of 16 and set in the 18th Century. But it's similar in the way it deals with thorny issues that are both personal and political, and I can't think of a better theater company to bring us the regional premiere than Frank Theatre. It's epic in scale and length (nearly three hours) and in the way that it depicts the arduous life of women in 18th Century England, with parallels to the here and now. The cast is a veritable Who's Who of #TCTheater female actors, and watching them tell this story on Gremlin's intimate stage under Wendy Knox's expert direction is a thrill, if a bit of a dark and depressing one. So take a nap, have an afternoon coffee, and go see this astounding regional premiere production of The Welkin (continuing through March 29).

"Journey On: A 100th Show Cabaret Celebration" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

To begin their 28th season of doing theater musically, Theater Latte Da is celebrating their 100th show with a wonderful cabaret that highlights many of the previous 99 shows. They did not offer tickets to review this production since it's such a short run, but I've loved Theater Latte Da for nearly 20 years and I wasn't going to not see this show. I bought a ticket for myself, and I'm writing this for myself. Checking my show spreadsheet, I have seen over 100 performances by Theater Latte Da, but that includes readings, concerts in the park, and repeat performances (it's rare for me to go back and see a show a second time, but it happens more often with this company than any other). And I'm not sure how they're counting their shows, e.g., is All is Calm, which they've done many productions of, counted as one show or eleven? But I think it's safe to say I've seen three-quarters of Theater Latte Da's 100 shows. There's something truly special about this company and the way that they tell stories, and the stories they choose to tell. Nothing cracks the hard shell I've built around myself like the intersection of music and theater, and Latte Da has cracked me open countless times, as well as made me laugh, surprised me, made me think about the world differently, and moved me (literally and figuratively). I had a smile on my face and tears in my eyes throughout the Journey On cabaret, filled with lovely memories and exciting plans for the future (continuing through October 19). If you'd like to enter for a chance to win two tickets to any Theater Latte Da show this season (or the Guthrie Theater), all you need to do is donate $15 to your favorite theater and fill out this form.

"Passion" by Theatre Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Updating my Sondheim spreadsheet this morning (because of course I have a Sondheim spreadsheet), I have now seen ten of the 17 musicals for which he wrote music and lyrics, in a total of 31 productions (most of which you can read about here). Can you guess which theater company I've seen do Sondheim the most? Theater Latte Da of course, whom I've seen do seven different shows (they've done more, but a few were before I "discovered" them). I was able to check Sondheim show #10 off my list* this morning thanks to their new production of the rarely done Passion, which Latte Da's Artistic Director and director of this piece Justin Lucero calls "one of the most divisive works in the American musical canon." I can see why it's not done as often as, say, Into the Woods (the Sondheim musical I've seen the most productions of). It's a messy love triangle with not very likable or even at times understandable characters. As Justin notes, it's "not a traditional love story - it's a meditation on obsession, vulnerability, and the aching rawness of human need." It's not a pretty love story, but the score is very pretty, the characters are fascinating and compelling, and Latte Da's production is all-around gorgeous. It's an unusual musical for sure, but that's not a bad thing, in fact in this case it's a very good thing, and I'm grateful to Theater Latte Da for the chance to experience yet another intricate creation by arguably the best musical theater creator of the 20th Century. The messy, tragic, gorgeous Passion continues through July 13 at the Ritz Theater.

"Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

This year, Theater Latte Da is forgoing their usual holiday fare (the long-running and always moving All is Calm, now streaming on PBS.org, and the more recent balm to the soul Christmas at the Local) for a show that is a series of firsts. The regional premiere of the 2013 update of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, which was the first (and only) musical they wrote exclusively for television, Theater Latte Da's first ever production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and new Artistic Director Justin Lucero's directing debut with the company. The result is a fun, magical, and heart-warming show that feels both classic and modern, with a fantastic local cast and simply gorgeous design. See it at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis now through January 5.

"Iphigenia at Aulis" by Ten Thousand Things at Luminary Arts Center

This fall, Ten Thousand Things, my favorite interpreter of Shakespeare and other classic works, brings us the Greek tragedy Iphigenia at Aulis. Because they are not yet able to tour the show to their usual locations of community centers, homeless shelters, and prisons, they are presenting this show in a sort of hybrid style between the usual stripped-down bare-bones production in a small space surrounded by a few rows of chairs, and a more traditional proscenium style production. They also performed the show outdoors, which may have had a more TTT feel, but in the former Lab Theater, now known as Luminary Arts Center*, it still maintains the TTT hallmark of making classics feel fresh, relatable, and relevant, if in a more formal theater style (but still with "all the lights on"). They're set to return to touring this winter, which will likely bring back their usual style, but in the meantime, Iphigenia at Aulis is a gorgeous production with a large and hugely talented cast, that uses an original score to tell this ancient story.