"The Mountaintop" at Artistry

Lately it feels like we're a long way from the mountaintop, like we've slid quite a way downhill in the last year, or ten years. But Katori Hall's play The Mountaintop, about the great Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., reminds us that we can never stop climbing, that progress never ends. As Artistry's Artistic Director Kelli Foster Warder noted in her pre-show speech, they could not have known when they programmed this play a year ago how relevant it (and their next two shows - What the Constitution Means to Me and In the Heights) would be. Stories about Civil Rights, the constitution that is supposed to protect us all, and an immigrant community, all of which are in danger under the current administration. The Mountaintop imagines King on the night before his assassination, having a conversation with someone who isn't what she seems, and shows us that he was more than the iconic figure, speech maker, and quote generator we often think of when we hear the name. He was human, with flaws and fears like the rest of us, which means that we too can overcome our flaws and fears and pick up the baton in the race towards justice. Head to Bloomington before this short run closes on March 1 to experience this inspiring, creatively written, and well told story.

Update: extended through March 8!

"The Last Five Years" at Lyric Arts

Jason Robert Brown truly is one of the best living musical theater composers, his scores viscerally capturing the emotions of the characters and stories. His two-person musical The Last Five Years, inspired by his first (failed) marriage, is a gorgeous song cycle of relationship songs, from funny to heart-breaking. It's almost entirely sung through (in what should be 90 minutes), with the two characters telling their shared story in opposing directions. It's a clever device that not only creates an interesting narrative, but also parallels the story being told - two people who never quite get on the same track. Lyric Arts' production is perfectly cast, with a lush onstage six-piece orchestra, and design elements that add to the storytelling. See this lovely and heart-breaking musical at Lyric Arts in Anoka now through February 11.

"The Girl on the Train" at Lyric Arts

Several years ago, everyone was reading The Girl on the Train. The hugely successful psychological thriller was published in 2015 and has sold over 20 million copies. It was soon followed by a movie adaptation starring Emily Blunt, in 2016. But did you know that it was also adapted into a stage play? I didn't either, until Lyric Arts announced it as part of their 2022-2023 season. I wasn't sure if the trippy story filled with memories, flashbacks, and hallucinations would translate to the stage, but with some impressive technical elements employed by Lyric Arts, it does. A great cast, a suspenseful story (especially if you've never read the book or have forgotten the ending, like I had), and a tight interplay between recorded scenes and live performances make for an entertaining night (or afternoon) at the theater. Get some popcorn at the concession stand, and it's even better than going to the movies (continuing through February 5).

"Dead Man's Cell Phone" at Lyric Arts

In 2007, playwright Sarah Ruhl wrote a quirky, fantastical, and painfully real play about our relationships with our cell phones and with each other. A play that seems even more relevant now, 12 years later, as smart phone technology and usage has increased. Lyric Arts' production of Dead Man's Cell Phone captures this struggle between technology and connection, and entertains with a charming six-person cast and ambitious design. This odd and amusing comedy that speaks to the world we live in officially opens tonight and runs through January 27 in downtown Anoka.

Silent Sky at Lyric Arts

Have you ever heard of Henrietta Leavitt? Neither have I. But we should have. This early 20th Century female astronomer's discoveries gave us the ability to measure the universe. The much more famous (and male) astronomer Edwin Hubble built on her work and won the Nobel Prize for his work, which Henrietta could not because she died young before the full effects of her work were seen. None of us can control "who lives, who dies, who tells your story,*" but if the history books don't tell her story, we can be happy that theater is. Lyric Arts' production of Silent Sky (which, by the way, is written by a woman, directed by a woman, and features a mostly female cast) is a beautiful tribute to this brilliant, passionate, and dedicated woman who helped to quantify the idea that there is more out there in the universe than just this world we know.

"Anatomy of Gray" at Lyric Arts

"This play is perfectly theatrical... it would be like if you took Little House on the Prairie and it has a little whiskey... and got together with The Wizard of Oz and Gunsmoke and A Prairie Home Companion and a Jane Austen novel and a medical textbook and spawned a theatrical love child! That would be Anatomy of Gray." I love all of those things (OK, except maybe for a medical textbook), so how could I resist Lyric Arts' current production Anatomy of Gray?! Director Scott Ford's description turns out to be quite apt, and I might also add a little The Normal Heart and even the similarly titled Grey's Anatomy to the mix. Anatomy of Gray is a sweet, funny, moving little play about the joys and sorrows of frontier life in the late 19th Century that poignantly reminds us that "we all come from love and loss."