"Noises Off" at Lakeshore Players Theatre

The classic farce-within-a-farce Noises Off is a perfect choice for Lakeshore Players Theatre's winter show; two and a half hours of laughter will warm you up on a cold night. It's ridiculously funny and very meta as it gives us a glimpse into what it takes to make a show, and all the things that can go wrong. Fortunately for the real show, things go very right. Everyone in the nine-person cast as an absolute delight (most of them playing actors playing characters), and director Greta Grosch (of Church Basement Ladies fame) keeps everything hurtling towards the finish line in a beautiful display of organized chaos. Add to that the impressive set that you get to watch the hard-working four-person run crew transform not once but twice, and it's just an all-around good time. Sometimes what you need is what one of the characters says in the show: "I don't go to the theater to listen to other people's problems, I go to be taken out of myself, and hopefully not put back in again." This show delivers on that, although you likely will have to be put back in again when you go back out into the cold and not as funny real world. See Noises Off weekends through February 12 at Hanifl Performing Arts Center in lovely White Bear Lake, plus a pay-what-you-can performance on Monday February 6.

"Pyrates" by Theatre Coup d'Etat at Historic Fire Station 24

Ten years ago, I saw the first part (Millennium Approaches) of Tony Kushner's epic two-part masterpiece Angels in America on stage for the first time, by a new-to-me theater company Theatre Coup d'Etat. I was so impressed with how this small company handled this big play, and "found myself wondering when Theatre Coup d'Etat will present the second part." The bad news is they never did, and now they're leaving town. The good news is I've been fortunate to witness ten years of their work, which is always interesting, thoughtful, and unexpected, most often produced in an intimate non-traditional space; and that they have one more show before they leave #TCTheater. Pyrates, an original play by Artistic Director and frequent actor/director with the company, James Napoleon Stone, follows in this tradition. It's a rousing pirate story about loyalty, legacy, and camaraderie, featuring a talented and diverse cast and live music in an up-close-and-personal in-the-round space. Your final chance to see Theatre Coup d'Etat perform in #TCTheater ends on June 27 (click here for info and tickets).

"Hands on a Hardbody" by Minneapolis Musical Theatre at Luther Cadillac

"Rare Musicals. Well Done." That's Minneapolis Musical Theatre's motto, and one they live up to time and time again. In their first full production in over two years (they produced a series of ten-minute Minne-Musicals one weekend last fall), they're bringing us the regional premiere of the musical Hands on a Hardbody, based on the 1997 documentary of the same name about a Texas contest to win a truck. It only ran for a few months on Broadway in the spring of 2013, but has since become something of a cult hit. As MMT has shown before (see also High Fidelity), sometimes shows that don't work on a big Broadway stage work brilliantly in a more intimate and site-specific space. I was expecting a fun time, which I got, but I wasn't expecting to be moved to tears by these very human stories of people trying to live the American dream, and what happens when that dream fails them. Performed with MMT's usual heart, gusto, and authenticity, in a car dealership showroom of all places, Hands on a Hardbody is a don't-miss-it opportunity for music-theater fans. But it's only playing for a few weeks, with limited seating, so get your tickets now (click here for details)!

"Spring Awakening" by Shoot the Glass Theater at the Lab Theater

I love Spring Awakening so much that after seeing the eight time Tony winner on Broadway (with most of the original cast), I named the next kitten I adopted Moritz Stiefel, after my favorite character. Nine years and three bladder surgeries later, my sweet Moritz is still with me, and so is my love for Spring Awakening. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), the themes of the late 19th Century German play, as seen through a rock musical, are still relevant today. Suicide rates are on the rise, there are some very real threats to abortion rights in this country, exposure and intolerance of sexual abuse and harassment is at an all time high, and 21st Century technology is making it harder to be a teenager than perhaps it's ever been. You think Wendla and Melchi had it rough? At least they never had their most embarrassing moment go viral for the entire world to bully them! For all of these reasons I'm grateful to Shoot the Glass Theater for bringing Spring Awakening to us now, in a beautifully staged production featuring a super talented cast of young and unknown actors. I found myself falling in love with this story and these characters all over again.

"Into the Woods" by Shoot the Glass Theatre at the Crane Theater

I've seen Into the Woods twice in the last six weeks, and six times in the last seven years (not counting the recent movie adaptation). And while I would love #TCTheater to diversify its choice of shows (there are quite a few duplicates and triplicates this season), I'm not going to complain about this one. Every time I see Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's exceedingly clever fairy tale mash-up that explores what happens after the "happily ever after," I love it even more. It's instantly familiar due to the fairy tale characters we grew up with, but then it lures you into a darker story. And it's a versatile piece that works just as well set in the forests of Asia as in a German beer garden. For their production, newish theater company Shoot the Glass Theater has gone with a stripped down, bare bones, unmiked approach that works beautifully. With minimal (but charming) set pieces and simple costumes, they're able to focus on the storytelling and the music, which is what it's all about.

"Side Show" by Chameleon Theatre Circle at Ames Center

The 1997 Broadway musical Side Show is a bit of a cult hit among musical theater nerds, although it closed after just 91 performances in its original run. I saw it at Park Square Theatre, but it was 15 years ago so I remember next to nothing about it, other than it's based on the true story of conjoined twins and vaudeville stars Daisy and Violet Hilton. I was eager to see it again, so it was the perfect opportunity for my first visit to Chameleon Theatre Circle way down south in Burnsville. It's a fascinating and tragic story of fame and abuse, but the musical's creators Bill Russell (book and lyrics) and Henry Krieger (music) have turned it into one of true sisterhood, perseverance, and acceptance of oneself. I very much enjoyed Chameleon's production, which brings out all the weirdness as well as the heart of the story.