"Love and Baseball" at Artistry

On the day after the Minnesota Twins' All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton made history by becoming the first player to hit for the cycle* at Target Field, capping off the nominal first half of the best year of his career, I saw a play called Love and Baseball in Artistry's Black Box theater. I love baseball, and I love theater, so when the two combine it's pretty much my favorite thing. But don't worry, you don't have to love baseball to love Love and Baseball, in the same way that I love the play Colossal and the TV series Friday Night Lights despite the fact that I don't like football, and I love the play The Wolves and the TV series Ted Lasso despite knowing nothing about soccer. As all of the above exhibits, sports are a great metaphor for life, and a great framework for telling a story. In this case, the story is a love story between two people, one a baseball fan, one not so much, who have a chance encounter that changes both of their lives. It's a sweet and funny rom com that's well cast, directed, and designed, in Artistry's intimate black box space, a great two-hander that's a joy to watch even if you're one of those people who inexplicably does not appreciate the beauty of the game. As director Eric Morris writes in a note in the program, "How can you not be romantic about baseball?!" Go watch this and then tell me baseball isn't dramatic, theatrical, emotional, and wonderful. And then get your tickets to see Love and Baseball.

"'Til Death" by Bucket Brigade at Art House North

Bucket Brigade's original "marriage musical" 'Til Death returns for its 13th season! This was my 5th time seeing the show (counting a virtual version during the pandemic), and I was happy to spend a little time with old friends. Written by Bucket Brigade's married co-founders Vanessa and Jeremiah Gamble, and starring them and another married couple of #TCTheater artists (Anna and Damian Leverett whom I saw, alternating with Stephanie and Nathan Cousins) it's silly and sweet, over-the-top yet grounded in the reality of relationships. And while it would be (and has been) a perfect 90-minute-no-intermission show if not for the intermission, when they give me a cupcake and host a mini-concert* during said intermission, I'll allow it. 'Til Death plays Fridays and Saturdays through February 15 (plus one Monday night pay-as-you're-able performance featuring the full cast) at the charming and cozy Art House North in St. Paul's West 7th neighborhood, with two great restaurants within walking distance - Mucci's Italian and A-Side Public House (tip: make reservations).

"Sweet Charity" at Artistry

Artistry is beginning their 2025 season in a similar fashion as their fantastic 2024 season: a classic musical staged almost like a concert with a full orchestra on stage, and fabulous dancing in front of it. The 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity, adapted into a movie in 1969 starring Shirley MacLaine, is an excellent choice for this type of treatment; it almost feels like a series of vignettes about a NYC dance hall hostess in the '60s, rather than one continuous story with beginning, middle, and end. The strengths of this Bob Fosse show truly are the music and dancing, with a story about a "dance hall girl" looking for love in all the wrong places and continually being rejected that feels a little dated. So why not put the focus on the music, dancing, and performances of this terrific cast? The result is an absolutely smashing production that soars with one big music-and-dance number after another. Sweet Charity continues at the Bloomington Center for the Arts through February 16.

"Some Enchanted Evening" at Artistry

From Oklahoma! to The Sound of Music, composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II collaborated on nine musicals written for the stage, plus one for TV and one for film. A few of them were forgettable flops, but among them are some of the most enduring musicals of the 20th Century. In their less than 20 years of writing musicals together, they reinvented the form. This holiday* season, Artistry is paying tribute to their work with the lovely musical revue show Some Enchanted Evening. With no spoken dialogue, five talented performers tell the story of a group of people stranded at a cozy bar during a snowstorm, entertaining each other (and us) by singing songs. It is, indeed, an enchanting 70 minutes or so, and a great way to close out 2023, with five final performances this Thursday through Sunday.

"'Til Death" by Bucket Brigade at Art House North

For over ten years, Bucket Brigade has been presenting their original "marriage musical" 'Til Death around this time of the year (including a virtual version during the pandemic). It's an endearing little show about love, life, and relationships, both the challenges and the rewards. With the added feature that the two married couples in the show are played by two real-life married couples, adding a level of realism. Creators Vanessa and Jeremiah Gamble play the long-married couple, and two couples take turns playing the young newlyweds - Anna and Damian Leverett, and Stephanie and Nathan Cousins (I saw the Leveretts, with Anna's pregnancy adding a fun twist). They've brought in a new director this year, Craig Johnson, for a fresh eye, but the show remains largely unchanged, except for one improvement - they've removed the intermission, which makes it a perfect 90-minute show. Get there early to find street parking on the icy St. Paul streets, to eat a delicious cupcake from local bakery Bake Bread (included in the price of admission), and to enjoy a pre-show concert of love songs.

"Another Miracle on Christmas Lake" at Yellow Tree Theatre

It almost took a miracle for me to see Yellow Tree Theatre's annual original holiday* comedy based in the fictional and very Minnesotan town of Christmas Lake. I arrived at the theater with a group of friends on a warm and rainy December night to find that the performance had been cancelled due to a tornado warning (in Minnesota in December?! and climate change isn't a thing). The next week everyone was busy with Christmas plans, so a subset of the group rescheduled to see one of the last performances this week. Amidst a slew of show closings on Broadway and locally, this show did indeed happen! A perfect final show of 2021, closing out a less than perfect year of theater, but one that saw growth, ingenuity, and a return to some form of normal (more on that in the coming days). There are only two performances left of Another Miracle on Christmas Lake, but you can still get yourself to Osseo to see it if you act quickly. Or make plans for their two upcoming shows in 2021 which are both brilliant and rare choices - the funny, feminist, historical, and modern play In the Next Room; Or, the Vibrator Play and the musical Passing Strange.

"Another Miracle on Christmas Lake" at Yellow Tree Theatre

One of my favorite #TCTheater holiday* traditions is Yellow Tree Theatre's original Minnesota comedies. It all began with Miracle on Christmas Lake in their first season way back in 2008, a play written quickly under pressure by co-founder Jessica Lind Peterson, that has turned into an Osseo sensation. It ran for several years, then inspired a sequel. After a few other unrelated original holiday comedies set Up North, Yellow Tree returned to the original Miracle on Christmas Lake last year, and this year are bringing us the sequel.** Full of the quirky and very Minnesotan characters we've come to love, but with a (mostly) all new cast of talented comedians, Another Miracle on Christmas Lake is a riot. I have a group of friends and co-workers I've been bringing to Yellow Tree for almost ten years, and we all agree that with everything going on in the world and at home right now, we just needed to laugh. There's no better place for that than this show. It continues through December 29, but like I said it's a sensation and their intimate theater space sells out, so get your tickets soon.

"Bright Star" at Lyric Arts

For the second year in a row, Lyric Arts is opening their season with the regional premiere of a new Broadway musical. Last year they brought us a fantastic production of the 2014 Idina Menzel vehicle If/Then, this year it's the 2016 bluegrass musical Bright Star by Edie Brickell and Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin). It only ran for a few months on Broadway and didn't win any awards (although it was nominated for several Tonys, including best musical). But it's a sweet story with a gorgeous bluegrass score that perhaps plays better on smaller stages. Like Lyric's Main Street Stage in charming downtown Anoka. The huge and talented cast, along with the fantastic onstage bluegrass band, do a wonderful job of bringing this heart-breaking and heart-warming story to life with all the feels. You can see this regional premiere through September 29.

"Tinker to Evers to Chance" at Artistry

You don't have to be a Cubs fan to know the exquisite joy and pain of loving a baseball team. I've been a Twins fan my whole life, so I understand the highs ('87 and '91 world champs!) and lows (too many to name) that come with being a die-hard fan. In Playwrights' Center core writer Mat Smart's play Tinker to Evers to Chance, now receiving its regional premiere with Artistry, he very cleverly draws parallels between that specific and complicated baseball sort of love with other sorts of love - that experienced in families and relationships. When you've been disappointed by love (whether that's your beloved Cubbies losing a chance at the World Series by the skin of their teeth, or watching your wife die a slow and painful death), how do you let yourself love again? Is it worth it? You don't have to be a baseball fan to relate to the very human emotions explored in Tinker to Evers to Chance.

"'Til Death" by Bucket Brigade at Art House North

In 2012, Bucket Brigade premiered their new original musical 'Til Death. The funny yet poignant examination of marriage has become an annual event, with creators Vanessa and Jeremiah Gamble playing a separated couple on their 15th anniversary, and a #TCTheater married couple playing the honeymooners they encounter at a secluded cabin in the mountains. This is my second time seeing the show in the charming renovated church known as Art House North in St. Paul's 7th Street neighborhood. It's very funny (a little more over the top than I remember), and relatable even if you're not among the good and crazy married people. And even though it would play nicely as an intermissionless 90-minute musical, the delicious cupcakes and coffee served at intermission (included in the price of admission) in the cute church basement lobby, accompanied by live music, makes for a festive evening.

"Miracle on Christmas Lake" at Yellow Tree Theatre

Gather round, children, this is one of my favorite stories in #TCTheater. Not that long ago, in a land not too far away, a couple moved home to Minnesota from NYC to start a theater company. Shortly after doing so, the rights to the holiday* show they were planning were pulled a few weeks before rehearsal was set to begin. Luckily, one of them was a playwright, so she wrote a play. That play was a comedy about a couple that moved to a small town in Minnesota from NYC to run a theater company, when the rights to their holiday play were pulled the night before opening. They say write what you know, and Jessica Lind Peterson did just that, to great success. She mixed her and Yellow Tree Theatre co-founder Jason Peterson's story together with Minnesota humor, soap operas, Little House on the Prairie, a handful of quirky characters, and a bearded dragon, put it all in a crock pot to simmer, and something delicious was born. Now, ten years later, Yellow Tree's holiday show is a huge hit every year and anchors their season to be able to produce some extraordinary and diverse work year-round. There have been two installments of Miracle on Christmas Lake, as well as two stand-alone plays A Hunting Shack Christmas (which you can see this December at Camp Bar produced by Actors Theater of Minnesota) and A Gone Fishin' Christmas. For their 11th season they're returning to where it all began, the original Miracle on Christmas Lake with most of the original cast. This was my 6th time seeing some iteration of the Christmas Lake franchise, and I love the silly, ridiculous, sweet, wonderful mess even more each time I see it. The show continues through the end of December, but as I mentioned it's always hugely popular, so get your tickets soon!

"Life Goes On" by Bucket Brigade at Art House North

New original musicals are my favorite thing, and a thing that's becoming more rare in the age of movie adaptations and jukebox musicals on Broadway. Fortunately we can look to #TCTheater for the remedy, including local company Bucket Brigade. They seem to love new original musicals as much as I do; they've created several, the most recent being Life Goes On, now playing at the charming Art House North in St. Paul's West 7th neighborhood. It's a beautiful story of grief, forgiveness, connection, love, and family. Told in 90 minutes with a cast of six and a three-piece band in a former church space, it's an intimate experience that's engaging and moving, and if you've lost someone (who hasn't?), could also be painful and/or cathartic. As I've been saying a lot lately, #bringtissues (maybe it's just me!) when you go to see this lovely and real new musical.

"Awake and Sing!" at Artistry

I love sad plays. I love stories of miserable families who love each other but don't know how to express it in healthy ways. Awake and Sing!, now playing at Artistry's black box theater, is one such tragically beautiful and beautifully tragic play, like Tennessee Williams set in the Bronx. Or rather, since Clifford Odets' 1935 play predates Williams' major works, I guess I should say that Tennessee Williams is like Odets set in the South. The multi-generational Berger family has become beaten down by life, with the younger generation trying to break free and make a new life in this new country, if only it will let them. With a strong cast and detailed design in an intimate space, Artistry's production is beautiful and heart-breaking.

"The Royale" at Yellow Tree Theatre

I've learned more about boxing from #TCTheater this month that I ever knew before! But of course, like Illusion Theater's world premiere of Dancing with Giants (closing this weekend), Yellow Tree Theatre's regional premiere of The Royale is about much more than boxing. While Dancing with Giants explored pre-WWII international politics through the story of boxers, including African American heavyweight champion Joe Louis, The Royale takes us back a few decades earlier to explore race relations right here in America through the story of Jack Johnson, the first ever African American heavyweight champion (that's way more boxing words than I ever thought I'd write). The play is sparse in length (not much more than an hour) and words, and almost feels like a dance musical in its rhythmic dialogue and graceful movement. It's a powerful and dynamic experience that flies by in no time.

"The Maids" by Dark and Stormy Productions at Grain Belt Warehouse

My blogger friend: "Imagine if someone saw this play who didn't know Jean Genet was this great
existential playwright."
Me: (Raises hand.)

Such was the conversation after opening night of Dark and Stormy's The Maids, when I said, "I have no idea what just happened." Friends, I'm not a theater person (Maureen). I've never studied or created theater, I come at this theater blogging thing strictly from the audience perspective. Hence the playwright and this play were unfamiliar to me before last night. All I knew is that it was about two maids who planned to kill their employer. Whether or not they succeeded in that I really can't tell you, but I don't think that's the point. I'm actually not sure what the point is, but this play is fascinating, if perplexing, and worth seeing for the performances of this three-person female cast alone.

"A Gone Fishin' Christmas" at Yellow Tree Theatre

The #TCTheater holiday* season is not complete without a visit to charming downtown Osseo, adorned with red, green, blue, and white lights on all the trees lining the main street of this small town in the suburbs. Just a few blocks away, tucked in a nondescript strip mall, is the warm and welcoming Yellow Tree Theatre space, where for the 10th year in a row you can experience an original Minnesota holiday play, a silly comedy mixed with local references, and a heartfelt message of home and community underneath it all. YTT co-founder Jessica Lind Peterson has written four such plays - two installments of Miracle on Christmas Lake,** A Hunting Shack Christmas, and this year's selection, a reprise of last year's smash hit A Gone Fishin' Christmas. They've brought back most of the original cast, plus a few fun additions, and if possible it's even better than it was last year. It's a really fun feel-good show, with outrageous hilarity mixed with tender moments, plus an original song by Blake Thomas! The Wednesday performance I attended was not sold out, but tickets will get harder to come by, especially weekends, as the season continues, so make your plans now to visit the ice house before it's too late (more info here).

"Roller Derby Queen" by SOS Theater at Gremlin Theatre

A new #TCTheater company is debuting a new play by a first time playwright in a new St. Paul theater space that just opened this summer. What's more exciting than that?! The good news is that Roller Derby Queen is a great play - smart, funny, and well-written, with quirky but real characters played by a dreamy cast, clearly directed in this intimate space. I'm not entirely sure what SOS Theater is about yet, but based on the first offering of this "new production company dedicated to producing evocative works that present fresh and entertaining perspectives of this ludicrous thing called life," I'm intrigued, and hope to see more.

"Sam's Son" by Bucket Brigade at Art House North

A new original musical is just about my favorite thing in the world, so the new musical Sam's Son by Bucket Brigade, a company that specializes in new work whose work I've enjoyed in the past, was on my must-see list in this busy #TCTheater October. Performed in the intimate, immersive space that is Art House North, I was not disappointed and found it to be a highly entertaining evening (complete with free intermission treats - root beer and a pretzel). While the plot points may be a bit cliche and predictable, the story is well told by the talented cast, with a fantastic original score tinged with gospel, bluegrass, and old-timey feel while still sounding like a modern musical. It's such a treat to see new work that is locally created (written by Bucket Brigade co-founders Vanessa and Jeremiah Gamble, and developed in part through Nautilus' "Rough Cuts" program) and showcases local talent in an intimate setting.

"String" at Yellow Tree Theatre

Seven years ago, just a few months after I started this #TCTheater blogging adventure, a friend told me about this little theater in a strip mall in Osseo. Since at the time I worked just a few miles away, I organized a group of coworkers to go see a play after work one day. That play was String, and the theater was Yellow Tree Theatre. I may not remember details of the show (I've seen a lot of theater in the intervening years), but I remember being so charmed by the experience at Yellow Tree's warm, inviting, intimate space that I've returned to see just about everything they've done, from goofy holiday comedies, to new original musicals, to classics of the American theater, to silly farce, and everything in between. As I've seen this blog grow beyond my wildest dreams to a place where I cannot possibly see all of the theater I'm invited to, people inexplicably know who I am, and I am given press comps to any theater in town, Yellow Tree has seen their theater grow to a place where now, in their 10th season, they consistently sell out shows, attract some of the top talent in #TCTheater, and have increased diversity of programming and artists. To celebrate, they're bringing back String, written by Yellow Tree co-founder Jessica Lind Peterson and co-starring her and her husband and co-founder Jason Peterson, their first time on stage together in years. If you're a Yellow Tree fan, it's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this full circle moment with them, and if you've never been to Yellow Tree, it's time to make the (not that long) drive to the Northwest suburbs to see this charming, funny, quirky, sweet little play that started it all, a play that is "as Yellow Tree as plays get."

"Grace" at Yellow Tree Theatre

Yellow Tree Theatre's production of Craig Wright's very dark comedy Grace starts with a bang (literally) and doesn't let up. Yes there are comic moments, but it's very intense and heavy. After less than 24 hours of letting it settle I'm not sure how I feel about the play (violence is difficult for me to watch, especially in such a small space), but I am sure this is an excellent production. You couldn't ask for a better cast than these four - two familiar Yellow Tree faces and two faces new to this stage. Director Terry Hempleman (who also directed Yellow Tree's last Craig Wright play, The Pavilion), clearly lays out the issues of faith, forgiveness, and connection that the play explores, and walks that fine line of subtle comedy in the midst of great tragedy. This is a tough play to watch (which is maybe why there were more empty seats on a Wednesday night in Osseo than there usually are), but if you can make it through the ugly violence of the play, there are moments of beauty to be found, and plenty of ideas to be left contemplating as the lights come up.