"The Great Gatsby" at Theatre in the Round

To celebrate their 75th season, Theatre in the Round has chosen plays and musicals with a Minnesota connection. First up: an adaptation of Minnesota writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby by playwright Simon Levy, that premiered at the Guthrie Theater twenty years ago. I re-read the novel this summer, after seeing the Broadway tour of the musical adaptation earlier this year, which didn't feel true to the novel, so I was ready for this more faithful adaptation. The beautiful and tragic story plays out in about two hours (including intermission), and portrays the darkness of capitalism, materialism, classism, and the failure of the American Dream, as well as the glitz and glamour of the roaring '20s. The Great Gatsby continues for one more weekend at the oldest theater in Minneapolis, followed by an exciting slate of Minnesota stories and/or stories by Minnesota artists.

"Black Comedy" at Theatre in the Round

When looking at the #TCTheater schedule for the second weekend of 2020, I saw Black Comedy at Theatre in the Round and thought - what's that? I went to their website to check it out and saw the below photo of Josh Carson and Don Maloney, and my immediate thought was - yes, please! You might know Josh from his Fringe shows or his sold out annual parody A Very Die Hard Christmas, and Don from various shows at Lyric Arts (and other stages around town) including a very funny Odd Couple. Not only was I correct in my choice to see these two in a comedy, but the entire cast is fantastic in what is a classic British '60s farce of a play, with detailed and clever design to make this comedy in the dark really shine.