"Lend Me a Tenor" by Expressions Community Theater at Lakeville Arts Center

Last weekend, I went from the sublime to the ridiculous - in a good way! After spending the day at Guthrie Theater for the opening of their sublime triumph of three of Shakespeare's History Plays performed in rep, I headed out to my old home town Lakeville for Expressions Community Theater's production of Ken Ludwig's ridiculous and hilarious farce Lend Me a Tenor. I usually don't have time to see community theater, but Expressions performs in my childhood church, next door to the elementary school I attended, both of which have been converted into Lakeville Arts Center. After watching professional theater artists from around the country in an epic creation, it was also great to watch community theater actors working just as hard to create a fun (if less epic) afternoon at the theater. Moral of the story: check out your local community theater to see what they're doing, and support their work, or even get involved in a production. Our strong community theater scene feeds our professional theaters, and vice versa, and that's what makes #TCTheater great. And if you're in the South Metro, you have one more weekend to see this delightfully ridiculous play.

"Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas" by Theatre Elision at the Lakeville Arts Center

Theatre Elision brought back their holiday* concert Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas, performing at various locations last weekend. I happened to catch it at the Lakeville Arts Center, which is in the church I attended as a child. When a new church was built, the city bought the building and turned it into a performing and visual arts center, which is a pretty fantastic example of recycling. It's a great space to watch a show or listen to music, and this one was a delight. Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas is like putting on your favorite Christmas albums from the '40s and '50s and curling up under a blanket in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. In other words, very comforting and nostalgic for those who grew up with these songs. The show is over for this year, but make a mental note about next year, and check out what else Elision has on the calendar for this season fulfilling their niche of small cast, original or rarely done musicals.