"The Matchmaker" by Girl Friday Productions at Park Square Theatre

Girl Friday Productions is a theater company that specializes in large cast classic American plays. The bad news is they only do one production every two years. The good news is it's worth the wait. In their first time partnering with Park Square Theatre, they're presenting Thornton Wilder's comedy The Matchmaker (which you may know in its musical version as Hello Dolly!, seen at the Chanhassen just last fall). With a funny and poignant story about love, money, and adventure, smart period set and costumes, a cast that is sheer perfection, and direction that keeps it all running smoothly, this Matchmaker is an absolute delight from top to bottom, start to finish. It's my favorite of the three Girl Friday shows I've seen (also including the sprawling drama Street Scene and Tennessee Williams' most bizarro play Camino Real). Go see it now (playing through July 26), or wait another two years for your chance to see this great company.

Widow Dolly Gallagher Levi is the matchmaker here, and then some. She makes a living providing necessary services, but she's tired of the hard work and sets her sights on wealthy client Horace Vandergelder. What Dolly wants, Dolly gets, even if it takes some master manipulation to get there. Caught up in her web are Horace's niece Ermengarde, who longs to marry the artist Ambrose Kemper against her uncle's wishes, Horace's hard-working employees Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, who long for adventure outside of their Yonkers store, and Horace's prospective match Irene Molloy, a widowed hat maker who runs her store with the help of flighty Minnie. Their paths all cross on one wild night in New York City. It's a grand adventure for one and all.

Girl Friday has assembled a dream cast, under dream director Craig Johnson (who, BTW, won an Ivey for his direction of the aforementioned Street Scene). Karen Wiese-Thompson is a brilliant comedic actor (seen frequently on the Ten Thousand Things stage, er... floor) and therefore a perfect choice for Dolly, bringing all of her biting humor, warmth, and spirit to the role. Alan Sorenson is wonderfully grumpy as Mr. Vandergelder. His employees Cornelius and Barnaby couldn't be cuter than Dan Hopman, oozing with aw shucks charm, and Vincent Hannam, the only unfamiliar face in the cast but fitting right in as the adorably naive youngster. Lindsay Marcy's Irene is strong and funny and determined to find adventure, while Christian Bardin creates a delicate, flighty, high-voiced, hilarious character in Minnie with every look and movement. Elizabeth Hawkinson and Sam Pearson are charming as the young lovers Ermengarde and Ambrose, and the former is blissfully less shrill than her musical counterpart typically is. Sam Landman is, as always, a joy to watch as the New Yawk accented assistant with questionable motives, who delivers an amusing and not unwise speech about nurturing one but only one vice. Girl Friday Artistic Director Kirby Bennet makes a fourth act cameo as the delightfully loopy Mrs. Van Huysen. Last but not least, David Beukema and Dana Lee Thompson play multiple roles with gusto and personality, and several quick changes - sometimes onstage!

Lindsay Marcy, Dan Hopman, Karen Wiese-Thompson,
Alan Sorenson, Christian Bardin (photo by Richard Fleischman)

Park Square's basement Andy Boss stage had been transformed into charming old NYC with images of city streets on either side of the stage and a screen that's lowered between the four acts to announce the setting, with changing displays in the openings at the back of the stage to further define the four locations (set by Rick Polenek). The thrust stage is put to good use, especially in the several soliloquies delivered by various characters as they walk around and look directly at the audience. Kathy Kohl's costumes are scrumptious (if I may borrow a word from that other American classic playing on the other side of the river), especially the women, dressed in flounces, bustles, and hats.

The characters in The Matchmaker are searching for happiness and finding it in different ways - love, money, adventure, employment, a home. Young Barnaby gives the closing speech, wishing the audience the right amount of adventure and sitting at home. Perhaps he's stumbled on the key to happiness - finding that correct balance between adventure and sitting at home. Some people need a lot of adventure to be happy. For others, like Bilbo Baggins, one great adventure can last a lifetime of sitting quietly at home. Girl Friday's The Matchmaker is definitely an adventure worth leaving home for. Funny, entertaining, poignant, well-written, -acted, and -directed - an all-around delightful production of an American classic (playing now through July 26 at Park Square Theatre).


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"The Turn of the Screw" by Torch Theater Company at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage

I'm sitting outside on a lovely fall day after just having seen Jeffrey Hatcher's stage adaptation of the 19th century novella The Turn of the Screw, and I'm still creeped out despite the sunlight and fresh air. Torch Theater Company's production is a deliciously dark and spooky ghost story that will stay with you after it ends. When the lights went down on the final scene, you could hear the audience squirming and trying to shake off the spell before breaking out into applause. I can't think of a better way to celebrate this Halloween season than seeing this excellent production of a classic ghost story!

In the original novella, a man tells a story told to him by his governess when he was a boy. The events in question unfold over seven days during the governess' first assignment. Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, whose work has been seen on many local stages this year, has adapted the story into a two-person play. Lindsay Marcy plays the governess, and Craig Johnson plays all the other roles, including the master of the house, the housekeeper, the little boy, and various spooky sound effects. I don't want to say too much about the plot, because it unfolds in such perfect suspense and anticipation, that I don't want to ruin it for anyone. Suffice it to say it involves a governess with the best of hopes and intentions about her new position (which means things are sure to go wrong), a little girl who does not speak, a little boy who was kicked out of school because of "unspeakable" acts, a cowering yet dependable housekeeper, a Gothic tower, a stormy lake, ghostly apparitions in a stately home in the English countryside, rumors of lust and suicide, and an ambiguous ending. What more does a spooky story need?

Lindsay Marcy as the governess and
Craig Johnson as her charge

Everything about this production is top notch. The two actors give brilliant performances. Lindsay transforms before our eyes from an optimistic young woman with romantic ideas about her first appointment (the estate is perfectly picturesque, the adorable children will be her fast friends, the master will fall in love with her) into a desperate and haunted woman who doesn't know quite what is going on but is determined to prevail. Even her physical appearance goes from neat and proper (in a gorgeous period dress) to frantic and bedraggled. As I mentioned, Craig plays several different roles, and each is a specific and spectacular creation. The master is powerful and confident, the housekeeper is fluttery and frightened (I especially love the way he brings his trembling hands up to his mouth), the little boy is charming and naughty. And when he's not playing a character, he silently walks across the stage and adds sound effects in the creepiest performance of all!

The Theatre Garage stage is bare and open, with a spiral staircase hinting at the majesty of the manor, a barren tree representing the garden, and a miniature house hanging from the ceiling (set by frequent Jungle Theater contributor Joel Sass). The lighting (by Paul Epton) and sound (by Katharine Horowitz) do much to create the sense of foreboding that's so much a part of the piece. Whether it's music or a sound like a heartbeat, or anything in between, the sound keeps you on the edge of your seat. Similarly, the lights go up or down depending on what's going on in the moment, and the darker it gets, the bigger the delightful chill you feel. Directed by David Mann, the pace is pitch-perfect and all of the elements come together very satisfactorally.

There are only three performances left of this show. Get your tickets now if you want to experience a classic spooky thrill this Halloween. As a bonus, you can stay for more late night ghost stories after the Friday and Saturday night performances (see Torch Theater's website for more information and to reserve your tickets, and check out the half-price ticket deal on Goldstar.com).

"1968: The Year that Rocked the World" by the History Theatre at the Minnesota History Center

I have to admit, I'm enamored of the late 1960s.  The music, the fashion, Woodstock, HAIR, people standing up for what they believe in.  It all seems so thrilling and, well, cool.  But the late 60s were not all love beads and peace signs.  It was a tumultuous time in our history, particularly 1968, the year that is the focus of an exhibit at the Minnesota History Center and a corresponding play by the History Theatre.  Two of our country's leaders were assassinated, the Vietnam War was at its height with hundreds of people dying every week, protests on our own soil turned deadly, and there was a dramatic and pivotal presidential election.  All of these events and more are covered in the exhibit and the play, and I learned so much more about this era that I find so appealing.

The play is comprised of seven scenes that showcase returning soldiers, the Civil Rights movement in various forms, people's reactions to the assassinations, the election, and Apollo 8.  The scenes are strung together with songs and dialogue as the cast guides us more or less chronologically through the year.  History Theatre's Artistic Director Ron Peluso structured the scenes (written by seven different playwrights) and directed the play.  Standouts in the cast include Lindsay Marcy, who plays three different characters equally well (the new wife of a soldier, a modern-day TV reporter in a clever tie-in with WCCO news, and the New Jersey mother of a future astronaut).  Randy Schmeling (who was in the first production I saw of one of my now favorite musicals, HAIR, at the Pantages in 2004) is a convincing Bobby Kennedy and a charismatic modern day astronaut visiting his family at the time of his birth in 1968, congenially interacting with the audience.  Perhaps the funniest scene (although at times scary funny) is a creative re-imagining of newly elected president Richard Nixon's experiences that year along with his friend and campaign manager John Mitchell.  Paul de Cordova and E.J. Subkoviak have an easy chemistry, and Paul does a great Nixon as well as a pretty good Johnny Carson (not surprising since he so convincingly played three different characters in last year's The Pride).  Last but not least is Karen Weber's (the witch in last year's Into the Woods) moving portrayal of Rosemary Clooney struggling with depression after the death of her friend Bobby Kennedy.

The music is great, although I would have liked more of it.  We only hear snippets of songs between scenes, when I wanted to hear the whole song.  This isn't a musical, it's a play with music.  The band is made up of students from McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul (which shares a space with the History Theatre's usual location), and they sound pretty groovy.  They start playing 10 or 15 minutes prior to showtime, so get there early if you want to hear some full song selections from this great year of music.  The play itself begins and ends with songs from HAIR, the ground-breaking musical that dealt so well with the issues of its day, which seemed quite perfect to me.

In the last week I've seen two pieces that deal with tumultuous times in American history: the fantastic musical Ragtime at Park Square Theatre, and this play.  I see a lot of similarities between the two.  In 1906 and in 1968 our country was dealing with issues of war, violence, race and gender discrimination and the fight to end it, poor people demanding to be heard.  All of things these things we're still dealing with today.  It's good to look back on our history and remember how far we've come, and how far we have yet to go.  The struggle, the journey, is not yet ended.

If you go, I would recommend getting to the History Center a few hours early to peruse the exhibit (your theater ticket gets you $2 off admission), but check the website for hours to make sure they're open.  The cafe there has good, local food (again, check the website for hours, Tuesdays seem to be a good day to go).  And if you, like me, love the 1960s aesthetic and are tempted to buy everything with a peace sign, stay away from the museum gift shop.  They have some dangerously cute stuff.