"Big Fish" at Lyric Arts

Lyric Arts is opening their exciting 2025-2026 season with yet another regional premiere musical - Big Fish, an adaptation of the 2003 Tim Burton film and 1998 novel. While the musical only ran for a few months on Broadway in 2013, earning zero Tony nominations, it seems to have sort of a cult following, and I can see why. It's a big-hearted feel-good story about parents and children, and what happens when children grow up and realize they don't know their parents as well as they thought they did. And there are a bunch of fantasy sequences that allow for fun little stories within the story. Lyric Arts has assembled a talented cast who are putting their whole hearts into the show, with some charming effects to create the fantasy sequences. See it on their Main Street Anoka stage now through September 28 October 5.

"A Taste of Things to Come" at Lyric Arts

Lyric Arts is starting off 2025 with a fun and feel-good musical about a group of suburban women in the 1950s, and how their lives (and the lives of all American women) changed in a decade time jump into the '60s. Although a line towards the end of the play reminds us of just how far we haven't come and how much work there is yet to do, the musical celebrates women, their friendship, and their accomplishments in broad brush strokes. The winning cast comprised of mostly newish performers portrays a tight bond and even tighter harmonies on this fun original score tinged with the sounds of the '50s and '60s, accompanied by an all-female band. Get A Taste of Things to Come at Lyric Arts on Anoka's Main Street through February 9, and maybe it'll spark deeper conversations and continued hard work to continue to make lives better for women in this decade and into the next.

"The Last Five Years" at Lyric Arts

Jason Robert Brown truly is one of the best living musical theater composers, his scores viscerally capturing the emotions of the characters and stories. His two-person musical The Last Five Years, inspired by his first (failed) marriage, is a gorgeous song cycle of relationship songs, from funny to heart-breaking. It's almost entirely sung through (in what should be 90 minutes), with the two characters telling their shared story in opposing directions. It's a clever device that not only creates an interesting narrative, but also parallels the story being told - two people who never quite get on the same track. Lyric Arts' production is perfectly cast, with a lush onstage six-piece orchestra, and design elements that add to the storytelling. See this lovely and heart-breaking musical at Lyric Arts in Anoka now through February 11.