"I Am Betty" at History Theatre

Last year History Theatre premiered a new musical that inspired me to write: "I am Betty. You are Betty. We're all Betty!" Apparently I was not the only audience member so affected; they've brought the show back for a month-long remount, with most of the original cast and creative team reassembled (hence much of this post is borrowed from my previous review). I Am Betty tells the story of American women in the 20th Century through the lens of Betty Crocker, as playwright Cristina Luzarraga noted in a talkback I attended last year. As you may or may not know, Betty Crocker was not a real person; she was a fictional persona created for marketing purposes by the Washburn-Crosby Company (later General Mills). But many women worked behind the scenes to make Betty, and the company, successful. This musical tells their stories, and through them, the history of women in America. Written and directed by women, the show features nine incredibly talented female performers playing all of the facets of Betty for a really fun, informative, and inspiring show. See it at the History Theatre in downtown St. Paul now through December 29.

"Helen" by Ten Thousand Things at The Capri Theater

Six years after taking over as Artistic Director of Ten Thousand Things from founder Michelle Hensley, Marcela Lorca is directing her final show with the company before moving on. For this, she returns to one of her favorites - Greek tragedy. Specifically, she worked with playwrights John Barton and Kenneth Cavander on their adaptation of Euripides' Helen, a different retelling of the tragedy of the Trojan War than we usually hear. This adaptation, Marcela's direction and choreography, and this uber talented cast make this two thousand year old play feel refreshingly modern and relevant. And don't let the word tragedy fool you; this Helen is full of lightness and humor and music, albeit tinged with tragedy, specifically around the senselessness and destruction of war. My theater blogger friend asked me if this was a must see, and I said - of course it is, it's Ten Thousand Things! Marcela Lorca is concluding her tenure at TTT on a high note, and I look forward to how this uniquely special company created by Michelle Hensley continues into the future. In the meantime, you can see Helen at The Capri Theater, Open Book, United Methodist Church, or various locations around the community through November 10.

"Toil & Trouble" at Yellow Tree Theatre

In recent years, Lauren Gunderson has become one of my favorite playwrights, with her fresh, modern, feminist plays about women in history, and her Christmas at Pemberley series, the best Pride and Prejudice fan fiction (co-written by Margo Melcon). And I'm not alone in my love for her plays; she's one of the most produced playwrights in recent years. So whenever a theater programs one of her plays, I'm all for it (I would like to request #TCTheater productions of the women-in-science plays The Half-Life of Marie Curie and Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight next season). But I'm not sure I would have recognized Toil & Trouble, now playing on Yellow Tree Theatre's Osseo stage, as one of her works. It might be the only one of her plays set in modern times that I've ever seen, and it's much darker than her other work that I'm familiar with. But it's still smart, funny, modern, and feminist (because women can be murderers too!). Yellow Tree's production is perfectly cast, with abundantly detailed design, and darkly hilarious. Go get your Lauren Gunderson fix in Osseo now through March 3 (and follow it up with Silent Sky at Theatre in the Round, opening soon).

"I Am Betty" at the History Theatre

I am Betty. You are Betty. We're all Betty! History Theatre's new original musical I Am Betty tells the story of American women in the 20th Century through the lens of Betty Crocker, as playwright Cristina Luzarraga noted in a talkback I attended. As you may or may not know, Betty Crocker was not a real person; she was a fictional persona created for marketing purposes by the Washburn-Crosby Company (later General Mills). But many women worked behind the scenes to make Betty, and the company, successful. This musical tells their stories, and through them, the history of women in America. Written and directed by women, the show features nine incredibly talented female performers playing all of the facets of Betty for a really fun, informative, and inspiring show. See it at the History Theatre in downtown St. Paul now through December 23, and enter here to win two tickets from the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers!

"Love's Labor's Lost" by Classical Actors Ensemble and Como Lakeside Pavilion

Classical Actors Ensemble's free Shakespeare in area parks is an annual #TCTheater summer tradition that's been happening every year since 2014 (except for 2020). They do Shakespeare like it was meant to be - accessible, playful, and fun. This year they're bringing us one of Shakespeare's earliest and lesser known comedies - Love's Labor's Lost. They've set this rom-com in a modern day prep school, reenvisioning the characters as students, professors, and campus staff. It works, and it's a whole lot of fun. I saw the show on a stage at Como Lakeside Pavilion, but mostly they perform on a green lawn in a Twin Cities area park - click here to find a location near you (through July 17).