"Anyone Can Whistle" by Minneapolis Musical Theatre at the Conn Theater

It's time to check another Stephen Sondheim musical off my list - the rarely done Anyone Can Whistle. For just six performances over two weekends, Minneapolis Musical Theatre (whose motto "rare musicals, well done" really applies here) is presenting a concert version of this musical that famously flopped when it premiered on Broadway in 1964. This is a smart way to do a lesser known and less successful work by one of the best composer/lyricists in musical theater history. For musicals that are hard to stage or challenging in other ways, a concert version still allows us to appreciate the music and get a gist of the story and characters, highlighting the good parts and jettisoning the bad. Anyone Can Whistle is a weird musical for sure, satirical and absurd in ways that work and ways that don't. But it's a lot of fun to watch in this concert version with a super talented (and mostly new-to-me) cast under the direction of Max Wojtanowicz, with a small but mighty on-stage band. If you're a Sondheim fan, don't miss your chance to see this rare and oddly charming show!

"Sister Act" at Lyric Arts

The 1992 Whoopi Goldberg hit comedy movie Sister Act was adapted into a stage musical in the late aughts, with music composed by frequent Disney composer Alan Menken. Lyric Arts is bringing it to their stage this season, and it's a whole lot of fun, with a wonderful message of sisterhood, faith, friendship, community, and standing up for what's right. What's not to love about that?! Lyric's production features a large and talented cast (many of them newcomers to Lyric's stage) and is a joyful and high energy celebration. It's playing through May 11, but musicals do well at Lyric Arts, especially a known name, so don't wait too long if you want to experience the joy.

"The Burning of Greenwood" by nimbus theatre at the Crane Theater

On the day before Juneteenth, a long-marked celebration of the end of slavery that was finally made a US federal holiday in 2021, I attended a play about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Awareness of this atrocious event in our history that destroyed a thriving Black community has increased in recent years. In just 75 minutes, The Burning of Greenwood shows us a day in the life of the business owners and families in this community, and how it all changed that day in 1921. The unsettling thing is that over a hundred years later, the destruction of Black communities and lives is continuing to happen, if in less dramatic ways. Plays like this shine a light on our history and the way it reflects the present, allow the Black community to be seen, increase empathy and understanding, and hopefully pave the way for a better future. The Burning of Greenwood continues at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis through July 25 only.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2022: "Black Wall Street: Dreamland Theatre"

Day: 6

Show: 20

Title: Black Wall Street: Dreamland Theatre

Category: DRAMA / PHYSICAL THEATER / AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION / HISTORICAL CONTENT

By: Doc Woods & Friends

Created by: Doc Woods & Friends

Location: Augsburg Studio

Summary: A reenactment of what happened inside the Dreamland Theatre during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Highlights: Like most White Americans, I only heard about this gross injustice in recent years (specifically through the HBO series Watchmen). This show doesn't try to tell you what happened on that tragic day, rather it makes you feel what happened. From the moment the show starts, the audience is immersed in the thriving Black community, gathered for a night out at the movies with friends and family. We see people entering and greeting each other, and then settling in beside us to watch the previews (cast includes Charla Marie Bailey, Dante Pirtle, Quintin Brown, Camrin King, B.E. Kerian, Kari Elizabeth Godfrey, Mike Galvan, and Emmanuel L. Woods). Clips from historical Black films from the early 20th Century (another thing I didn't know about) are played on the big screen, while the cast reacts to them and chats with each other. Even though I knew what was coming, I almost forgot about it as I enjoyed the show. Which made the eventual interruption with news of a probable lynching and ensuing violence even more shocking. The sounds of the massacre overwhelm the space, as a video reenactment of the events happening just outside the theater where we were virtually sitting plays on the screen. The visceral experience gets into your heart and gut in a way that a documentary or narrative drama could not. This show gives the audience a tiny glimpse into what the victims of that night felt, which can only spur one on to learn more about what happened, and do what we can to prevent racial violence and make reparations to its many victims all over this country.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.