"Bright Star" at Lyric Arts

For the second year in a row, Lyric Arts is opening their season with the regional premiere of a new Broadway musical. Last year they brought us a fantastic production of the 2014 Idina Menzel vehicle If/Then, this year it's the 2016 bluegrass musical Bright Star by Edie Brickell and Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin). It only ran for a few months on Broadway and didn't win any awards (although it was nominated for several Tonys, including best musical). But it's a sweet story with a gorgeous bluegrass score that perhaps plays better on smaller stages. Like Lyric's Main Street Stage in charming downtown Anoka. The huge and talented cast, along with the fantastic onstage bluegrass band, do a wonderful job of bringing this heart-breaking and heart-warming story to life with all the feels. You can see this regional premiere through September 29.

"You Can't Take It With You" at Lyric Arts

You can't take it with you. Meaning money, meaning when you die. What's the point of racking up piles of money at the expense of living? It's more important to rack up experiences and time spent doing the things you love with the people you love. At least that's the moral of the story in the classic play You Can't Take It With You, now playing at Lyric Arts Main Street Stage in Anoka. This 80-year-old play may be a little dated and old-fashioned, and I don't really see the urgency of doing this play at this moment in time. And of course, it's a privileged class of people who can contemplate giving up their high-paying job to spend more time on their hobbies. That being said, this is still a charming, funny, and uplifting play, a good way to spend an evening and a good reminder to not overlook the important things in life.

"Anything Goes" at Lyric Arts

There are a lot of great #TCTheater summer musicals this year (many of whom responded to my #Ham4All challenge - watch all the videos here): the Ordway's fan-freakin-tastic Jesus Christ Superstar, the gorgeous Sunday in the Park with George at the Guthrie, the recently closed infectious new musical Fly by Night at the Jungle, Old Log Theatre's better-than-Broadway Ghost the Musical, History Theatre's third run of the smash hit Glensheen, and the super fun Grease continuing at the Chanhassen through the fall. Here's another one to add to the list (especially for those of you who live on the north side of town) - Lyric Art's ebullient production of the Cole Porter classic Anything Goes. A wonderful cast, that catchy and familiar score, hijinks and humor galore, and tap dancing! It runs through August 6 so if you can get tickets (Lyric Arts' musicals sell well), I recommend a visit to lovely Anoka to see this great summer musical. Just one question remains - can they #Ham4All?

"Nice Work If You Can Get It" at Lyric Arts

A jukebox musical featuring the songs of the Gershwin brothers (composer George and lyracist Ira) set in the bootlegging days of the 1920s. Sounds fun, right? And it is that. It's not what I want from Broadway (I prefer new original musicals), but it's a perfect fit for regional and community theater. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed Lyric Arts' production of Nice Work If You Can Get more than I remember enjoying the Broadway tour that came through town a few years ago. It's chock full of wonderful tunes, the 20-person cast is really strong from the leads through the ensemble, the set is cool, and the large offstage band sounds great. There's nothing deep or overly meaningful about the show, but it's a great good time.

"The Explorers Club" at Lyric Arts

"To Science!" Such is the rallying cry of the fictional Explorers Club in the new play by Nell Benjamin (co-writer of the musical Legally Blonde). But it's not just fiction; the real-life Explorers Club is an organization founded in 1904 and still going strong, a group of scientists committed to "the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space." The play is a riff on this idea, taking it to farcical extremes and exploring what happens when one of the members dares to propose that a woman join the group. The result is a silly, witty, and fun play well executed by Lyric Arts with a strong cast and fantastically detailed set design. Not a bad way to open the season!

I doubt that the real members of the Explorers Club are as ridiculous as their fictional counterparts. Explorer Percy (Peter Ooley) insists that he has discovered the "East Pole," botanist Lucius (Brandon Osero) grows poisonous plants named after the women he loves because he's afraid to tell her how he feels, Professor Sloane (Leigh Webber) is intent on finding The Lost Tribes, and Professors Walling (Grif Sadow) and Cope (Robert Zalazar) are so affectionate with their animal subjects that they've lost any scientific objectivity. Into their midst comes Phyllida Spotte-Hume (Jessica Scott), discoverer of a lost city and the object of Lucius' affections. The other members of the club are aghast at the idea of a woman joining their ranks, thinking she'll be too distracting to their work (reminiscent of the #iammorethanadistraction movement against school dress codes). But she also brings excitement and adventure in the form of the native Luigi (a highly physical and newt-like performance by Brendan Veerman) who unwittingly offends the queen, bringing Sir Humphries (Warren Sampson) and the British Army to the Club's door. Along with Irish assassins and killer monks, they create quite a ruckus. It's quite a far-fetched and ridiculous situation, but it's all in good fun!

the Explorers Club is in session! (photo by Mike Traynor)

The other star of the show is the set (designed by Brian Proball) and props (Emma Davis et al.) that look like they came right out of the Librarian movies. The set (dominated by a huge set of doors, stairway to the second floor, and a bar) is chock-full of authentic-looking artifacts including a mummy's case, a full suit of armor, shrunken heads, a large plant that grows, a giant rhino head, elephant leg stools, and weapons of every sort. All of the elements come together smoothly and with great comedic timing under the direction of Matt McNabb, highlighted by some thrilling and intricate drink choreography that is flawlessly performed by the cast (one wonders how long they had to practice catching those drinks, and if they use their new found skill to impress their friends at parties).

The Explorers Club is all light and fun silliness, a strong start to Lyric Arts' 20th anniversary season that includes, among others, A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas (a must-see for LIW fanatics like myself), the small and quirky musical The 25th Annual Spelling Bee, the huge and boisterous musical Shrek, and the classic comedy The Odd Couple. The Explorers Club continues through September 27 at Lyric Arts Main Street Stage in Anoka (discount tickets available on Goldstar). So raise a glass to science, comedy, and theater!