"Pickup Truck Opera Volume 5: The Return of King Idomeneo" by Mixed Precipitation at Silverwood Park

It's time for one of my favorite #TCTheater summer traditions - Mixed Precipitation's Pickup Truck Opera! It's exactly what it sounds like - opera that operates out of a pickup truck. Well, sort of. Since the pandemic they've moved away from their "picnic operetta" with passed trays of food into this more portable show, driving all around the state in a 2011 Blue Ford pickup truck loaded with sets and props and instruments, bringing their unique brand of accessible and fun opera / pop music mashups to communities around Minnesota. In this year's Volume 5, they're mashing up Mozart's Idomeneo, about the aftermath of the Trojan War, with pop music from '50s and '60s. And they also modernize the story and make it more modern and relevant. The result is pure joy, and just an absolute delight to experience! As one audience member described it, "it's part opera, part silly play." If that sounds appealing to you, click here to find an outdoor location near you (continuing through September 14).

"Some Enchanted Evening" at Artistry

From Oklahoma! to The Sound of Music, composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II collaborated on nine musicals written for the stage, plus one for TV and one for film. A few of them were forgettable flops, but among them are some of the most enduring musicals of the 20th Century. In their less than 20 years of writing musicals together, they reinvented the form. This holiday* season, Artistry is paying tribute to their work with the lovely musical revue show Some Enchanted Evening. With no spoken dialogue, five talented performers tell the story of a group of people stranded at a cozy bar during a snowstorm, entertaining each other (and us) by singing songs. It is, indeed, an enchanting 70 minutes or so, and a great way to close out 2023, with five final performances this Thursday through Sunday.

"We Shall Someday" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

The world premiere new musical We Shall Someday is unlike any musical I've seen. Theater Latte Da continues to expand and redefine the artform of music-theater. This new musical written by prolific and talented #TCTheater playwright Harrison David Rivers and composer Ted Shen is a series of "musical monologues" (as Director of New Work Elissa Adams says in a note in the program). Three characters each tell their story in one act of the piece through a monologue that is both spoken and sung. The three generations of one family tell the story of violence against Black Americans, as well as resistance against injustice and moving towards a better future for all. It's an epic story told in an intimate, moving, and lovely way. See the innovative We Shall Someday at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis now through May 14.

"Pickup Truck Opera Volume 2: The Magic Flute" by Mixed Precipitation at Dodge Nature Center

Mixed Precipitation's "Picnic Operetta" has been a staple of summer outdoor #TCTheater since 2009, combining classic opera, pop music, and passed bites of delicious food. In 2020, rather than letting a global pandemic shut them down entirely, they transitioned to the "Pickup Truck Opera" format, a similar opera/pop music mash-up performed out of a 2011 Ford Pickup that they drove around to local parks. They expanded on this idea in 2021, and return with Volume 2 this year, performed at parks and gardens not just in the Twin Cities but around the state. This year's mash-up features Mozart's The Magic Flute and "groovy beats from the 90s discotheque." As expected from this troupe of traveling artists, this Pickup Truck Opera is a super fun, silly, sweet, and accessible experience of music, theater, and community. You can see it at various locations in the Twin Cities Metro Area, plus Hastings, through September 11 (click here for dates, locations, details, and free reservations).

"Hands on a Hardbody" by Minneapolis Musical Theatre at Luther Cadillac

"Rare Musicals. Well Done." That's Minneapolis Musical Theatre's motto, and one they live up to time and time again. In their first full production in over two years (they produced a series of ten-minute Minne-Musicals one weekend last fall), they're bringing us the regional premiere of the musical Hands on a Hardbody, based on the 1997 documentary of the same name about a Texas contest to win a truck. It only ran for a few months on Broadway in the spring of 2013, but has since become something of a cult hit. As MMT has shown before (see also High Fidelity), sometimes shows that don't work on a big Broadway stage work brilliantly in a more intimate and site-specific space. I was expecting a fun time, which I got, but I wasn't expecting to be moved to tears by these very human stories of people trying to live the American dream, and what happens when that dream fails them. Performed with MMT's usual heart, gusto, and authenticity, in a car dealership showroom of all places, Hands on a Hardbody is a don't-miss-it opportunity for music-theater fans. But it's only playing for a few weeks, with limited seating, so get your tickets now (click here for details)!

"Philemon and Baucis: Planet in Peril" by Mixed Precipitation at Dodge Nature Center

One of my favorite summer #TCTheater traditions is Mixed Precipitation's annual picnic operetta, in which one can enjoy classic opera, pop songs, the great outdoors, and delicious food. For their ninth summer operetta (the fourth I've attended), Mixed Precipitation has chosen Austrian composer Joseph Haydn's Philemon and Baucis, a piece so rare it doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. Written and directed by Scotty Reynolds, this timely treatise on a Planet in Peril is a delightful mash-up of beautiful German-language opera and the songs of Queen, with five delicious courses of small bites passed throughout the 70-minute show. Playing at parks and gardens throughout the Twin Cities and beyond, it's a unique opportunity to enjoy all that late summer in Minnesota has to offer (click here to find a location near you).

Fringe Festival 2015: "Arrest Me: A Musical Drama"

Day: 1

Show: 2

Title: Arrest Me: A Musical Drama

Category: Musical Theater

By: World Tree Theatre

Directed by: Ricardo Beaird

Location: Minneapolis Theatre Garage

Summary: A series of vignettes (including music, dramatic scenes, comedy, and spoken word) centered around the theme of Black Lives Matter.

Highlights: Written by K.D. Howells and featuring a cast of six singer/actors and four musicians, Arrest Me doesn't provide a single narrative, but rather several short narratives or explorations of themes around racism and what it means to be black in America today. Some scenes are better than others, highlighted by the gorgeous vocals of Katie Carney and Roland Hawkins (and a stirring spoken word performance by the latter), as well as some thoughtful monologues and scenes from different perspectives. The piece doesn't attempt to offer easy answers (because there are none), but does stress the need to listen to each other, truly see each other, and work together towards peace and equality. Despite some unevenness, overall it's a very powerful and moving experience.

"Sasquatched! The Musical" by Imagined Theatre at the Sabes JCC Theater

The new original musical Sasquatched!, written by local playwright and composer Phil Darg, premiered at the New York Music Theatre Festival last year and has now come home to a series of shows in the Twin Cities this summer. It's a fun, silly, family-friendly musical with catchy songs that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's nothing ground-breaking, but it's cheesy good fun for the whole family.

In Columbia National Park in the Pacific Northwest, we meet Arthur, a "Sasquatch American" who doesn't fit the image of Bigfoot. Yes he's big and hairy, but he's also intelligent, well-spoken, and kind, a true gentle giant. He's lost and trying to get back to his family when he meets Sam, a lost little boy. In the tradition of a child befriending an alien creature (see also E.T. and ALF), the two become friends and help each other through their predicament. In the meantime, many people are looking for Sam and "Bigfoot," including Sam's "Helicopter Parents," a park ranger, the hosts of a reality TV show called Modern Monsters, and some locals who are hoping to profit from the discovery of Bigfoot. Eventually everyone works together to protect Arthur from those who are trying to exploit him and his kind, so that he can live a quiet happy life in the Sasquatch community in a remote area of the park.

This production of Sasquatched!, directed by creator Phil Darg and his wife Jules, features a new local cast, and I can only assume it was improved from last year's version by Jim Lichtsheidl's "Storieography" (his word for choreography and movement and such). One way it was not improved is by the use of pre-recorded music instead of a live band. The NYMF production lists a music director and assistant music director, so I assume they had live music. As a former band geek I take offense at that, and frankly, canned music just sounds cheap and karaoke-like. How can you respect a musical with no live music? The show would be greatly improved by ditching the track and adding even just a keyboard, guitar, and percussion.

reality TV show hosts with the local
(Rick Baustian, Daniel Flohr, and Cayla Marie Wolpers)

I love a show that knows what it is (namely, silly campy fun) and doesn't take itself too seriously. It even pokes gentle fun at the medium of musical theater with winking comments to the audience like "it's been three dance numbers since we've seen them," and the song "Rhubarb" in which the chorus sings about, well, being a chorus. The large cast jumps wholeheartedly into this spirit with broad comedic performances. Except for Dylan Omsted as Arthur, who really is the straight man amongst the wackos, the calm center with a big deep voice one would expect from Bigfoot. Young Alex Michuda is pretty adorable as Sam, Cayla Marie Wolpers and Rick Baustian provide a great skewering of reality TV show hosts (the latter is a cross between Bear Grylls and Phil Keoghan with a Kiwi accent), opera-trained Roland Hawkins has a gorgeous voice and tongue-in-cheek performance as the proud seismologist, and Ali Daniels is charming as his love interest, the spunky park ranger. The show also touches on issues such as environmentalism, reality TV, the media, and overparenting, albeit in a pretty light-hearted and not very deep way.

Sasquatched! continues this weekend at the Sabes JCC Community theater, followed by free outdoor performances in Maple Grove, and a two week run at the Old Arizona in late July (click here for details). Bring your family for some fun summer musical theater.